Break

Dimitri pulls up in the Audi and I’m glad I don’t have to go home with Sarina and her sister Seraphine. They’re kind of nice, but they can also be total bitches. The former when we’re alone and the latter at school or in front of basically anyone else.

“Hello, Natayla. Straight home, Miss, or to the library, or perhaps you’d like to do one of our secret jaunts to the fast-food restaurants?”

“Tempting. I am starving, but I don’t want to get you fired. Dimitri. She’ll smell it in the car.”

“I can take the blame, Miss. I don’t mind.”

It’s nice of him to offer, but my mother has a sixth sense when it comes to my calorie intake. Even if she missed the actual crime, the gain would show up in my Sunday weigh-in. Dad forbade the weigh-ins sometime last year after an explosive fight, but Katerina Kozlova doesn’t let anything keep her from greatness—not her husband, not extra pounds, and certainly not a clandestine Happy Meal from McDonald’s.

Dimitri shrugs and turns around as I look up to see Dash breaking out of school like he’s about to throw down. He slams open both exit doors at the same time and struts out onto the asphalt like the world owes him something.

“Wait a sec, Dimitri.”

I don’t have a plan in mind. I just want to watch him walk through the world. Okay, strut through the world. They say half of dancing is confidence, so Dashiell is more than halfway there. His friend from the Vauganova class is waiting for him and they do an elaborate handshake like they’ve known one another for a while. I’d kill to have someone wait for me after class, a confidante, a bestie. At this point, I’d even take an acquaintance.

“Okay, you can go,” I tell Dimitri.

I’m not sure what I was waiting for. Him to ask me for a ride home? Just because you share a sandwich with someone doesn’t mean they want to be best friends. I’d eat half of someone’s sandwich and be fine never talking to them again. But it was more than the food. I guess I kind of recognized myself in him.

Dimitri pulls forward just as I hear: “Hey, Tayla, wait up!”

“Stop, Dimitri,” I tell my driver.

Dash and Becker jog over to the car as I roll down the window.

“What’s up?” Dash says as he reaches the pick-up line.

He comes in close, all the way to the car, and leans his head in the window, resting his elbows on the frame. His dark eyes are curious as they take in my driver and me—my mom’s driver, with interest. He scans the luxurious interior of the car like he’s assessing it for purchase.

I shrug and wrap the strap of my dance bag around my wrist. “Just going home. You?”

“You were impressive in class today. I’ve never seen anyone dance quite like you do.”

I get the feeling he’s paying lip service to Dimitri. Maybe he thinks he’s my dad as he eyes him in the rearview.

Dash reaches a strangely flat palm to me and holds it over my lap. “I’ll see you in class tomorrow. Don’t study too hard!”

The show seems to be all for Dimitri, and I’m confused as hell until Dash drops a bag of honey-roasted peanuts right in my lap.

“Found cash on the floor of the boys’ dressing room and the vending machine gave me two packs,” he says under his breath. “See you tomorrow!” he follows, his voice rising a few decibels.

I clutch the peanuts and shove them under my thigh as my face reddens in shame. I’m embarrassed he’s caught on to my situation so quickly, but I’m strangely flattered he’s attuned to my needs—no matter how embarrassing they might be. It’s not a diamond ring. It’s peanuts, but it may as well be for how elated I feel.

“See you tomorrow, Dash.”

Dimitri practically runs over his feet as he pulls out of the parking lot. He drives through the iron gates of Haverton and onto the busy residential street. Quite a few Haverton students live close enough to walk, in stately mansions tucked behind tall gates and mostly hidden from view by towering oak trees. I’m not within walking distance as we live in the penthouse of a skyscraper downtown. Dad’s in finance and likes to be close to the “pulse beat of the city,” as he calls it. I’m guessing Dash doesn’t live near Haverton either. Maybe he lives on an entirely different planet.

“My unsolicited opinion is to nip that in the bud before Katerina finds out. I wouldn’t put it past her to have the board revoke whatever scholarship he came in on if she finds out he’s befriended her star-in-the-making,” Dimitri says pointedly.

“Unsolicited is right, Dimitri. Mother would be glad to know I shared half of my lunch with a hungry poor kid,” I tell him.