When I finished my description, Michael looked like he was ready to sign up for lessons right there on the spot�
Ethel plays Chopin and we line up for reverance.
"Thank you very much everyone, good class."
We offer Troyos and Ethel their traditional applause then everyone runs like hell to grab their things and get out.
"G.C., come here." Troyos exits through the double doors at the opposite end of the studio.
"I�ll be right back Katia."
"Hurry back. I don�t have a lot of time." She replies.
As I walk across the studio, Katia watches a video of our duet as done by the CCB. Clark stays behind to
watch too. I run the rest of the way, do a lay-up and slam-dunk my sweatshirt through the basketball hoop that remains from the days when the studio was a gymnasium. Troyos waits for me on the balcony by the back stairs surrounded by lumber, ladders, paint, lighting instruments and lots of other junk. The fire inspector would have a field day at the sight of it all. It�s dark back here and the only light comes from a single window, which Troyos is sitting on the windowsill of. I can�t really see him that well, but I can smell him. He smells of sweat and cologne and cotton and rosin. I probably smell the same way too.
"What the fuck is your problem G.C.?"
"Huh?"
"You heard me." He grabs me by the shoulders and backs me up against my locker.
"You wanna know somethin�? You wanna know why you�re still here at this school and not on scholarship at CCB where you should be? YOU FUCK AROUND TOO MUCH! Everything is a big joke to you! You never quit! If you stopped... stopped... daydreaming like you were in class today, you�d maybe get somewhere! You know what I�m sayin'?"
I can feel my heart racing wildly as Troyos holds my shoulders and forces his words into me...
"You think I�m a fucking idiot G.C.? Think I�m stupid? You think I don�t know what�s going on in that head of yours? How long have we known each other?"
His grip loosens a bit.
"About a year... I guess."
He lets go of my shoulders and places his hands on the locker on either side of me.
"That�s right. Do you think you�ve gotten to know me pretty well in that time?"
"I guess so." I say sounding very small.
"Yeah? Well I think I know you pretty well too..."
You know that feeling you get when you turn to look and you see the ball coming right at your face but you know you don�t have time to move so you know yer gonna get hit big time but there�s nothing you can do about it so you stand there for what seems like a long time but it�s really just a fraction of a second?
"I know how you feel about me."
For once, I have nothing to say.
"You�ll spend the rest of your life here unless you snap out of it and start taking yourself and other people seriously. I�ve invested a lot of my time and energy both in class and out on you because I believe in you G.C.. I look at you and, well, shit man. The first time I saw you dance it was like looking in the fucking mirror! No bullshit G.C.! I saw me a few years younger. A smart-ass with a lot of talent, a lot of potential and absolutely NO real self-confidence to back it up! I�ve always wanted you to like me, to take me seriously because I really want to be the one to help you succeed. O.K.? So now you know why I�ve never encouraged your feelings for me."
Strains of Mendelssohn�s "A Mid Summer Nights Dream" float out from the studio and I get a feeling in my stomach as though I were pregnant and the baby kicked.
Troyos looks at me squarely in the eyes. "Do you really want to be a dancer G.C.?" He asks me and I suddenly feel as though this were my only opportunity to answer the question truthfully.
"Yes." I say sounding smaller than ever.
"Then trust me. I�ll help you."
