“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.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyznRmrBuCU
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsloSgQ7z0J
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.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSTP50zcL4I
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ9tCnSSUzO
Taking it off, she leaves it against the wall beside her water bottle. Maybe no one will notice—747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rXLMCL7hf
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa0V3uYpp1y
“What happened to your arm?” Connor asks, standing arms akimbo and looking at her in the mirror.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lJxQVFiEo
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNFiDZBuV8
She tugs at the bandage self-consciously. “Oh. Nothing, really. I just needed a few stitches.”747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxdLsy0YilU
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWjCmM57IUW
He turns around and looks at her directly now. She’s aware of how all eight of the other dancers are watching them.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEWNDMH8N2N
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5ncZyFAWE
“Stitches?” he repeats, saying it like it’s a dirty word. “What happened between last night and now that you had to get stitches?”747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQ3O15aau1
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZ458T8XjA
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.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJa8r77IIE
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5aoz17cNrn
“I…kinda got stabbed.” She scratches around the stitches, through the bandage.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWwzSx1tAD
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQQ64PW3k2
“You…kinda…got…stabbed,” he says, taking a step toward her. “How does that happen?”747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3JG2jIytmk
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbu48rm9kg
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.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNI5PhpSzFd
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYWrUSGGNiQ
“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.”747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvoMDBzwpoY
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7kpWWQGm3s
Connor doesn’t say anything, so she keeps going.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ32uh79cvin
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsUVJ7496bQ
“I went there after leaving class last night.”747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5EXMyhEwnk
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzwg9U5tjud
“At midnight,” he says now, as if he’s just making sure.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC6Ho1TRJtP
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1wQbDhWv5O
“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.”747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqfKH3QT02c
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrHTjpUMw1
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.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk2affkuGxS
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKYJZ1yXFsw
“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.”747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSrieLf75uz
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKfRcgOfqM
Now his eyebrows shoot up.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJeXMLr6Vz
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo2eoL8kz0m
She adds quickly, “It’s fine, though. I was lucky. He went for my stomach, but I managed to block him with my arm.”747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCkodAhOV5F
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70EyBXsYiB
“Lucky,” he says, voice dripping with disbelief. “You were lucky you were only stabbed in the arm and not in the gut.”747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZMLzCLnID
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRcIrR1Qbmk
Veins in his right temple turn into miniature mountain ranges.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ28ys4klrKR
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFItD5fPgWO
“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?”747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡap7EgsduE5
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8tFFJGfDo
“I can’t rely on you all the time. You said so yourself,” she says.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsmDX9GRPD
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD9Qb93lbcO
“Connor, man,” another of the dancers says, stepping in. “At least she’s okay, right?747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHfJlDcYo34
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr9g461bQip
“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?”747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzcPJHQtBUP
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8J7oVhZmOP
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.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDrtcqPE9Dc
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLTVyszwgM
“You’re right,” she says quietly. “I was reckless.”747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0hZbxbib4s
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7iF9tEpqt7
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.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHdf12IvGY
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZRA5sJKWy
“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…”747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0bWTKe68ZZ
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq3YuVzxapL
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.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ29486Gi46W
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfmPtFHUVog
Thank you, Connor.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQk3k028nW
Penana
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