Love You, Hate You Read online

  “Oh, for sure!” said Kaitlyn. “I’m sure that you and Chloe will do great at comp this year. My mom said you did well last year.”

  “Thanks!” said Michael. Chloe smiled at her and then followed Michael out. Kaitlyn smiled to herself. The little ones knew to suck up to her, that was a good sign. Her mom would be pleased to hear about that. As she went downstairs, Kaitlyn smelled the lost and found box. What on earth is in there? The smell was disgusting. She started digging to find out.

  “Hey, watcha doing?” asked Delilah.

  “Trying to find out what’s stinking up the whole basement!” Kaitlyn replied. Delilah bent down to help.

  “Whooee, it does stink in here. Oh, look, a brand new pair of pointe shoes! Keiko, aren’t these yours? They’re sewn folded over instead of burned.… Oh, and these are your warm-ups, Jessica …” As Delilah passed out the discoveries, Kaitlyn reached in and pulled out a bag.

  “Omigod!” she screamed. “It’s a bag of rotting Duan’s takeout! Eww! There’s another bag of it and an apple!”

  “I think there might actually be a janitor!” Delilah said in mock surprise. “We thought there wasn’t, but somebody must have put those bags in the lost and found.” Kaitlyn grimaced in disgust and hurried to the bathroom to wash her hands. Anna was going through Taylor’s stash of junk food, trying to find something partially healthy, while Taylor stood nervously by watching her.

  “How come you have that much junk in your locker?” Kaitlyn asked.

  “Well, I, like, always forget to have breakfast and pack a lunch, and I always need to eat before dance, and my mom gets so mad when I eat junk, so I store it in my locker and I eat it here where she can’t find it. Honestly, she is such a control freak, but I won’t tell her where my locker is. I always tell her I need to get home right away to do homework when she asks where it is.” Taylor stood up and walked straight into the wall. “OMG, I just, like, raped the wall! My boobs totally violated that wall!” Taylor said, giggling as she went into the bathroom.

  “Wow, somebody’s had too many energy drinks,” Kaitlyn said as she left the changing room to go home, muscles aching.

  “Hey, you bussing?” asked a boy from her class who’d been sitting out because of his ankle.

  “No, my mom’s coming to pick me up, but I have to wait for a little bit,” replied Kaitlyn. “I’m Kaitlyn, by the way.”

  “Julian,” he answered. “I’m new here.”

  “Me too,” smiled Kaitlyn. “Are you from Van-city?”

  “Um, no, I’m sort of from the Island.” he answered. “But I’ve been living in Toronto for the last year with my stepdad. I just moved back to B.C. to go to the academy. I’m homestaying with Mr. Yu. It’s totally cool, but the food sucks majorly. I’m going to McKinley Secondary for my half-day academics. Where do you go?”

  “Oh, I go to McKinley too, but my mom picked me up and drove me here because it was the first day. I’m going to bus tomorrow, though.”

  “That’s cool. See you tomorrow then. Konbanwa!” he said, grinning.

  “What does that mean?”

  “‘Good evening.’ Keiko, my homestay sister, taught me some Japanese last night. I’m the only person there who likes speaking English, and Leon speaks Spanish, Keiko and Mao like Japanese, and the Yus like Mandarin, so it’s kind of lonely at the dinner table,” he said, pouting.

  Kaitlyn laughed. “I can totally picture that. I’m glad my parents live here.”

  “Oh no!” Julian said in exaggerated horror. “Home-staying totally rocks. I mean, you get to live with a bunch of other teenagers, leave school way early to dance, and the Yus don’t care what you do with your free time as long as you tell them when you don’t need dinner.”

  Cecilia was coming down the hall quickly, gesturing at Kaitlyn to get up. “Come on, Kaitlyn, let’s go.”

  “Kay, bye then,” laughed Kaitlyn.

  “Bye,” Julian smiled. He swung his long body out of the chair and sauntered down the hall, plugging in his iPod earbuds as he went.

  As Kaitlyn and Cecilia walked to the car, Kaitlyn felt a little burst of happiness spread through her body. Her first day at the academy was over, and it hadn’t been so bad. Julian seemed sweet, and Taylor would be easy to boss around. Anna was the only one who had got more corrections from Mr. Moretti, and her corrections were mostly of the “how many times do I have to tell you?” variety, so Kaitlyn felt confident that she would pass her soon.

  As soon as they got in the car, Cecilia asked, “Well? How was it?”

  “Fine. Mr. Moretti likes me, I think, and Taylor’s trying to be friends with me, so I have someone to talk to.”

  “Yes, well, Kaitlyn, you can’t rely on just Taylor. You’re going to have to make some friends who are actually good dancers. What about Anna? Does she still not like you?”

  Kaitlyn sighed. “Yeah, and she’s totally one of the Demidovskis’ favourites. She was even late for class today because she was talking to Mr. Demidovski. But I’m better than her. It’s just her body type. Oh, and Michael and Chloe came up to me today. Michael said that his mom said that I was going to bring up the standard of the academy, and asked me to give him corrections.“

  “Well that’s great, Kaitlyn! If Michael’s mom said that, it means everyone already knows that the Demidovskis like you. I’m very pleased by that. And don’t worry, sweetie. You’re the best they have right now. Anna is nothing, neither is Taylor. Did you happen to hear if Alexandra has made the finals at Genee? ”

  “No, Mom, I was a little busy!” Kaitlyn snapped.

  “Okay, sweetie, calm down. You just need some sleep. What do you want for dinner? A salad? Do you want to stop by Whole Foods?”

  “I’d rather eat some pasta,” Kaitlyn muttered under her breath, then added aloud, “Sure mom, whatever. Just hurry up, please. I need to cover my books and write 500 words on ‘what I want to accomplish in socials this year,’ tonight.”

  Kaitlyn went to her room and flopped on the bed. To Tylenol or not to Tylenol, that is the question, she thought grumpily. Coming back to dance after the break between summer intensives and school-year classes was always annoying, but Kaitlyn just hadn’t been able to force herself to take drop-in classes at Harbour during the two week break. She reached over and logged on to her laptop. As she signed on to MSN she grimaced. I’m going to have to change my email before anyone at the academy adds me! [email protected] isn’t very original.

  She started her homework—“Oh, forget it,” she said out loud. How am I supposed to concentrate on my homework when all I can think about is the academy? She logged on to Facebook. Ten friend requests. Kaitlyn giggled. Obviously she had danced well today.

  Taylor’s chat box popped up, “Hey!”

  Kaitlyn groaned. She didn’t want to talk to Taylor right now, but it would probably be diplomatic if she pretended they were BFFs for now.

  The alarm started blasting, and Kaitlyn quickly turned it off. She had been awake for a couple of minutes anyway. She always did that the first week of school. As she got dressed, she felt happy and excited. She lost a pound yesterday, and she hadn’t even been that hungry. She loved adrenalin: it usually had that affect on her. Maybe I can lose two pounds today! She looked at herself in the mirror. I look pretty good. I might not be able to dress as expensively as Anna, but I do look younger. And really, she thought, isn’t that more important for dance, anyway?

  When she got downstairs, Cecilia already had her breakfast ready: a bowl of porridge and fat-free yogurt sitting on the table with her bagged lunch.

  “Your dad’s going to drive you today, Kaitlyn,” Cecilia said. “Were you talking to Taylor last night?”

  “Yes, why?”

  “Oh, I was on your Facebook, and her status said she was looking forward to her birthday party.…”

  “Yeah, she invited me to it last night. It’s going to be at a restaurant downtown on the twentieth,” said Kaitlyn, putting some sugar and milk on her porridge.


  “We’ll get you a new dress for it then. Have a good day. Remember to get to the front of the class and keep Mr. Moretti correcting you, he’s doing most of the casting for The Nutcracker this year. Mr. Demidovski told me that he’s thinking of you as Clara, but if you impress Mr. Moretti you might get Sugarplum.”

  “Okay, okay, Mom! Geez!” Kaitlyn went to find her dad, who was on the computer, finishing up an email. “Dad, we have to go, like, now.”

  “All right Kaitlyn, go wait in the car. I’ll be there in a sec,” Jeff Wardle said, still typing. Sighing, Kaitlyn went to wait.

  As they drove to McKinley, Jeff asked how her first day at the academy had been.

  “It was good.”

  “Did you like the teachers?” Jeff asked as he turned onto Granville and nearly ran over a homeless man who was racing across the street.

  “Dad!” laughed Kaitlyn. “No one likes ballet teachers, they’re all crazy.”

  “Okay, but did you learn anything?”

  “Um, the one I had yesterday was okay,” said Kaitlyn, as they pulled into the school parking lot. “He’s Italian, so he doesn’t teach Balanchine. I like that.”

  “Okay, have a good day. Good luck!” Jeff said as Kaitlyn left the car.

  “Thanks, I’ll need it!”

  After school everyone met up at the bus stop to go to the academy.

  “Hey, ’sup? How was school?” asked Julian, smiling at Kaitlyn. He seemed rather relieved to see her.

  Delilah turned to Kaitlyn; “Don’t you think he would make a good drag queen?” she pointed at Julian. “I mean, he has such awesome hair!”

  “I can see,” Kageki said, grinning.

  “How do you even know what a drag queen is?” said Anna. “Who taught you that word?”

  “Tristan,” Kageki was laughing. “He taught me so many good words I want to use, but he says I can’t use. Like …”

  “Shh!” Julian laughed as he covered Kageki’s mouth. Kaitlyn just stood there laughing at Kageki. He looked so funny with his ultra-fashionable haircut. There were different chunks of hair going every which way: some parts perfectly straight, others in corkscrew curls. The affect was accentuated by the fact that his hair was dyed red.

  “What are you laughing at?” asked Anna, suddenly turning to Kaitlyn.

  “Nothing!” said Kaitlyn, too surprised to think of a good come back. Just at that moment, the bus drove up and they got on.

  “Aren’t you kids leaving school a little early?” the bus driver asked, raising his eyebrows.

  “No, we’re in the Super Achievers Program,” said Delilah, smiling sweetly up at him.

  “What’s that?” he asked.

  “It’s for sports and arts. We get to leave at 11:30 every day to go to dance, and we get fine arts and P.E credits for it,” said Anna, looking at him as if he was an idiot.

  “Oh, all right,” he said, looking sorry he’d asked. “School’s sure different from when I was there,” he muttered to himself.

  “God, isn’t Taylor the most retarded person on the planet?’ Anna said as they sat down, staring straight at Kaitlyn.

  Kaitlyn tried to ignore her. FML, she thought.

  Everyone had sat down on the back benches, but there were no more seats there, so Kaitlyn either had to stand the whole ride and look like a desperate idiot, or sit in one of the forward-facing benches and turn around the whole ride. She picked sitting in the forward-facing benches.

  “Oh, Jonathon told me that Alexandra has made finals, and is … is going? Sorry, coming, back in two days,” said Kageki.

  “That’s awesome she made it to finals!” Kaitlyn said. “The Demidovskis must be really happy.”

  “Oh, I doubt they know,” laughed Delilah.

  “Wouldn’t Alexandra have phoned them?” Kaitlyn asked.

  “God, why?” said Delilah. “She doesn’t owe them anything.”

  “I think she should have phoned them,” said Angela, who was sitting quietly in the corner. “After all, they let her go to the Genee.”

  “Let her?” snorted Anna. “You mean they ‘let’ her go try to win something for them, so they could have more students come to the ‘globally renowned Vancouver International Ballet Academy,’ while they didn’t lift a finger to help her prepare?”

  “They did give her some privates…” Angela blushed and sank lower into her seat.

  “Yeah, for like a hundred bucks an hour after she begged. And they showed up late for them,” Delilah chimed in, probably hoping to get on Anna’s good side. Anna just looked annoyed. She didn’t need help to squash Angela.

  Kaitlyn turned on her iPod and faced front, glad that she didn’t get a seat in the back. Now she had an excuse to zone out. She daydreamed, half-listening to the conversation behind her, mostly to make sure it wasn’t about her, through the sounds of the Thriving Ivory. She could see herself winning gold at Prix de Lausanne and going to the Royal Ballet. Anna would be so jealous and would have to suck up to her, couldn’t get a job anywhere. And she was dating a boy in the company who was perfect, and so strong and nice. In her daydream, she was so happy that she just didn’t need to eat, so she had a perfect body type, she even grew a couple of inches.… Kaitlyn sighed happily and escaped reality for the rest of the ride to the academy.

  Chapter Two

  Taylor Audley

  I’m Sooooo hapy that my bff Kaitlyn has come to the acadimy, and that my b-day party is soon!!!! Exited for Nut auditshions!

  Taylor woke up feeling surprisingly rested. She tried to remember why. I’m sure it’s Wednesday, not Sunday. Am I sick and forgot? I don’t feel sick … She stumbled into the kitchen, head rushing.

  “Mom, why am I still here?” she asked, falling into a chair.

  “You have Nutcracker auditions today, Taylor. And you were up so late talking to that nice boy from your school. What’s his name…? Brandon,” Charlize Petrenko said. “I wanted to make sure you had enough sleep.”

  “Oh,” said Taylor, “I didn’t know that they were today.”

  “I told you Taylor,” Charlize sounded annoyed. “Oopsies,” she giggled, spilling milk on the table. “I told you last night. You never remember anything. Do you want a meal replacement shake?” She took one for herself.

  “No!” said Taylor, averting her eyes. Meal replacement shakes always made her feel sick in the morning.

  “Well, do you want some cereal then? There’s some Rice Krispies.”

  “Do we have any Froot Loops, Mom?”

  “Yes, but don’t put any sugar on them, Taylor, they have enough sugar as it is,” Charlize sighed. “Oh, and Taylor, your dad wants you to call him. He wants to know if you’re going to stay with him for Christmas.”

  “How should I know?” asked Taylor, pouring a cup of cereal in a bowl, carefully adding five heaping tablespoons of white sugar and some milk. She eyed the bowl suspiciously. It still didn’t look very appetizing. She added some spray whipping cream and some red sprinkles which happened to be in her bathrobe.

  “Taylor.… Oh, why do I even try?” Charlize groaned, throwing her hands in the air. Taylor ignored her and started eating the sprinkles off the whipping cream.

  “Ta-aylor! I can’t believe you just ate the whipping cream off the cereal!”

  “The cereal was soggy! I can’t eat it when it’s mushy!”

  “Whatever, we have to go now. You have your audition.”

  As Charlize drove Taylor to the academy, she kept up a steady stream of advice: “Remember to smile at all the teachers today, and do your hair nicely. Most of what people think when they see people dance is what they look like. Put some lipstick or gloss on, you look washed out. I told you to get to sleep last night!”

  “Mom, geez, shut up already! And it’s not all about what I look like you know, it’s about other stuff, too, like technique!” Taylor said angrily. Charlize continued as if she hadn’t heard her.

  “Don’t eat the junk you usually do. It just makes you more ADD. You should we
ar your red bodysuit so you stand out. And please remember that Kaitlyn is not your friend, she wants a good part just as much as you do, and her mother stops at nothing to make sure she gets it.” She pulled out her wallet as they reached a red light. “Here’s twenty-five dollars for the audition and a twenty for dinner and lunch. I really mean it, Taylor, you need to concentrate and try to get a good part. Did you know that Kaitlyn is on full scholarship? If you would just improve a little faster, Taylor, I know you could do it. And you have to, Honey, because you sure aren’t going to make it to university.” Taylor turned the car music on as loud as she could without going deaf, and pretended she couldn’t hear her mother telling her to turn it down.

  When her mother finally turned the music down, Taylor said, “I don’t know what is wrong with you, I do work as hard as I can, and Kaitlyn is just a suck-up. I hate her smile. And I’m not going to wear the red bodysuit, it makes my boobs look too big. I left it at home, anyway.”

  “Oh, Taylor, you forgot your red bodysuit?”

  “No, I am just not going to friggin’ wear it! I’m going to wear my blue one. I like that one.”

  “Okay, Taylor. I’m just trying to help!” Charlize said as they pulled up beside the academy.

  “Well, stop it!” said Taylor as she got out of the car.

  “Wait, I’m coming in! I want to talk to Cecilia.”

  “Who?” said Taylor.

  “Kaitlyn’s mother.”

  “Oh, great,” Taylor grimaced.

  “Did you remember to invite Kaitlyn to your birthday party?”

  “Yes, Mom!” answered Taylor.

  “Oh, and Taylor, do you know if Alexandra going to be back for casting today?”

  “I. Don’t. Know,” Taylor stalked off. As she walked into the academy, Keiko came excitedly up to her.

  “Tay-chan, guess what?! Alexandra got bronze at Genee!”

  “Wow, that’s sweet!” said Taylor excitedly. “Is she back yet?”

  “Hai,” said Keiko. “She’s downstairs changing. She’s super skinny right now. Like, bone, bone, bone.”