Backstage: Third Time's the Charm

Carly Catto

Carly Catto
Grade 11
Dance Program

"Bianca!" Vee looped her arm through Bianca's. "Austin asked if you could stay behind a few minutes, so we can go over a few changes before the final rehearsal tomorrow."

Bianca smiled. "Sure."

Seriously? If Austin wanted to make changes, he should have talked to me first. I'm the Prima Dance Captain! I'd been putting up with his antics, hoping we could get through the shoot as quickly as possible, but this was a whole new level of disrespect.

Vanessa led Bianca to the middle of the dance floor.

"Carly, we should probably go too." Sasha grabbed my arm and dragged me over to Bianca.

We stood in the center as Sasha, Vanessa, and Beckett gathered around us.

"What's going on?" I asked, realizing this had nothing to do with Austin's film.

The studio door creaked open, and Alya, Miles, Jax, and Kit entered the studio. They joined Sasha, Vanessa, and Beckett. Somewhere behind them, Jenna hovered too.

Bianca crossed her arms. "What are you doing here?"

"We've been really concerned about you," Alya said.

"And they've been concerned about Carly," Jax added.

I couldn't bring myself to look at Sasha.

"Concerned? More like jealous," Bianca said. "Maybe I haven't always supported you guys." She looked at Alya. "But I've never held you back either. This film is great, and Austin and I are happy."

"And I'm fine," I added. "I've just been stressed about school." I forced a laugh.

"You're not fine, Carls." Kit stepped forward. "I mean, I barely hear from you anymore. And you kind of lost it when we were out last week."

"It seems like more than just school," Beckett said.

"I'm honestly so confused." I tried diverting their attention. "I mean when did we all become friends anyway? Vanessa and Beckett broke up. Bianca is your boyfriend's ex," I said to Kit. "I know Alya and Vee hate each other. And Sasha wrote about Miles on his gossip blog."

Miles shot Sasha a dirty look.

"That's not the point," Jax said.

"Then what is the point?"

"The point," Beckett said. "Is that you're obviously dealing with something. And we know Austin's involved."

"This is just a scheme to make Austin look bad," Bianca muttered.

"He doesn't need any help with that," I said under my breath.

Bianca blinked in surprise.

"Carly, just talk to us," Sasha pleaded.

I blinked back tears. "I can't."

"You can't?" Alya asked. "Whatever Austin is using to blackmail you can't be that bad."

"He tried to blackmail Alya," Miles said. "It almost broke us up. You can't keep secrets from the ones you love."

"I'm not keeping any secrets!"

"Then why are you switching places with Mindy?" Vanessa put her hands on her hips. "Carly, it's so dangerous."

"Oh please. She knows the steps." Bianca rolled her eyes.

"None of us were doing anything that complicated when we were sophomores," Beckett said. "Some of those techniques we only learned a few months ago."

"Please, Carly." Sasha's brown eyes filled with concern and love was all it took to break me.

I crumbled as streams of tears and stories poured out of me. I couldn't bring myself to look any of them in the eye, so I stared at my pointe shoes.

"Austin threatened to tell Sasha that it was my fault he got kicked out of the Primas."

"Freshman year?" Vanessa asked.

"That wasn't your fault," Sasha said, confusion blooming on his face. "I posted the article, and it was Cassandra's decision."

I trembled. "Except that she asked me before the decision was made. And I told her she should kick you off."

My heart broke as I watched his face crumple. I sobbed even harder.

"And now I can't back out of the project because I already committed us," I said between sobs. "If I back out now, it would go against Keaton's Honor Code, and I would lose my scholarship. Austin threatened to tell."

"Creep," Miles muttered.

"There's got to be something we can do," Kit said.

"Appreciate the enthusiasm, but you don't even go here," Jax laughed.

Kit punched him in the arm and gave him a hideous look. "Not the time," she hissed.

"There's nothing you guys can do," I said. "We just need to finish the project, and then this whole thing will be over."

"That can't be right," Jenna said from the back. "Austin's breaking the honor code by blackmailing you. We just need to get dirt on him."

"There's none," Jax snorted. "Sasha and I already looked."

Bianca shook her head in disgust. "You really hate us, don't you?"

"Did you not hear what Cee said?" Vanessa gave Bianca a hideous look.

"But I'm sure Jax and Sasha started looking long before anything was wrong with Carly." She narrowed her eyes.

The group started arguing angrily, and I ran from the studio into the girls change room. I flung myself down on one of the benches and sobbed.

Ugh so many feels. Carly seems to be in trouble, and no one knows how to help her. How will Sasha react to Carly's betrayal? Will Bianca ever accept that Austin is no good? How are the students going to fix this mess?