“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.750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfef9b46u5b
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXA8PrbU26h
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.750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy0cJcmp6zg
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Taking it off, she leaves it against the wall beside her water bottle. Maybe no one will notice—750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc175TxF6Uy
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtzpisCTnU
“What happened to your arm?” Connor asks, standing arms akimbo and looking at her in the mirror.750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGuFpJ2H3Vm
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She tugs at the bandage self-consciously. “Oh. Nothing, really. I just needed a few stitches.”750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNKynPLNEoW
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He turns around and looks at her directly now. She’s aware of how all eight of the other dancers are watching them.750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcfZbnTvjEq
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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?”750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbw5hEaggw
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzw1yaqoASR
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.750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLRsOBfkRUN
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“I…kinda got stabbed.” She scratches around the stitches, through the bandage.750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8SjJdc1UAN
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“You…kinda…got…stabbed,” he says, taking a step toward her. “How does that happen?”750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuCblTUUKJ5
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡafAwdS8rqs
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.750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYaO1w7sb1b
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwIjat2wMB5
“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.”750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqTYrJN8Apz
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Connor doesn’t say anything, so she keeps going.750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfaMwuHfgnA
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFytsBIkqxk
“I went there after leaving class last night.”750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5OpoMlVvFu
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3SjLU0Dil
“At midnight,” he says now, as if he’s just making sure.750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6Izcrnccs
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUWDplvebC
“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.”750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrI2u84MCzc
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOO8CAQhYy
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.750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Zb2SFibTi
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfcLop088Vd
“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.”750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqNiGiRgOjh
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVxMfdHabDL
Now his eyebrows shoot up.750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD6pM8NCBiw
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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.”750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRTNHKuX3RR
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“Lucky,” he says, voice dripping with disbelief. “You were lucky you were only stabbed in the arm and not in the gut.”750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCEkTcdKYOv
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Veins in his right temple turn into miniature mountain ranges.750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKBbLMJ72E
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0nXWk1RzAa
“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?”750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bOZQnd7Cd
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjs5057tUUT
“I can’t rely on you all the time. You said so yourself,” she says.750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxvo245cE2U
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlAZdN6wBeK
“Connor, man,” another of the dancers says, stepping in. “At least she’s okay, right?750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsklSCV0tbO
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrcuJ4qUhcM
“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?”750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcmNG9PEppn
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMSLyQsixXl
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.750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUAYhJ4IxEH
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJkx8EkbLK
“You’re right,” she says quietly. “I was reckless.”750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgu2qGdEYo4
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLuVT2ZswJ
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.750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD7C2GNqdou
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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…”750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXAeeug6h8o
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1uYDFRZAVh
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.750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBugnGp64D1
750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3MYuH6gyCC
Thank you, Connor.750Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9UidPrXKO
Penana
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