Billionaires Don’t Fall For Awkward Girls by Emma Dalton
Chapter Thirty-Eight
I head to Studio C to practice for the dance finals, putting on my music and starting my routine. As I’m perfecting it, my music suddenly turns off. Glancing at the speaker, I spot Jasmine standing there.
“You scared me,” I say with a relieved laugh. “I thought you didn’t have time to practice with me. Don’t you have a hot date to get to?”
She steps toward me, her face overflowing with guilt.
I push some hair out of my face. “What’s wrong?”
She hugs her arms, the expression on her face growing more serious and sympathetic. “Come, let’s sit.” She gestures to the room next door.
“Jasmine, why do you look like you saw a ghost?” I ask as we sit down, my insides filling with dread. I’ve never seen her like this.
She takes a deep breath. “Dani, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just getting right to it.” She pauses. “I’m sorry, hun, but you’ve been disqualified from the dance competition and won’t be allowed to compete in the final round.”
I blink at her, the words not entering my head. “What?”
“You’ve been disqualified, sweetie.”
My lungs freeze up and I feel like I’m underwater, drowning. “What are you talking about? I’ve been disqualified?”
She nods slowly. “The judges claim you broke one of the rules.”
“What rule?”
She takes another deep breath. “They said you plagiarized another dancer’s routine during the qualifiers. That’s an automatic disqualification.”
My head spins. “I didn’t steal anyone’s routine. You practiced with me. You know it was original content.”
She lifts her hands. “I tried to argue with the judges. Andrea tried. But I’m afraid they told me their hands are tied.” She rubs my arm. “I’m really sorry, Dani. Maybe you’ll qualify for the next one.” Giving me a sad smile, she gets to her feet and leaves the room.
I stare at the floor, trying to make sense of what happened. Me, disqualified? But I didn’t do anything wrong! I didn’t steal anyone’s routine.
Like a zombie, I pluck my phone from the speaker and shove it in my bag. I make my way to the bus stop, not looking back at the studio, my head in a daze.
“Dani? What’s the matter?” Mom asks when I burst through the door with tears dripping down my cheeks. She and Dad are in the kitchen baking a cake.
“I just wanted to win some money for you!” I cry. “And now I’m disqualified and I won’t get the chance.”
Mom’s eyes widen as I jump into her arms. “Money? What are you talking about?”
I just weep in her arms.
Dad places a hand on my back. “Dani, please relax and tell us what’s going on. You know we hate seeing you upset.”
I pull my head off Mom’s shoulder and wipe my tears with my sleeve. “There’s a dance competition and I made it to the final round. The winner gets twenty-thousand dollars. I wanted to win it because we need the money. But now…now…” I bury my face in Mom’s arms again. “Now I can’t! They kicked me out.”
Mom draws back and stares into my eyes. “Wait a second. You wanted to compete for twenty thousand dollars?”
I nod. “You guys work so hard and I wanted to help.”
Dad rubs my arm. “Why didn’t you tell us about the competition, honey?”
I swallow the tears. “Because I didn’t want to get your hopes up. I think I had a good shot at winning and I wanted to surprise you.”
Mom tucks some hair behind my ear. “Why were you disqualified?”
I sniff. “The judges claim I copied someone else’s routine at qualifiers and it’s against the rules. But I didn’t.”
“Have you tried reasoning with them?” Dad asks.
I throw my hands up. “Jasmine and Andrea tried, but they’re not budging. She said there’s nothing I could about it except try again next time.” Now I bury my face in Dad’s chest. “I’m so sorry. I wanted to win for you.”
“Don’t blame yourself, honey,” Mom says. “We don’t want this to break your spirit.” She plays with my hair. “Chin up. We’ll get to the bottom of this. We’ll call whoever we need to call and reinstate you into the finals.”
I hug both of them. “Thanks so much.”
My parents spend hours on the phone, but I’m still disqualified. Every person they speak to tells them the same answer—their hands are tied. What exactly does that mean, anyway? Is someone else pulling the strings?
I sigh as I sit at my desk, trying to get my homework done. As if I can concentrate.
I can’t help but notice something weird. Mom got fired two days ago, Dad lost his job yesterday, and now I’m kicked from the competition?
I don’t believe in coincidences.
I start pacing my room. It’s almost like someone has a personal vendetta against my family. But who would want to hurt us? Who hates us?
I think back to the events that happened the last few days. I mean, the only person I could think of who doesn’t like me is Easton’s mom. But she wouldn’t…
My eyes widen. Would she? Mom worked for the Knights, and they fired her. The Knights are funding the competition, which means they call the shots. If Mrs. Knight wanted me gone, all she had to do was snap her fingers and the deed would be done.
But what about Dad? I doubt his firing just happened randomly, but how are the Knights involved?
Dropping down at my desk, I go online and research the company Dad worked for. According to what I see, the company is owned by…Easton Knight.
I fall back, my mouth hanging open. Oh my gosh. It can’t be…can it? Do the Knights hate my family so much they’d destroy our lives?
Does Easton know about this? Was this a big joke to him? Make me fall for him and then betray me in the most horrible way possible?
Grabbing my phone, I text him to come over. He tells me he’s on his way, anyway, and can’t wait to see me. Sure. I don’t believe anything anymore.
As soon as he arrives, I seize his hand, pulling him to my room and not giving him a chance to greet my parents. When we’re inside, I yank my hand free.
He laughs. “Couldn’t wait to get me alone, huh?”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Am I a big joke to you, Easton?”
“What?”
“Don’t act all innocent. You know exactly what I’m talking about.” My voice wobbles as tears threaten my eyes.
He inches toward me, but I back away. His eyes fill with confusion. “Dani, what are you talking about?”
I tighten my arms on my chest. “Don’t tell me you don’t know what your parents have done.”
His eyes widen. “What have they done?”
I nod toward my laptop and his eyebrows furrow as he takes in the webpage. “Yeah, my family owns this company. Why are you looking at this?”
“My dad was a janitor in their building. He got fired.”
“I know he got fired. But what does it have to do with my parents?”
I look away from him. “My mom worked for your parents and she also got fired. We both know her food was ridiculously amazing.”
His eyebrows furrow. Does he see a pattern here?
“And I was disqualified from the dance finals today.”
His shocked eyes shoot to mine. “What? Why?”
When I tell him the reason, he shakes his head in disbelief. “You didn’t plagiarize anyone’s routine. Yours was original and so amazing.”
My heart warms at his words, but then I remember I don’t trust him. “You’re telling me you’re not involved in this?”
He holds up his hands. “I swear I had no idea. But my parents…” He pushes a hand through his hair. “This is very on-brand with what my mom would do.”
“You’re saying she did this?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she did. She…wasn’t exactly thrilled that we went to New York together. Actually, she was very upset.”
And all this happened right after we came back from New York. It has to be his mom.
Easton steps toward me, but I back away, holding up my hands. “I want to be alone.”
“Dani…”
I shake my head, tears running down my cheeks. “I need some space.”
His face falls. “You’re breaking up with me?”
“No, I…I just need some space, Easton.”
“I’m really sorry. If I would have known, I would have stopped her.”
I wipe my eyes. “Could you have stopped her?”
He opens his mouth, then shuts it, his eyebrows furrowed.
“Please leave me alone.” I drop down on my bed, facing my back to him. “I can’t deal with this right now.”
“Dani…”
“Please.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later.” He goes to the door and I can feel him watching me. Then he walks out. I lie down on my bed, hugging my gorilla to my chest and letting the tears fall.