“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.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV46kd8MqHa
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7tkyJ3Zes
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.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwwrb8EYJFq
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaC3RtqGJlB
Taking it off, she leaves it against the wall beside her water bottle. Maybe no one will notice—351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVlwdg7KQcx
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTH5jL6miEm
“What happened to your arm?” Connor asks, standing arms akimbo and looking at her in the mirror.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4dbOv4g0YZ
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHkRy1GP4ux
She tugs at the bandage self-consciously. “Oh. Nothing, really. I just needed a few stitches.”351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQludguBYl
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5MdUzj1a0
He turns around and looks at her directly now. She’s aware of how all eight of the other dancers are watching them.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡClkRYdonwl
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr05tzuzrCp
“Stitches?” he repeats, saying it like it’s a dirty word. “What happened between last night and now that you had to get stitches?”351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTMRnxf1wZV
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPmCvCqu41E
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.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcjWZbmNeJ4
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaYuwzoyoMX
“I…kinda got stabbed.” She scratches around the stitches, through the bandage.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2fP7tlIeVf
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6WK5Nb4HK2
“You…kinda…got…stabbed,” he says, taking a step toward her. “How does that happen?”351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR6KSkv8etw
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJM6zl0ruJb
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.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU5PYg0DyMQ
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9bnNDjXB8Z
“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.”351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPKsUob0nw
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpdsgoHIeMC
Connor doesn’t say anything, so she keeps going.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHueYX0kSz1
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ96yKqxBPjF
“I went there after leaving class last night.”351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnIr4aCRmC
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEu9dK6uOXc
“At midnight,” he says now, as if he’s just making sure.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd8UdGad3Zh
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnLjC29f4BR
“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.”351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡexdPeQ1ylp
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPbA7n9Q4uA
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.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCzZd4pWSy
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWsAuOIc3y
“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.”351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YNF9NCK6T
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO7ojlGsCOz
Now his eyebrows shoot up.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡscG7hX6kfs
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgrpWRujWd
She adds quickly, “It’s fine, though. I was lucky. He went for my stomach, but I managed to block him with my arm.”351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpjQ0SkqmX
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpnZMJDeToA
“Lucky,” he says, voice dripping with disbelief. “You were lucky you were only stabbed in the arm and not in the gut.”351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCY4vSppq8c
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhV99ctFah
Veins in his right temple turn into miniature mountain ranges.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYQbKHMUC3Q
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsyFS92miMA
“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?”351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKxWmZrWjqX
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3oXVhj9MQa
“I can’t rely on you all the time. You said so yourself,” she says.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhqZYAS02zt
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6eb4YcMkt
“Connor, man,” another of the dancers says, stepping in. “At least she’s okay, right?351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzmre3QCcyP
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlbd5VOgFf
“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?”351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWh3nlyOjo
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLdte4GzCu
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.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWGpm0VdT4e
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDREpypqFpu
“You’re right,” she says quietly. “I was reckless.”351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSP6HBlbBLr
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0HmLuHTzq
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.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡADPaqTiYXk
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX3Io9ZtVso
“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…”351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjBjBcMIpE
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVOmUYII9kW
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.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmyJ32PzzAY
351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXAey6eeotV
Thank you, Connor.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfPVchxmaBW
8964 copyright protection347ＰＥＮＡＮＡLvso1yy2nE 維尼

34.239.147.7