“True. And God knows James is always strapped for cash. But I swear he’s on something. So does Lucky. He was over to study for anatomy the other day and afterward she said he looked like he was on meth. She said she saw plenty of cases when she was in her EMT course and it was the first thing she thought of with James.”
“Where in hell do you even get meth?”
Daisy shrugged. “A lot of dancers take uppers because they suppress your appetite. Is meth an upper?”
“You’re asking me? I can barely inhale the right end of a joint.”
“I know ecstasy is rampant in the conservatory but I thought that stuff just made you all touchy-feely and mellow. James is hardly mellow.”
“You think Lucky knows?” Erik said.
“She totally sees James is infatuated with Will. She’s no dummy. And James is so transparent a toddler could pick up the crush vibe. But the extent things went to while she was gone? I have no idea if she knows.”
“Come to think of it, I haven’t heard her and Will moaning in the night lately.” Erik meant it as a joke but Daisy’s face was sad as she nodded.
“I haven’t either,” she said. “And it’s weird, but the house feels empty without it.”
A Blind Leap
John Quillis was twenty but looked fourteen. He had copper red hair, a wholesome Boy Scout expression and to his everlasting torment, the conservatory had christened him “Opie.” To compound the pre-pubescent image, his voice was still making up its mind about changing. It cracked when he got excited or upset, or just decided not to show up at all.
He appeared in the doorway of the set shop in Mallory one afternoon, waving at Erik to come over. “Daisy’s hurt,” he said, his voice skittering.
“What happened?” Erik said. “Where is she?”
“In the training room. It’s her ankle.”
“Leo, I gotta go,” Erik called. Still wearing his work gloves and safety goggles, he headed out the shop door. “What happened?”
John was pale under his freckles as he trotted to keep up. “James dropped her.”
“On purpose?”
“I don’t know what the hell to think. She was jumping and turning into arabesque. It’s a blind leap and she has to trust he’ll be there to catch her. Dude, he wasn’t even looking. Two of us yelled his name and then Dais was on the floor.”
Erik stopped. “Hold up. Let me ask you something.”
“What?”
“Do you think he was high?”
John opened his mouth, then shut it and looked away. “I can’t go to court with anything but I know he’s been hanging with a crowd who does a lot of pills. Uppers. Ecstasy. That kind of thing.”
“Great,” Erik muttered. He started walking again. They reached the second floor and headed down the hall where the training room was. “Is Lucky working today?”
“Yeah. She’s got Dais’s foot in an ice bath. But she needs to get it x-rayed. Plus she took the weight of the fall with her hand. Her little finger might be broken.”
“I’ll fucking kill James,” Erik said. It was out of his mouth before the thought was finished in his head.
“Well, take a number,” John said. “I wouldn’t want to be him walking home tonight.”
Daisy was sitting in a chair, her left foot in a deep basin filled with ice water. Her left hand was cradled in her lap, also wrapped in ice. Will was sitting next to her but he got up when he saw Erik. “Give me your stuff,” he said, holding out a hand. Erik pulled off his gloves and goggles, handed them over.
“Hey,” he said, sitting down and sliding his arm around Daisy’s back. She tilted her head against his kiss but didn’t look at him. She didn’t look at anyone or anything, just straight down at her foot. Her eyes were steel blue and her lips pressed into a tight line.
Lucky came over with Max Tremaine, who ran the athletic training department. “I want her in the ice another ten minutes,” he said. “Then let’s take her over to the health center and get it x-rayed. I don’t think it’s broken. Probably a bad sprain. Who’s got a car?”
“I do. I’ll take her,” Erik said.
“I’ll go with,” Lucky said.