“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.798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xSoXeZEij
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0NpaJkpRyj
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.798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXX2uZcZEDe
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMghuMUTjrp
Taking it off, she leaves it against the wall beside her water bottle. Maybe no one will notice—798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxllUOAcDdO
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOn6NwHRl3S
“What happened to your arm?” Connor asks, standing arms akimbo and looking at her in the mirror.798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyL2ggXoHG
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaAovIT1AOj
She tugs at the bandage self-consciously. “Oh. Nothing, really. I just needed a few stitches.”798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBPL2Q6n2wi
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhVIcJtLWrc
He turns around and looks at her directly now. She’s aware of how all eight of the other dancers are watching them.798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡicuH8sCgTL
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbhbycRFIzZ
“Stitches?” he repeats, saying it like it’s a dirty word. “What happened between last night and now that you had to get stitches?”798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOymc4hgAfH
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rxq6c5Pkp
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.798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Oj78eFRWc
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePfhVVyBje
“I…kinda got stabbed.” She scratches around the stitches, through the bandage.798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZHF4ITvV8
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6y4NPErISB
“You…kinda…got…stabbed,” he says, taking a step toward her. “How does that happen?”798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLfeBLcC59
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMSMIy9FAK
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.798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHtkJrSsAxy
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡALIiiSbao1
“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.”798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLiiUeUe9J
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEQPtIZizWA
Connor doesn’t say anything, so she keeps going.798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp4gn7qre24
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf2zp1Cfs4K
“I went there after leaving class last night.”798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnGzpiIVpA
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6IfyU221mO
“At midnight,” he says now, as if he’s just making sure.798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pgzwLC7X0
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOjSYsZxc70
“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.”798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtWz7Kqc60A
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMoJ0Iaxtgd
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.798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh3rW5aqTxp
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpjgJXpZ8X
“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.”798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp86y0778xE
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCRsMn50HWl
Now his eyebrows shoot up.798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKNtK6fX9Y
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5tUNO4lIV
She adds quickly, “It’s fine, though. I was lucky. He went for my stomach, but I managed to block him with my arm.”798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgg5zH9rYtV
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWvrIRMgby
“Lucky,” he says, voice dripping with disbelief. “You were lucky you were only stabbed in the arm and not in the gut.”798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJC7pRcNXhN
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5hkhGGGIfI
Veins in his right temple turn into miniature mountain ranges.798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPD27NGRym
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH0S1EHntEc
“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?”798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFbp3lOfmk
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzmElsCQyXy
“I can’t rely on you all the time. You said so yourself,” she says.798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtUtKlMLWUV
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2AoFhSq7W
“Connor, man,” another of the dancers says, stepping in. “At least she’s okay, right?798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPREAZaEBm4
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmzk4EXKyi
“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?”798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR2bchB3cED
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9jU9Lbkz6m
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.798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBl3pyYS0Rb
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIak9OdDyo7
“You’re right,” she says quietly. “I was reckless.”798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2W7qawDckM
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCT0fbQccS2
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.798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr1iy54s1BX
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHEQKHN0U2K
“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…”798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG01BjfKney
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ktB5lPcYv
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.798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZeW6s5U7uy
798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZSkGdP4nm5
Thank you, Connor.798Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn3HhVN35Ro
Penana
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