Usagi was the only student in the SAB class using the barre like a lifejacket. All of the other students rested their fingers tips on it-some the third, others the second, Usagi the first. Her plies were wobbly and her turnout terrible. It was a miracle that she even got into the class.
The instructor, Mary Krouse, used to be an NYCB principal, and she watched her class like a hawk. She seemed to tolerate no one, and made a point if your foot was out of place, or you weren't wearing the dress code.
"You, there!" Krouse's eyes rested on Usagi's feet. "Let me see you do a releve."
Usagi went en pointe for the teacher.
"Good. Now I want to see that kind of turnout in your demis too!"
She nodded and went into a demi plie with the rest of the class. The English was hard for her to understand, and in this class Krouse spit out her commands in French, too. Usagi admitted to herself that French was better-for she new ballet in the language.
After the hour at the barre, Krouse demonstrated a combination that featured a series of pirouettes and foutette en tournants. The class followed gracefully-the pianist choosing a perfect tune to the miniature dance.
Krouse yelled out the steps for the girls as they performed them. "And promednade, glissade, jete, triple!"
The steps were much harder to master than shown by Krouse. After a floor exercise of port de bras, Krouse ended her class. "Usagi Tsukino!"
Usagi walked up to Mary. "Yes?"
"You are a very good student, but that hair of yours-bangs especially-must be pulled back. I cannot have a meatball in Serenade."
Usagi nodded and exited the class.
"My hair? She wants me to cut my hair?" Usagi was holding her gold locks when she bumped into another student. "Oh my gosh! Are you alright?"
"Yes, quite fine." He picked himself up. "I'm Demitri Suslov."
"Usagi Tsukino."
"Tsukino…hmm…is that Chinese?"
"Japanese." Usagi corrected Demitri.
"I'm from Russia. How long have you been here?" The two began to walk to the dorms.
"I arrived last week."
"Really? Me too. I'm homesick already; I guess that's kind of dumb to say-I mean for me being a guy, in SAB, and saying I'm homesick."
"No…my boyfr-" Usagi stopped herself. She promised that she wouldn't say Mamoru's name-it would kill her to miss him even more. "My brother says that kind of thing all the time."
"Anyway," Demitri seemed to not care at Usagi's flaw. "I heard that Krouse wanted you to cut your hair?"
"Well, I was dramatizing-again. She just wanted my bangs out of the way."
"You have pretty hair, it would be a shame to cut it." Demitri looked over Usagi's hair.
"Thank you." Usagi stopped in front of her dorm. "I'll see you around, Demitri. It was nice meeting you." For the first time, Usagi saw Demitri's whole face. He had golden hair, darker than hers, and ice blue eyes that could melt a girl's heart. He was gorgeous…and Mamoru was an ocean away…
