Page 121

“It’s not,” she confirms.

“Where the hell did my sister go, and who the hell are you?” Jase blurts out, stunned.

Lia smiles. “I’m me,” she says, “and that role doesn’t define who I am. No role in this world does.”

My heart beats faster when she says that. I can’t help myself, I have to pull her close, my lips brushing her temple. She squeezes my hand.

“See,” the red-haired girl whispers quietly but loud enough for us all to hear. She nudges Jase in the side, a triumphant smile on her freckled face. “I told you so. They’re totally in love.”

“Let’s go to Pearson right now,” Lia decides, her green eyes glowing with determination. “Let’s talk to him before he makes a decision about the performance. Let’s just get it over with and see what happens.”

“Okay,” I reply. My stomach tenses nervously, but I’m not scared anymore. “Let’s go.”

Chapter 57

Phoenix

Silence fills Pearson’s office after Lia and I finish our story. We’ve just told him everything.

No, it didn’t start here at school, it started before that. We met at a party and had no idea that either of us had any connection to the school until we met again here. We didn’t expect it to go this far. We tried to avoid each other, but it didn’t work. We couldn’t stay away from each other, and we can’t just carry on like this, not only because it would be wrong, but because we don’t want to.

Pearson’s expression doesn’t reveal what he’s thinking. Slowly, his gaze wanders from Lia to me. Then he clears his throat.

“Thank you for your honesty,” he says, but he sounds very serious. There is none of the warmth that usually resonates in his voice. “I can imagine that this wasn’t particularly easy for you.”

Lia tenses up next to me, my hands clench tightly.

“Nevertheless, I would of course prefer it if we didn’t have to have this conversation at all.” He sighs and fiddles with his watch. “You’re putting me in a very difficult position. And yourselves too. But you probably realize that already.”

“Yes,” I say tensely. It couldn’t be clearer to us.

Pearson is silent for a moment, then shakes his head, and I feel nauseous. “I need to think about how to proceed. I can’t make a decision right now.”

I feel a little better. That’s good, right? It means I’m not necessarily fired.

It means you’re not fired yet. Not that it couldn’t still happen.

“What exactly does that mean?” Lia asks, an uncertain flicker in her eyes.

“Let’s talk about this later. A lot has happened in the past two days. I admit, you couldn’t have picked a worse time for your confession,” he says, and only now do I notice how tired he looks. There are dark shadows under his eyes, as if he hasn’t slept all night. No wonder, considering that his most important dancer collapsed yesterday and no one knows yet how the performance will go on. And then we come along and make everything even more complicated than it already is.

Lia turns pale. My shoulders tense. I want to reach for her hand, but this isn’t the right time or place for that.

“I’ll let you know when I’ve come to a decision. There’s a lot to think about right now.”

That seems to be our dismissal. We hesitate briefly, but Pearson says nothing more, so we get up and leave his office. As I close the door behind me, I see him rubbing his forehead, an overwhelmed expression on his face. Because of us. My guilty conscience kicks in, but there’s nothing I can do about it now.

“What next?” Lia asks quietly as we walk down the empty hallway. It’s late, Camille has long since finished work.

“Wait and see,” I reply. “We don’t have any other choice.”

“What do you think he’ll decide?” Her fingers brush mine.

“No clue.” I want to reach for her, but we can’t do that, not now, not here.

“I hope he doesn’t fire you.” She doesn’t look at me when she speaks, but I can see her jaw muscles tighten.

“It would be okay if he did.”