“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.768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzVDKcAJbo1
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfA8RoE9mT
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.768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa4uMUwOM9M
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEjJADWKlaI
Taking it off, she leaves it against the wall beside her water bottle. Maybe no one will notice—768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIqJ3lovXH
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5d1hmaIRu5
“What happened to your arm?” Connor asks, standing arms akimbo and looking at her in the mirror.768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQCrZ9vTmxg
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtAXNqIQLj0
She tugs at the bandage self-consciously. “Oh. Nothing, really. I just needed a few stitches.”768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBomL3PWLG5
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ56BHtcgQQ5
He turns around and looks at her directly now. She’s aware of how all eight of the other dancers are watching them.768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2D2Pj8Dm9O
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjyFZpRC3a
“Stitches?” he repeats, saying it like it’s a dirty word. “What happened between last night and now that you had to get stitches?”768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPeHqpx3DW1
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxMZZFEDIb
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.768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19yZYkUJhf
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3SuHJCCcL
“I…kinda got stabbed.” She scratches around the stitches, through the bandage.768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYndLLb57as
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7xx09Z1Eq
“You…kinda…got…stabbed,” he says, taking a step toward her. “How does that happen?”768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipBLtXh94C
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSq0YhgBKH8
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.768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9zLwtr0rFo
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxv0Ww7eq7G
“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.”768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBpM2pVuEDt
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeiSKNFzWfy
Connor doesn’t say anything, so she keeps going.768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy0T9v510tj
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMeK6MuT5TF
“I went there after leaving class last night.”768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9QB77GRaoW
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡduToI0ZlO7
“At midnight,” he says now, as if he’s just making sure.768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLtmb0GLWeR
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMO8ICeqkA1
“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.”768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQBE3p2fRN
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC8ozDs21Hl
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.768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWhYoiEzlo
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlAucGq6Jd
“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.”768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02HDsi4j4I
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnoYv2T5TM
Now his eyebrows shoot up.768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrjR5olabiJ
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUV6VI28uh8
She adds quickly, “It’s fine, though. I was lucky. He went for my stomach, but I managed to block him with my arm.”768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRx5CsrOtY
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjUHBJ5FE5M
“Lucky,” he says, voice dripping with disbelief. “You were lucky you were only stabbed in the arm and not in the gut.”768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8oUQZAzsoT
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQA7XMhEcXK
Veins in his right temple turn into miniature mountain ranges.768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrd0DVtDFMx
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJM3326IMS
“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?”768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQKZ9OCvkN
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ZYcFgnLGj
“I can’t rely on you all the time. You said so yourself,” she says.768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk83ZmAvJba
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0vRohJhflZ
“Connor, man,” another of the dancers says, stepping in. “At least she’s okay, right?768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkAOsgOni7L
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJFQu7JxVro
“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?”768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Zoch82S3x
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCTA3JICfd1
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.768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMVA2FtVYHW
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ73vDGbMMWI
“You’re right,” she says quietly. “I was reckless.”768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4LIeKLwKL
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBIdDtGRjor
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.768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTEd95pE0Y
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xlZkzy6ZH
“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…”768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy37Jes5Co8
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ813xeY9HTs
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.768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKT1dZCq8ki
768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILuenJA9Hj
Thank you, Connor.768Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJqOQ8Gp4yS
8964 copyright protection764ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzrkGyle3W 維尼

216.73.217.1