The Hit List (8 page)

I take a deep breath, unsure I should even answer her question. Her tone scares me and I don’t want to dig myself in any deeper than I already have.

She folds her hands on the desk in front of her and continues without my answer. “I told you the first day of class we don’t give breaks. If I allow you to partner with the person of your choice, I have to allow that same consideration to every other student in this program, and I can’t do that. Even if I could, the partners have already been chosen. This doesn’t just affect you. It affects every other student here.”

I look down at my hands in my lap, unable to look her in the eye any longer. This was a huge mistake. “I understand.”

“Do you? Because it doesn’t look good on your part, asking for special treatment in the second week of class. Keep in mind we don’t just look at technique and abilities in a dancer when we’re considering someone for London. We consider the dancer as a whole, including how agreeable they are.” Her eyes flick to her computer for a couple of seconds.

My cheeks burn. I want to be as far away from here as possible. What even made me think this would work in the first place? This conversation will spread like wildfire to all the teachers and no one will want to work with me anymore. I’ve just turned into the high maintenance, needy dancer. Awesome.

She doesn’t bother to look at me anymore, focused instead on a piece of paper lying on her desk. “If that’s all, you can go. You can’t afford to be late for class right now.”

I walk out of her office. I never should have talked to her in the first place. Such a stupid mistake.

Brielle catches me in the hallway. “Did you just talk to Miss Catherine? What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I keep walking.

“Is there ever anything you do want to talk about?” She crosses her arms over her chest, like she’s expecting me to spill my guts for her now.

I glare at her. “Sometimes.”

“Sadie?”

I turn at the sound of my name. Owen, a guy in my dance history class, jogs up beside us.

“Hey, how are you?”

I smile. “Good.”

I don’t know him that well. It’s weird that he’s making an effort to come talk to me outside of class.

“I was wondering if you wanted to go to dinner this weekend.”

My smile falls. The Hit List hasn’t even been around that long and I’m already sick of it.

He looks nervous. “I’m not part of that game, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Brielle laughs beside me. “Does that actually work?”

He looks offended. Maybe he really isn’t part of it. He could just actually want to date me.

“She’s not interested.” Brielle pulls me toward the studio.

Owen doesn’t say anything back. He shuffles back down the hallway the way he came.

I watch him walk away, but wait until he’s out of earshot to say anything. “That was mean. He might not really be playing.”

She raises an eyebrow at me. “Did you want to go out with him?”

“No.” I don’t want to go out with anyone.

“Okay, then.”

Brielle turns into the studio we’re in next. I follow her and sit down on the floor to stretch to keep my muscles warm.

This is it—the partnership that can make or break me. The odds that it’ll be the latter are too high for me to think about.

Luke sits behind me, but he faces away from me, completely absorbed by his cell phone, like he didn’t just pin me to a wall. Rachel tries to get his attention by telling an animated story about her bikini mishap on vacation, but she’s failing miserably. His eyes remain glued to his phone. Courtney sits on the other side of the room, equally enthralled with her phone. They seem to be playing a suspicious game of phone tag.

I can only assume that he’s flirting again. I’ve never seen someone flirt as much as him in my entire life. And he seems not to care that everyone he flirts with constantly sees him with someone else.

I mean, really. It’s not like we don’t have standards.

Miss Catherine talks with another teacher near the front of the room. They look casual, like they’re not about to ruin my life.

“I have the partner assignments I know you’re all eagerly waiting for.” Her eyes find mine, but I look away.

If I’d stayed in New York, none of this would be happening right now. I wouldn’t feel so defeated. New York may not hold the fresh start I wanted, but right now, L. A. doesn’t either. Maybe there’s still an option to transfer somewhere.

It’s easier to run than it is to deal with all this shit. That’s what my life has become. Running from one problem to the next.

“Sadie.”

My head pops up when I hear my name and I hold my breath.

“Your partner is—” She glances down at her clipboard before her eyes flick back up to mine.

It’s possible I won’t be completely screwed by this whole thing. Maybe Adam was already chosen as my partner.

Please be Adam. Please be Adam. Please be Adam.

“Luke,” she says, smiling.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

THE HIT LIST UPDATE

September 10

Welcome to the first point update posting of The Hit List. Each of our guys has been assigned a number for the time being. If our girls knew which guys were participating, the game wouldn’t be any fun.

As far as the girls go, here are their weekly numbers. There has been a ton of voting activity in the polls this week, but here are the standings as of right now. Whatever position a bonus girl is in when a Hitter scores points for her determines the amount of points that Hitter will receive. So if someone claims Rachel while she’s on top, they’ll receive the max of fifteen points.

Remember to keep voting to change up the positions of our girls and how many points they’re worth. Come back next week to find out who has taken the lead, how many points the guys have racked up, and which girls have fallen.

In the meantime, happy hitting!

~THE HIT MAN

5

The studio I’m using to practice with Luke is right down the hallway. Rachel and her friends sit in the windowsill outside the studio. She holds the latest issue of
Jeté Magazine
in her hands. I keep my head down, hoping I can disappear around the corner without them seeing me.

But I don’t have that kind of luck.

“‘Neither has danced without the other for two years. One wonders what kind of effect this separation will have on their dancing.’” She makes direct eye contact with me as she finishes quoting the article. Her brown eyes burn with dislike for me. I’d like to think it’s jealousy, but I think it’s just her.

I keep walking, not giving her the satisfaction of a response. She won’t continue if I don’t encourage her.

It’s clear that our separation has only benefited Patrick. The only thing it’s gotten me so far is a lot of unwanted attention.

Rachel kicks her feet against the wall below the windowsill. One of her friends jumps down and steps out in front of me. I sidestep so I don’t run right into her. She follows me down the hallway as I walk.

“From what I’ve seen, she was the weak link in that partnership. I mean, look how well he’s doing. He was lucky to get out when he did.” Rachel shoves the magazine at one of the other girls.

She’s right. I was the weak partner. But I’m determined not to let that happen here. I have to make this partnership work.

“Don’t you have something to say, Sadie?” She smiles and the rest of the group turn to watch me.

I stop and close my eyes as I take a deep breath. There are so many things I want to say to Rachel, so many things that would wipe that fucking smile right off her face. I don’t want to stoop to her level, but that doesn’t mean I won’t.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Rachel.”

She grins like she knows a secret. “I know no one wants you. Not Patrick and especially not Luke.”

She thinks it’s an insult, but she doesn’t know that I don’t want them either. Patrick can go to hell and she can keep Luke. She doesn’t even know the whole story. All she knows is something she read in a magazine. How would she feel if she were left at her most vulnerable time by the partner she loved more than anything else in the world?

“Why do you even care so much?” There are so many other things she could be focused on right now. Like Fall Showcase. Or her name being on The Hit List.

She narrows her eyes at me. “Stay away from Luke.”

“Maybe you should tell him to stay away from me. It’s not like I put my name on that stupid list.” I’m starting to see why Brielle hates Rachel so much.

“Maybe someone put you on that list for a reason.” She stares intensely at me for a couple seconds before she shrugs and smiles. Her playful attitude returns to her face, like she doesn’t have a care in the world. “Or maybe they did it as a joke, because who would seriously work that hard to sleep with you?”

My hands clench into fists at my side, my nails digging into my palm. Patrick didn’t want to keep working with me so he left. Luke is persistent right now, but he’ll get sick of the game quickly. Rachel’s right. No one wants to work that hard.

And I don’t want them to. I don’t want any of that. I don’t want a boyfriend or a friend with benefits or some other unspecified relationship. I don’t want to be part of this game.

I round the corner to the sound of Rachel’s laughter. I need to focus on the task ahead of me. As much as I don’t want to think about partnering with Luke, I want to think about Patrick even less.

A boy stands beside a girl farther down the hallway. He touches her face and she smiles. “You deserve so much better than him.”

They look cute together.

Until another very angry student interrupts the moment by punching the first guy in the face. “Are you fucking kidding me, Justin? Did you seriously just try to cock-block me?”

Justin lies on the ground, rubbing his jaw where a brightly colored bruise has already started to form behind the cut that drips blood down his chin.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Derek? Your name’s not on her. She’s fair game.”

Derek looks like he’s ready for another round of punches. “Does she know we wanted to nail her for points?”

“She does now, genius.” Justin scrambles off the floor and lunges at Derek.

A teacher catches Justin before they make contact again. Derek steps back against the lockers with his hands raised. He’s crazy if he thinks the teachers will believe he had nothing to do with this. A couple more teachers run down the hallway to help with the situation. The first teacher pushes Justin toward an office. Derek follows with a smirk on his face.

I stare in horror at the girl across the hallway. A tear runs down her cheek before she runs away. This whole school has gone bat shit crazy over this game.

Luke flirts with some blond chick outside our studio. She giggles when he tucks her hair behind her ear. He doesn’t seem at all disheartened by my rejection. He’s flirted with every single girl I’ve seen him talking to since I met him.

I storm past them, sick of seeing flirting everyway I go, and push through the doors of the studio. Luke glances at me, a frown creasing his forehead. “Later, Candace.” He follows me into the studio.

Candace giggles again. “Bye.”

I roll my eyes.

“Hey, it’s about time you got here,” Luke says.

“There was a distraction on my way here.” I don’t meet his eyes because I don’t want him to see how angry I am, but I’m sure he can hear it in my voice. It’s not like he was doing anything important before I got here anyway. I don’t want to deal with any male at this school. They’re all playing that game and it’s sick.

Luke paces the floor on the opposite side of the room. He won’t cross the invisible line in the middle of the room. “The teachers like us to be warmed up before they get here.”

“Okay.” I’m not in the mood for Luke and I refrain from telling him exactly what I think of him.

My phone vibrates against the side of my arm, through my bag. I pull it out and stare at the number I should have deleted a year ago, but I could never bring myself to do it. Patrick.

How’s L. A.?

No “Hi.” No “Sorry I haven’t called in all this time.” Not even a “Hey, how’s your hip doing after I dropped you?”

“How’s L. A.?” Fucking pathetic.

I don’t even know what to say to that. He was dead set on forgetting about me before I even left New York. Why the hell does he suddenly care about me now?

I shove my phone back in my bag and set it down in the corner of the room, out of the way. Luke walks to the stereo system and plugs in his iPod. I head to the front of the room and sit down, blinking back the tears.

My hips and legs tighten as I stretch out my muscles. I take a deep breath and focus on the feeling. The cool floor feels nice against my skin and it helps to calm my racing heart and relax my muscles, allowing me to push further into the stretch.

Luke walks to the stereo. “You better make sure you’re on time from now on. I need you to help me win Fall Showcase. Which means you need to be on time and give everything you’ve got in rehearsal.”