Attitude Read Online Free Page A

earlier, takes us into a small room lined from floor to ceiling with shelves and filled with more ballet shoes than I’ve seen in my life.
    We sit on a long bench to wait our turn. I’m sitting in the middle, and Mrs. Hoffman is slowly working her way down the line. On my left are all the girls who just voted against Iako. Danika is holding out a foot for Mrs. Hoffman to inspect, Anya and Zoe are watching, and Edie is whispering with Melissa, her back turned toward me. On my right are Iako and the three other new girls. The short-haired girl, Cam, grins at me. I start to smile back. Then I remember that she’s going to be next on Melissa’s list, and a wave of hot shame makes me drop my eyes.
    Mrs. Hoffman has moved on to Anya and is fussing over her shoes. “Tch, tch. These are getting worn out. You’re not getting much support from this box anymore.”
    Anya groans. “I’ve only had them three weeks.”
    The teacher nods. “You can use some jet glue to stiffen it, maybe get a little more use from them, but you really need new ones.” She hands the shoe back and moves on to Zoe. “Ah yes, this foot I remember.”
    Zoe makes a face. “Why do I feel like that isn’t a good thing?”
    â€œYour second toe’s longer than your big toe. Looks like you’ve been getting blisters on that middle joint, yes?”
    â€œAlways. Well, for the last two years anyway. Since I started on pointe.”
    I look down at Zoe’s foot and notice that her middle toes are wrapped in white tape. I started on pointe two years ago, but for the first year I didn’t do much at all. Anya’s worn-out shoes and Zoe’s taped toes make me wonder if the other girls all have more experience than I do.
    Mrs. Hoffman moves on down the line, commenting on Melissa’s feet. “Beautiful, beautiful. Lovely flexible feet, and look at that instep!” She pushes down on Melissa’s foot, increasing the curve, and I can’t help agreeing that it’s beautiful. “Take care of these high arches, dear. You’ll have to work to keep them strong. Remind me to give you some exercises.”
    â€œYou’ve given me them before,” Melissa says.
    â€œAnd are you doing them?”
    â€œYes. Well…sometimes.”
    â€œEvery day,” Mrs. Hoffman says firmly. “A beautiful foot is no use if you cannot dance on it, and without strong feet, you cannot dance.”
    She checks Edie’s shoes and nods approval, and then stands in front of me. “Now for the new girls. Let’s see your feet, dears, and make sure your shoes are fitting properly.”
    I lift my right foot, and she takes it in her cool hands, flexing my arch, pushing down on my toes, feeling my ankle and heel. “A lovely neat foot,” she says and glances at my name tag. “See this, girls? Cassandra’s big toe and the next two toes are all the same length. Very square, this foot. This means that when she goes on pointe, her weight will be distributed across the three toes.”
    My cheeks warm with both pleasure and embarrassment—I hear Melissa whisper something, and a couple of the other girls snicker. Mrs. Hoffman doesn’t seem to notice. “Put these back on and let’s see you on pointe.”
    I slip my shoes back on, lace them around my ankles, stand up and rise onto my toes.
    Mrs. Hoffman squats, inspecting my feet. “Your shoes fit nicely, dear, but keep your feet straight. See this? You’re a little out on your baby toes. We call that sickling, and you don’t want to do that. The space between your feet needs to stay equal, yes?” She rests her fingers on the outsides of my heels, pressing lightly. “Like so. You must have nice straight feet.”
    I nod. “Thanks.”
    She smiles at me as I sit back down, then moves on to Iako. “May I see your foot, dear?”
    Iako holds out her foot silently. I watch