Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 126060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
“Let’s get to work, girls. Get back into your groups and begin stretching. Drama’s over. We still have time to work on our basic positions,” she announced.
How do we do that?
The girls quickly hurried to their mats. She took the youngest group to the bar.
Someone will contact Jenny. She seems to want to engage with them rather than fear them, Geno said.
It was true, Amaranthe had to admit. She feels powerful. In her family, she feels out of control. Those using her haven’t sprung it on her yet that she won’t get her photographs back. She likes being a bully and having others afraid of her. A part of her believes she can bring the great Ferraro family down.
Nicoletta weighed in. I understand her way of thinking, unfortunately. When you’ve felt small, without any control, and you suddenly have power, you might be willing to do anything to keep it.
She has choices, Lucca said. She knows she’s hurting people. She doesn’t have the kind of life you did, Nicoletta. She’s an entitled brat.
How can you know that? Nicoletta asked. Just because she comes from a wealthy family doesn’t mean she isn’t abused either physically or emotionally.
Amaranthe had to agree with Nicoletta. She’d investigated more than one family considered to be beyond reproach and found very dark hidden secrets.
Jenny’s family is very entrenched in the social circles, Salvatore informed them. They hold quite a few fund-raisers. They sat on the boards of many charities with our parents.
I’m aware, Geno acknowledged. I’m also aware, one misstep and they can fall out of favor. They’re aware as well. Their daughter hasn’t learned that lesson. She doesn’t appreciate the privileges she has from being their daughter. All the money spent on every interest she has. The education she receives. The clothes she wears. The vacations she takes. She acts out because she thinks she’s restricted at home when they say no to her. I’ve heard her mother talk at the board meeting to some of the other mothers asking what to do.
When Jenny began acting out and her mother asked for help, we had the investigators check their family out to ensure Jenny wasn’t being hurt in any way, Salvatore explained. She wasn’t, Nicoletta. She craved attention all the time, and if her parents told her no, she threw tantrums. Big ones. She would lie about her parents to anyone who would listen to her. Unfortunately, they bought her way out of trouble instead of allowing her to suffer the consequences. That just reinforced that she could do whatever she wanted.
Amaranthe helped the youngest girls go through their positions while the other two groups stretched on the mat. She ignored Jenny who took turns glaring at her defiantly and trying to flirt with the Ferraro brothers and their personal protectors.
The youngest hopeful ballerinas were very cute and clumsy, making the others smile as they did their best to get their feet and hands into the right positions when Amara called them out. The familiar music, the scent of the essential oils, the act of stretching accompanied by the sight of the little girls attempting to do their best at going through each of the classical ballet positions, helped to drive away much of the ugly atmosphere in the studio. Without Lyna Marchel to fuel Jenny’s gossip and bullying, it was much more difficult for the teen to spread her ugly attitude to the other girls.
That girl is looking to stir up trouble, Lucca announced, watching Jenny.
I called her mother. She’s on her way. We’ll see what happens when she shows up, Amaranthe said.
Amaranthe led the little girls back to their mats and called the next age group up. Carlotta and Selena were in the group. Jenny kept trying to get Selena’s attention, but Amaranthe inserted her body between the teen and her intended target to prevent Selena from seeing Jenny giving her signals. It was clear she wanted Selena to ridicule Carlotta in some way. Carlotta was quite good already, one of the best in her age group. It was clear she practiced, stretched and worked on her core. Her two friends Selena and Debbie weren’t quite as good, but they had the potential to be if they worked the way Carlotta did. Carlotta had single-minded purpose, even at ten. She had the dream of being a ballerina and was determined to succeed.
Carlotta was very sensitive and emotional. She also was on scholarship. Her family had very little money, a fact that Jenny knew and frequently told the other children. She made fun of Jordan for the same reason. Jordan was targeted because she was hearing impaired and had little money. As a rule, Jenny had kept her bullying to a minimum, but as she was Ms. Marchel’s favorite student, more and more she had begun to act a little bolder.