Shrugging my shoulders, I reached for what was left of the M&Ms. “I guess I got tired of it,” I said finally. The lie was a big one. I didn’t grow tired of dancing. I missed it more than anything, but I couldn’t stand for people to stare. “Does your sister do competitions?”

He nodded. “She’s traveled all over and spent the summer at the Joffrey School of Ballet on a scholarship.”

“Holy shit,” I gasped, my eyes widening. “She must be damn good.”

Cam smiled proudly. “She is.”

Envy grew like a cancer, deep and invasive. That could’ve been me dancing at one of the most well-known training centers in the world. It should’ve been me, but it wasn’t and I needed to just deal with that.

Conversation sort of just fell apart after that, at least for me. Cam chatted with Brit and Jacob while I was lost in my own thoughts until it was time to go to class. I made plans for another study session and then said my goodbyes.

Cam followed me out in the bright sunlight and the steady, cool breeze that warned that colder weather was well on its way. He didn’t say anything as we walked over to Knutti Hall. Sometimes he did that, and I never knew or could begin to speculate on what he could be thinking during those quiet moments.

It was in that moment, as we crossed the congested street and he waved at a group standing in front of the Byrd Center, that I realized how different he was than when I saw him with the two girls earlier. It bothered me and it didn’t know why I even cared.

“Are you okay?” he asked when we stopped by the benches in front of Knutti Hall.

I squinted up at him. “Yeah, I’m fine. Are you?”

He gave me a tight-lipped smile and nodded. “We still on for tomorrow night?”

“Tomorrow night? Oh! The astronomy assignment.” As part of our mid-term grade, Drage was making us partner up to use the Observation Center. We’d have to turn in our images the following Wednesday. “Yeah, it works for me.”

“Good.” Cam backed away. “See you then.”

I started to turn, but stopped as something occurred to me. “Cam?”

“Yeah?”

“What were you doing in the Den? Don’t you have normally have class, like right now?”

His lips curved up at the corner and that damn dimple appeared. When he smiled liked that, it felt like a balloon had suddenly inflated in my chest. “Yeah, I normally have class right now,” he said, eyes a startling azure in the sun. “But I wanted to see you.”

Words left me as I watched him pivot around and hit the road, heading in the opposite direction of my building. I stood there for a moment and then turned. There was no stopping the smile that split my lips and it remained.

Chapter 9

“Are you sure you know how to use this thing?” I asked, staring at the telescope.