On Pointe Read Online Free PDF Page B

piano—”
    â€œGrandpa . . . ” I get up and go inside.
    My stomach rolls.
    I dump my soda
    down the sink
    and smash the can flat.
    â€œAuditions are on Saturday, Mom.”
    â€œOh, sweetheart.
    How exciting!
    I know you’ll do wonderfully.
    Our dream is about to come true, isn’t it?”
    I bite a hangnail on my pinkie
    and spit out the skin.
    Mija winds around my ankles.
    â€œI hope.”
    â€œWell, I’m certain it’s all about to happen.
    How’s your grandpa?
    Is he doing okay?
    Is he feeling fine?”
    â€œYes.” He walks by the kitchen window
    with a rake. “He’s been doing the usual.
    He works in his garden
    and goes to his Bible studies.
    But sometimes . . . ”
    â€œWhat?
    Clare,
    tell me what you were going to say.”
    â€œWell, he talks on and on.”
    â€œOh, Clare. Is that all?
    Be patient with him.
    He’s lonely.”
    â€œI know. But it can drive me crazy.”
    â€œClare—”
    â€œYeah, I know.” I turn around
    and lean against the counter.
    Mija sits and washes her face.
    â€œHas he been taking his medicine?
    Regularly?”
    â€œI think so.
    Uh huh. Morning and night.”
    â€œGood. Now, are you really okay
    with your dad and me
    going to this booksellers’ convention?
    We won’t be nearby
    for the audition.”
    â€œSure, Mom.”
    â€œPromise to call the cell phone
    and let us know
    the minute you finish.”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œAnd be patient with Grandpa.”
    â€œI will.”
    â€œI need to go now, honey.”
    â€œUm.”
    â€œIs there something else, Clare?
    Something on your mind?”
    â€œCan I talk to Dad, Mom?”
    â€œWell, he’s busy with a customer right now.
    But I could—”
    â€œOh, never mind. Love you, Mom. Bye.”
    â€œLove you too.”
    Click .
    Bzzzzz .
    â€œIt’s just that
    Dia got kicked out
    and won’t ever be a dancer,
    and what if that happens to me?
    Would you ask Dad that for me, Mom?”
    Bzzzzz.
    â€œWhat if I’m too tall to make it?
    Will everyone
    still love me if I fail
    at our dream?”
    Bzzzzz.
    I hang up the phone.
    Mija stares up at me.
    â€œEven though I’m trying hard,
    failure
    could be
    my future.”
    Grandpa
    flicks through the channels.
    I switch my split
    from my right leg forward
    to my left.
    With the audition on Saturday,
    a little extra stretching
    won’t hurt.
    Even in pajamas.
    â€œBe all that you can be,”
    sings the commercial.
    Grandpa waits for the soldier
    to salute the flag
    before he changes the channel.
    Every now and then
    he does something like that
    that reminds me he was a soldier
    in the Army once.
    Before he worked for and retired
    from Boeing Aerospace.
    He carried the radio for his unit
    in the Korean war.
    Ages ago.
    Not that he ever talks about it.
    But his medals are displayed in the glass cabinet.
    The jingle keeps going
    in my brain.
    Be all that you can be.
    What’s the best I can be?
    Grandpa stops a second on PBS.
    â€œOh, Clare. This used to be your favorite show.”
    I split in the middle and grimace.
    A big hairy monster
    is telling a little yellow ball
    she can grow up and do anything
    she dreams of
    if
    she believes and tries hard enough.
    â€œGrandpa,” I complain.
    â€œOkay, okay.” He chuckles.
    â€œSo grown up now.”
    He starts channel surfing again.
    I wonder if Dia
    ever watched that show
    when she was little?
    â€œDo they hurt, Clare?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYour feet.”
    I pull my knees up
    and spread my toes on the braided rug.
    â€œWell . . . ”
    One nail is black.
    I didn’t cut it short enough,
    so the skin bruised underneath.
    Three toes have open blisters.
    The big callus on my right foot is really red.
    â€œYeah. I guess if I think about it, they hurt.”
    Grandpa’s lips pinch into a line.
    â€œIt