The Hit List (6 page)

Maybe I should have reserved the studio, after all. I’d hate to be getting in the way of someone else’s rehearsal that actually went through the right channels to get the room.

“I don’t have it reserved. I was just walking by and saw you in here. You really are a great dancer.”

I drop the towel back into my bag and pull the ponytail holder out of my hair. My hair falls down around my shoulders. “Thanks.”

Luke pulls his bag off and lets it fall to the ground. He walks across the room and sits on the floor against the mirror.

I tuck my hair behind my ears to get it out of my face. I don’t know what he’s doing, but I don’t really want to dance in front of him. I sit down in the middle of the floor and face him.

“It’s quiet around here today.” I don’t know what else to say, but I feel like I need to say something. He just invited himself into my rehearsal.

“Take advantage of it. People are probably out enjoying the weather. It’ll change in a few weeks and we’ll all be fighting for rehearsal space on the weekends. It’s always been that way.” He runs his hand along the floor and wipes the dust on his pants.

“Haven’t you only been here for a year?” How would he know what it’s always been like?

He laughs and it echoes off the walls of the studio. It’s a pleasant sound. “My parents used to let me use the studios on the weekends before I started class here. I’ve been coming here on Saturdays for like ten years.”

Oh, right. I forgot they’re directors of the department.

“The older kids used to teach me their routines. It was fun.” His smile fades into a small frown.

Maybe it’s not fun for him anymore. I bet there’s a lot of pressure when your parents are big in the industry.

He picks at a blue spot on the floor. “I remember when they were painting sets in here one weekend. I think I was fifteen. I knocked over a can of paint and stained the floors. My mom was pissed.” Amusement lights up his eyes.

I smile back at him. “I bet.”

“She made me clean this entire floor. And then she wouldn’t let me into the studio for a month.” He shrugs. “I snuck in anyway. It’s not like it was hard.”

I laugh. I thought maybe last night at the fundraiser had been a fluke, but it’s still just as easy as ever to talk to him.

He grins. “That’s what she gets for keeping paint in the studio. Pretty sure she learned her lesson.”

“I’m sure she did.”

He watches me for a few seconds in silence. I study the room around me. I don’t know why I’m afraid to meet his stare, but I am.

His phone vibrates against the floor and we both turn to look at it. He picks it up and swipes his finger across the screen. His smile slowly falls until he’s frowning at his phone. The muscles in his arm clench as his grip on his phone tightens. If he squeezes any harder, he’s going to break it.

“I have to go.” His eyes stay glued to the screen.

“Um, yeah, okay. I should go, too.” I don’t know who pissed him off so much, but I’m not so sure I want to find out. I’m just glad it wasn’t me.

He lifts his head up and his face relaxes as soon as his eyes meet mine. A small smile returns. “Well, Sadie Bryant, I’m off to enjoy the sunshine. Have a good weekend.” He jumps up to his feet and grabs his bag. “Don’t work too hard.”

“See you Monday.”

I don’t want him to go, but I don’t know how to ask him to stay.

He disappears through the door as I gather my things. I walk through the empty halls. If I’d asked Luke to wait for me, maybe he would have walked me back to my dorm.

And then what? It’s not like I like him or he likes me. We talked for like two minutes in a dance studio. It means nothing.

I push through the door of my dorm room. Brielle sits at her desk with her computer open in front of her. She swivels in her chair to look at me.

“I have good news and bad news,” she says. Her face is neutral. Apparently both options aren’t that exciting.

I throw my dance bag onto my bed. Her news probably doesn’t even apply to me, but I humor her anyway. “Okay.”

She jumps onto her bed. “It’s Saturday and we don’t have class for another two days.”

I raise an eyebrow at her and dig through my bag to find my clothes. They’ll start to smell if I leave them in here until Monday. “I’m guessing that’s the good news.”

“Yeah. The bad news is that you’re a target in the sex game.”

I drop my bag. It thunks loudly onto the floor. “I’m sorry, what?” I didn’t hear her right. There’s no way she just said that.

“Lots of people are voting for you. So that’s good news or bad news depending on how you take it.”

“What?” I trip over my bag on my way to her computer. My hand comes down against the top of her desk so I don’t fall on my face.

The Conservatory blog is open on her computer. The newest post fills most of the screen. She scrolls down to show me my name. She’s listed a few spaces above me.

“What the hell? Aren’t you mad about this? You’re on there, too.” I scan over the screen. It has to be some kind of sick joke. I never did anything to deserve something like this. Who would do that?

“Hell yeah, I’m mad about it. Some jackass just posted my name all over the internet so people can decide how many points having sex with me is worth.” She shuts her computer and turns toward me.

“Who do you think did it?” I’ve only met a handful of people at this school, but I can’t picture any of them doing this.

She opens the top drawer of her dresser and pulls out a tank top and some shorts. “It’s not like we don’t have plenty of options. Most of the guys here are dicks. I could see any of them doing it.”

Obviously someone at The Conservatory has the balls to put this game out there. I wish there was a way I could somehow remove myself from it, but I know that will never happen.

“I’m going to go see if a studio is free.” Brielle glances back at me as she swings her bag over her head and rests it across her chest. She chews on her lip.

I know she wants to say something and I’d rather she just do it. “What?”

She shrugs. “I wouldn’t get involved with any of the guys around here if I were you.”

I guess it’s a good thing I already made that decision before I ever set foot in L. A.

Monday morning comes too quickly. I can barely get out of bed. Every inch of my body hurts as I stretch to loosen my muscles. Fire shoots through my aching and overworked limbs. This is what happens when I push myself too hard.

Today will be hell.

I stare at the ceiling and debate emailing Miss Catherine to tell her I’m sick. That way I can avoid this whole partner thing and the entire male student body who may or may not be trying to have sex with me for points. Maybe I’ll sleep the whole day. I relax back against my pillow. Sleep sounds so much better than leaving this room.

Brielle walks in with a towel on her head. “Morning. Are you ready for partner assignments?” She sounds excited.

“I don’t really have a choice.” It’s going to happen whether I’m there or not. There’s no escaping it.

She frowns. “No, I guess not.”

I slide out of bed. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Standing in front of the mirror, I pile my hair on top of my head and swipe on enough makeup to make it look like I’m not exhausted.

Brielle looks like she’s about to start skipping down the hallway on the way to class. She has enough energy for the both of us. Too bad she can’t transfer some of her excitement to me.

Luke stands in the hallway outside the studio. He talks to a girl I recognize as one of the music students who was singing at the fundraiser on Friday. I slow my pace. Brielle slows beside me and I can see her glancing between Luke and me out of the corner of my eye.

Nerves twist my stomach as I consider whether I should say something to him when I walk past. It would be rude to pretend like I didn’t even see him when I have to walk right by him.

Oh my God, I’m completely over-thinking this. I can say hi.

“Hey, Luke.”

He doesn’t answer me. Maybe he didn’t hear me. It’s not like I yelled it and he is distracted with another conversation. I open my mouth to say it again, but his gaze flicks up to mine briefly. Annoyance flashes in his eyes.

Wow. Apparently I was wrong.

Brielle huffs beside me and grabs my arm. “Whatever you’re thinking, just stop. I heard he was playing that game last year, anyway. You don’t want to get involved.”

I walk through the door to the studio with Brielle, ignoring Luke and the music student. It’s not like I needed him anyway. This just reaffirms my position on the whole stick-to-myself thing. If I don’t open myself up to getting hurt, it can’t happen.

I sit down next to Brielle and Adam and pull out my water bottle. It’s empty. Dammit.

The water fountain is just outside the door in the hallway. I hold the bottle under the steady stream of water. Luke is still out here, but he’s talking to a group of guys now instead of the music girl.

“She’s definitely a hit. I bet she’s worth a ton of points, too. If you don’t do it, I will.”

What the hell?

They’re part of that disgusting game. No wonder he looked annoyed when I said hi. He was probably trying to arrange his next hit.

I can’t believe I thought he might be a decent person. He’s just another asshole like Patrick. He might even be worse. At least Patrick had some regard for other people before things ended between us.

I don’t want anything to do with Luke.

I walk back into the studio and sit down next to Brielle, shoving my bag against the wall.

A frown creases her forehead. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

I don’t want to talk about this here. Especially since I know he’ll be walking in the door any second and I know how much she hates him. We don’t need a bunch of drama before class starts.

“You aren’t allowed to be crabby, Little Miss I-Got-Into-All-The-Advanced-Classes,” Brielle says, pointing at me. “You should be ecstatic.”

I frown. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

Her face falls. “It’s a huge deal for a freshman. It’s a huge deal for me and I’m a sophomore.”

When they emailed class assignments, I’d been over the moon. It was enough for me to get into The Conservatory, but getting into the advanced classes was only going to help my career.

Luke opens the door and his eyes meet mine. I look down at the floor, but it’s too late. He heads straight toward us. I don’t look up again, but I can feel him standing over me.

“Hey, Sadie.”

Now he wants to talk? Absolutely not. I don’t play that game. I won’t talk to him only when it’s convenient for him. And I definitely won’t give him the opportunity to use me and dump me so he can get some stupid points.

I ignore him and focus on my stretching. He stands next to me awkwardly for a couple seconds before he moves to an empty spot on the other side of the room.

“What was that about?” Brielle doesn’t look at me. Her face is against the floor as she stretches.

“Nothing.”

Usually I have no problem shutting out everything else and focusing on dance during rehearsal. But today the only thing I can think about is how I’ve ended up on that fucking list.

There’s no way Luke’s little act at the fundraiser on Friday wasn’t a way to try to get me to sleep with him. Pretend to be nice, pretend to have fun, pretend to be interested. He doesn’t give a shit about me. I’m just another point value.

The longer I’m in class, the angrier I get. If this is what I’ll be dealing with all semester long, how am I supposed to dance with a partner? How will I be able to have any kind of chemistry with someone if all I’m worried about is how many points they’re trying to get?

There’s no one at this school I’ll be able to successfully dance with. That means I’ll end up without a spot in Fall Showcase. And if I can’t show them I’m getting better, I can kiss London goodbye.

That can’t happen. I won’t let it. I need Fall Showcase to prove to myself that my career isn’t over after my injury. After Patrick.

Adam crosses the floor in front of me, his extensions amazing as usual.

Maybe I could partner with Adam. He’s not wrapped up in this stupid game. He thinks it’s just as bad as I do. And it’s not like he would be trying to have sex with me anyway.

Class ends and I find myself walking alone to my next one. Brielle leans against the wall down the hallway talking to one of the music students. She glances up at me and I wave. She says something to the boy and walks over to me.

“Did you just give him your number?” I ask, unable to hide my smile.

She frowns, getting defensive. “Maybe. Why? Is that a crime?”

That’s got to be the third boy I’ve seen her flirting with since this weekend. “How many guys are you going to date at once?”

“Who said anything about dating them?” She smiles.

I don’t get how she can be so carefree about this. “You realize they’re probably just after your points, right?”

She shrugs. “I can’t take my name off the list. Might as well have some fun with it. Besides, not every guy in this school is involved with that game. There have to be some good ones.”

Brielle links arms with me and we walk toward the next studio of the day. I’m about to follow her in, but an arm hooks around my waist and pulls me off to the side of the door.