On Pointe by Sheryl Berk Read Free Book Online Page A

attention,” he said firmly.
    He jotted a note in his binder, which Bria was sure wasn’t a compliment.
    â€œHe hates me,” she whispered to Scarlett.
    â€œHate is a strong word.” Scarlett tried to make her feel better. “Just make sure you follow my lead.”
    When the waltz started up again, Bria was careful to stay in line and turn in the same direction as the rest of the ballerinas. The girls each held a snowy white branch in their hands as they floated
en pointe
around the stage. The branches reminded Bria of her plant biology experiment. Why wouldn’t that little lima bean grow, no matter how much she watered it? How was she supposed to turn in her lab report about chlorophyll if it wouldn’t cooperate?
    â€œGlide, glide!” Marcus barked, watching them carefully. “You are supposed to be dancing on ice, not in mud!”
    Bria tried her best to look graceful and keep up with the complicated choreography. It was all going smoothly, until she had to wave her branches high above her head and lean to the left.
    â€œOuch!” shrieked a girl next to her. “Watch where you wave that thing! You could have poked my eye out!”
    â€œI’m so sorry!” Bria said, once again halting the rehearsal. “It was an accident. Really!”
    Marcus had seen enough. “You!” he snapped at Bria. “Come over here.”
    Bria looked at Scarlett and sent her a
telepathic SOS
. She tiptoed over to the corner of the stage where her director was standing.
    â€œYour dancing lacks focus,” he told her sternly. “Is there a reason why?”
    Bria sighed. “Would you like a list? I have a term paper due on Friday. My math midterm is in a week, and I have no idea how to solve a quadratic equation. Oh! And did I mention I am going to fail science if I don’t figure out why my lima beans aren’t sprouting. That’s it—in a nutshell.” She smiled. “No pun intended.”
    She waited for her director to explode into a Miss Toni–esque tirade. Instead, his face softened. “You know, when I was in middle school, I had a very hard time keeping up with my studies and my dancing,” he said quietly.
    â€œYou? You had a hard time?” Bria gasped. “You’re a legend in ballet.”
    Marcus cleared his throat. “Yes, well, evenso, my parents put a great deal of pressure on me to excel. I assume you know what I’m talking about.”
    Bria nodded. “Absolutely! If I don’t get at least a B plus, I can’t be on the Divas team.”
    â€œSo here’s what I propose,” Marcus continued. “When you are here in rehearsal, you focus solely on the task at hand. And when you’re at home and in school, you’re not allowed to think about
The Nutcracker
.”
    Bria thought it over. It made sense and seemed so simple—why hadn’t she thought of it? She always felt distracted, as if a million ideas were battling to get out of her brain at the same time. If she could just keep them from getting in her way …
    â€œAnd if you need some extra practice time, just let me know,” he said. “I think you have a lot of talent. You just have to get your head in the game.”
    Bria nodded and took her place again in the snowflake line. This time, as she put school out of her mind, her dancing was graceful andflawless. Marcus gave her a thumbs-up, and Mr. Minnelli breathed a sigh of relief.

    The next group to run its scene was the toy soldiers. Hayden and Rochelle took their places in the front row. “Today’s the first day we work with our props,” Marcus said. He and Miss Andrea distributed wooden rifles.
    â€œCool,” Hayden whispered to Rochelle. He twirled his fake rifle effortlessly in the air and switched it from shoulder to shoulder. Rochelle tried to copy him, but it fell out of her hands and clattered to the floor.
    â€œButterfingers,” Hayden