“Rehearsal is over.”
Nobody moved.
“I said rehearsal is over.”
Hannah picked up her bag.
Instead of leaving, she sat on the floor beside Willa.
Sophie did the same.
Then another child sat.
Within seconds, half the silver-costumed dancers were sitting cross-legged on the studio floor.
Miss Arden stared at them.
Frank almost smiled, but Willa’s face stopped him. This was not a charming rebellion to her. She was waiting to learn whether everyone would be punished for staying near her.
Frank crouched beside his granddaughter.
“Do you want to go home?”
Willa looked toward the lobby, where the recital flowers were passing the glass doors in bright paper sleeves.
“If I go, I quit again.”
Frank understood immediately.
“This is not swimming.”
Her eyes filled. “Mom said I can’t run away from everything hard.”
Frank sat on the floor too, despite the complaint from his hip.
“Your mother was worried you might leave things because they were difficult,” he said. “That is different from leaving because an adult is hurting you.”
Willa whispered, “How do you know which one it is?”
Frank looked at Miss Arden.
“Sometimes somebody has to help you know.”
The studio door opened.
A parent stepped in to ask whether rehearsal had ended. She stopped when she saw the children sitting on the floor and Frank beside them.
Miss Arden moved quickly.
“We are having a private discipline issue.”
Hannah stood.
“No, we’re not.”
She held up her phone.
The parent knew Hannah’s mother. Within ten minutes, three more parents were in the hallway. Frank did not call them. Hannah did not make a speech. The information moved because children walked out of the studio and told their parents rehearsal had stopped after Miss Arden’s messages were read aloud.
