golden girl (b.t.c.)

chapter fifty-six

"are you with us for this rehearsal?" ben asked hopefully. eliana shook her head. "nope, still-"
"up in the studio with declan."
"yeah."
"what are you teaching him today?"
"all his tumbling stuff."
ben nodded. "he used to be a gymnast, right? national team?"
"yeah."
"did you ever talk to him or anything?" he pressed.
"um, we-we chatted a few times. we're usually pretty separated from the guys' team." eliana lied.
"oh. yeah, right." ben held back. he didn't want to accuse eliana of anything. if she wasn't telling him about declan, there had to be a reason.
hopefully it was a good one.
they reached the auditorium, and ben kissed eliana goodbye as she headed to the studio upstairs.

     "morning." declan came into the studio as eliana was laying out the mats.
"hey." she said in a small voice. he set down his coffee and changed into his boots. "what are we starting with?"
"seize the day." she said. "you're in three of the groups for the tumbling section."
"let's get cracking, then." he pulled off his shirt, and eliana stopped. "um, can you...put-"
"can i what?" he cocked his head.
"never-nevermind." she sighed. "let's just get this over with."

"okay, carrying the banner." eliana fanned her face as she took a drink of water.
the studio didn't have air conditioning, and she was baking, even in her tank top.
"oh, what the hell." she muttered, and pulled her tank top off.
declan smirked.
she taught him the few passes he did for carrying the banner and then the ones for bows.
it was 11:30 before they knew it, so declan got his stuff together and left. eliana stood, drinking her water, when ben came in.
"hey." his smile was strained.
"hi." she breathed back.
"you ready? lunch?"
"yeah."
"did you wear a shirt?"
the words slipped out, and ben cursed himself as soon as he said it.
"i'm sorry?" eliana set her water bottle down.
well, he thought. this might as well happen.
she stood up and crossed her arms. "last time i checked, you didn't wear a shirt while you rehearsed."
"yeah, well, i'm not usually alone in a room with my ex." ben blurted.
eliana froze. "my ex? are you kidding me?"
"i'm not stupid, eliana." he said. "i know you and declan dated."
"and there's a reason i didn't tell you."
"what would that be?"
"it was a two month thing. i liked him a lot, and he broke it off. i didn't want to talk about it again." she said.
ben looked down. it wasn't a bad reason.
"but you," eliana said. "wanna tell me about miss phoebe sinclair?"
"phoebs?"
"don't you dare call her that, benjamin." eliana fumed.
"what-i don't understand..." he trailed off.
"of all the people, phoebe?" she threw her arms up. "haven't i told you how much i hate her?"
"what?" ben asked, confused. "i-i didn't know."
tears started to drip down her face. "because you didn't think to ask, did you? you thought i'd be fine with you hanging out with random girls from a gym that isn't even mine."
"i didn't think about it that way."
"of course you didn't! you just decided not to tell me anything about the mysterious friend you were always hanging out with." her voice broke. "i found out from her, ben. from the girl i hate."
ben was silent as she went to her bag and pulled out his glasses.
"you left these the last time you got coffee with her."
eliana grabbed her water bottle and shoved the glasses into his hands on the way out of the room.