I pulled out my phone. “I’ve kept paying tuition.”
“She’s still enrolled. I thought you were holding her place,” Ms. Alvarez said.
“Audrey insisted it was your decision and begged me not to call.”
“So you didn’t contact me?”
“I urged her to speak to you, but she insisted you wouldn’t change your mind.”
“The office emailed last week and yesterday. I meant to call today. I should’ve called sooner.”
Both messages turned up in my spam folder. The recital notice had come from another address.
“I urged her to speak to you,” Ms. Alvarez said, “but she insisted you wouldn’t change your mind.”
“Was she struggling?” I asked.
“She was nervous about the recital, but improving quickly. She earned her place here.”
I struggled not to cry.
“I’ve seen her in the lobby a couple of times, but she hasn’t returned to class.”
I asked where Audrey had been spending those evenings.
“I don’t know. I’ve seen her in the lobby a couple of times, but she hasn’t returned to class.”
I found Audrey outside near a vending machine, still wearing her school uniform.
When she saw me, she stood so quickly her drink spilled.
“Mom? Why are you here?”
“To pick you up.”
“So now you’re checking whether I’m really staying out?”
She looked past me.
“Did you talk to Ms. Alvarez?”
“Yes.”
Her face hardened.
“So now you’re checking whether I’m really staying out?”
“What are you talking about?”
I showed her my receipts, messages, and the enrollment confirmation.
“You don’t want me dancing here anymore!”
“No, Audrey. I never said that.”
“Stop lying!”
I showed her my receipts, messages, and the enrollment confirmation.
“Why would I keep paying if I wanted you to quit?”
She stared at the screen.
“He said you and Dad agreed I wasn’t ready.”
“Derek said you didn’t want me finding out right away.”
I felt my hands trembling.
“What exactly did Derek say?”
She told me he’d started questioning whether she could handle advanced ballet. He claimed Ms. Alvarez had concerns and that I’d asked him to keep driving her to avoid embarrassing her.
“He said you and Dad agreed I wasn’t ready,” she whispered. “That you didn’t want to hurt my feelings by telling me yourselves.”
I felt sick.
“But I kept asking you about class,” I said. “I even offered to buy you new shoes.”
“I know.” Audrey looked down. “Derek said you felt guilty and were pretending everything was normal until I gave up on my own.”
I felt sick.
“He knew you’d trust him,” I said.
Audrey nodded. “He said you’d get angry if I confronted you. I thought you’d stop letting me come here altogether.”
I called Ms. Alvarez over. She told Audrey directly that I’d never requested her withdrawal.
“He said practicing would only make me look desperate.”
Audrey began crying.
“I thought you were ashamed of me.”
I hugged her.
“Never. Not for one second.”
On the drive home, she told me about the evenings she’d spent sitting in the studio lobby or at a nearby café with her homework instead of attending class.
“Why didn’t you tell Dad?”
“He said practicing would only make me look desperate.”
“Was that what you were asking him about yesterday?”
She nodded. “I wanted him to talk to you about letting me audition. He kept saying I needed to accept your decision.”
“Why didn’t you tell Dad?”
“He said Dad agreed.”
Audrey kept checking her phone. Finally, she asked, “Are you going to tell Derek I told you?”
At home, Scott listened without interrupting.
“Yes,” I said. “But you aren’t in trouble.”
She nodded, then whispered, “He said you always say nice things to my face and complain about me when I’m not there.”
I pulled into a parking lot because I couldn’t safely keep driving.
At home, Scott listened without interrupting.
Audrey showed us the messages Derek had sent her.
Then Scott called him.
