The Teacher's Pet | Slowburn MJ FanFic

• | Chapter Thirty-One | •

| Three Days Later. . .

The start of the new school semester was slowly inching around the corner and Riley wasn't yet ready to face all the immense amount of homework, the late night assignments, and deal with the stress of it all. The few people she looked forward to seeing were the ones she hung out with outside of school, so the only thing left that kept her motivated was graduation.

She had the day off from work but she didn't want to stay trapped in the house all day. She didn't want to bother Michael, Jay, or Michelle either, so she got dressed in a pair of joggers with a cropped hoodie and slipped on a jacket before walking downtown to the Dance Academy. It was closed but she had the key to get in and Aria trusted her with the code to the security system.

She tossed the bag she carried with her against one of the many mirrors and slipped off her shoes, leaving her in her pristine white socks. As she scrolled through her music playlist, she daintily walked across the sleek floor to make sure the heat was turned on low before connecting her phone to the speakers and adjusting the volume.

While an instrumental song drifted throughout the studio, she did a few warm-ups and focused on her breathing to avoid any nagging thoughts that tried to distract her. All that Aria told her days ago, the uneasy feelings, and the No Caller ID calls that continued to randomly call her phone, she was more apprehensive than usual but she tried to not let it affect her.

She shook out her arms as she slowly rolled her neck from side to side. "This will all blow over soon, hopefully."

She breathed out as the instrumental seamlessly transitioned into Brave by Jhené Aiko, and she closed her eyes to once again block out any troubling thoughts. Instead, she listened solely to the music and let it guide her into a mellifluous trance that enveloped her lean body. Dancing was practically like a second language to her and it was embedded into her soul as she became one with the music, and gracefully followed the rhythm of the tempo.

Song after song played and she never stopped dancing; her energy stayed consistent whether the music was upbeat and zestful, or slow and crooning. From another person's perspective, they would've swore her bones were made of liquid with how fluidly and artfully she performed a series of dance styles.

The peace that once embraced her vanished when Wicked Games by The Weeknd pushed through the speakers, and her body froze as her blood ran cold.

The song felt like it burst open the mental dam in her mind and the memories of the party flooded in. She squeezed her eyes shut to try to vanquish them, but they still continued to taunt her. If she hadn't gone to that party, she wouldn't have met Javen and she wouldn't have endured that dreadful date that she still remembers detail by detail. The second-hand embarrassment was still hard to shake.

She quickly opened her eyes and decided to finally erase that song from her playlist. As she turned around, that same uneasy feeling hit her extra hard when she stared back at Javen leaning against the doorway. Despite the distance between them, she could sense the displeasing aura that surrounded him. Her stomach flipped as if it was doing somersaults and she struggled to swallow back the bile that had crept up her throat.

"What are you doing here?" She finally managed to ask, her voice slightly quivering against her will.

"I came by looking for you. The door was left unlocked, so I let myself in." He said, beginning to walk in slowly with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans. "I guess you didn't read my text then since you were dancing."

Riley's eyes shifted back and forth between him and the phone. She shook her head. "No, I haven't..."

"You danced beautifully, by the way. But there are some moves you should work on some more." He said, and she pushed back the scowl that threatened to appear on her face from his backhanded compliment.