Violet barely managed to make it to work on time after the elevator fiasco. Rushing like that made her tired and frazzled before she even started rehearsing for the day. Joy.

Their next show would be the classic ballet Cinderella and casting announcement were supposed to be made today. By this point, auditioning for individual parts was pointless. The director of the ballet knew everyone's individual capabilities. He assigned them what he knew they could do best.

"I really hope I get Cinderella this time," her fellow dancer Abigail Smith said with a sigh. "But everyone knows it will probably go to you, Violet. I'll be lucky to be one of the evil stepsisters."

"There's always the fairy godmother or one of the other fairies," Violet tried reassuring her.

The stepsisters were comedic roles and likely wouldn't suit Abigail very well. She was too graceful. In previous renditions of Cinderella that Violet had seen, the stepsisters were actually played by men to make them look even more bumbling in comparison to the main dancer.

"I suppose so," Abigail said glumly. "I got lucky he even let me dance the part of the caterpillar last time."

The caterpillar had been the most important role in the last ballet because it was onstage pretty much the entire time. Abigail had done a great job with it.

Violet may have been one of the most talented ballerinas in the dance company but she didn't always get the role she wanted. In fact, last year when they did Swan Lake she had been very disappointed not to get the part of Odile, the black swan.

She had been assigned the part of Odette instead. All of her fellow ballerinas had been more than a little bitter that she complained about it offhandedly at all. They would kill to have the main part.

Odette was a great part but one of Odile's dances was one of the most difficult in all of ballet and Violet had really wanted to try it out. That honor had gone to another of her coworkers, Katrina Pierce.

"Listen up! Parts have been assigned and I don't want to hear a single complaint from any of you," the director said sternly as he walked into the room.

All of the dancers gathered around eagerly with an air of trepidation filling the room. Announcement days were always a big deal around here.

"Daniel, you're the prince. Fred and Liana, you're the king and queen. Violet will be Cinderella. Abigail, the fairy godmother. Charlie and Thomas will be the ugly stepsisters. The other fairies will be…"

The director droned on and on but Violet wasn't paying attention anymore. Abigail shot her a look that said "I told you so" and she shrugged. She had been right too. Her friend was going to be the fairy godmother.

Once everything had been assigned, the choreography team came out and began working with groups of dancers to get rehearsals started. Learning new routines were always the hardest part of her job. The choreographers were extremely strict. She was in for a long day.

===

"Noah!" Violet called out as she waved at her friend from across the street.

They were meeting at one of their favorite restaurants and he was running a little late. It had become their most popular dinner choice because they offered so many different salads-as-meals options. Violet's dietician was always on her case about her calorie intake.

If she had to eat endless salads, they should at least be delicious. This restaurant offered that. Even their dressings were low fat and relatively healthy.

Noah approached her with his hands in the pockets of his black windbreaker. His hair was messy so he had probably parked pretty far away. It was windy today, which was common for fall in New York.

Violet had long gotten used to wearing her hair up as a ballerina and it helped on windy days as well. Right now her hair was in the same sleek high ponytail from work and she was wearing a pearl gray sweater and jeans.

"What's up, Vi?" he asked.

"I'm going to be Cinderella," she informed him. "I found out today. And I got trapped in an elevator with my dad's assistant."

Noah raised an eyebrow. "You were trapped in an elevator?"

Violet explained the situation to him briefly, ending it by saying it wasn't a big deal. She was only dropping off the rest of those apple rose puffs for her dad.

He laughed and flicked her ponytail, claiming she was way too calm about everything. Most people would get freaked out by being trapped in an elevator. But Violet Hale had never been afraid of the things most people were.

They made their way inside and sat down in their favorite booth by the window. Noah ordered his usual pasta dish and Violet tried to pick which salad looked best today. She ended up getting a Greek salad.

As they waited for their food to arrive, Noah told her more about the karate competition over the weekend and she told him more about her Cinderella role. Conversation had always flowed easily between them.

"I think Abigail might be a little jealous of me," she concluded before taking a sip of her lemon water.

Noah smiled and shook his head. "Almost everyone you've ever met is jealous of you. You're just that amazing."

Violet stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm serious, Noah! I don't want her to be mad at me since I tend to get along with her best out of all the other dancers. I thought we were okay on that front for a while because she got the main part in the last show. But today she was all 'you always get the good parts' on me."

His thoughtful expression appeared on his face. He always looked like that when she presented him with some sort of problem. Out of everyone she knew, she went to Noah for advice most with the exception of her mother.

Keeley Hale was a wise woman but a busy one. Violet somehow always felt like she was bothering her when she talked about her problems even though her mother always assured her that wasn't the case. She really couldn't put her finger on why she felt that way despite constant reassurance to the contrary.