Atlas Grove, once a dancer with dreams of dancing under the stars, now lives petrified in the shadows of abuse. To escape her living nightmare she must keep her head down and work hard, being her senior year this is her last chance to get out. Altho...
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"You are joking?" I breathe, the chilly air biting at my lungs as I laugh. I have to hold my stomach as it aches. Blaze rolls his eyes casting his eyes over the fogged city but I can see the tiny upturn of his lips... ever so small but it liquefies my insides.
"Yeah, yeah fucking laugh it up. Like you haven't done anything embarrassing." He shoves me playfully keeping his fingers interlocked with mine, the heat from him wrapping around my skin and shooting from my palm into my body.
"Embarrassing sure... but that...that's soul destroyingly embarrassing." I cackle watching my breath float into the grey sky. Blaze rolls his eyes again and I'm sure I can see the tiniest bit of pink on the top of his ears.
After my audition this morning we all went out for some lunch and as he promised Blaze had taken me around New York showing me all of the top tourist spots and the charm of the Big Apple. It's truly magical, like a part of me has always longed to walk the streets and stand in the middle of fricking Times Square... Times Square! It was incredible, Blaze laughed at me when I did the classic 'spin in awe looking at the billboards in the crowd of people' - like they do in the films. As we walked down Broadway my chest tingled and my eyes glassed over at the bright lights framing the theatres and posters. My body thrummed with excitement, my fingers desperate to reach out and touch everything. I still find it hard to believe I'm actually here... I'm scared I'll wake up and it'll all be a ridiculous dream.
"It was Brady's fault!" He huffs, his lips jutting out making me laugh even more. "The bastard had put it in my fucking orange juice at breakfast."
Blaze had spent most of the day telling me about the more memorable and happy parts of his childhood, the days he spent baking with his nan or the endless nights he and Brady would stay out at the playground near their houses which led us to Blaze's story- Brady slipped farting powder into Blaze's juice and he literally shit himself whilst he was doing a presentation in front of the class in sixth grade.
"Yeah... and then you shit yourself, Blaze..." My stomach has never hurt so much from laughing. Blaze grabs my waist and pushes me up against something cold, wind whips through my hair and in the corner of my eye I can see a couple taking photos on their iPhones. I turn my head slightly and suddenly realise where we are. In all the humiliation of Blaze's story, I hadn't realised he'd bought us to the Brooklyn Bridge. Even though a frosty snow cloud had covered the top of the window-structured skyscrapers the view is still phenomenal.
"I swear to god Atlas Grove if you tell anyone about this... anyone..." He grips my cheeks between his hands and I can't help but chuckle.
"What you gonna do Beckett?" I pull my lower lip between my teeth smirking. Blaze looks up at the sky through his dark lashes, a small grin lacing his lips as he runs his thumb across his bottom lip. Quickly he flips me around so my stomach is pressed against the railing of the bridge, looking out across the city. I squeal at the sudden movement but smile as Blaze's arms wrap around my midsection, his chin resting on my shoulder. His minty scent warming me from the inside as he places a small kiss on my jaw. My grin grows as I look out over the fogged up city, lights twinkling in the haze.
