Raise the Barre

Chapter 5

Drumming your right hand on the table, you glanced at your phone again to check the time.

Today was one of the rare Sunday mornings you didn't have a master class or practice sessions to attend. Noelle and Irene were both taking a ballet class uptown, but it'd been almost a week since you last saw your boyfriend, so you had instead gone to brunch – although Finn had yet to arrive at the restaurant.

Flipping your phone over, you stared hard at the numbers. 11:35 AM. Finn was supposed to be here at 11:00, although you knew for Finn time this meant 11:05. He was usually a few minutes late to things, but this was bordering on ridiculous.

Leaning back in your seat, you adjusted your dress and glanced out the window. It was the first weekend in October and the weather was still warm, although you knew summer was well on its way out. At best, you had one or two more times to wear this dress.

Releasing a sigh, you opened your phone to shoot Finn a text. The last two you'd sent remained unanswered above.

Y/N: Are you at least on your way? [11:36 AM]

You'd lowered your phone halfway to the table when you thought better of it and lifted the device to your ear. You'd already called Finn ten minutes ago, but this was becoming absurd. People waited for tables by the door; a table you were currently commandeering by sitting here alone. Already, you saw several groups eyeing you with distaste.

After nearly a minute of ringing, you ended up at Finn's voicemail.

Hey, it's Finn! Sorry I'm out, or just didn't want to answer the phone, but leave me a message and I'll call you back. Who am I kidding? I'll text – it's 2020, after all. Who leaves a voicemail?

BEEP.

Rolling your eyes, you hung up without speaking. If Finn didn't answer his phone right away, there was no point – he'd see your texts before listening to his inbox, anyways. Standing up from the table, you picked up your bag and headed for the door. As you passed reception, you regretfully told the host you needed to leave, so they could give someone else your table.

Outside the restaurant, you paused. It was too late now to join Noelle and Irene at ballet class uptown. You had a paper to finish on Twyla Tharp by Friday, but somehow couldn't bring yourself to return to your dorm.

Instead, you turned and began walking towards Redfield.

Finn's campus wasn't far from Russet – only a few blocks, but it might as well have been another world for how different the two institutions were. As you passed through ivy-laced gates and entered the main quad, you found yourself transported to a college brochure.

Russet, in contrast, had been swallowed whole by the city. Its dorms were relatively small, squeezed onto side streets with other young professionals. Each morning, you waited in line for coffee beside lawyers and businesspeople, so it felt strange to enter the collegiate campus of Redfield. Students lounged everywhere on the quad, soaking up the sunshine while the weather still held.

Keeping to the sidewalk, you made straight for Finn's dorm, tucked away in the back. Someone let you in with a swipe of their card, barely listening to your excuse about having a boyfriend upstairs. Said someone was female and you realized with some shock Finn's dorm was co-ed. It seemed each floor was same sex, but the floor beneath Finn's and the floor above his were female. Somehow, that had never come up during your conversations.

As you exited to Finn's floor, you encountered the atmosphere you'd expected from Duncan Hall. Here, guys laugh-yelled to one another from across the hall, their doors flung wide open as they filtered in and out.