“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.633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6LKmyD0oc3
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpvmlP9MxBH
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.633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSBicyvxiyj
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Taking it off, she leaves it against the wall beside her water bottle. Maybe no one will notice—633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0KB1GZcNz9
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡosS9JjZnJ0
“What happened to your arm?” Connor asks, standing arms akimbo and looking at her in the mirror.633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnDQYdSACh2
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She tugs at the bandage self-consciously. “Oh. Nothing, really. I just needed a few stitches.”633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqeA08HXck
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY97evvkQxg
He turns around and looks at her directly now. She’s aware of how all eight of the other dancers are watching them.633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaKNgdnYtTE
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwaXsfWdNyO
“Stitches?” he repeats, saying it like it’s a dirty word. “What happened between last night and now that you had to get stitches?”633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWZVNJV6Qu
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzH3F4HfUa
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.633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgZKrAK37Gp
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe4rbTbSrue
“I…kinda got stabbed.” She scratches around the stitches, through the bandage.633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy6kY5xsH9O
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRU7Am3dYfn
“You…kinda…got…stabbed,” he says, taking a step toward her. “How does that happen?”633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdO2Ol3RZM
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡig3jRYVphT
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.633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡau1qlqwEaP
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfcvDID3CHU
“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.”633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYST8mZVAah
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrGrYZMypo
Connor doesn’t say anything, so she keeps going.633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4HEAZTCC6
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYRbx7WuLv
“I went there after leaving class last night.”633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4zfyknfCF
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJORU7QqhJ
“At midnight,” he says now, as if he’s just making sure.633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAffKU8ye6d
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCyROoryQs3
“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.”633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaKrryyLSs0
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡul9W5zCtyw
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.633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBHw4BoUYi7
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dVNfKyDip
“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.”633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbeAwSDzah9
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUT9v5ZJaYD
Now his eyebrows shoot up.633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCVNZInGfBR
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQGdkazMsvV
She adds quickly, “It’s fine, though. I was lucky. He went for my stomach, but I managed to block him with my arm.”633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksNNkOIW8S
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQyRriOQILS
“Lucky,” he says, voice dripping with disbelief. “You were lucky you were only stabbed in the arm and not in the gut.”633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqskJqcWhi
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnG8RqHlEF
Veins in his right temple turn into miniature mountain ranges.633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pzX1fg8Gj
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYSOEL1QujO
“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?”633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8rbxNGHhZO
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlBQ1WIEB6u
“I can’t rely on you all the time. You said so yourself,” she says.633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡehPO9P2adL
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXOS5jAhkG
“Connor, man,” another of the dancers says, stepping in. “At least she’s okay, right?633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2QFsOyubk
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKb7F7PKuM
“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?”633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡryvBfTPY46
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLJpoWkm3E
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.633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1NPHYcQNk1
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj6l9AUhB40
“You’re right,” she says quietly. “I was reckless.”633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHTzYVRHwkp
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQGbqtqYXAc
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.633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4iI0zSfKwO
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIgQDSFGjfa
“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…”633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Am6JnMvuW
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZwfkBsH40I
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.633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoo0tkiMyq0
633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4y5W9Kaukd
Thank you, Connor.633Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWSBYk6U7D
Penana
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