Hmm…I like the sound of that.
“I’m going to name you Rubble…” I smile, petting the top of the cat's head gently.
“You’re a cute little guy but…Are you a little guy?” I ask the cat, chuckling lightly as it meows. I’ve never thought about owning a cat, but the cat distribution system just dropped one into my hands, so how can I refuse this one?
Rubble purrs as I hit a soft spot behind their ear, and they nuzzle their fur into my skin.
“I knew an angel came crashing down in front of me, I just didn’t know she was this beautiful.” Jace’s all too familiar voice is loud, breaking Rubble and I’s silent meeting as the cat flees away.
I groan, watching them leave, hoping to see them again before I look up at the man sidling up to me.
“You scared Rubble away,” I tut, dragging my knees back up to my chest with a pout.
“Rubble?” Jace’s amused tone has me scowling at him as I fiddle with the hem of my pants.
“Is there something that you wanted? Or did you just want to bother me?” I ask, my tone harsher than I'd intended.
Shit.
I wish that I didn’t know Jace or watch him so intently, because then I wouldn’t see it—the small flinch and wavering of his smile.
Jace chuckles unamused as he shakes his head. “Nope. I’ll leave you to your cat business.”
“Jace, no. I—”
He doesn’t give me the time to apologize for my harshness, and instead leaves me to stew in my silent pity party.
“Let’s take a…break…” I say in between breaths, dragging my limbs over to my dance bag as Daisy nods, in the same state as me.
Sweat glistens on our foreheads, our chests heaving as we take seats against the mirrored wall of the dance studio next to our bags.
Daisy hands me a spare bottle of the pink liquid electrolytes that she always has, and I down it in one go, throwing my head back with a deep breath. My actions of the day still loom over my head even now, three hours later, at dance practice.
Daisy takes a careful sip of her drink, unlike me, and pauses the music on our Bluetooth.
“So…” she says, taking out her loose bun, running a hand through her waves.
“So?” I muse, my gaze locked on the missing panel in the ceiling.Has that always been gone? Why have I only just now noticed that?I take a sip of the flavored drink.
“Is that guy your boyfriend or is the other guy?”
I choke. My neck snaps to Daisy, eyebrows furrowed and mouth ajar.
What man? And who is this other guy she’s talking about? Aric?
“Who–”
“The blond,” she says with a shrug, cutting me off. My skin heats from the mention of Jace before instantly chilling as I remember how I treated him earlier. My mind looms over the thought of Jace and I being together, but then I recall the rest of Daisy’s sentence.
Or the other guy?
“Wait…What other guy?” I ask as she takes a swig of her drink, shrugging.
“No one…”
That’s not odd at all.
I eye her suspiciously once more and decide to ignore her probing. We’ve got a dance to complete and not enough time to do so. With our project for Winter Showcase being a dance, we have to create a portfolio and essay on how we came up with the choreography, the theme, and what artist inspired us. So far, we’ve completed about 40% of the written work, but with midterms peeking around the corner, we need to get in all the work that we can.
