All Over Me

Chapter 8

Selene

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I say as I look out the car window.

"Sally," my sister scolds me from the passenger seat.

"Is New York always so jammed?!"

"Yes, I hate this city just for this," Michael says, his hands firmly planted on the steering wheel.

"I'm going to be late again. They're gonna kill me," I say with a heavy sigh.

"You'll explain and tell them you're sorry, it's not a big deal," Ari tell me.

I shake my head. "No no, it is a big deal. Ace Archer and his dad hate latecomers, so he basically hates me, because I'm a latecomer."

Ariana and Michael chuckle. "I agree, but it's not your fault this time," she says.

"It is!" I snap. "I should've known the roads would be so jammed, I should've-"

"Oh God, Selene!" Ari cuts me off. "Stop it. It's fine. I'll talk to them, just...shut up now. We're starting to move again."

Oh yeah, she's right. I didn't even realize it.

--

I'm fifteen minutes late, which is too much. They're gonna fire me, throw me away and tell me they don't want me for this show anymore.

I walk past the cafeteria to go to the changing room and see Ace drinking an energizing drink. But I don't pay too much attention because-again-I'm late.

When I'm finally ready and enter the ballroom, Ariana and Michael are talking to both Mr. Archer, who's smiling and laughing, and Ace, who instead is not smiling but stares weirdly at Michael.

I clear my throat to make them notice my presence, but my pointe shoes make noise on the wood floor anyway.

"Oh, there she is," my sister says with the brightness of smiles.

I shyly wave my hand as I approach them. "Hello, I'm so sorry I'm late once again, I didn't-"

"Oh, don't worry, your sister told me what happened," Mr. Archer says with a nice smile. Ace glares at me.

I look at Ari. What did she tell him? She's definitely come up with some excuse. I don't care, I'm grateful she saved me.

Mr. Archer claps his hands once. "Anyway, I think we should get stared, it's really late now."

"You're right," Ari says and grabs Michael's hand. "It was nice meeting you, and thank you for the opportunity you gave my sister, Mr. Archer."

He smiles at her as they walk out the room.

Ace seems still immersed in his thoughts.

"Hi," I tell him when we get to the barre.

He rolls his beautiful eyes at me. "What do you want?"

"Damn, chill out, I just said hi." This guy has serious issues I think. Like, what's wrong with saying hi?

"Hi," he finally says, not sounding happy about it.