Read Online Fragments by M. R. Field - Free Book Online

a major dance academy coming to our dinky country town was exciting. I closed my mouth on a gulp and stared. Wow. This could be my ticket out of here. Two years of intense training and performance, and a virtual shoo-in at major dance academies after. A wide smile broke out on my face. I couldn’t have stopped it if I’d tried.
    “Thank you so much, Miss!” I squealed. Throwing my jacket on, I rushed to go tell the boys about the scout.
    As I barrelled through the door, I spotted the boys in the distant car park with their backs to me. They were talking to some people I couldn’t quite make out, and Robbie’s laughter carried over to me, though I couldn’t hear what he’d said. As I strolled closer, I noticed Alex had his hands on the hips of a blonde in front of him. Must be his latest, I thought. He turned to speak to Robbie and I froze at whom I saw in front of him. Stacey. He was touching that vile, vulgar bitch. My heart stopped. My blood boiled and I felt suddenly betrayed. Neither boy had noticed me, but Stacey did. Her sardonic smile told me she was up to something. As I got nearer, I heard her snippety voice ring out.
    “So guys, you going to that gala next month? There are a few people I know in it,” she asked, leaning into Alex.
    I held my breath wondering what she was up to.
    “Robbie, isn’t Beatrice in it? I don’t think I’ll go. I hate those types of things,” she said sweetly.
    “Yeah, she is. She’s pretty excited. We have to go to support her, I guess,” Robbie replied, taking a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it.
    “Speak for yourself,” Alex said. “I don’t have to. That shit bores me to tears. All that twirling and shit … Nah, I’ll just say that I’m busy.” He squeezed Stacey’s hips tightly, moving her closer into his chest.
    “Bea likes to tell me about it but I’m pretty good at tuning her out.”
    My breath hitched. Stacey hooked her arms around his neck and looked over his shoulder right at me as though she were saying, ‘take that’. It was in that moment that Alex, my confidante and my friend, had broken my heart. He thought my dancing was boring? He came to all my big concerts. What for? For shits and giggles? He thought my dancing was pointless? It was then that I decided that he would neither hear about my dancing again, nor see me perform. Those encounters were gone. Fuck him and his vile bitch girlfriend.
    “Hey, guys,” I croaked. I felt awkward, like an outsider. I quickly stuffed my hands into my jacket pockets to hide my palms and headed to the car. “Can we go? I have homework to do.”
    “Sure thing, sis,” Robbie answered.
    I looked towards Alex, who was lip locking with Stacey. Her eyes, however, were on me. Snap, crash. The friendship band unfurled again. Well, there was one way to keep me away from Alex. I sighed deeply and tried to remember what Miss Ashton had said. A scout . To see me. To give me a chance. I was going to grab this opportunity and begin my senior year on a high note. This
    ticket would see me out of this town and off to a better future, away from those who’d hurt me.
                  Arriving home, I marched straight up to my room to get away from the boys. I needed a breather. How could he date her? Didn’t he realise? Or did he simply not give a shit? I was fuming, broken, and utterly shocked. I reached for my phone to text Trin.
     
    Me: Trin, you there, babe?
    Trin: Yeah, hon, what up?
    Me: Alex’s new gf is that fuckin’ slapper Stace.
    Trin: No fuckin’ way!
    Me: Yep.
    Trin: What a dick. What are you gonna do?
Me: I can’t hang out w him. He bagged me out to her ‘bout dancing. Fk him.
    Trin: Yeah, fk him, hon.
    Me: I’ll call u later
     
    I paced around my room, trying to remember any signs of when this had all started. How the fuckety fuck did he not know it was her? My blood boiled. Stacey was like the devil’s serpent, slithering her way into my life and leaving destruction in its