The studio door slammed open and I jerked back as Collette whipped around.
“Oh!” A short, black-haired Latina girl was standing in the doorway staring at me, her eyes wide with shock and her mouth hanging open.
For a heartbeat we all just stood there, stunned.
The black-haired girl snapped out of it first. “I’m so sorry,” she said, her gaze moving from me to Collette as she grimaced. “I am so, so sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She shook her head, her curls bouncing from the movement.
She was starting to walk out and pull the door shut behind her but Collette stopped her. “Olivia, wait,” she said. “Get back in here.”
Olivia turned back around and came in, a guilty expression on her face. But that didn’t stop her from eyeing me like I was some animal at the zoo.
“Olivia, this Ethan,” Collette said.
Olivia’s eyes narrowed on me. “Ethan,” she repeated. She turned to Collette and muttered something that sounded like, “Graceful, unique, and beautiful?”
Collette blushed as she ignored her friend and turned to me. “Ethan, this is my friend Olivia.”
“Nice to meet?—”
“What are you doing here?” Collette asked, her voice sounded strained as she turned back to her friend.
Olivia was wearing a smuglittle smile as she crossed her arms. “I was going to watch Dancing with the Stars and I thought you might want to join me. I figured you might be down here, but—” Her gaze darted over to me. “I had no idea you were doing your own version down here.” My skin heated as Olivia’s gaze dropped down to my spats. They weren’t something I normally wore but I was tired of hearing Collette complain about the lack of movement my sweatpants created.
“We were just…” Collette’s eyes widened as she looked at me, like she wasn’t sure how to finish that sentence.
“We were rehearsing,” I said.
Olivia frowned. “For what?” Then, before either of us could respond, she whipped her head around to face Collette. “Wait a second, did you decide to audition for Juilliard?”
“What?” Collette’s voice was a squeak and her face turned a deep shade of red. “No, of course not.”
“Juilliard,” I repeated, trying to make sense of this conversation.
Collette turned to me, and I knew I wasn’t imagining that panicky look in her eyes. “Yeah, it’s a school for dance and music, and it’s super prestigious?—”
“I know what Juilliard is,” I said.
“Right, well, you never know,” she said. “I figured if they don’t have a football team, you wouldn’t have heard of it.”
I frowned at her in confusion. She looked flustered, and she wouldn’t quite make eye contact. Not to mention, she was treating me like some dumb jock and not the guy she’d been discussing music and dance with for the past two weeks.
“They have scouts coming in two weeks,” Olivia explained.
“Yeah, I’ve heard some of the girls in class talking about it in class,” I said. But Collette hadn’t mentioned it, and I’d figured that was because she hadn’t been invited to audition. From what Bianca and the others said, it was a big deal to be invited, and only the top girls in the academy had been picked. I turned to her. “Is that what you’ve been rehearsing for?”
“No, of course not.” Her tone was off, her body on edge. After weeks of watching this girl dance, I knew how she moved, which meant I knew her tells.
“Do you want to audition?” I asked.
She met my gaze evenly as she repeated herself. “No, of course not.”
“You’re lying.” I never looked away from Collette but I was vaguely aware of Olivia watching us intently, her head swiveling back and forth like this was a tennis match.
Collette pursed her lips, her brows drawing down in a scowl as she faced off with me. After a long moment, she let out a harsh exhale. “Okay, fine. I’d love to audition. But it’s never going tohappen.” She arched her brows and widened her eyes in an expression that saidare you happy now?
I wasn’t. Not even a tiny bit. But I also didn’t want to have this conversation in front of Olivia. She might have been Collette’s friend, but I didn’t know her. What I had to say to Collette needed to be said in private.
She seemed to sense that I was giving up this battle—temporarily, at least—and she burst into motion, gathering up her bookbag and her water bottle. “So, when do you want to practice again?”
