Chapter 37
1643words
Her goal was simple; avoid breakfast with the family. And in order to do that, she had to leave the house before six because that was when her mother woke up. She paged Rosa first, asking her to prepare a fruit shake and then headed to the bathroom.
After a hot shower, she shrugged on a black leggings over plaid mini skirt with a white button-up. Aurora paired it with a gold and black cravat that hung loosely yet stylishly around the collar. She let her fiery locks down and placed a beret that matched her hair colour. She completed her outfit with a pair of black doc martens with heels that made her appear several inches tall. She took one accessing glance at the mirror and a sassy grin crawled up her lips.
She looked good.
Aurora rushed downstairs and luckily enough, Rosa was just finished with her drink. She gave the woman a grateful kiss and shot out the door. The car was already waiting at its spot and she slid in, relaxing against the leather seat.
"Let's go," She commanded and Calvin nodded, bringing the vehicle to life. When they were out of the premises, only then was she able to breathe properly.
Aurora was still wary of Evan and sleeping directly across from him didn't sit well with her nerves. She was still on the quest of finding some dirt on him but it was proving to be difficult. The guy barely had a life and it seemed like all he was bent on doing was exacting his revenge.
For what? She had no clue.
Either way, he was convinced that her mother had to pay for something and she had an inkling that it had something to do with his own mother.
"Miss Rochester," She blinked, looking up at the rearview mirror, "We've arrived."
She nodded and pushed open the door, the moment her foot touched the ground, a shaky exhale left her. She dropped her other leg and then stepped out of the car. The academy looked empty, except from the cleaners who were just filing out of her morning duty.
With another intake of breath, Aurora squared her shoulder and strutted in the direction of the entrance.
Nobody noticed her. They all returned her greeting with a nod or a mumble. She frowned when even a professor passed by her wth merely a chirpy,
"Welcome back, Miss Rochester!"
This only meant that the paparazzi hadn't spread her news. Either that or nobody truly knew what happened that day. It was good in a way but surely her mother would've told her what to say if she was queried about her absence.
Aurora shook her head, now wasn't the time to be bothered by those thoughts. She was back, that was all that mattered.
So, she slipped into the locker room and quickly changed into her dancing gear. When she returned back to the classroom, she walked over to the speaker, connecting it to her phone and then she played one of her favourites,
La Campanella.
She danced with energy and fervour, moving her legs and arms in swift, rapid motions. Aurora enjoyed each strike of the violin chord and the harsh yet fast melody of the song.
She danced for what felt like an eternity and when it finally drew to a close, she did a sweeping motion with her left leg and then drew in a sharp breath.
Loud claps made her eyes snap open and she turned in surprise to see two figures standing by the door. Her eyes widened and her lips parted in shock,
Natasha was the first to react, squealing in excitement, "Oh my god!!!!"
The brunette jumped on her with Mason hugging her from behind. She chuckled, returning their hug fiercely.
"I almost didn't believe it when I saw your text this morning," Mason spoke first, pulling away to stare at her.
Natasha nodded, her slim fingers intertwined with Aurora's. She smiled tremulously,
"I'm sorry, I should've at least called-"
"No," Mason and Natasha simultaneously butted in, "You were injured, we were the ones who should've done the calling."
Aurora frowned, blinking confusedly, "H-How did you know?"
Mason cocked his head to the side, "Darling, the whole school knows about it although we were asked to keep it on the hush hush." Natasha nodded, smiling sadly as she stared at Aurora.
Aurora opened her mouth to ask what he meant but the incoming voices of students approaching made her swallow back her words. The door to the classroom burst open and they all filed in at once, chattering and talking amongst themselves.
Eva Winners was the first to spot her and she froze, gasping dramatically. "Oh.My.World!"
Everyone stopped, probably to see what the commotion was and one by one their gazes fell on her, expressions of open-mouthed shock plastered on their faces.
"What's going on here?" A curt voice demanded and the sight of Professor Elena Monroe stalking forward brought a sour taste to her mouth. "Ah, Rochester, you're back."
Although there was a smile on her face, the blonde-haired dance tutor didn't seem too pleased to see Aurora which she could live with.
She wasn't a fan of the woman either.
"Can we please go to our barres, we have a lot to cover," She clapped twice and like magic, everyone kicked back into motion, rushing to their respective positions.
She sighed tiredly before doing as the professor instructed, Natasha and Mason staying in front of and behind her respectively.
Elena took the center stage and she nodded for the pianist to take her seat, "First off, I would like to welcome back one of our students. I'm glad she's able to return back to dance despite the gruesome accident," That made her brows rise and she wondered exactly what tale had her mother cried to the entire school, "Let's give a hand to Miss Aurora Rochester."
She blinked in surprise when everyone began clapping, even Eva and her clique. Although, James looked like he had a lot to say to her face. Her lips pulled into a strained smile and she muttered her gratitude.
"That's enough," Elena nodded, waving around the baton she usually held during her classes, "Now, as we all know, the annual dance fest is coming soon and this year, as usual, we will be selecting the prima ballerina who will be representing us for next year's national convention for arts and entertainment." She took in a deep breath before continuing, "The spot for the male and female candidates are open as we know."
Side murmurs began to rise and she felt Mason poke her from behind, "I don't understand why they keep announcing this stuff every year, we all know that you're the owner of that position." He winked and she chuckled, even if it felt forced.
Mason was right, the national convention was usually held in Washington to celebrate arts and crafts diversity in the country. Each year, two students, male and female from the very best school was chosen to perform in front of millions of dignitaries and important figures. An award was given, fame and recognition was bestowed on the two students who would manage to get the lead role.
But first, they would have to compete with other students to gain the spot of dancing on that stage. So a prima ballerina was chosen and each year, she got that spot. Aurora had a niggling sensation that that was about to be changed,
"This year, the school board has decided to turn things around. The selection won't be an automatic process anymore, you will be given the chance to compete with each other and the best dancer will be the one chosen."
Everyone fell silent instantly, if a pin dropped, you would be able to hear it. Elena's eyes found hers and a cruel smirk crawled up the older woman's lips.
"Raise your hand if you're interested in participating."
Aurora wanted to scoff and laugh at the same time. This was ludicrous but two could play at that game. She lifted her hand high in the air for every person to see.
Of course, nobody dared to raise their hand. Who in their right mind would want to compete against her anyways?
Elena's smirk seemed to falter and she allowed herself to grin, "There's no need for you to be afraid. This is your chance to prove yourself to the world, the entire process will be judged fairly."
Still, nobody responded. Everyone's attention falling to the ground. Mason snickered behind her and Natasha scoffed.
Just as Elena's shoulders slumped dejectedly, a voice speared through the silence,
"I'll do it. I'll dance against her," Aurora's eyes flickered to the source and her brows knitted together.
An amused scoff slipped past her lips and her raised arm slowly fell to her side. Louisa Roberts unflinching gaze stared right back at her.
She tuned out Elena's loud clapping and whatever she information she was passing. Her eyes pinned on the blue-eyed blonde across from her.
So this was her plan all along, she'd been pretending to be innocent and oblivious when really all she was eyeing was Aurora's position.
Aurora scoffed again, the corner of her lips tugging upwards in a cruel fashion. Whether the girl knew it or not, she had just declared war.
And even if it was the last thing Aurora did, she would make sure Louisa regretted challenging her.
