It didn't take too long to make it to my room, my mood ruined for the day.
He wasn't lying when he said I would stay with him.
No matter what, how old I was, Jay would always be there to open his window and let me stay with him for the night.
He knew that I needed help, and he wasn't afraid to offer it.
Although no one ever knew about it.
Stepping inside, I stared around at all of the pinkness, shocked at how horrible it was.
Walking over to the curtains, I rubbed my hands over it, my magic slipping through my fingers and covering it.
It didn't stiffen the fabric however, it simply changed it.
Letting out a smile, I let my magic flow into the whole room, all of the pink turning an ice blue.
It was much better after that, and I put my bag on my bed, opening up my dance bag.
There was a loud knock on my door as I unpacked my ballet things, and I paused, stepping over to open it.
Ben was standing there, with a slightly off look on his face.
"What are you afraid of?" I asked, and he looked surprised at the question.
"I've never met someone with powers like yours. I'm afraid of being frozen somewhere like Jay." He replied honestly, surprising me.
"Why didn't you lie?"
"It was something I was taught when I was younger. Lying only hurts people, while being honest may hurt some people, but at least there is nothing you can do." He replied, leaning on the door frame as I went back to unpacking.
"I was taught when you are honest, people will use it against you."
"You dance?" Ben asked, staring at the shoes that sat on the bed.
"Yes. Rothbart was my longest foster home, and as I'm sure you know, he has a thing for ballet," I replied, putting clothes away in the drawers that I had.
"Would you like to start ballet here? Our school team starts in about an hour and a half, so if you would like, I could leave you to finish unpacking, and then meet you back here to take you to the studio in about an hour?" He offered, and I smirked, thinking about what Rothbart said.
"Sounds like a great plan," I responded, and he smiled.
"I love what you have done with the place," he said with a chuckle, before walking away.
Closing the door behind him, I wondered what these girls would be like, although it hardly mattered.
The type of people that would do dance at this school would be the most prestigious girls, the ones who have had a silver spoon in their mouths their whole lives.
They didn't want someone like me changing anything.
Glancing over at the short, frilly curtain that hung off of my bed, I wondered if I could change it more than just its color.
Using my powers once again, I worked to make it longer, and soon I had beautiful transparent curtains hanging, which looked much better than it did before.
Taking it a step further, I wrapped the wood of my bed frame with ice sculptures, turning it into an art piece.
It was like nothing I had ever done before, and yet it felt so natural to me.
As I played with my ice, my room slowly became more personalized, as if it was really mine.
Glancing at the clock on the wall, I saw that I had spent forty five minutes doing it, and quickly gathered my dance outfit, getting changed into it.
I picked the black leotard with garbage bag shorts, deciding to go simple.
Putting on a pair of slip on shoes, I finished cleaning out my dance bag, grabbing a beat up hoodie and pulling it over my head.
Making sure I had my water bottle and toe shoes, I zipped my bag up just as Ben knocked on the door.
Opening it, I through my hair up in a bun as I walked back to my bag, making it as tight as possible.
"Well you sure look ready," he commented, and I smirked.
"Of course I am. Lets go," I replied, and he nodded, motioning for me to follow him.
Shutting my door behind me, I walked down the hallway with him, my steps light.
I looked around in amazement at how expensive everything would be, and how much these kind of things would be worth on the Isle.
Although it wouldn't be quite the same here.
I seriously doubted that money was a problem for anyone here, they probably never even gave it a second thought.
Surprisingly, we took a set of stairs up, walking down a hallway with lots of glass rooms.
"This is our arts area. We love to support everyone in their creative passions so we have many different forms of art. We have many different dances, painting, drawing, sculpting, writing areas here, where you can learn more to get better." Ben explained as I glanced through the colorful rooms, seeing various students in the classrooms.
"Free self expression," I replied softly, and he smiled.
"You get it. Well this is it. I will walk in with you to let the teacher know," Ben said, pushing in a frosted glass door.
Stepping inside, I saw so many carbon copies.
They were all wearing light pink leotards, with the matching skirt and tights.
They all had the same color of ballet slippers as well, making it hard to tell them all apart.
The only differences were the color of their hair, and their slightly different colored leg warmers.
There were two guys in the class, though that was more than I was expecting.
The teacher whose blonde hair was also up in a tight bun turned around, and I recognized her instantly.
It was Odette.
She looked just like Odile, and yet you would easily be able to tell them apart.
Odette had smile and laugh lines on her face, obviously relaxed and happy.
There were some small tendrils of hair escaping her bun, framing her face beautifully.
Even her cheeks were slightly full, completely making her look friendly.
She was so different from Odile.
Odile had a permanent frown on her face, with hard lines that formed on her bones.
Her dark hair was always forced to stay perfectly in place, always making her so intense.
They had the same face however, that was undeniable.
"Hello Miss Odette," said Ben friendly, and some of the girls glanced up from where they were stretching, giving him a friendly look, as well as glaring at me.
"Hello Ben. Who is this?" She asked nicely, smiling at me.
"My name is Nina. I'm a transfer student," I replied quickly, adjusting my bag on my shoulder.
"Have you done ballet before my dear?" She asked so sweetly, and I chuckled.
"Yes I have. I used to dance on the Isle," I replied, and I heard people gasp.
"We are going to have a Villain Kid dance with us?" Asked a snotty dark haired girl, who had light blue leg warmers.
"Now Audrey everyone is welcome here. Why don't you put your shoes on and you can just step in with everyone. If there is something you don't know, you can just step to the side, and I will teach you it later. Ben, you can leave now if you wish." Odette said, her voice staying in the happy calm voice.
"Thank you," he said with a smile, giving me one as well before leaving.
Tossing my bag in a corner, I pulled out the shiny black shoes that Rothbart had given me, starting to lace them up.
"Where did you get those shoes?" Odette said suddenly, her voice slightly louder than it was before.
Everyone glanced over at me, staring at the shoes.
"Rothbart gave them to me before I left. Good shoes are hard to come by on the Isle. These were the only good pair there." I replied, knowing she recognized them.
"Rothbart taught you dance didn't he?" She asked, causing more gasps.
"Yes. He was one of my foster parents. My longest one actually, and he taught me. Probably the only reason he didn't kick me out," I said with a chuckle, and she smiled.
"You are going to be a hard worker," she said with a knowing smirk, not seeming the least bit disturbed by it.
I think I'm going to like her.
Starting my stretches, I pulled off my hoodie, also doing exercises to warm myself up.
We all started on the barre work, starting with the five positions.
My moves were quick and crisp, much more precise than the other people.
Most of the practice was like that.
I knew everything we were working on, and all of my moves were perfect.
It always had to be perfect.
"Now, make sure that you stretch properly, as that was a longer practice than normal." Odette said after an hour and a half, and I frowned softly.
I was just getting into it.
"Thats it?" I asked, and everyone groaned.
"Don't make us do more we are all so tired," groaned Audrey, glaring at me.
"What are you used to Nina?" Asked Odette, a small smile tugging her lips.
"I don't know, three four hours a day," I replied.
They all collectively gasped, moving off of the dance space to stretch.
"That would have been very hard," said a girl quietly, giving me a smile.
She had very dark hair, almost black, with bright blue eyes, and was wearing bright red legwarmers, that had some black accents.
"You get used to it," I replied, going over to my bag to take my shoes off.
She moved over to right beside me, and I watched her carefully out of the corner of my eye.
"My name is Nucka. You are Nina right?" She asked, giving me a nice smile.
"Yeah I am," I replied, keeping my responses short.
"You are a really good dancer," she complimented tentatively, and I noticed how shy she was.
Why would she be talking to me then?
"Thank you. So were you. You were very graceful," I replied, pulling off my shoes.
"Are those scars on your feet?" She asked with a gasp, and I saw the scars from dancing so long my feet bled.
Pulling on my slip on shoes, I zipped up my bag, standing up.
"Yeah they are."
Walking out of the classroom, I heard someone calling me.
"You did very well today Nina. Here is a list of other dance groups we have here. I figured you may want it," Odette said, handing me a printed list with times and dates.
"Thank you," I replied, before continuing to walk away.
Trying to walk back the way I came, I glanced out some of the windows, showing the beautiful setting sun.
The world is so different here.
Dance was at least something I knew, although even that was different.
The people I did know changed, and it almost felt like I didn't know them at all.
Stepping away from the window, I pulled my hair out of the bun, shaking it out.
That sweet girl wouldn't get the half of it.
She would have two parents, probably siblings, and never would have been forced into continuing.
She didn't need to know anything about me.
It didn't take me long to get lost, as I wasn't paying too much attention when trying to get back to my room.
Jay came into the hallway, dripping wet from the ice melting.
Smirking, I walked over to him.
"See, told you it would melt," I told him, and he glared at me.
"I was frozen there for around an hour and a half, until Mal found me and unfroze me. Was that really necessary?" He asked, and I rolled my eyes, pulling all of the water off of his body, and into a nearby plant.
"Yes. It was. And you know it," I replied, and he ducked his head slightly.
"I'm sorry Nina, I shouldn't have said that," he responded, and I stared at him in shock.
"You've changed so much," I snapped, and he frowned.
"Is it bad that I'm trying to be nice to you?" He asked, and I sent another glare his way.
"Its bad that you are treating me like I'm glass. I'm fine, I'm not broken," I snapped again, starting to walk down the hallway.
"Nina I just want to help-"
"Stop saying that. I don't need help. You all think that I need someone and shocking concept I don't. I've always been alone, that doesn't need to change now."
"Nina we don't want to hurt you."
"Just stop," I said with a glare, sending some ice under his feet to make him fall.
"You need to stop pushing people away," he said after standing up, and I stared at him.
"Jay I've been here one day. Not even a whole day. So sorry for not being buddy buddy just yet." His face softened, easing up.
"You are right. So, you danced?" He asked nicely, changing the topic.
"Yeah. Ben brought me over. This one girl really hated me," I said with a laugh, and he groaned slightly.
"Let me guess; Audrey?" He asked and I nodded.
"She doesn't like anyone don't take it personally," he said, and I laughed.
"Yeah kind of got that vibe. She really didn't want me there," I answered, not sure where we were going, but walked as if I did.
"Well, how did it go other than that?" He asked, keeping the friendly tone.
"It went fine. It was really short. Met a girl named Nucka, and she seemed very different from everyone else." I replied, making him smile.
"Her parents are the Nutcracker and Clara, she's not really from here, which is why she is so much different," Jay explained, leading us down a hallway.
It looked very similar to the hallway that my room was in, but more masculine.
"Interesting," I replied, glancing around.
He opened the door to what I assumed his room was, gesturing me inside.
I stepped in, glancing around.
Carlos was lying on one of the beds, and quickly sat up when I came in.
Giving him a quick wink, I sat on a desk chair as Jay flopped on his bed.
"Hey Nina. How are you doing?" Asked Carlos quickly, seeming slightly ridged.
"Wow could you be more nervous?" Asked another male voice, a dog popping out from behind him.
"A talking dog?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at him.
"Yes ma'am. Could I get a little scratch?" He asked, jumping off the bed and coming towards me.
Gently scratching his ears, I glanced up at Carlos.
"I am fine," I replied, the dog being very happy.
"What is your name?" I asked him, pulling my hands away.
"My name is Dude," he replied, hopping back onto the bed with Carlos.
"Wow Carlos, I bet your mom loves the dog," I said, and he paused.
"She's not thrilled. But I quite like him," he said nicely, pulling Dude into his lap.
"Good for you," I said sarcastically, crossing my legs.
"You could be nice you know," said Jay, before clamping his mouth shut.
"Thanks for the, well, hospitality, but I really should get going," I replied, narrowing my eyes at him before standing up and walking out.
Figuring out where I was, I soon made it to my dorm, locking the door behind me.
I showered quickly, before jumping into the comfortable bed, falling asleep quickly.