Dancing for the Lord: The Academy (4 page)

The room was also beautiful, Danni thought.  Sheer curtains hung in front of the windows, dancing merrily in the breeze from the vent; a gorgeous, rose-colored comforter covered the bed; and there was a cozy, rose-colored chair in the corner that looked just perfect for curling up in with a good book.  The more she studied it, the more
she found to like.  And…yes, those were blackout curtains hanging alongside the gauzy ones, so that if she wanted to block out the sun, she would be able to do so.

Not, Danni thought, that she expected to have a great many opportunities to sleep in, not with the new life that she had ahead of her. 

Her father dropped the bags he carried on the ground and looked around.  “Well, it’s not too bad, Danni-girl,” he said lightly.

She turned, letting him see her smile.  “I love it!” she declared. 

“I’m glad.”  He squeezed her arm.  “Why don’t you start unpacking while I bring the rest up, hm?” 

Danni didn’t argue with him.  Her father was the old-fashioned sort, believed that women should let their men do the heavy lifting; he would be insulted if she implied by so much as the flicker of an eyelash that he couldn’t handle it, and anyway, she wanted to start making her mark on the place. 

The first thing she did was tuck her dance bag down beside the reading chair.  That, she thought, was probably where it would stay.  The closet, as she studied it, didn’t look big enough for her to use it for the bag; probably she would end up burying it under something and being late to class.  Next, she reached for the bag her father had brought up—not so incidentally the last one she had packed that morning.  She tossed her own pillows onto the bed, pulled her Bible and devotional book out and tucked them into place on the nightstand, and plugged in the charger for her cell phone.  Her room, she’d noticed, shared a bathroom with the room next door; her toothbrush and toothpaste, as well as her shower bag, went in there.

There were towels already in the bathroom and under the sink, she noticed—the Academy did provide those for students’ use, just as they provided sheets and other bed coverings—but her mother had sent her with her own anyway.  As she unpacked one bag after another, Danni found herself making a couple of trips to the bathroom with a stack of towels, her extra toiletries—her mother was terrified that she would run out of something important and not have time to go get it, so she’d packed what looked to Danni like enough of everything to get her through to the summer—and her bag of hair things.  Danni’s hair, when it was unbound, reached about halfway down her back.  While she expected to spend most of her time here with it in a bun, she also hoped that there would be opportunities to wear it down, at least every once in awhile. 

Then there were the sheets her mother had sent from home.  Danni considered putting them on the bed then and there; but she had the feeling that the bed had been made up just for her, and she didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.  She left everything where it was and put the rest up in the closet, telling herself that she would change the sheets out in a week or so, when she started to get really homesick. 

As she began unpacking the box of books her father had brought up, Danni had the uncomfortable sensation that someone was watching her.  She turned to find someone peering out of the bathroom. 

“Hi!” the girl said, grinning brightly at her.  “You must be Danni.  I’m Madalyn—I have the room through the bathroom.”  She gestured behind her enthusiastically.  “It must be so crazy, getting here in the middle of the semester and all—but don’t worry, people will be helpful, I think.  Or I’ll be helpful, anyway.  Besides, I don’t think we’ll be competing a lot.  I’m much taller than you.” 

Taller than her Madalyn might be, Danni thought wryly, but the girl definitely seemed to be a bundle of energy.  “It’s nice to meet you,” she said tentatively. 

“Oh, it’s great to meet you, too!” Madalyn bubbled.  “I really hope we’re going to get to be friends.  Rachel—that’s the girl who had the room before you—didn’t like me very much; but I don’t think it was fair of her to say so.”  She made a face.  “She was only here for a few weeks, you know?  And then Helen quit, and Rachel jumped at the chance to have her room.  She said it was horrible, not having enough space.” She rolled her eyes.  “Personally, I think this room is much nicer.  Mine’s not all that much bigger, and I picked it on purpose.  We’ve got a great view, you know.”  She gestured out the windows, finally stopping to take a breath.

“It’s beautiful here,” Danni admitted. 

“I think they want it to inspire us.”  Madalyn grinned.  “Dance in the beauty of the mountains and all.” 

“It’s got to be amazing,” Danni said quietly.  “Being able to dance right here, under the clear evidence of God’s majesty.” 

Madalyn nodded, but she was silent long enough that Danni knew immediately that she had thrown her for a loop.  “You’re a Christian, huh?”  Danni nodded.  “Me, too.  I mean, I’m not just crazy about it or anything, but I pray, and I believe in God.” 

Danni turned away to hide her wince.  “My parents raised me to put God first,” she said simply.  “And to worship Him in everything I do.  When I dance, I dance for Him.”

Madalyn was quiet even longer that time.  When she did speak, her voice was oddly wistful.  “I wish I had that,” she admitted.  “But me…I just dance.” 

“There’s no shame in that,” Danni said quickly.  The last thing she wanted was to make the other girl feel badly, especially on first acquaintance.  “It’s just…not the way I’ve ever done it.  God calls us all to different things, right?”

“Right.”  Madalyn looked more cheerful at that.  “Hey, do you think you’ll get to dance Helen’s part in the Christmas performance?  It’s just
The Nutcracker,
but it could be fun.  We were doing snowflakes together.”

“That sounds like fun.”  Danni grinned.  “I’ve been in
The Nutcracker
for the last five years, with the company back home.”

“Wow.”  Madalyn’s eyes were wide, awed.  “I never danced in a real ballet before I came here.  Just recital stuff, you know?  And I’ve never done any partner work—but that doesn’t happen until senior year anyway, not unless you’re really good at it.”

If I had Michael here, I’d be in partners classes.
  Danni thought it; but she didn’t want to say it to this bubbling girl.  “Seems a shame,” she said instead, slowly.  “I think we ought to be able to dance with a partner at least a little bit.”

“Oh, well.”  Madalyn shrugged.  “There aren’t enough guys to go around, you know—never are.  It’s just more fair this way.” 

“Right,” Danni agreed quickly.  “And hey, next year, right?” 
Next year…when I have Michael here, and we can really show them what we can do.

“Oh, yeah.” 

“Well, Danni-girl, I think that’s the last of it.”  Her father set down the last box very carefully.  He had carried them up slowly, she’d noticed—far more slowly than he really had to.  He was stalling, prolonging the inevitable moment when he would have to say goodbye.

He couldn’t stall anymore. 

She carefully placed the last of the books she was holding in the shelves, pleased to note that she had filled them up just enough without overcrowding them.  She even had a little shelf for her schoolbooks, once she had them—because classes at the Academy ran like college classes, with one set on Mondays and Wednesdays and a whole different set on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

There were no academic classes on Fridays.  Those, Danni had learned, were reserved entirely for dance…unless there was a
reason
for a special academic class.

She was determined not to let there be a reason, not unless it was simply that she needed an extra slot in order to finish things up fast enough. 

“Well.” Her father dusted his hands on his jeans.  “Who’s your friend?  Are you going to introduce me?”

Stalling.  Danni appreciated it.  She smiled.  “This is Madalyn.”

Madalyn bounded into the room, holding out her hand; Mr. Wilkerson shook it warmly.  “It’s nice to meet you, sir,” she told him. 

“It’s nice to meet you, as well.”  He cleared his throat uncomfortably. 

Madalyn seemed to take it as a hint.  “Well, I’ll just, um….”  She shrugged, then bounded through the bathroom and the connecting door.  Before either of the Wilkersons could gather themselves to acknowledge her, she was gone again.

Neither of them wanted to look at the other—to admit that this was it, the inevitable parting that they had, in a sense, been preparing for all day.

Danni didn’t want her father to leave.  This last goodbye was harder than all the others put together—the last member of her family finally disappearing.  “You could stay for dinner,” she suggested desperately. 

“I don’t think that would be a good idea, sweetheart.”  Her father cleared his throat again, doing his best to be done with the lump so that she wouldn’t hear the huskiness in his voice as he spoke.  “You need to start settling in here; and you won’t be able to do that with me hanging around all afternoon.”

“Yeah, but—“ she began. 

“Danni.”  He tipped her chin up so that she could look him in the eye.  “Don’t worry, honey.  Christmas will be here before you know it, and you can come home for a couple of days then.” 

“The Christmas production,” she began.

“Doesn’t run over Christmas proper.  I already checked.”  He brushed a few strands of her hair behind her ear, smiling sadly.  “Though you’ve only got a couple of days.  I guess you won’t want to spend them all in the car, will you?”  The words were sad. 

“It’s not going to be an easy couple of years, Dad,” she reminded him softly.  “We knew that when we started.” 

“I know.”  He bowed his head for a moment.  “Doesn’t make it any easier to let you go.” 

“I want this.”  She was saying it as much to remind herself as she was to remind him.

“And we want it for you.”  Still, he didn’t look at her, and Danni wondered if that side-turned face was hiding tears. 

“Summer.  Summer will be here in no time.” She swallowed hard.  “And you know Mom will drag you up here for the first parents’ weekend on the schedule.” 

“Right.”  Her father’s voice was gruff; he was trying not to show any more emotion, particularly distress.  “And you’ll…you’ll be….”  He couldn’t keep up the charade.  His voice faltered.  “Take care, Danni-girl,” he told her.  “And remember, every time you dance, make sure you remember who you’re dancing for.”

“I will, Daddy.”  She stepped forward into his arms, embracing him tightly.  “Pray for me?”

“Every morning,” he promised.  “Just like I always have.” 

There was strength in that, Danni knew.  Simply knowing that her father would go to his knees for her at need had always been enough to warm her no matter how dark the problem might have seemed.

And he was right.  Christmas wasn’t that far away.  Surely she’d be able to spend a couple of days with her family then.  It wasn’t as though they were that far away.  Just a few hours, really; her father had already proved that the drive wasn’t that bad.  He was even going to be making it back today—though it would be late by the time he got home. 

“Be safe,” she told him.  They exchanged one last hug, and then he was gone, leaving Danni alone with her new life.

Alone…and yet not.  Before the front door of the house had even closed behind him, Danni heard a tentative knock at that connecting door again. 

“You want some help unpacking?” Madalyn offered.

For a moment, Danni considered turning her down. The way she had asked, the other girl probably wouldn’t be offended if she told her that she had it handled, and she’d rather do it herself.  After all, if someone else unpacked for her, she might never be able to find whatever had been in the boxes!

On the other hand, Danni knew what she would do if she was left to her own devices:  she would brood. She would miss her parents, she would miss Michael…if she let herself go long enough, she might even find herself missing Lizzie! 

Normally, she relished time alone, using mundane activities like unpacking her bags as an opportunity to spend some time in prayer.  On this particular evening, however, Danny knew full well that she wouldn’t be praying.  No, she would probably just brood—and that wasn’t exactly healthy.

So she smiled at Madalyn, and forced herself to sound like she meant it when she said, “I’d appreciate that.”

Madalyn, as it turned out, was good company; and if she had to share her bathroom, Danni couldn’t think of a better person to share it with.  Madalyn knew everything that there was to know about everyone and everything at the Academy, and she didn’t hesitate to share her knowledge with a newcomer—but she was never malicious about her comments.  If she did have to share something negative—like, for example, when she warned Danni to stay away from the cafeteria food in the school if at all possible and come back to the house for meals if she could—she did it in such a good-humored way that it was impossible to take any ill-will from it. 

“Now, the cafeteria food…well, the best that can be said for it is that they make sure they keep a stash of power bars handy,” Madalyn informed her.  “But Mrs. Baxter is a great cook—so if you can get back here for meals, definitely do it!”  She frowned.  “Do you have your schedule yet?  Some people got them in the mail before they came; but most of us had to go up to the office and get them.”