I felt my hands trembling.
“What exactly did Derek say?”
She told me he’d started questioning whether she could handle advanced ballet. He claimed Ms. Alvarez had concerns and that I’d asked him to keep driving her to avoid embarrassing her.
“He said you and Dad agreed I wasn’t ready,” she whispered. “That you didn’t want to hurt my feelings by telling me yourselves.”
I felt sick.
“But I kept asking you about class,” I said. “I even offered to buy you new shoes.”
“I know.” Audrey looked down. “Derek said you felt guilty and were pretending everything was normal until I gave up on my own.”
I felt sick.
“He knew you’d trust him,” I said.
Audrey nodded. “He said you’d get angry if I confronted you. I thought you’d stop letting me come here altogether.”
I called Ms. Alvarez over. She told Audrey directly that I’d never requested her withdrawal.
