9

We met at the café for breakfast the next morning, as planned. Ryan was in charge of the vending booth that day, so after breakfast, Ondine took me on the bus and we visited her school. The campus was very well tended to – all of the grassy areas were lush and mowed uniformly, and the walkways were lined with small flowers and short trees. A large fountain stood in front of the ornate mansion where Ondine resided and practiced on the weekdays. She led me up the steps and into the school.

               The interior of the building had an aged, musky scent to it. The ceiling in the foyer was tall, and an extravagant chandelier was suspended in the air, but the room still felt dark. A secretary looked up from her mahogany desk. The floor was wood-paneled, occasionally broken up by a fanciful rug, and the walls were plastered with a deep red, Victorian-pattern wallpaper. I noted the various marble busts and romantic-era paintings situated along the walls of the narrow corridors as Ondine led my tour around the building. She first took me to the housing area, to the left of the building. There were only about six rooms, each which housed two students. I realized how exclusive this school really must have been, and wondered why Ondine had felt so shameful about her dancing.

               She opened the door to her room without knocking, leading me to believe that she either didn’t have a roommate, or that she knew her roommate was out. The room was not large in area, but was spacious with high ceiling. Two queen-sized beds in zealous bedframes sat at opposite sides of the room with a fireplace between them on the wall. In fact, the room itself seemed to be symmetric; there were two wardrobes, two nightstands, two lamps, and two dressers. The only thing that was different was the door that we had entered through on one side, and the door to the washroom on the wall opposite of the beds.

               “You live here?” It was the only thing I could think of to say.

               Ondine laughed. “Yeah, it’s a bit over the top, but underneath all of the décor, it’s a prison camp.”

               I looked over to her. “What do you mean?”

               “Let’s just say my weekends are the only part of the week that I get to be myself.”

               I shrugged and we left her room and headed towards the other side of the building. As we passed the secretary, she looked up at us again with a grunt. Ondine ignored her, but I couldn’t help sneering back. Ondine first led me to the dining room, which was just behind the foyer. It too was frivolously decorated; a long, mahogany dining table and massive wooden chairs lined up along the sides and the end of the table. Another fanciful chandelier hung over the table, and similar paintings and statues were lined along the walls.

“This isn’t a castle, Adam,” Ondine said, sensing my awe. “We rarely eat red meat and never, ever are served dessert.”

I scoffed. “Then what’s the point of living?” I was obviously joking, but I did feel bad for her. She laughed, then led me out of the dining room and to the next stop.

               She showed me one of the rehearsal halls; they seemed like the typical setting in which most of ballet was documented. Everything was cliché; the floors, the wall mirror, and the huge window to let in natural light. I wasn’t as impressed with it as the living quarters, but she dismissed my disinterest at it and excitedly explained how well it was constructed and how fun it was to rehearse in. Her eagerness brought a smile to my face.

               Next, and final on my tour, was the theatre. Ondine instructed me to be extremely quiet, as there was a dress rehearsal going on. I nodded and followed her as she covertly opened one of the massive wooden doors and slid it shut as quietly as possible behind her. The theatre wasn’t massive, but it was impressive. The stage was large and well-lit, and crimson curtains were tied back at the sides. The detailing carved into marble just above the stage was incredible. We sat in the back row and watched the dancers on the stage rehearse in costume, listening to the music and the shouts of the director. Ondine told me they were putting on the Nutcracker for Christmas, and would be touring New York ballet theatres from the beginning of December until New Year’s. I was fascinated at the prestige of this school, and the more it proved its worth, the more puzzled I grew about Ondine’s lack of confidence.

               The dress rehearsal broke for water, so we slipped out while we had the chance. As we walked back to the entrance, it occurred to me that Ondine hadn’t led me up the huge staircase that was in the foyer. It wasn’t that I hadn’t noticed it. It was just so cliché that it didn’t even register to me that there was an upper level. I asked her about it, and she told me that the male dancers were restricted to the upper level at night, so that romances could not be entertained between students.

               “What if two girls…?” I began to ask the question, but the look on Ondine’s face made my voice trail off. It wasn’t a look of repulsion or anything like that, but the topic seemed sensitive, so I didn’t pursue it any further.

               “Well, that’s it,” Ondine sigh with a sigh, leading me out of the building.

               “In its entirety?” I asked. “It’s so big, it feels like it’ll never end.”

               “Well, there is one more thing,” she replied with a chuckle. “Follow me.”

                “I could spend an eternity following you,” I murmured to myself when she turned away and began to walk again. She didn’t hear a whisper of it. I followed her compliantly.

               Down a tree-covered, cobblestone path we walked to find ourselves in a small, secluded garden. At the end of the path was a white gazebo, and to the left of it was a small pond. A rosebush wrapped around the edges of the gazebo, and a bare cherry blossom tree stood on the other side of the pond. Ondine turned to me and gave me the sweetest, most enchanting smile to date. Maybe it was the trees, maybe it was the whole morning I’d spent with her, but in that moment I realized I had fallen past the point of being saved.

               But I still had a long, long way to fall.