The Hardest Cut by Jamie Bennett (book club recommendations .TXT) 📕

me any less upset.  We had moved from three-a-week to daily practices, and they were getting tougher every time.  I sighed a little.  “It went ok, but Coach Sam and Rylah were talking together for a while afterwards and she warned us that tomorrow is going to be like Mag Mell.”

He looked blank.

“We all had to look it up on our phones.  It’s from Irish mythology and it’s a paradise, but I’m thinking she actually meant that tomorrow is going to be very rough, because that name does sound threatening.  Addison is sure it’s going to be a cut day.  Of course, she doesn’t have to worry,” I said wistfully.

“Why do you?”

“I’m not as good as the other people there.  I’m not as good a dancer and I’m not as good a gymnast,” I admitted.  “I work hard and I always try my best, but of course that doesn’t matter when you just don’t have the talent.”

Ben was frowning hugely.  “I don’t think that’s true.  I’m sure you have the talent.”

I burst out laughing and immediately felt a thousand times better.  “Oh, you’re sure?  What’s your background in dance like, football coach?”  He grinned back at me.  “Anyway, you’ve never even seen me!”

“That’s not true.  I watched you when you were on the field in the stadium.  I think it was your second audition.”

I stopped washing the heavy iron pot.  “What?  You did?”

He nodded.  “It was the day I first asked if you could babysit Tessa.  I watched part of it from high up in the stands and I thought you were great.  Much better than the other women there.”

Even though I knew that statement was a big baloney sandwich, it made me feel an actual glow.  “Thank you,” I said softly.

“You’re welcome.”  His voice sounded deeper.  “Here, I’ll dry it.”  He took the pot from my hands and toweled it off, and I went to read one last story to Tessa before I left.  I was thinking about so many other things that I skipped three pages by mistake, but luckily she already had the book memorized.  Ben was nowhere to be seen and I let myself out, to go back to my condo where I aimlessly poked through the empty, amethyst-purple kitchen cupboards, unsure of what I was searching for.  Then I went to bed but couldn’t sleep because I had already started to dread the morning.

And the next day at practice was as bad as I had imagined the night before.  Totally not Mag Mell at all.  Sam and Rylah were cranky and angry and even the veterans were getting into trouble.  Caitlyn ended up in tears, Parys fell out of a turn and got in Addison’s way (which almost led to a fistfight), and Bexley, one of the best trainees, started the wrong dance to a song and everyone in her small group blindly followed her.  They all got a severe chewing out and everything seemed to be going in the wrong direction.

I tried to keep my smile on and tried to calm my nerves, because they only made me worse.  But then, on a simple tumbling pass, I fell.  Hard.  I landed sideways on my ankle and went down onto my hip and hands with a loud thud.  A few girls gasped and Caitlyn screamed a little.  I stayed on the ground, struck down momentarily by the pain.

“Oh, Gaby, are you all right?” Addison asked loudly.  “That looked terrible!  I’ve never taken a fall that bad, so awkward and ugly.”

Sam came over and so did Rylah.  “I’m fine,” I told them, and tried to smile.  “I was just startled.”

Sam shook his head.  “Do you know why you fell?  Do you know what happened?” he asked, and he told me exactly where I’d gone wrong in a lot of embarrassing detail about my bent elbows and flopping legs as I nodded in agreement.  Obviously, I had done a bad job, or I wouldn’t currently be on the ground trying not to show how much it hurt and really, really trying not to cry.

Emi, one of the veterans, gave me a hand up when Sam was done with his critique.  I did my best not to limp or hop as I got to the side of the room and carefully supported myself on the barre so no one else could see.  Then, on the next pass, Jess, a veteran, almost fell as well.

That was enough to put Coach Sam over the edge.  “This is horse shit!” he hollered, and Rylah poked him.  “Pucky, I mean!  What’s gotten into you Dames?”  Rylah elbowed him, hard.  “Cheerleaders, I mean.”  He turned to Rylah.  “God dam—bless it, don’t lay another finger on me!  What’s wrong with everyone today?”

“Coach, I think everyone’s nervous because we think you’re going to make more cuts,” Genesis volunteered.  As the captain, she had more leeway to speak up.  “All the new girls know that five of them still have to go—”

“New girls?” Rylah interrupted.  “Anyone can go, at any time!  And why is the limit five?  There’s no set number for this squad.  We’ll cut until we get the best group, not to meet a quota of dancers.”

Well, that was great.  Nadira muttered a curse word and Caitlyn burst into tears again.

Sam scowled harder when he saw our reactions.  “God da—bless America, can we stop with the hysterics?” he bellowed, and that got everyone to at least try to hide it better.

“Um, Coach?  I think we may need a break,” Aubin told him.

“What about a night out?” another vet suggested, and there was a general “ooh” of excitement.

“A night out?  That’s going to make you better dancers?” Rylah asked skeptically, but Coach Sam was nodding.

“Fine.  Perfect.  Go now,” he told us.

No one moved.  “Maybe it’s a little early,” Genesis said.  “It’s ten AM.”

“Whenever, just do something!” he told us.  “No cuts today.”  Rylah looked at him, opened her mouth, but then closed it.  “No cuts,” he repeated, “and no talks in the office.  Go!  Everyone,