Pirouette

6: A Thousand Miles

• If you get White Chicks flashbacks the second you hear this song, we can roll together any day •

As Fiona walked into the Dec after school, something was definitely wrong.

It was much more silent than usual, even with all the music blasting from the occupied studios, there was a different kind of quiet today. The other kids weren't lingering in the halls like they used to. It was odd...

Fiona went up to the counter to check if studio 13 was unlocked yet, the one her and Adam always booked, but found that it wasn't. The key was still there. And that's when she knew what was wrong.

Adam wasn't there.

Looking around with slight confusion, Fiona scanned the DanceDec for the sound of his unmistakable laugh and realized why it was so quiet. If Adam was there, all she had to do was find whichever room was the loudest or whichever group of people was the largest. That boy had a thing for being the center of attention... but there was no hoard of people gathered around somewhere to catch his contagious energy.

The doors behind her suddenly burst open. Fiona spun around, and to her surprise, saw a panting Adam come running in with his school and gym bags. He barely noticed her in his hurry, but then finally stopped when he spotted her standing there.

"Oh, hey!" He flashed her a quick smile. "Sorry I'm late, I missed my bus. Give me five minutes, I'll be right there! Go warm up!"

And with that, he bolted up the stairs and into the girls bathroom.

Despite his order, Fiona stayed put for another second. His tardiness suddenly wasn't what concerned her any longer, but rather something else.

The uniform he had been wearing when he had raced in.

As Fiona slowly started climbing the stairs and headed towards studio 13, the pieces started to click inside her head.

She knew that school tie had looked familiar—that day he had tied it around her eyes when he wanted her to dance blindly and trust him, she had thought something about it looked familiar, but she had been too nervous to connect the dots. Now, after seeing his full uniform, she knew.

She had just started warming up on the floor inside the studio when the door to the studio opened. Adam came in, still slightly winded, but now changed into his usual gray sweats and a black T-shirt. He gave her a smile as he walked past her, dumped his bag down and went straight for the stereo with his phone to plug it in. "Sorry about that. How far are we?"

Fiona looked at him. Again, she felt like it wasn't her place to ask, it didn't concern her, but she had to know; Only kids with a background wore that school tie.

"You go to McCuvey's?"

Adam halted up and slowly looked at the stereo. Then, turning his head slightly, he gave her a small smile. "Yeah."

So it was true. He was a criminal.

Every kid from the block knew that all thugs from around here ended up in one school after they got out of juvie. Unless they had rich parents that could get them into a better school, there was only one school that accepted all the rejects of the neighborhood and provided them with a uniform to make them feel part of something.

– And that's where the McCuvey-juvie necktie had gotten its name from.

"Does that change anything for you?" Adam voiced, after a moment where Fiona did nothing but stay silent. She was having a hard time processing the Adam that stood before her fitting the bill of a street thug.