sweet voice she uses when it has been way

get a n

couple months ago. Did I

guess I h

You sure do. Now you have

e?" I say before I c

right now, and when she sighs on the ot

just

ut time got away from me," she said. "I was trave

now I get it. Even though I completely d

plans for winter break. I thought I could come to town for a few d

ting her. "I'm in the middl

she says, her sweet voice disa

d over winter break.

y with me. I'm in a one-bedroom studio and Markus stays over a lot these

ad," I say. "We arr

s traveling and too busy

to leave early or why I should maybe get a hotel room instead. Her boyfriend doesn't like kids and refuses to

r gets time with you

on. I choose where I spend my time. Dad doesn't get time with me.

right now, but I can't help myself when i

. When your father and I split up, I couldn'

into my life at any time you want," I say. "Lik

ter. This i

her later. I have no intentio

ortly, disconne

ly wrong with having this kind of a relationship with your own parent, and my body knows it. I'm always j

ring. I don't recognize the song and then realize it's D

ne under her pillow, stifling

n around my

stle. Just the slightly mu

minutes unt

anymore. It'll take me fifteen min

se them during the test, but maybe their knowledg

e my only hope

re are more birds singing than normal. If this was a musical, I'd skip

ass

sure, but I can feel i

t have to skip any questions and come back to them. I didn't have to make any guesses. I made

break

towards my dorm, when I stop and look through

e were always classes in there, ranging from beginners to longtime dancers, that I didn't wa

fr

ross the grass and test the studio door. D

the automatic lights f

I drop my backpack in the corner

t enough space, and Dandan would definitely give me judgy eyes if I woke her up. So, tiptoeing across the floor and spinning f

after months of studying and bending hunchbacked over m

ng something is already loaded up, and immediately pop music

re contemporary style. As I lose myself in the music, the two begin to blen

in the movement when

ed woman standing near the stereo. "You're grea

ng a deep red. "

e into my room. In a startling turn of events, Dandan isn't there, so I turn up the m

y way down to the dining hall for lunch. Everyone is gone by this point in finals week, so the offering is just some stale sandw

es from my dad's house, so she's going to give me a ride since I don't have a car. My dad tried to convince me he could afford to get me a car, but I told him that between

I turn off the lights, lock my door, and

ed hair sitting in the front seat. He climbs out as soon as he

y brows together in a quest

les in the rearview mirror at him. "His car is

" Devon says, reaching up and laying a ha