“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.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoaQ6KbOFci
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMbPRwZscMa
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.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBiNE69t1ua
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9P4NRrFAd
Taking it off, she leaves it against the wall beside her water bottle. Maybe no one will notice—700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡesaXMlvJZF
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxEcSlbcxxg
“What happened to your arm?” Connor asks, standing arms akimbo and looking at her in the mirror.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVxBJpBdfX
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfrtUVkmzA7
She tugs at the bandage self-consciously. “Oh. Nothing, really. I just needed a few stitches.”700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAN2q1s8YrK
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7F6XWOJvK
He turns around and looks at her directly now. She’s aware of how all eight of the other dancers are watching them.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkgeUS0XQZ
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWoZtSIT8K
“Stitches?” he repeats, saying it like it’s a dirty word. “What happened between last night and now that you had to get stitches?”700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrja6ArubbR
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzRGp0bVCN
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.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrW6wLcUeu
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB4FqZ5lWbw
“I…kinda got stabbed.” She scratches around the stitches, through the bandage.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwwOCkQpvD6
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkt0bMlzNV
“You…kinda…got…stabbed,” he says, taking a step toward her. “How does that happen?”700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWomqEb9qAi
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdpnlybNoU
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.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡToPP4k61Oj
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUgxY6TsAtx
“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.”700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrdndEMFLJ
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEB9KKQc0Od
Connor doesn’t say anything, so she keeps going.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4XZXSwpzV
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmGniNXnrQ0
“I went there after leaving class last night.”700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡACjGWyIVvV
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vKURQNnuY
“At midnight,” he says now, as if he’s just making sure.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI4G2F7oDHE
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoIfbsZAoA1
“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.”700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnHx1r4RY3T
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOMvtXfm12i
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.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwQiMpNgCkX
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1P41udIoX
“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.”700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54iuSeqlDq
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrZ86FJseq
Now his eyebrows shoot up.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgUaTW8q6i
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm4e4CmpXzy
She adds quickly, “It’s fine, though. I was lucky. He went for my stomach, but I managed to block him with my arm.”700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKza2D3nXVN
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUaocv9fOT2
“Lucky,” he says, voice dripping with disbelief. “You were lucky you were only stabbed in the arm and not in the gut.”700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡArPyKE3PAG
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HopDyKAR4
Veins in his right temple turn into miniature mountain ranges.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ29CCuIRsz6
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB9ZqcHvnQf
“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?”700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXKYJvemttz
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqGJLHfESen
“I can’t rely on you all the time. You said so yourself,” she says.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChZc3xtTJj
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJmBE9EUInL
“Connor, man,” another of the dancers says, stepping in. “At least she’s okay, right?700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz4ZLreS62N
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61IDNbUp51
“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?”700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdALXIQtcWP
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMek84nrr4
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.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFE5zKCRPrp
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6l5tD2pHY1
“You’re right,” she says quietly. “I was reckless.”700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡszk9NXCV3r
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdp5uKQ91j
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.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJp8xsYsXQ
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGpXf4izI75
“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…”700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZY1atkrr9c
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAISjpaTYsN
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.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXKhjjHnxak
700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAzHq6TIM50
Thank you, Connor.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiPteZH3bZz
Penana
search
登入arrow_drop_down
註冊arrow_drop_down
