“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.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhyT1UXE2V
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQ2Pc5pCQj
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.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzgFcog62q
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVXiFDMw6vf
Taking it off, she leaves it against the wall beside her water bottle. Maybe no one will notice—726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Zp8wKTeR8
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0EHTirUBQS
“What happened to your arm?” Connor asks, standing arms akimbo and looking at her in the mirror.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqU9uLgL9Xr
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She tugs at the bandage self-consciously. “Oh. Nothing, really. I just needed a few stitches.”726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1v9NUiirmi
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmjAxLU5xY9
He turns around and looks at her directly now. She’s aware of how all eight of the other dancers are watching them.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmR5Fw2FKI1
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“Stitches?” he repeats, saying it like it’s a dirty word. “What happened between last night and now that you had to get stitches?”726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs6Vf7PNhdw
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBRQd5orFCT
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.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8hmITYhkyZ
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHm8WFzYcTR
“I…kinda got stabbed.” She scratches around the stitches, through the bandage.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoP63GfQmki
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiF7kLCPwdh
“You…kinda…got…stabbed,” he says, taking a step toward her. “How does that happen?”726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn2IOasR5pt
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzj6JKZB8IN
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.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJLWeUhS51
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcWnKGpgYyW
“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.”726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡay0IV6wr0g
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbblHJEzmN
Connor doesn’t say anything, so she keeps going.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5zF7xoZ73F
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7IUB0jpwNe
“I went there after leaving class last night.”726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ427OBlM0j5
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“At midnight,” he says now, as if he’s just making sure.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1eG21TsZo
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfMIrhJkGln
“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.”726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9mvo60WliA
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUIFNkuesLv
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.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQEXeL8Skdt
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf4I4MJx7fA
“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.”726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQRwPukuRL
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgutXXcTkf7
Now his eyebrows shoot up.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQshTiRfyQ
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She adds quickly, “It’s fine, though. I was lucky. He went for my stomach, but I managed to block him with my arm.”726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzjM57nG0J
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡitqQ5q5vmn
“Lucky,” he says, voice dripping with disbelief. “You were lucky you were only stabbed in the arm and not in the gut.”726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUIZJzheyPM
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0AR8JbPHhv
Veins in his right temple turn into miniature mountain ranges.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7rl2JyIVe
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3NdwLMEzb
“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?”726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfMkXycyki
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4RTOjauKV
“I can’t rely on you all the time. You said so yourself,” she says.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡALPz3IHZ9X
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDr7zebdO69
“Connor, man,” another of the dancers says, stepping in. “At least she’s okay, right?726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAic5K35aKX
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0djtR6EGk
“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?”726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoNDDYsndZG
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDGCxWdMVp
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.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsGoDqg224t
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC3GuaLvAdj
“You’re right,” she says quietly. “I was reckless.”726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9cuo04ynDp
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEuKfZJYvCY
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.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89t1DdPJcI
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“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…”726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lstO3zYRU
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtb9tDm4hpD
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.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu05FA5ttPm
726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc1cIsMRBUu
Thank you, Connor.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRX5k8ZvSe
Penana
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