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“Adalynn,” she replied. What was with all the-lynnnames? This fad was getting old.
Regardless, I looked at her more closely and recognized her as the little sister of my favorite teen dancer. Her mom had always brought her to rehearsals, but Raelynn’s dad was the one male waiting outside today. That explained why I didn’t recognize her. Why didn’t her mom bring her?
“Well, you’re right,” I said to her. “Those are two of the most important parts of being a great dancer. Even if your legs aren’t super flexible and you can’t do fancy tricks, straight knees and pointed toes will make you look like a professional. Say it with me now: straight knees and pointed toes.”
This time, they all repeated it back to me.
“Awesome.” I beamed at them. They really were adorable, sweet little girls. I was getting convinced now—it was going to be a good year. “Can’t wait for next week! You’d better all work on your homework!” They curtsied to me (at least they’d learned some dance class etiquette), and I gathered my bags to head to Studio C for my next class.
“Miss Ivy?” Raelynn’s dad’s head poked through the door.
“Hi, you’re Raelynn’s dad, right? Sorry I can’t talk long. I have another class.”
“No, that’s fine. Raelynn’s waiting outside. I wanted to introduce myself. I’m Adalynn’s dad, too. Derek.” He held his hand out, and I shook it.
“Raelynn mentioned she was her sister. I didn’t know Adalynn had a sister.”
“Raelynn just started dance last year, and there’s a big gap between them.” He cleared his throat and pushed his thick-framed glasses up his nose. He was pretty cute for a dad. Not my type, though. “I’ll be bringing Raelynn to rehearsals, and I’m going to be your point of contact.”
“Oh, is Caitlin unavailable?” I asked. I figured as much, since she wasn’t here today.
Derek scratched his head. “She’s . . . yes. Unavailable.”
I furrowed my brow, but decided against asking further questions. He clearly wanted to keep the details private and was very uncomfortable.
“Well, it was nice meeting you. I’ll see you around!” I headed out the door, and he hesitated before following me out. I didn’t know what else he wanted to say, and I had a class to teach.
The rest of my classes were typical first days. Learning names, assessing skill levels. But this was fun, no pressure.
I climbed into my car at the end of the night, exhausted and fulfilled, but a pit of worry weighed in my stomach. Scott called right then, and the pit transformed into butterflies.
“Hey, you.” I said.
“Hey, yourself. Want to hang out?”
I hesitated. “I don’t know if that’s a great idea right now.”
“Oh.” He paused. “Amy?”
I sighed. “Yeah. I don’t want to lie to her, and it’s really hard when she’s living with me.”
“I understand,” he said quietly. The silence filled the space in my car.
“They’re gone tomorrow night, having dinner with Stella, and I don’t work Tuesdays. Want to meet up then?”
“That sounds perfect.” He exhaled a little too close to the speaker, so it sounded weird in my car, but at least he was relieved. “I want to talk to you about something.”
“Care to elaborate? I’m not a fan of those vague ‘we need to talk’ cliffhangers.”
He chuckled. “I can always count on you to make me laugh.”
“I’m serious, Scott.”
“So am I. I’ll see you tomorrow. Let’s have dinner at my place at seven.”
I groaned. “For real? You’re not going to say anything?”
“It’s all good, I promise. Come hungry.”
“I always do. See you tomorrow.” I hung up the call.
Ugh. I hated knowing that my mind was going to rifle through potential scenarios for the next twenty-four hours. But he said it was good, right? So I turned off my brain and turned up some old school Justin Timberlake, grooving all the way home to his sweet voice.
