Toe to Toe (On Pointe Book 1) by Penelope Freed (comprehension books txt) 📗

here from San Francisco when we were nine. Then, after her old dance teacher retired, Katy joined us a year later. The four of us, Olivia, Lisa, Katy, and I have been dancing together ever since—although this year feels more like the three of us with the occasional appearance by Olivia. For the last three years, since we joined the senior class, Saturdays have meant being together at the studio all day long for rehearsals and classes, no matter what else is going on in our lives.

I’m already laying on my back, my right leg hooked under the foot of a portable barre, my arms pulling my left leg up to my face, when Lisa and Katy wander into the studio. They come join me at our usual spot—the heaviest barre, placed just to the left of center. I don’t even have to think about where I stand, I always take the front spot on the right, Lisa right behind me. Katy puts herself right in the middle of us on the opposite side, not saving any room for Olivia.

“Morning,” I say to Lisa as she plops down next to me.

“Morning,” she mutters, her hands wrapped tightly around her hot tea. “Need a hand?” She offers, nodding at my leg. Katy drops down on the ground beside her, my water bottle in her hand, I must have left it in the dressing room.

“Sure.” Lisa grabs my left foot and pushes it down. My thigh presses against my shoulder as Lisa pushes my foot all the way down to the floor behind my head. Katy wiggles the water bottle, getting my attention, then puts it on the floor near the barre next to me. “Thanks,” I grunt to both of them.

“Hannah, your feet are so freaking good, it’s not fair. Why can’t my feet be bendy, gorgeous bananas like yours?” Lisa takes another sip of her tea, pushing my leg further behind my head. “It’s so not fair, you got great feet and you’re super flexible. This is why we can’t be friends.” I crane my neck to see if she’s kidding or not and see her grinning from behind her cup. I stick my tongue out at her and wink.

“You have good feet too,” I point out. I may have been blessed by genetics in some ways, but so was Lisa. “And you have longer arms than me Katy, so there,” I add, switching legs.

“My arms are longer because I’m taller. My turn,” Katy says as I finish stretching so I roll over onto my stomach and reach for her foot. Lisa has her feet together in a butterfly stretch, her cheek resting on her feet.

From my vantage point on the floor I see Olivia slip in the door just as Ms. Parker finishes her coffee and gets that look on her face, the one that guarantees we’ll be starting our morning with more than just pliés.

“Morning ladies!” Ms. Parker is entirely too cheerful, maybe that was her second cup of coffee, not her first. “How about we wake up with some jumping jacks?”

Katy is waiting for me in the doorway after I gather up my stuff at the end of class. “What did you bring for lunch?” she asks. We get an hour for lunch after class and I know Katy wants me to drive her to go get lunch at the taco place down the street.

“Sorry Katy, I packed my lunch. I think Olivia is going to Taco Stop though,”

“She’s taking food to the football team, probably to see Tyler. Saturday is my day to get away from my brothers, not spend extra time with them.” She wanders off to see where Lisa is as I go outside.

The strip mall where the studio is located has a little courtyard in the middle with tables and chairs. The coffee shop and the dog groomers that are on either side of the courtyard provide some excellent people watching. And good coffee. The coffee shop, not the dog groomers. I find a table big enough for the three of us and scroll through my phone while I wait for Katy and Lisa. I wonder if Katy asked Olivia to take her to Taco Stop after all, despite not wanting to see her brothers.

I look up when I hear the scraping of chairs. “She already left, I’m getting something from Beans ‘n Things, anyone want anything?” Katy walks backwards towards the coffee shop, watching to see if Lisa or I want anything.

“Black iced tea?”

“No sweetener?” Katy checks with me before disappearing inside after my nod.

“Did you see Marianela Núñez’s post last night?” Lisa pulls it up on her phone so I can see the gorgeous Argentinian dancer all four of us idolize. I dream that one day I’ll be that good, that I’ll get to dance in a company like The Royal Ballet in London or the Classical Ballet Company in New York City.

Katy comes back with my iced tea and her iced coffee while Lisa and I are entranced by Nela’s adorable cats. “You know she didn’t even wait to see if anyone wanted to go with her? She just took off.” I share a look with Lisa, not responding to Katy’s comment. “How did she know I didn’t want to go say hi to my brothers?”

“Because we all know you would never voluntarily spend extra time with your brothers.” Lisa laughs and scoops up a forkful of the pasta she brought for lunch. “Or the football team,” she adds, saluting Katy with her fork before taking a bite. She doesn’t say it, but I can imagine Lisa adding “or Olivia,” in her mind.

Eager to change the subject before our lunch hour is spent talking about Olivia, I steal one of the potato chips off Katy’s plate with a grin. Olivia has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. Talking about her behind her back, especially with Katy and Lisa, feels wrong. Even if maybe