Calore Dance Academy// Red Queen AU

Chapter 80

Hey everybody! I know--it's been a while. My senior year of high school transitioned into a busy summer full of grad parties, beach days, and forest adventures. Total disclaimer--writing just hasn't been at the top of my priorities lately, given that I'll be moving away for college soon and have been spending a lot of time with friends and family. But don't fret--I love CDA with my whole being and will finish it if it's the last thing that I do. However, given my transition to college, it's likely that I won't be able to stick to a predictable update schedule in the fall. Still, please always pester me about when my next update is. It keeps me going, and I always want to keep writing for you guys. :)

As always, enjoy. I hope my long-delayed update brings some joy to your evening. Leave me some good comments, too! 

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I half-expect Cal to ask me if I'm cold.

It would be an easy way for him to get out of finishing the race. He could play the gentleman card, demand that we stop running, tell me that a silly rivalry isn't worth the risk of me, the Calores' prima ballerina, catching a cold.

Because it doesn't just rain.

It pours.

But to Cal, this silly rivalry is worth running a hellish half-marathon for.

At least my body's starting to go numb. The constant torrent of rain gives me something to focus on as water patters against my legs, drenches my hair, and drips from my eyelashes.

As we make a turn, I make the mistake of glancing at Cal. He's already peering at me, and once our eyes connect, there's no hope of me tearing my gaze away.

I watch as droplets of water drip from his jaw. As he manages a half-assed arrogant smirk at me, he rakes a hand through his hair. The motion pushes the hair off his forehead and causes a little waterfall down to the pavement. The damned rain soaks through Cal's shirt and outlines the contours of his abs.

Time seems to slow down when I look at him. Cal serves as another distraction to help against the pain in my legs. At the same time, he seems to make my lungs constrict, my chest tight.

"I can't believe I agreed to do this with you," I tell Cal. The words foolishly and breathlessly fall from my mouth and are nothing more than a product of exhaustion. The rain and cold are numbing my mind, too.

Still, my words provoke a smile upon Cal's lips. A real smile. With dimples.

And that smile absolutely kills me.

It makes me desperately want to succumb to the exhaustion, to shove Cal off the race course and pull him down into the depths of some Brooklyn alley.

"Yeah. This was a really bad idea."

We share a laugh, a laugh that we both immediately regret afterward. It only exacerbates the strain in my lungs, but I can't say it's not worth it.

I almost forget myself and realize with a start that Cal's used my lapse in focus to pick up the pace, gaining a matter of inches on me. The smile fades from my face as I force myself to gain the lost ground, quickening one, two, three of my strides. Cal's smirk returns.

Inwardly, I curse myself.

For Cal and I, the race has hardly begun. As in pain as we both are, we've still been conserving our resources.

Four miles to go.

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Don't look at him.

Don't look at Cal.

I've begun avoiding my contemporary teacher's gaze at all costs.

As much as I hate it, Cal knows how to affect me. He wants to provoke me into running faster, only to outsprint me in the end. I know he's getting tired. Tired and nervous that I'll win.