“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.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzPxjDbJZoh
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkEcvp3y2QR
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.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2WyP23upgG
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfbAdsd68bd
Taking it off, she leaves it against the wall beside her water bottle. Maybe no one will notice—776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxv1O41NT8T
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaOxRnTCQ26
“What happened to your arm?” Connor asks, standing arms akimbo and looking at her in the mirror.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4QtDVBcN0
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRrvw0FUapC
She tugs at the bandage self-consciously. “Oh. Nothing, really. I just needed a few stitches.”776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Wd7hRPrpq
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡukiwOCOYVN
He turns around and looks at her directly now. She’s aware of how all eight of the other dancers are watching them.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RCtHzjgZ5
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdkFA5HEC5
“Stitches?” he repeats, saying it like it’s a dirty word. “What happened between last night and now that you had to get stitches?”776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjk9i3lwk71
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIMVwfm4Nhz
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.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4FC9j7riet
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtvDC2Se08f
“I…kinda got stabbed.” She scratches around the stitches, through the bandage.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8yLqDQ9Kbg
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbHAOOhARGn
“You…kinda…got…stabbed,” he says, taking a step toward her. “How does that happen?”776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMy7jN1HF9
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFXFx37Ml6c
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.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcpPc4XHRyz
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkt3CyHJmuK
“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.”776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh3HPGWH3ni
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4bjhCaSryi
Connor doesn’t say anything, so she keeps going.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSQrDLcNVRX
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQD7ZQqwgU
“I went there after leaving class last night.”776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTKMkqpeX4k
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7R2gtwSFt
“At midnight,” he says now, as if he’s just making sure.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa113wiKvoe
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHvRMaAtphQ
“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.”776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAlEaTghoMa
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbaca0CCC7y
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.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnT0mOQRteC
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWOrh1yTdBl
“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.”776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3dvS0Njg8
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQemM7Vzvv9
Now his eyebrows shoot up.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmiS8h2CRh0
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfG2ECKSbS0
She adds quickly, “It’s fine, though. I was lucky. He went for my stomach, but I managed to block him with my arm.”776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFfafWsrbX
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wx1nhWz0R
“Lucky,” he says, voice dripping with disbelief. “You were lucky you were only stabbed in the arm and not in the gut.”776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTauvN7aol
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0gY1p7sxBW
Veins in his right temple turn into miniature mountain ranges.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaqL8T4jw1t
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uAWQMIdKB
“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?”776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnHycVl4CR4
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdZ2OYB8QZ7
“I can’t rely on you all the time. You said so yourself,” she says.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPUIOhsax5
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARjiCahVw8
“Connor, man,” another of the dancers says, stepping in. “At least she’s okay, right?776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZSRSOa8XBS
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZPTZozQoy
“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?”776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5zSSGileWW
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJRQgKzu0dc
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.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ZIbyVDHA8
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IJzMIXbbF
“You’re right,” she says quietly. “I was reckless.”776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhrxGtX4mh
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ58RzgBTKXW
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.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5Yd70rvzN
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNDGw0uRFYt
“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…”776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUKz2WMUU4J
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡecf4qUFkci
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.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJgRhO3rfMH
776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Os2DO4zDf
Thank you, Connor.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMVRLMkplXf
Penana
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