Magical Hogwarts

Letizia quite enjoyed her little dance battle with Amandine who was definitely a worthy partner in this. She felt certain that they’d be praised by Mademoiselle Cézanne before long. Maybe she’d even invite them to the theatre to see her perform. A girl could dream, right?

Maybe they were going a tiny little bit too far, but, honestly, the given choreography was too simple to be a nice and worthy challenge. They weren’t here for a beginner’s lesson, after all. It really would have made more sense to split them in different groups depending on skill level and let them perform at different times.

That Jeanne Cézanne was unimpressed with them showing off hurt the Italian’s feelings. Lettie sensed how her cheeks heated up and she knew that she had visibly blushed. However, she didn’t think she needed to feel embarrassed. It wasn’t her fault that the prima ballerina hadn’t been able to come up with good sequences to perform.

“Not as nice as I thought,” Lettie muttered in Amadine’s direction and then she curtseyed in Mademoiselle Cézanne’s direction. “I’m so sorry,” she simpered and then joined the others in the middle of the sequence, her frustration visible in the forcefulness of her movements.

Amandine was embarrassed and furious. She wanted to sink into the ground so nobody could see her. In reality most students' heads had whipped round at Jeanne Cézanne's comment to see who it was directed at, but once they'd satisfied their curiosity they had carried on trying to master their own dance steps. Amandine was oblivious to that, though. Her face was surely scarlet by now and she was convinced the entire room was staring at her and laughing. She couldn't even look at Lettie. One thing was for sure, there was no way she would be asking for an autograph later. If Jeanne Cézanne couldn't recognise their talent then she didn't deserve anyone fangirling over her.

After what felt like an age the Ombrelune managed to force her feet to move again, but copying the sequence exactly as prescribed felt like she was admitting defeat. She wanted to add flourishes, move faster, dance in front of everyone else while they were a mere chorus. Lettie whispered to her which made her feel better, but then she actually apologised which felt worse. There was no way Amandine would be able to bring herself to apologise, That would be far too humiliating.

Though not as humiliating as the fear that she might actually cry from embarrassment. Her eyes and nose were stinging and she clamped her jaw firmly shut, determined not to show a single emotion. Following Lettie's lead, she danced again, but the fact she was perfect brought no satisfaction now. This situation continued for some minutes before Jeanne Cézanne called a break, suggesting the students all drink some water and stretch their muscles before they resumed the class.

Amandine saw her chance. With a despairing glance at Lettie, willing her to understand, she fairly bolted across the room, grabbed her bag, and darted through the door, oblivious to the fact she was still wearing her ballet shoes. Once outside, the fear that she was being stared at subsided, but she started to walk briskly in the direction of their room. She couldn't go back in the studio, She just couldn't!

[out]

Looks could be so deceiving. Lettie had truthfully thought that Jeanne Cézanne was a nice woman and would applaud them for how amazingly they mastered the difficult sequence. That the woman was playing a killjoy and even pointed them out for having done something wrong definitely didn’t go well down with her.

While she still kept her composure - a thing she had learned in artistic flying - her friend seemed to struggle more. As an artistic flyer, Letizia was used to it that people looked at her even if she wanted to hide after a poor performance. This, however, hadn’t been a poor performance! They had done really great. They shouldn’t be criticised for being the best dancers in the room!

When Jeanne Cézanne announced a break, Lettie immediately looked at Amandine. Her friend looked awfully upset and rushed out of the room without a word.

“I’ll better go and check on her,” Lettie said, offering the instructor a fake smile and followed her friend. There was no way she’d return to this class later. Ballet was great but not when she was held back like that.

[out]