“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.760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKAEXvO4aM0
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYNMUdRZYA
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.760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRTgULjIsap
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwCvI2LXXD
Taking it off, she leaves it against the wall beside her water bottle. Maybe no one will notice—760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZ6EiV1Lkx
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnmjTFsY6OC
“What happened to your arm?” Connor asks, standing arms akimbo and looking at her in the mirror.760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuCJU6fx12Y
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOURT5dq8D
She tugs at the bandage self-consciously. “Oh. Nothing, really. I just needed a few stitches.”760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdJSzYbXzU
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZIw9zYWfDQ
He turns around and looks at her directly now. She’s aware of how all eight of the other dancers are watching them.760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzlsM1bjCtS
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYu8cVPERe
“Stitches?” he repeats, saying it like it’s a dirty word. “What happened between last night and now that you had to get stitches?”760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4XtPBnbAdo
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzRejQmDD5U
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.760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyjXVMDnUK
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaf1sGRAIpc
“I…kinda got stabbed.” She scratches around the stitches, through the bandage.760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kJJddjFeh
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdxDGDo5ZPU
“You…kinda…got…stabbed,” he says, taking a step toward her. “How does that happen?”760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeQqx9Yw7Wy
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwF1zIxL1Zp
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.760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDGRPd2zHL
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLoI3zgZShq
“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.”760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdOkUinACAZ
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsIADRSM9Lc
Connor doesn’t say anything, so she keeps going.760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz5Av7sgzdC
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwelJOsXJa
“I went there after leaving class last night.”760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiL5VDroj3A
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUnErNVH3v
“At midnight,” he says now, as if he’s just making sure.760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5lA2Hxt4uE
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡygDRRIyu6g
“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.”760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdxACxbSaJc
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB8ggZmkVui
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.760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9na42rVxgZ
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5GLya69r3X
“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.”760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQivgv9lAT
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWpVi8wvWiD
Now his eyebrows shoot up.760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVD8flNK1h
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEZe9gjKz9m
She adds quickly, “It’s fine, though. I was lucky. He went for my stomach, but I managed to block him with my arm.”760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdl6f58YrOv
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9axsqYPxt
“Lucky,” he says, voice dripping with disbelief. “You were lucky you were only stabbed in the arm and not in the gut.”760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFH6hMsjeu7
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1P5ge3gpF6
Veins in his right temple turn into miniature mountain ranges.760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC2eKtkq56O
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54X0wSgRGG
“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?”760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaBqvQzN06W
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQCikxGPIHd
“I can’t rely on you all the time. You said so yourself,” she says.760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJOHmaY3D4W
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx60rzmDcD6
“Connor, man,” another of the dancers says, stepping in. “At least she’s okay, right?760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTDFZV7FkX
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfDner4M9g
“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?”760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVsfpZuyczl
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNELjPpgbkT
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.760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaKMfsx3sfC
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBqG1pX1EwM
“You’re right,” she says quietly. “I was reckless.”760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVH3sZ4vKl
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxVUprYwnn
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.760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzsvh0KYjm0
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2ErrgofWh
“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…”760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGcyvTzMnp
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj5ejxZcYTU
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.760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6GRaFyuEzI
760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0GvX4uq9s
Thank you, Connor.760Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsucbwByKoi
Penana
search
登入arrow_drop_down
註冊arrow_drop_down
