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“You’ll be there?”
“Bet your ass. Roman too.”
“Okay.”
“Come on, blue.” Ash grabbed my hand, and we were gone.
Class was normally full of chatter before the music started. Not today. It was almost entirely silent other than the blocky sound of pointe shoes on the floor.
Claire pulled me into a hug we both needed. “Ready to do this?”
“Isfuck noan acceptable answer?”
“It’s the only one I have, so yes.”
Nausea swam in my gut. A combination of nerves and whatever the hell else. If I collapsed into a cold after this weekend, I would be zero percent shocked.
I spend half of lunch in Asher’s arms, just breathing each other in. I didn’t feel better physically, but being held by him was enough. For now.
“Sloane, costume department is ready for you.” Alice, a corps member, called out to me.
“Fuck,” I muttered.
“You’ve got this, sweetheart.” He squeezed me tighter for a minute.
Turning, I smiled. “Thank you, Alice.”
Last-minute costume fittings morphed into last-minute pickup rehearsals.
Ian was in rare form. “If you don’t keep your leg higher in that arabesque, Glass, I’m going to come over there and hold it up for you.”
I glared at him and lifted my leg higher. Why would it make sense for me to mark my rehearsal instead of going all out in a studio just before I was about to perform? I barely managed to keep my sarcasm in my own mind.
“And don’t forget the arms in act two. They’re still weak.”
“Wonder why that is?” I asked under my breath and Claire choked on her laugh.
He whipped around and looked at me. “Have something to say?”
“No.” I straightened. “I would like to rest my feet before the performance now.”
“Fine.” Before he released me, I saw him roll his eyes.
How in the hell did this man have the reputation he did? Everything I’d ever heard about him said he was a genius. The dancers who worked for them were bettered by his teaching, and it was an honor to be in a production he touched.
All we’d experienced was a bully who thought Slate City Ballet was his own personal toy box. Who cared if he broke the toys?
The nausea pulsed in my gut again, dragging through me. Fuck. That was more than nerves. Whatever the hell my body thought it could do to quit on me tonight? Too fucking bad. I was going to do this.
By the time I sat down in the dressing room, it had passed a bit but still lurked under the surface. I pulled my hair back into a tight bun so it was out of the way and started doing my makeup. It would be down and curly for act one.
Claire knocked and came in. We were sharing the room this run. “Woah there.”
I looked at her in the mirror. “What?”
“Uhh,” she laughed. “You’re perfuming quite a bit. Which is fine, considering how sweet your scent is. But you’re usually careful about it. You and Ash get carried away?”
My entire body went still.
