My brother's best friend

Chapter thirteen

When I wake up the next morning I am face to face with Daniel. His lips are slightly parted as he softly breaths through his mouth, his eyes still shut in a peaceful sleep. A smile comes onto my lips as I remember last night. It wasn't perfect, but it was close enough. 

There's a small part of me that is scolding me on my faults, but I try to shove the voice away as I did last night when it also decided to voice its protest. In the back of my mind, I see dad sending me disapproving looks, but I shove him aside as well. This is my life and I make the choices I want to from now on. 

I reach out and touch Daniel's hair softly. My fingers disappear in the thick, dark hair for a few seconds before they come into view again. I take the opportunity to look over his face. There's a small scar on his right eyebrow where Will once nicked him by accident while they were playing some kind of a game when they were younger. His nose is sprinkled with light freckles that you would normally miss if you only took a quick look at him.  

I pull back my hand when his eyes flutter open and focus on me. I smile at him. He blinks a few times before sitting up quickly. "What are you doing here?" He asks over his shoulder. I frown, my heart clenching at his reaction. I sit up as well and pull the covers to my chest. "I-" I stop myself and restart, "Don't you remember?" 

There's a long silence and I take that as my answer. My heart aches and I quickly get off the bed. How could I have been so stupid? I hadn't thought we were that drunk. I wasn't anyway. Obviously he was further than I thought. 

I grab my dress off the floor and pull it on. I look around and find my bra on the dresser. I pull it on awkwardly under the dress and start looking for my panties. I look at Daniel's back and my heart breaks all over again. He couldn't even look at me. I abandon my search and just decide to leave. I close the door softly and tiptoe out of the Greene's home. 

I mentally lecture me on the horrible choices I made last night. The images of mom and dad shaking their heads at me flash in front of my eyes and I want to scream. I was reckless and a mess. How could I have done this to myself? My heart throbs with pain as images of Daniel's confused eyes landing on me this morning flashes against the back of my eyelids. 

At home, I get into the shower and attempt to wash last night from my body. It doesn't work. Every place Daniel touched still had a lingering tingle under the skin that can't be reached by soap. How I wish I could wash them away now. With each tingling line on my skin, there's an image memory to accompany it. 

Last night I made sure to capture every moment, not wanting to forget any detail. Now, I wished I hadn't. I wished I had known someone else at the party that could have kept me from Daniel. Someone to distract me from the irresistible pull he had on me. Even now I wanted to go back and just talk to him. I just want to tell him what happened and how it felt. 

Instead, I got dressed in tights and a loose shirt. I grab my dancing bag that lies in the back of my closet and heads out. 

Catharina was right, I used to go there all the time to feel better. This is the perfect time to start again. I look over at the Greene's house and for a moment I consider going back in to find Daniel. I don't. I get into my car and drive away as quickly as I could. 

When I reach the studio I let out a heavy sigh before heading in. I hear faint music playing in one of the studios and stop to look. The blinds obscure my view but I do know I see bright red hair performing beautiful flowing steps. 

I watch as the dance unfolds in front of me. Anina runs around the whole room, performing difficult steps, one after the other. Finally, a boy comes into view and she runs to him, launching herself at him, trusting him to catch her. 

In the back of my mind, I want to yell at her that he will betray her and he won't catch her, but I watch silently as he grabs a hold of her waist and lifts her high above his head. 

"They do dance well together." I almost jump at Catharina speaking next to me. I nod slowly, "They do." I hear a small chuckle come from her and slightly turn my head to look at her, but still keeping the dancing couple in the line of my view. 

"Please tell me you are here to accept my job offer." Catharina says, focusing entirely on me. Before I can answer her she starts talking again, "Anina got a roll in the Nutcracker and I am invited to help choreograph the performance. The only problem is that we will be gone for quite some time, and I need someone I can trust to watch over the studio." She takes a moment to look at her daughter dancing. 

She looks back at me, a sad smile on her face, "I need to see my little girl dance, but I also need to make sure my studio will be taken care of by someone I trust and know loves it as much as I do. And beside me and my daughter, you might be the only one who shares the love and attachment to the studio." She takes my hands in hers, "Say you'll do it, Lindsey." 

I smile, "I was going to accept anyway." She lets out a chuckle and pulls me into a hug. "Thank you, sweet girl." She mummers in my hair.  She lets go after a while, "I better get to work. Come by my office when you're done." She walks away and I admire her gracefulness for a moment. She was almost just as elegant as her daughter dancing in the next room. 

I decide to go to the studio two doors down from where Anina is dancing. I shut the door and take a moment to look at the studio. The one wall is covered in mirrors with a long steel pipe mounted on the wall just above hip height. The wooden floors seem to beg me to dance on them. 

I quickly get on my dancing shoes and find the remote for the stereo standing in the front of the class. I press play and listen to the music, letting it slowly take over my body. And this is why I come here when I need to work things out in my life. 

The music takes over and I start moving across the floor with no preset plan. I let my mind wander and come up with solutions as my body moves freely.  

Hopefully, by the end of my session, I will know how to handle Daniel and the rest of my problems.