Toe to Toe (On Pointe Book 1) by Penelope Freed (read with me TXT) 📕

made on the table and I admit it isn’t actually adorable. In fact, I would be kind of annoyed if that was my table. I test my heart again. It still doesn’t hurt, Tyler Stanley is just a good-looking guy, sitting at a table eating dinner with his family.

This is supposed to be a celebration and I refuse to be upset. Everything is supposed to be perfect right now. I got into CBS, I got into PSB, and I got offered scholarships to both. Marco Bethelo himself picked me for a scholarship. I just won the Grand Prix prize at YIGP. All of my dreams are on the verge of coming true and, dang it, I will not let a boy ruin this for me. Boys are nothing but a distraction.

“So, Hannah sweetie, Lisa was just telling us about the cram school in Japan her dad wants her to go to,” my mom says. I squeeze Lisa’s knee under the table. I know she doesn’t really want to go. “It sounds pretty intense. Who would you stay with out there Lisa?”

“My grandma lives just outside of Osaka. I’d stay with her and my uncle and go to the cram school near them.” I sneak a glance at Tyler and am amazed to find I still feel fine. I concentrate on Lisa, my best friend. My actual best friend who is bummed that even though she got into PSB, she isn’t going to get to go because her parents don’t think ballet is a real career.

“That will be nice,” my dad says. “How long will you be out there?” Tyler is trying to eat his sushi but can’t get a good grip with his chopsticks and keeps dropping it. It’s adorable how bad he is at it. But also, he keeps splashing it in the soy sauce, making a mess. Gross.

“I think about a month?” Lisa says. “My parents haven’t really decided yet.”

“I still think you should try and get your parents to let you go. If I decide to go to PSB, it would be so perfect if you were there too.”

“I wonder if they’d let us be roommates?” Lisa asks as we peruse the menu together.

“Wanna get the onigiri? We could share?” I point out the rice balls that are my favorite. Noriko makes them with either plums or salmon in the middle and I can never decide which kind I want. “Also, being roommates would be amazing.”

In the end we get the onigiri, seaweed salad and a variety of different rolls to share with my parents. “What if you got straight A’s?” I ask, still thinking about how to get Lisa’s parents to let her go to PSB.

“I already have straight A’s. Don’t you remember what happened when I got a B on that test last year?”

“Was that when they took your phone away for a week?” Lisa nods in response, popping a piece of tuna sashimi in her mouth. “Ok, you can’t really make your grades any better. How are we going to convince them to let you go? Is there some other study class you could take that isn’t in Japan?”

We keep chatting about different ways to convince the Hamasaki’s to let Lisa go to PSB while we eat. I’m so focused on making my best friend feel better, I don’t even notice the Stanley’s leave.

My phone buzzes in my pocket again but I don’t look, assuming that it’s probably some funny video from Trevor, I wonder if it’s one with dogs? I like funny dog videos. When I finally get home and flop on my bed, belly full of sushi, I grin when I read the message from Trevor.

marvelousStanLey: You’ll never guess what movie my sister is forcing me to watch with her right now. Send help!

Chapter 22 Hannah

I catch the bannister as I fly down the stairs, my bag bouncing against my hip. “Bye Mom, bye Dad!” I call as I head to the front door.

“Bye love, have fun!” My mom calls from the couch.

“Have a good time Banana!” my dad calls from beside her. “See you tomorrow!”

I toss my bag into the passenger seat of my car and buckle up, ready to relax. My bikini is on underneath my tank top and plain black leggings and in my bag are a couple of face masks I picked up at the drug store on my way home from the studio. I am ready for girls’ night.

The sun has been shining all day, tempting us through the studio windows while we sweat our way through hours of rehearsals. Things are still tense between Olivia and me, but even that can’t ruin my mood today. It’s the end of March, spring is on its way, and in SoCal that means seventy-five degree afternoons and sunny skies, it’s my favorite time of year.

Between the perfect weather, my relief at having been accepted to both of my dream summer intensives, the scholarships and winning Grand Prix, I feel something akin to unstoppable. Everything is happening exactly how I dreamed it would. Since our visit to Noriko, I’ve been testing how I feel whenever I see Tyler Stanley at school. There’s the tiniest bit of regret over what could have been, but I keep surprising myself by not feeling much of anything else. When I see him and Olivia together, I’m more upset over our lost friendship and the Olivia-shaped hole in my heart than any lingering feelings I have for Tyler. The tension with Olivia is the only cloud in my otherwise perfectly sunny sky.

I haven’t decided yet where I’m going to spend my summer, but I’m determined not to worry about it today. Today I am going to have fun. When Katy suggested that we come over after class today to swim and have a girls’ night, I was the first one to say yes.

There’s a crowd of cars parked on the street as I pull up, so many that I have to park four houses