For my new Invisible Friends, Twirl is the story of a star-crossed ballerina named Vivi and her handsome cowboy named Wade, who have stumbled into a international ballet scandal and a old Texas legend that might possibly lead to riches! To catch up in the archives, go to the Never Ending Stories Tab at the top of this site.  For the previous edition, go here.

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Vivi’s felt her heart drop to her toes.  “Mrs. Angelson?” she whispered.  “What are you doing here?”

“Why, Vivi, don’t you remember?” Mrs. Angelson drawled, fluttering her eyelashes.  “We had a deal.”

A icy chill of foreboding slithered down Vivi’s back.  “You didn’t.  I told you I would do it–I just couldn’t do it when you asked.”

Mrs. Angelson shrugged.  “Our deal was that I could call a favor at any time and you would comply.  You didn’t. Therefore, the deal was off.”

“You evil witch!” Vivi roared, lunging toward her. She flew at her dance teacher, hands flailing and nails bared.  Her father darted in front of Mrs. Angelson, shoving Vivi to the side.  Vivi smacked against the hard wood floors and cried out.

“You brought this on yourself, Vivi,” Mrs. Angelson said in a low voice, her eyes flashing.  “Do not blame me for your mistakes.”

“Mrs. Angelson is right,” Vivi’s father roared, his black eyes filled with disgust.  “Honestly, Vivienne.  A boy is bad enough, but a cowboy?  And dancing in honky tonks?  Do you know what you could have done to your training?  What if some drunk had crushed your foot with his boot or broken your ankle?  That’s not even thinking of the bad habits you surely picked up.  I don’t understand, Vivi.  Your premiere into the dance world is in a few short weeks, and you act like you don’t even care.”

“Maybe I don’t,” Vivi snarled.  “Maybe I want to do more with my life.”

Her father swore in Russian.  “Don’t be ridiculous, Vivienne.  You are a dancer.  You are my daughter.  Your destiny is to bring redemption to our family name, to validate my legacy.”

“Screw you and your legacy,” Vivi growled, leaping off the floor.  “I swear, you only had me to fulfill your warped dreams.  You’re just a bitter old man who–”  She cried out as her father slapped her across the face.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mrs. Angelson hide a smile.

“I warn you, Vivienne,” her father growled.  His black eyes bore into her like tiny lasers tearing her into shreds.  “I am not to be trifled with.   You will do this.  You have no choice.  And if you continue to argue me, we’ll never come back here to your friends and…cowboy,” he spat.  “You will be a great dancer.  You will dance in this competition, and you will do the new routine Mrs. Angelson has choreographed for you.  That is your job.  School, friends, boys–that’s all gone.  Until I say so, you will only eat, sleep and dance.”

Rubbing her throbbing cheek, Vivi glared at him.  “What does Mom say about this?”

“She agrees,” her father replied immediately.

“Where is she?” Vivi challenged. “I want to hear her say that.”

“She’s busy,” her father barked.  “Now, go upstairs and pack.  We leave in an hour.”

“An hour?” Vivi shrieked.  “What?  That’s nuts!  It’s the middle of the night.”

“The first class tomorrow begins at 9 a.m.,” Vivi’s father reminded her.  “Class goes until 3 p.m. and then you must work on your routine with Mrs. Angelson.”

“You’re going to over train me,” Vivi protested.  “That’s just going to make me worse, not better!  12 hours of dancing?”
“In Russia, I danced for 16 hours a day,” her father boasted.  “And I was the best.  Stop whining and start packing.  The three of us leave tonight.  Your mother will join us later.”

Vivi crossed her arms.  “I need to call Susanna.  We were working on a project together.  Tomorrow Mom needs to let her in to pick up some notes.”

“Fine,” her father replied.  He tossed her the cordless phone.

Vivi stared at him.  “Why can’t I call from my room or my cell phone?”

Her father’s glance slid towards Mrs. Angelson.  “In light of recent events,” he growled, “I think you’ve lost your privilege to privacy.”  Mrs. Angelson laughed.   It took all of Vivi’s strength not to run across the room and slap her.

Punching the keypad, Vivi held the ringing phone up to her ear.  Her father and Mrs. Angelson watched her, openly eavesdropping.  Vivi rolled her eyes and turned her back.

“Hello?”  Susanna’s groggy voice creaked in her ear.  “Who is this?”

“Hey Susanna?  Sorry to call so late.”

“Vivi?  What’s wrong?”  Susanna asked, the sleepiness immediately disappearing from her voice.  “Are you all right?”

“Mrs. Angelson and my dad decided that we’re going to Houston tonight for the dance competition,” Vivi recited, her voice flat.  “They’ve arranged for me to get some training with the best teachers.”

“WHAT?” Susanna cried.  “Vivi, you can’t do that!  What about school?  What about Wade?  What about the treasure and your clues?  Did you find the second one?”

“It’s a wonderful opportunity,” Vivi lied, glaring at her father as he edged closer.  She shoved him away and turned towards the wall.  “But I need you to do me a favor.  My mother is coming a few days after us.  We’re leaving tonight.”

“Tonight?” Susanna screeched.  “That’s crazy!  It’s after midnight and a six hour drive.”

“What I need you to do for me,” Vivi pressed on, “Is give those papers to my partner.  On the project I was working on?  The history project?”

“What project?” Susanna asked, confused.

“The project we’ve been working on together,” Vivi forced out through gritted teeth.  “About the Hill Country?”

“Huh?” Susanna asked.  “I don’t get it.”

“I won’t be able to tell him tomorrow after dance because I won’t be here,” Vivi continued, glaring at Mrs. Angelson.  “We were supposed to go to the library to study.  Remember?  Like we did the other weekend?”

She could practically hear the click in Susanna’s head.  “OH!  You’re talking about Wade!  Well, sure I’ll tell him, Vivi.  Why can’t you just call him?”

“My dad doesn’t want anything to disturb my training, so they’re leaving my phone and laptop here,” Vivi replied.  “But I’m leaving a note for my partner, and I’m leaving the papers for you.  I don’t trust them here.  Margaret’s been trying to cheat.  We saw her tonight.”

“What?” Susanna bellowed.  “I must hear about this!  Tell me anything!”

“I can’t talk right now,” Vivi replied.  “Pink elephants, you know.”

“Oh, God, your father is listening,” Susanna groaned, recognizing their secret code immediately.   “I should have known that’s why you were being weird.  He’s such a bastard.  Listen.  I’ll talk to my mom and get her to take me to Houston this weekend.  I’ll call Wade tomorrow and tell him everything and bring him your letter and papers.  But I’ll find a way for you to talk.  I’m sure my dad’s got something I can use.  Don’t worry.  Think you can call me tomorrow?”

“I’ll try,” Vivi promised.  “But my training is crucial.  You know where to look for the stuff.”

“Bastard,” Susanna repeated.  “Ok, Vivi.  I’ll see you in a few days.”

Vivi hung up the phone and thrust it at her father.  “Here.”  She turned and rushed up the stairs, forcing the tears back as she darted into her room.  For good measure, she slammed the door.  Grabbing a pen and paper, she dashed off a letter to Wade.  Tears splashed against the paper as she wrote, which made more and more tears fall.  She folded up the paper and pulled the locket out of her pocket.  Wrapping the locket chain around the letter, she placed it on top of the box full of papers and shoved it firmly under her bed.

From down below, the woman in black shrouded in the black car smiled as she replayed her recorder.

“I’m leaving the papers for you.  Margaret’s been trying to cheat.”

She smiled broadly.  Flipping the key, the tinny engine roared to life.  “Sometimes, it pays to have paranoid friends,” Margaret murmured, tapping the handy device that served as her ears into Vivi’s home.

Now, for some research.  Surely, there was a some dirt on Vivi’s parents that would require a search warrant…

And if not, she had her ways.

Stay tuned, Invisible Friends!  Tomorrow we have a new creative woman, Whitney from Whitney Inspired!  Then, we have a fun week of whimsical fun!  Stay tuned!