“Let’s take a five minute break?” Connor says, blessedly giving his dancers a moment to catch their breath after ten straight minutes of his cardio-intensive choreography.709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfW6BpzJhg
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmuMDWe9HuZ
Eve pushes up the sleeves of her hoodie and then pulls them down again. She can feel the dampness of sweat under the collar of her shirt, pasting her hair to the back of her neck. A droplet trickles down the bridge of her nose and drips off the tip. Taking a deep breath, Eve accepts that she has to take off the hoodie or risk overheating.709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaAfHe1bp99
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6XCPV86kb6
Taking it off, she leaves it against the wall beside her water bottle. Maybe no one will notice—709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqIuBhZkuqT
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXl9kzxEdtF
“What happened to your arm?” Connor asks, standing arms akimbo and looking at her in the mirror.709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFOZNpo2ZD1
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlGSlVOsJPu
She tugs at the bandage self-consciously. “Oh. Nothing, really. I just needed a few stitches.”709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3BAXSyVMMj
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCpqFE3Bdv2
He turns around and looks at her directly now. She’s aware of how all eight of the other dancers are watching them.709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0nmiIkvkfk
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6LTl088hH7
“Stitches?” he repeats, saying it like it’s a dirty word. “What happened between last night and now that you had to get stitches?”709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ469t9cEsbZ
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZnhs8iJUD
This is exactly what Eve had been hoping to avoid—the reason she considered not coming to class today. She can’t skip, though, when they have a performance coming up so soon.709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKTqSzIOPLi
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz0vkwV5nBN
“I…kinda got stabbed.” She scratches around the stitches, through the bandage.709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEDWVSFVKqx
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDgCYj6bI5U
“You…kinda…got…stabbed,” he says, taking a step toward her. “How does that happen?”709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2qi5UQAI7
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbS9Ffre6uH
Everyone is still staring. Eve feels the danger in him right now—a compressed spring, a snake ready to strike. She has to fight not to take a step back. She didn’t do anything wrong.709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLgrMQt0de
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORMwyTDcVO
“Well, I leave food in the breakroom fridge at work sometimes,” she says, words coming out in a rush. “I don’t want it to spoil in the car. So I stop by work on the way after dance and on my way home.”709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4e7fstnOJ
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFtSC7vnJVx
Connor doesn’t say anything, so she keeps going.709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQb3OlLquF
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFc65z9xeq
“I went there after leaving class last night.”709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNf66RHxmUm
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSaVqDarwfd
“At midnight,” he says now, as if he’s just making sure.709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8G0NO2CtTG
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaqa6ThdPHV
“At midnight,” she confirms. She can’t look him in the eyes, so she looks past him to the back of his head in the mirror. “I usually just pop in, grab my food, and pop out. But last night, this man showed up. He used to work there but was fired a few months ago.”709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhyFf5hqys
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8aat5wZl96
His expression doesn’t change. In fact, he doesn’t move in the slightest. A quick glance at the clock shows her their five minute break has long since passed.709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaHKUnXv1nF
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQZSEHjbHO
“He was trying to get into the building,” Eve says. “He tried to make me let him in, but I wouldn’t. So…he got pissed off and stabbed me.”709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ25uUafobgo
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0dJS4ZeJMg
Now his eyebrows shoot up.709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtqh6hHn67
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fSu8cSWIy
She adds quickly, “It’s fine, though. I was lucky. He went for my stomach, but I managed to block him with my arm.”709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBIERvltjA
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLozpQHJp1
“Lucky,” he says, voice dripping with disbelief. “You were lucky you were only stabbed in the arm and not in the gut.”709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWbIimNPRig
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rwSov4PHH
Veins in his right temple turn into miniature mountain ranges.709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDvc1TNoki
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcPdB3fLtWC
“What about those times you made me come into the office with you because you were too scared to go into the building by yourself at night? Where was that fear last night?”709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXu1cA9hWJ
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiFmDA9SZZ1
“I can’t rely on you all the time. You said so yourself,” she says.709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Dpmh8Kuhn
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPxMecjO1o
“Connor, man,” another of the dancers says, stepping in. “At least she’s okay, right?709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxQMWX9mba
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIel3RbNFg
“I can’t believe you’re so stupid!” Connor bursts, ignoring him. “You really don’t have any common sense! So when I say you shouldn’t rely on me all the time, it means you should go to deserted office buildings by yourself in the middle of the night?”709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4O1OOMxTuF
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6FqCCwVG0x
Eve’s surprised by his vehemence. Actually…no, she isn’t. There’s a reason she tried to hide the bandage and considered not coming to class today.709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdIbwInHRYi
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGOfmtXUylB
“You’re right,” she says quietly. “I was reckless.”709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXvPMPKCBxL
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeA9ro7Lhji
All the steam seems to evaporate from Connor, then. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before turning back to the mirror. His eyes graze the clock. He claps his hands together once.709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz0kJART82w
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpOKSrehMVP
“Looks like our five minute break turned into a ten minute break. Let’s get back to work. Let’s go from the top—with counts first and then music. Ready? Five, six, seven, eight…”709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeBa9N7gkG
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEFxlK03RK
Eve watches him in the mirror, following his choreography but also observing his expression. He’s settled back into the friendly, but strict dance instructor and choreographer, but she knows him well enough that she can see the concern in his eyes and feel it in the tension of his shoulders.709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFDyp3MACd
709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLO4l3kOJE6
Thank you, Connor.709Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1z08Pq1Rqu
Penana
search
Loginarrow_drop_down
Registerarrow_drop_down
