“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.766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAlsyqSRgDe
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnlSwn0Kq0
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.766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG37ACrA2Vd
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCM73a6cYJl
Taking it off, she leaves it against the wall beside her water bottle. Maybe no one will notice—766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnoOQq7ntXT
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9NgoVFYpn
“What happened to your arm?” Connor asks, standing arms akimbo and looking at her in the mirror.766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjcDzQBSKIi
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeQZxERzEmq
She tugs at the bandage self-consciously. “Oh. Nothing, really. I just needed a few stitches.”766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jn8MHHRPY
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5cpPQIdRI
He turns around and looks at her directly now. She’s aware of how all eight of the other dancers are watching them.766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSyY9H8xRxq
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg9s0By4dmW
“Stitches?” he repeats, saying it like it’s a dirty word. “What happened between last night and now that you had to get stitches?”766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWeOANdajO0
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo72qmGsIPn
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.766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg93G98QxfO
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe5Y7eU7plC
“I…kinda got stabbed.” She scratches around the stitches, through the bandage.766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0Fj1F1PkV
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowBqGjAWN7
“You…kinda…got…stabbed,” he says, taking a step toward her. “How does that happen?”766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaYy9yzO9W6
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO6hqMliW7M
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.766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtXPp9ME695
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJUyAgQM1r
“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.”766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkz7132xPRx
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc275X26p57
Connor doesn’t say anything, so she keeps going.766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRz8tlMj4f
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTZCTAwIU7
“I went there after leaving class last night.”766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0YJWGUU6li
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9j7c7NHtf
“At midnight,” he says now, as if he’s just making sure.766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5nZcAuwhC
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXLGxueejq
“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.”766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡic5ZQTThvL
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzLfCQX7lgq
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.766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYkRB8CAmmH
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxVZojz2ArR
“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.”766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxPaN2PVk4Y
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qj9hYx4zu
Now his eyebrows shoot up.766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhD6dOus9b
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXfOAnnhhC
She adds quickly, “It’s fine, though. I was lucky. He went for my stomach, but I managed to block him with my arm.”766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxkIngPNLp
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡupfynIt6RX
“Lucky,” he says, voice dripping with disbelief. “You were lucky you were only stabbed in the arm and not in the gut.”766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsrUSBPedsq
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYx74Xfkhdk
Veins in his right temple turn into miniature mountain ranges.766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8UsirJCNIm
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbC7PQ72EIz
“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?”766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSC4754Bn1D
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUHo1ZKhI2W
“I can’t rely on you all the time. You said so yourself,” she says.766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡul7xwSXmbm
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0NFJraQPJO
“Connor, man,” another of the dancers says, stepping in. “At least she’s okay, right?766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU5LI1jO40Z
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJuLWECzngK
“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?”766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7rn5MiFhDa
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHaRNAjrRA8
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.766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ilky7qYLr
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAmoXSHkVh
“You’re right,” she says quietly. “I was reckless.”766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oqwKVb9ny
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJ9BbqJJLB
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.766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLGjVJhqB4
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YoF9NjN24
“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…”766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXfWgffna8
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7pLyJZw5zQ
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.766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOituWZEAZo
766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6L4YLupKAa
Thank you, Connor.766Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSfBdjdCBjV
Penana
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