Dancing for the Lord: The Academy by Emily Goodman Page A

pressure on him.  For the most part, he did all right; but she’d seen him hurt any number of times, and after a major performance, it wasn’t uncommon for him to retreat to the car with an ice pack.  Both of their dance bags even had cold packs tucked inside them for just such an eventuality, and she always carried an extra ice pack with her when she knew she and Michael were going to be dancing away from their usual, familiar locations.
    All of those already had ice packs.
    Danni paced the floor of her room for a little while, praying fervently for healing and peace for her friend.  After awhile, some of the desperation faded.  She slowed, letting herself take a deep breath again. 
    Michael will be fine.  He’s dealt with stuff like this before.  His knees are bad; but he’ll be okay.   She wasn’t particularly comforted by her own reminder.  Michael’s knees were bad anyway.  That meant that he would be all too likely to force himself back up on his feet even before he felt ready, pushing himself through the motions of the dance in spite of the fact that every step hurt. 
    He’d be wearing wraps under his jeans most of the winter—and under his dance pants, too, if he could get away with it.  Except…what if his new partner was less understanding?  What if she griped about him getting reliant on them, or about the fact that a knee wrap ruined the line of his outfit?  Oh, Michael wouldn’t wear them for a performance—Danni had even tried convincing him to do so on at least one occasion and failed miserably—but some girls were worried about the aesthetics even during practice.
    And no one else would bully him the way she did.  She always made sure that he got his leg propped up when he was hurting; and if he was having a really bad day, she made him take a break whether he thought he needed one or not.  That was part of being partners—but she had noticed that some girls didn’t understand that.  If Josh had been her partner, for example, she wouldn’t have hesitated to work the dance with him until he got it, not unless there was some reason she couldn’t. 
    Lord…let there be someone to take care of him.  Don’t leave Michael on his own—or if Y ou do, don’t let him do something stupid.
    At long last, peace truly settled over her, and she stopped pacing.  God had Michael in His hands.  She had done all she could do.  Now, she had to take care of herself.
    Danni bent back over her books, determined to get a little bit more work in before she turned in for the night.  She had talked to Michael for a long time again—well, that was the way it was supposed to be, especially when he needed her.  She could take the time for a friend.  It was just that now, she had to make that time up.
    She had a goal, and she was going to stick to it, one way or the other.

Chapter Five
    Danni spent all day Saturday locked in her room with her books in front of her, ignoring as many requests for her company as it was considered polite to ignore…and maybe a few that weren’t.  Madalyn decided that she was completely crazy—and told her so.  The other girls, thankfully, didn’t really care what she did, so for the most part, they left her alone.
    Danni remained engrossed in her schoolwork.  She was determined; and by the end of the day, she had completed a couple of chapters in each of her textbooks.
    She was ready.  She was prepared.  She could handle this new schedule.
    At least, she hoped she could.  She knew that she couldn’t actually spend every Saturday locked in her room; but she didn’t want to get trapped in the habit of spending the day playing, either.  She didn’t have to worry about rehearsals yet—no one had even officially cast her in a role for The Nutcracker , and anyway, rehearsals for that mostly took place in their dance classes, since it was a school-wide production. 
    Sunday morning, she woke at her usual early hour.  This week, she was going to church if