Chapter Twenty-Seven
I checked my emails every morning out of routine, but today an email from my blackmailer greeted me. It stood in my inbox, with nothing in the subject line, just a week before the end of year performance.
My stomach sank.
Taking a deep breath, I opened the email.
They're targeting the Woodside power station tomorrow night. You will stop them.
I stared, my heart stopping for a second. They were planning a repeat of the chemical plant and this person wanted me to stop them? How the fuck was I supposed to do that?
After a bit of searching, I found that the Woodside Power Plant was about twenty minutes away in the car. Three hours by foot. I was in for a hike, because I didn't have a car that I could jump in and cut out the travelling time. It was practically in the middle of nowhere. The village of Woodside, about a half an hour walk away, was the closest thing.
I hoped my phone battery would last that long. I was going to need all the GPS I could get.
Slamming the lid to my laptop and slinging on some clothes, I thanked God I had a free period. I could go and find Ethan now and get his advice before it got too late to do anything other than going and begging Liliana to cease so that I didn't get thrown out of school.
I knew for certain that she cared more about her cause than she did what happened to me.
I wasn't sure where Ethan would be now, but the ballet studio seemed like a good place to start. He might be teaching a lesson with some younger students, which wouldn't be ideal.
At the studio, I peeked in through one of the small windows in the door and spotted him. He was with a class of nearly thirty students and they were doing the moves that I'd be performing on stage next weekâhopefully. It must be the class of thirteen year olds he'd spoken about.
I weighed up my options. They were only kids, they wouldn't think anything of it if I just stuck my head in. So, that was what I did. I waited until there was a lull in the action and then gave a rap on the door with my knuckles. Sticking my head through, Ethan's eyebrows raised when he spotted me.
"Hi, Sir." I kept my Ethan's to myself. "I was just wondering if I could have a word with you about something after this lesson."
"Of course." He glanced at the clock. There was only ten minutes left. "You can come in and help for the remainder, if you want. You know the moves."
I hesitated for a second, before nodding. A section of music, the section that held the hardest moves for the backing dancers, was playing in the background. I observed the room for a couple of seconds, before moving towards a couple who seemed to be struggling.
Following Ethan's approach in our lessons, I corrected their posture and tried my best to articulate what they were doing wrong. A demonstration seemed to help.
Ethan called time a moment later and said that they'd have a run through of the section all together, to see if they could do it all in tandem.
He gestured for me to stand next to him. "This time, you'll do it around me and Carly, who will play Cinderella and Prince Charming. Dancing around people who are echoing your moves is one thing, but learning to dance around a pair who perform different moves is something you have to learn as well."
He raised an eyebrow at me, to check I was okay with that, and I nodded. He passed me a pair of ballet shoes in my size from the collection of spares that was kept in the studio and I put them on.
We took our places in the centre of the people and I felt the pressure of their eyes on me. The routine for Cinderella and Prince Charming in this scene wasn't the most difficult technically, but it was intense. It would require 'acting'. These people knew that Ethan was my teacher; I'd addressed him as sir.
We took our places and Ethan pressed his remote to start the music before throwing it across the room, so it landed in a collection of jumpers. There was a ten second grace period before the music began. We started apart here, looking longingly across the room to one another.
The backing dancers stood in pairs around us. The music began.
I glided across the floor, the sole person to move for thirty seconds. My cheeks were flushed scarlet from the attention, but it took everything in me to hold back a grin. I was nailing it. I could see, every time the choreography required me to look up at Ethan, that he was admiring me.
When we finally met, the room sprang to life. Our hands touched first, and the backing dancers began to swirl on the outskirts. The simple touch shot a jolt through me, but my expression didn't change. The longing, the desire, was still written all over it. Because that was what Cinderella was supposed to feel hereâit didn't matter that my heart longed for Ethan, too.
Our dance became quickly intimate. Ethan guided me around the floor, by my hand, then by my hips. The finale of this sequence was a lift, one that we had practised countless times. My body was on fire, but, surprisingly enough, it was easier not to get caught up in the eroticism of the moment when I knew that people were watching.
It was about the dance more than it was about Ethan when we had an audience. I felt like I was proving something.
I did my arabesque and Ethan lifted me. It wasn't the most difficult of lifts, but it looked beautiful. I thanked God I'd chosen black tights with my school uniform today; at least the view up my skirt as he lifted me from the ground wasn't quite as scandalous.
He dropped me back down and we entered our final move. It was the near-kissâthey'd never make you really kiss in a ballet, of course. Our faces were inches from each other, our breaths mingling, but our posture didn't falter. Even as I stared into his eyes, saw the desire there, the performance was all that mattered.
The music stopped, and we separated. I smoothed down my skirt. Everyone clapped.
Beaming, Ethan gave me a bow. "Good job," he congratulated me, and then turned to the class, telling them they'd done a good job, too. I wasn't sure how he knewâhis gaze hadn't left mine the entire time we'd been dancing.
I went to return the dancing shoes whilst Ethan spoke to the people who came to him individually. One of the girls that I'd helped came to speak to me. She grinned wildly. "You were amazing!" she exclaimed. "Are you going to be playing Cinderella on stage next week? I hope I get to do that when I'm in year thirteen."
I smiled. "I'm not Cinderella next week, no. I just know the choreography."
She pouted. "You and Mr. Langley should perform it instead. I'm sure whoever is playing those parts isn't that good."
"I think if a teacher took the part then it might defeat the purpose a little bit." I chuckled and stretched. I hadn't been able to stretch before that routine and my muscles were a little stiff. "I'm sure the end of year performance will be great. I'll be performing the routine that you've been learning."
"Everyone else must be really amazing then, because you were great!"
Ethan approached and the girl flushed, mumbling a goodbye and scampering off. "You've made a fan already?"
"Apparently. Do you have a free period next? We need to talk."
He knew what the matter was. It wasn't that hard to work out. "I do. Let's go and walk." He made sure all his students were gone before turning off the light and leading us outside. "So, you've got a new instruction?"
"Yes." I showed him the email on my phone and he scowled, his hand tightening on the device.
"This is ridiculous. How are you supposed to do that? On such short notice?"
I scuffed my shoes along the ground. They were horribly ruined by this point; I hadn't polished them once since being at the Academy. "I don't know. But I need to come up with a plan by tomorrow night. Any ideas?"
"I'm coming with you."
My steps stalled. "What? No you're not."
"I can help."
"You can get yourself fired. You're not coming with me. No way."
He stood still, crossing his arms and staring me down. "We're in this together, I'm not just letting you run off and put yourself in danger like that. It's not right."
"I couldn't give a shit what you think is right and wrong. I absolutely refuse to be the reason you get fired from this job. It's not happening. I mean it. I really, really don't want you to be there. I couldn't live with myself if you came and ended up losing your job." I begged him with my eyes to understand.
I'd gotten myself into this mess, it wasn't up to him to jeopardise his career to fix it.
"Carly."
"I just want your help in making a plan, that's all. I can handle this, okay? I just need a plan. I don't want you there."
It cost Ethan an immense amount of pride to back down, I could see it in his twitching jaw. "Fine," he gave in. "If you promise me that's what you want, then I won't come."
"I promise." My response was immediate. I couldn't let him do it. "Just brainstorm ideas with me. I don't have any time."
"Well, you need something that's going to scare them off." Ethan started walking again until we found the fountain that Liliana and her friends normally sat around. They'd probably be in class at the moment. "So, something that will make a loud noise, maybe. Something that's going to make them think they've been busted."
"So I need to buy an air horn." I started browsing for one now Ethan had returned my phone. All the next day delivery was going to cripple my already miserable bank account. "I'm going to look like such an idiot, running up to the three of them tooting my stupid little air horn. This is so stupid. I don't know how this person expects me to accomplish this."
"Maybe something that sounds like a police siren rather than an air horn. I don't know if those exist. If you want to get anything on my account just let me know, by the way."
I shook my head, until I saw the prices. "I mean, do you really not mind? I feel like such a dick accepting that offer."
He took my phone and typed his details in. "You've got to let me help somehow. I feel so useless."
"That I can even tell you about this helps, don't worry." I let him take charge of the phone. "So, so far I've got a siren. What if that's not enough?"
The corner of Ethan's mouth twitched. "You should get an air rifle and try shooting them. That might scare them off. How's your shot?"
"Oh my God, this isn't some kind of paintballing army training exercise." But the thought was pretty amusing. Running in with my gun and balaclava, letting my siren go wild. "How much are paintball guns? That could be pretty funny. I've only been a couple of times, but I wasn't too bad."
I watched Ethan click away. "Okay, I got one."
I scowled. "How much was it?"
"I'm not telling you. And I'm wiping your browsing history, so you can't check, either. The money side really isn't what you should be worrying about."
I supposed he was right, but the guilt still gnawed at me. This wasn't really his problem, it was mine. Just because he sounded posh didn't mean he was actually rich. He was just a teacher, after all.
"Okay. So, you're all set. I can't imagine you'd be able to do anything scarier than sound like the police and start shooting at them."
He passed me back the phone, and I knitted my eyebrows. "How have you actually made this seem almost fun?"
He grinned. "You're sure you don't want me to come?"
"I'm positive. I appreciate the help, though. And the funding."
"It's no problem. I'm still not comfortable with all this, though. How are you even going to get there?"
"I'll walk."
"It'll take you forever."
"It's not the end of the world." I'd get practically no sleep at all, but I didn't have any other option.
"I can at least give you a lift to somewhere a bit closer if you want."
"No," I denied him again. "I don't want you leaving the grounds at all. I'm going to go by myself and whatever happens, happens. End of story."
Ethan shifted where we were sat on the edge of the broken fountain. It was taking everything in him not to argue. "Okay. Do you want me to buy you a satnav?"
I chuckled. "I'm hoping my phone can handle it."
"Okay, if you're sure. You can get satnavs pretty cheap nowadays."
I elbowed him. "I'm sure."
We sat in silence for a couple of moments, processing what I had to do tomorrow night. "I'm not sure how my blackmailer is going to top this request."
"I'm sure they'll manage somehow, don't get your hopes up too high."
"I know." I wanted a hug. It was easy to joke, but this was going to be one of the hardest things I'd ever done. I didn't know how to stop people bombing things. Liliana had set off a bomb despite a guy being in the blast range last time, maybe she'd just throw the bomb in my direction and I'd end up getting caught in the blast. Maybe I'd be on one side of the power plant and she'd be on another. This was practically an impossible task, but if I failed, then I'd out of the school without even getting to do the end of year performance. "I'm basically hoping for a miracle."
Ethan opened his mouth, then shut it again. I was glad he didn't ask. I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep rejecting him. "It'll be fine." He sounded more confident than he possibly could have been. "You'll be fine. And you'll be on stage on Saturday."
"Yeah. I sure fucking hope so, after all this."
"I was going to suggest we could do our own run through tomorrow, but I guess you'd rather wait now."
"Can we do it on Friday?" It was Monday today. I'd have recovered from my lack of sleep from the Tuesday night excursion by Friday. And it was the day before the real performance.
"That sounds good. I'll see what I can do about the stage now that I've got a date."
I beamed, the fact that I might not even make it to Friday rearing its ugly head. I forced it down. Optimism was probably the path to good things.
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So glad everyone enjoyed the last chapter! It's one of my favourites, too. Hope this was one ingood too, and thank you for your support everyone <3