Inside The House

XVII

- Of course you can. - Gregory said. - But please, for grandma's sake, wear evening clothes, okay?

- Sure. - I replied, wondering how I should tell Elizabeth to wear her evening gown to the birthday party.

- Ehh, I thought you were going to invite Rayan. - Said Aurelia while chewing on a piece of puff pastry.

- That's right, why don't you invite that boy too? - Luna suggested, lighting her cigarette at that moment.

- I don't think so. Rayan and I are just working on a project. To be honest, I'm not really fond of him. - I replied wryly.

- Too bad, he seemed very sociable and polite. - Said Gregory sipping wine from his glass.

It seemed. Rayan couldn't afford to be polite. The way he'd been acting lately was simply the result of marijuana. However, I decided to keep that information to myself exclusively. I thought it would be a good opportunity to tell about the dance competition.

- It's a good thing my birthday will be next Saturday. I'll have a big dance competition in less than two weeks. I need to get ready.

- Where is this competition going to be? - Gregory asked.

- The town you picked me and my mom up from. The big one with the airport. - I said.

Suddenly, I heard a fork clatter against the porcelain tableware. I looked around the table and noticed that the sound was made by Apolonia, or rather by the fork she had dropped on the plate. Her face was frozen, as it always was. It was clear to me that she wanted to let me know that I should be ready tonight... At least that's what I thought until she gave me an icy stare that lasted less than a split second. Something wasn't right.

- You mean "Kosevo?" - Gregory mused. - Of course you mean Kosevo. Well, I don't know much about dance competitions, I don't know much about them, but I assure you Buck will get you anywhere you need to go.

- Thank you. - I replied and smiled.

- Will it be possible to see this performance? - Kevin asked as the maids served the main course.

- I don't know that. - I replied. - But the contest will be sometime in the middle of the week, and you'll be at the Academy, so you probably wouldn't see it anyway.

- So maybe at least Buck will be able to see. - He said while starting to eat.

It could have been. I liked Buck, so it would actually be nice to spend some time with him. Now that I've implemented myself into the customs of the family and know who's who here, maybe our conversation will be some more private or something.

Dinner passed surprisingly peacefully. No arguments, no hurt looks, no annoyances. I guess everyone wanted to make it fun for Kevin before he left for the Academy. He was only going to be back for next weekend and then leave again from what I could tell, so it was understandable that the family wanted to be nice. Even this family.

After dinner, everyone said goodbye to each other and headed to their bedrooms. I said goodbye to Kevin at the door to his room. We hugged and I wished him a safe trip tomorrow when he left. Kevin patted me and said he would see me soon. When I got into my room, I immediately changed into some comfortable clothes that would be appropriate for dancing. I knew that sooner or later Myra would show up at the door. It happened sooner than I expected. Much sooner, in fact. Myra also looked more frightened than usual. I told her I could easily make it to the east wing and headed there too. I wondered what that could have been about. All I knew was that Apolonia must have been upset. Otherwise Myra wouldn't have been so scared. I walked through the ajar door leading to the east wing and in the dark, touching the walls of the hallway, I walked toward the ballet room. When I got there, I noticed that Apolonia was already compact and ready to play the piano. She did not even look at me. So I walked past her and grabbed onto the rail attached to the mirrored wall with one hand. I began to stretch and the old woman finally opened her mouth.

- Do you even have any idea what you did? - She asked in a tone that suggested as if she knew exactly that I didn't know. That's exactly what it was, I didn't know.

- I don't really understand. - I replied while stretching in front of the mirror. - I signed up for a dance competition a long time ago. What's wrong with that?

- And only now are you saying that you are going to a competition that is being held in Kosevo? - She said stretching her vocal cords probably to the limit. I felt a stab of fear because I did not know what she meant.

- Can you explain what this competition is all about? - I asked stopping to stretch.

The woman grabbed her temple with her wolf paw and bowed her forehead. She looked as if she had a migraine and could hardly speak.

- The competition in the city of Kosevo, is the first stage of a three-stage dance competition. - She began to speak with great seriousness. - In the first, the jury selects three semi-finalists. In the second stage, the jury selects only two from those three. The third stage is the dance in front of the king. Fortunately, your last name is Porter. In the event of your highly probable failure, no one will associate you with me.

The way the old woman spoke made me tremble. The tone of her voice suggested that I had gotten myself into an extremely demanding dance competition. However, I was comforted by the fact that no one in this house was interested in dancing. If I lost, no one would even care.

As I gathered my thoughts, I ran my hand through my hair and sighed loudly. Friday I'm supposed to act out our theater scene with Rayan. Saturday I'll be having a birthday party with this family and I don't know what could happen and then a competition from which only three people from the whole country will be chosen. It promises to be pretty good.

- Please play. - I said to Apolonia.

Withoutwaiting for anything, she started tapping her fingers on the piano keys.Something told me that now I would see grandma Apolonia every night.