STEALING THE SPOTLIGHT: THE ART OF SURVIVAL

I don't dance because I love it. I dance because I'm a debt collector for my own soul. My sister hasn't walked in twelve months. That's my fault. I was the one behind the wheel, and I was the one who walked away without a scratch while Lumi lost the use of her legs. Now I spend my days mopping the floors of the elite Vance Academy, watching rich kids complain about their stress while I calculate the cost of my sister's next surgery. I smell like bleach and old sneakers. I dance in dark alleys until my toes bleed, because it is the only time I don't feel like I'm suffocating. Then Coach Elias sees me. He calls it an opportunity. I call it a paycheck. If I can survive one semester and win the Winter Gala prize money, I can get Lumi the surgery she needs. But the Academy's golden boy, Caspian Thorne, wants me gone before I ruin something he has never had to work for in his life. He thinks I'm a joke. The girl who learned to pirouette on cracked concrete, playing dress-up in his world. He's right that I don't belong here. He's wrong about everything else. I don't know how to play by their rules. I don't know how to smile through the silk ribbons and the trust funds and the inherited grace. But I know how to survive. And in a world where everything shines because I’m the one scrubbing it clean, I’m ready to leave a permanent stain. If I have to break every heart in this building to save my sister, I will. Starting with his. For questions contact Author [email protected]