The lights came up and the audience stood to clap. My heart felt full and exhilarated and larger than life. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed the feeling of seeing a live ballet. How much it got inside me, even if I wasn’t dancing it.

When the applause died down and the audience made its way to the exits, Jude was quiet.

“So were your theories about the Wilis right?” I asked after I grabbed the roses from under my seat and we shuffled out of the aisle.

“Not at all. That was infinitely cooler. What did you think?” He watched me carefully.

I smiled. “I loved it.” I gestured for him to follow me as I weaved through the mass of people in the lobby, down a long hallway, past the dressing rooms, and through the door that led backstage.

The wings smelled like wood and sweat and hair spray. I walked onto the dark stage and I ran my pinkie over the smooth velvet of the closed red curtain, like I used to before every show. Jude hovered a few feet behind me, respecting my space, even though space was the last thing I needed from him.

A movement behind his shoulder caught my eye—Colleen was gliding through the wings. She’d changed into a flowy garnet dress. I ran over and hugged her, the roses squishing between us. When we finally let go, I handed her the bouquet. “You were beautiful,” I said. “Just so…” I couldn’t find words to describe it.

Colleen smiled. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m so glad you came.”

Jude waited a few more seconds before coming over. “Colleen,” I said. “This is Jude. Jude, Colleen.”

“Hi!” they said at the same time. They were both grinning ear to ear, and they both looked a little starstruck. I knew why Jude was—he’d just seen Colleen as Queen of the Wilis. But Colleen… she probably thought of Jude as the leading man in the great love story she’d concocted in her head.

“I’m so excited to finally meet you!” Colleen said, her eyes darting from me to Jude. I tried to telepathically tell her to cool it.

“Same,” Jude said. “You were awesome. I’ve had a lot of time to think about the Wilis, but seeing the real thing was…” He mimed his brain exploding.

Colleen laughed. “Thanks! So you guys are dance partners, right?” She obviously knew we were dance partners, but her eyes were zeroed in on Jude, ready to dissect his answer and use it as evidence of his love for me.

“Yup,” Jude said, doing that platonic shoulder punch thing. “We have chemistry, apparently.”