HALFBLOOD DANCER

11. REVELATIONS

I have spent all morning trying to stay focused on rehearsals, making useless efforts to erase last night's horrible events from my mind. I have also been trying to evade Nina's inquisitiveness all day, which has been a difficult task, keeping me restless.

Unfortunately, when lunch time comes, I can't evade her any longer.

We pick up our food, and she drags me to a small, private seating area where we could be alone. I have no choice but to finally succumb to her interrogations. I tell her as much as I can, which are only small and twisted fractions of the truth.

I can feel her gaze on me as I talk and eat my lunch. I've been avoiding eye contact as much as possible. If I look at her, she'll know I'm lying. These last few weeks, I've kept things from her, but I had never really lied to her before. And now, it has become inevitable. And I hate it. I have to keep convincing myself that it's all for her own good, to protect her. I don't want her to worry about me. If I tell her everything that's happened, she'll panic and probably feel guilty.

I could never give her that burden.

Besides, Sandro insisted it was best to keep my friends out of it. And I feel I must trust him on that, even though I know he's keeping something from me.

"And that's it? He just took you to dinner?" Nina insists. "No indecent proposal? No attempts to captivate you or anything?"

"Oh no. Yeah, I forgot to tell you...he offered me a million dollars to sleep with him," I tell her sarcastically.

"I'm being serious, Luna." She frowns at me. "I didn't want to bother you last night with questions because I could see you were tired, and so was I," she tells me. "But you owe me some details, so...keep talking."

I take another bite instead, buying myself more time. Last night, she was in bed when I got to my room. I briefly talked to her and headed straight to the bathroom to take a shower. By the time I finished, she was already sleeping.

It was a long shower. As I tried to wash away the disturbing memories of my attackers, tears began to fall down my face, and soon, I found myself crying uncontrollably. I couldn't bear to even think about what could've happened if Sandro hadn't saved me.

I still can't stand the thought of it, or the fact that I can't tell my best friend.

"What else do you want me to tell you? I even told you what we ate."

"I know, but...what happened at dinner?"

"Nothing happened, Nina. We ate." My eyes drop, and I stare at my food.

"Did he tell you he wasn't coming today? Did he say why?"

"No, he didn't. I told you...he didn't really say much." At least that part is true. Sandro's absence took me by surprise, leaving me unsettled. My imagination has been running wild all day. I can't help but wonder if it has anything to do with the attack last night.

"But it's a bit strange, don't you think?" She shoots me a quizzical look. "The one time he misses our rehearsals is precisely on the morning after he takes you out on a date."

"It was NOT a date, Nina. How many times do I have to tell you that? And can you, please, just stop talking about it? It's not a big deal."

"It is a big deal, Luna, because this guy is definitely into you, and you're too stubborn to realize it," she says, and I stifle a sarcastic scoff, forcing myself to another bite of my calzone. If only she knew how harsh and dry he has been with me, how he totally recoiled the second I reached out to him. If she knew, she wouldn't be saying that.