“Excuse me, miss!”
She reached her car and held her breath as she turned. The two women who’d been in the waiting room ran after her. One woman had short blonde hair cut in a pixie style with sharp blue eyes and was dressed in jeans paired with a lacy white peasant T-shirt. The other woman was a brunette with brown eyes and dressed in a simple maxi dress in a vivid array of colors.
“Sorry to bother you. We couldn’t help but overhear what Principal Heffner was saying.” The blonde gave her a sympathetic smile.
She cringed. Perfect. Her humiliation was now public.
“I’m Beth and this is Heather.”
“I’m Grace.”
“Yes, we overheard.” Heather spoke up. “So you’re a dance instructor.”
She shrugged. “I’ve gone to school for dance. I really don’t have experience in teaching it.”
“So you can dance, right?” Beth cocked her head and gave Heather a look.
“Yes, but there’s no way the school is going to hire me without references.” She stuck her key in the door.
“What if we hired you?”
Grace turned. “What do you mean?”
“What if the mothers of the dancers hired you? You could practice after school on the football field after the football team is finished.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think the principal would allow it.”
“As long as it’s after school hours and he’s not paying for it, then I don’t think he would care.” Heather crossed her arms as a slow smile crossed her face. “In fact, I think I can get him to agree to that.”
“You could. That little asshole has a crush on you.” Beth snorted.
Heather’s gaze flicked upward. “Yes, well as long as I can use that to our benefit, I’ll take one for the team and be nice to the troll.”
“What do you say?” Beth looked at Grace, waiting for answer.
“How much are we talking about?” Grace’s heart sped up with excitement. She didn’t want to jump on the offer, but any income would be wonderful.
“There are ten girls. We had twelve, but one moved away and the other is preggers.”
Heather pulled out her phone and typed in some numbers. “The last dance instructor was on the school staff so she was paid a salary. We can’t pay you that much.”
Grace quickly calculated some numbers in her head. “Usually lessons are twenty to forty dollars an hour. How does ten dollars per girl sound?”
Beth’s eyes lit up. “How long would the lessons be?”
“At least a couple of hours, three days a week. Some days they might need to stay later than others. Even though its spring, I’d like for them to start getting the routines down for the fall.”
Heather smiled and stuck out her hand. “Sounds like a deal to me.”
“Really?” Grace took her hand as her heart tumbled in her chest.
“Yes. Looks like you just found yourself a job, Miss Witherspoon.”
***
Grace pulled into an empty parking space near the football field with butterflies in her stomach and second thoughts in her head.
After agreeing to take on the job of teaching the dance team, the first thing she did was go to the library to use the computer. She’d gone over her allotted time, but the kindly librarian let her use the computer longer since there was hardly anyone else in the building. She’d spent those hours going over dance routines she’d found on You Tube and taking notes.
That night she went over the routine in her dining room until she got something that would work.
She just hoped the girls would like it.
The next afternoon, Grace parked near the football field. She grabbed her clipboard, gym bag, and cell phone. She had made a play list and wanted the girls to listen and pick out music for the routine. She was going in blind with this whole dance team. If she could make enough money to get her dance studio set up then she could start teaching private ballet lessons.
The murmur of voices grew louder as she walked toward the bleachers. Girls gathered in a huddle laughing and talking, while Heather and Beth stood off to the side texting.
“Grace. We’re so excited you’re here.” Beth looked up from her phone, grinned and put her arm around Grace’s shoulder.
“Thanks. I see everyone is already here?” She nodded toward the girls who’d suddenly stopped talking and were now checking out their new instructor.
“Yes. They got here early to watch the football players.” Heather sighed. “I keep telling them they need to date a nerd. They are the ones that will be making all the money after college.”
Grace held up her cell phone. “I downloaded some songs onto my phone. I don’t have a speaker for it.”
“Oh, I already thought of that.” Beth dug in her large designer bag and pulled out a rectangular speaker. “It may be small, but it’s loud.”
“Thanks.” Grace took the speaker and sat it on a nearby bleacher.
A young girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes ran over to where they stood. “Mom, can I spend the night with Kelly?”
Heather sighed. “You know it’s a school night.”