Curling my hands I pull the sleeves of my dark sweatshirt down to cover my knuckles. The heaters are broken in the GYM and even with the sport going on the doors are open, allowing the wind to blow the coldness and sweat around the building.

Every now and then my eyes flicker to the half of the court where the basketball practice is going down when someone gets a bit too close to the sidelines. Mainly so I don't get hit in the face by a loose ball and deal with that embarrassment. But my eyes seem to focus on the girls that are being yelled at by Blair.

I can feel my annoyance level raising when they fail to grasp onto the simple count moves, knowing that they shouldn't be struggling. This is so simple that anyone - even not trained to be a dancer like half of them are - could pick up after a few goes.

Then there's Blair who continues to scorn the sophomores that fail to complete it in time or correctly. She signed up to be dance captain and she got it, it's her problem now to deal with it. You couldn't captain the team, let alone dance. I can feel my hands twitching and occasionally my feet move to the music.

"What are you doing here?" I look to Nate who shoots me a smile before flopping down on the grandstand beside me. I gesture towards the dancers and he nods slowly before doing the same to the basketball team. "I'm waiting for my boyfriend. We're going on a date once he's finished."

I smile softly. "That's sweet. Do you know where you're going?"

"Well originally we were going to go to Sprinkles but they only sell caffeine filled drinks," I nod slowly and he continues. "But because I can drink any of it. We're going to McDonald's then timezone."

I furrow my eyebrows. "Why can't you drink it? If you don't mind me asking..."

"Oh. I have a heart murmur," he states as if it isn't a big deal. "I just have to be careful with it. Anyway, you and my brother, what's going on with you two?"

I prop my head in my hands, frowning slightly. "What are you talking about?"

"Well I heard that you helped him get away with what he did to Brian," He lowers his voice when someone chases a loose ball near our feet. "That was pretty cool. Besides, you saved him from getting his ass kicked by mom. She wants his senior year to go smoothly without him being suspended or expelled."

I chuckled lightly. "I think that's understandable for any parent. But I wasn't going to rat him out, not after what he did. It was partially for me."

"Partially?" Nate snorts, shaking his head. "He did it all for you to my knowledge, well mostly at least. Part of it was for me but he did it because you've coped unnecessary shit for stepping in front of me. I see it's no longer visible."

He touches my cheek and I lean away from his hand and mumble, "Yeah. Its healed I guess, have you stayed out of trouble?"

"Yes I have," He grins at my question. "But nice change in conversation topic. Back to you and Rhys, is there something going on?"

"Something?" I question and he rolls his eyes. The moment I realize what he's talking about I gape. "Oh. Nothing. Literally, nothing. It wouldn't ever be something either because-" I stop myself from continuing as my cheeks flare up.

"Because . . . you don't think he would like you back?" Nate asks softly. I nervously pull my sleeves again and try to string together a coherent sentence.

"He wouldn't. Not that I want him to either," I blink a few times before exhaling. "Okay that sounds a bit rude. But he wouldn't like me in that way, besides we aren't even friends. More acquaintances than that, I don't know what he would say but we don't really know-"

"You ramble when you're put on the spot," He laughs lightly at my awkward nature while I suck my lips in. "But if you say it's nothing then I guess that's alright. I'm always trying to find out his type, or if he's even straight. He hasn't had a girlfriend - or boyfriend - but I thought just maybe you could have been . . ."

"Nope sorry to disappoint," I joke and he frowns. "Have you thought about asking him?"

Nate nods, flinching when Blair's yelling sounds like a banshee. "I have. He says he's definitely straight but just doesn't feel the need to have a girlfriend. He wants one that's smart enough to hold her own or something."

"An intellectual fight?" I hesitantly ask and he clicks his fingers.

"That's what he said," The whistle blows and the basketball team meet in the middle of the court to gather around their coach. "Is there any chance you would be interested in helping me find him a girlfriend or someone?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Shouldn't that be his decision?"

"Yes but I just want to know that he's actually straight because he just shuts down when I try to communicate about feelings," Nate explains with a huff. "Maybe you could find out his type or something? You seem to have this weird way of talking from what I've heard."

"What do you mean from what you've heard?" I question and his eyes widen, sucking his lips in out of guilt. "Nate, have you heard from someone something about me?"

He glances around before finally speaking. "From what Rhys and I've noticed, you speak weirdly. You keep yourself reserved with what you say, you've got a gentle nature but supposedly from what I've heard you're like that to be a bitch. Stuck up or something which I don't believe."

"That's probably because I used to be on the dance team which came with connotations," I glance over when I hear Blair call someone incompetent. "As you can tell some of them are a bit rude and blunt."

"Yeah. I've heard Rhys call Blair a few nasty things," I roll my eyes and look back to Nate. "Then again he doesn't say anything nice about anyone."

"Well Rhys and Blair don't get along because he put her ex-boyfriend in hospital," I explain, noticing the slightest flicker on his face. "Didn't you know about that?"

He shakes his head. "No. When it comes to my brother and his dark side he keeps me out. There's some things he doesn't want me knowing which is why I want your help finding him a test dummy or something. Are you busy Saturday, around Lunch?"

"I don't think so. What have you got in mind?" He grins and leans forward.

"Simple really. We'll pretend to go shopping and see if we can get him a date or a girlfriend," He stands up and holds out his hand with a closed fist. "Or boyfriend. Whatever floats his boat, I'll text you."

With a small smile I fist bump him. "I hope this doesn't backfire."

"It won't."

He walks down the steps and heads towards the door while the basketball team heads for the lockers. That's when I notice the older brother walking towards the younger one. Rhys looks annoyed and for a second his eyes look to me before he pulls on Nate's shirt.

"I need your help," Blair clicks her fingers in my face and I almost jumped, not noticing her presence. "More so to prove a point to them that it isn't that hard, let's go."

"Blair I told you that I don't-"

"Dance anymore. I know. But you're still capable and I know it," She helps me up with a warm hand and I reluctantly pull off my jacket. "Alright because you refuse to believe me that it's not that difficult -Kira will be stepping in to show you its not- if she can't do it within five goes then I'll change it."

I exhale, following her over to the group of girls. "But she's a senior."

"She used to be on the dance team."

"Yes but she hasn't danced in two years," Blair snaps back and now I understand why she's getting so angry. They all think they know it all, which is a bad thing to have. "She'll be keeping up with me, someone play the music."

I nervously look around, hearing their shoes squeak on the floor while moving with Blair to the mirrors leaning against the back wall. The sound of Lose Control blasting loudly almost makes me cringe until I hear Blair's countdown.

"5,6,7,8!"

The movements are hard on emphasizing the beat but look good on execution. I move less fluid than Blair, being a little rusty but overall managing to keep up somewhat. My heart beats furiously in my chest and I watch her feet to nail the swift movement of a pirouette.

I spin, keeping focus when sticking my leg out mid turn. Sucking in my core I bounce off the ground with the same foot to get momentum to spin again. Except that I face the mirror I'm met by a horrific sight.

The glass is smashed, cracked to shards while some of it has crimson smeared across it. I lose balance, crashing down to the floor hard with a scream. Everyone steps back around me while the music cuts off rather quickly.

Except when I look back in the mirror there's no crack or blood - just people staring at me.

I feel the lump tightening around my throat when Blair steps closer. "Kira are you okay?"

Her expression from angry fades to concern when I try not to break down into pieces. I push myself to my feet and shake my head.

"Kira!"

She yells while I ignore her completely, moving back to the grandstand. That was a bad idea. I shouldn't have done it. I pull on my jacket just as her feet skid to a stop beside me. She puts her hand on my shoulder and I shrug it off aggressively as I take my bag from the ground.

"What happened?"

"I think you know what happened," My voice cracks and I shake my head. "I can't keep doing this and as you saw I can't dance anymore. I'm torturing myself by trying."

She frowns which is an uncommon characteristic trait for her. "I was just trying to help-"

"Next time don't."

I whisper, heading towards the exit while putting my bag on my shoulder. With slow breathes I calm myself down despite the horrible feeling I'm experiencing. It's like I can't do anything without being haunted by her. But dance was our thing, she was so proud of me when I did it.

Dancing reminds me of mom and I can't do it without being reminded of her.

"Kira are you okay?" I look over my shoulder at Nate who has Rhys following behind.

I swallow and nod, although neither are convinced. "I'm fine. Nothing to worry about."

"Tell that to the scream I just heard," Rhys snorts, causing me to stop in my tracks. "You aren't fine. What happened? It wasn't because of Brian or someone, was it?"

I spin around and shake my head. "No. It's personal which is code for I don't want to talk about it. Especially with someone I don't know, who knows too much already."

"I'm trying to be nice," he snaps, furrowing his eyebrows. "But if you want I could just be an ass to you, solves the problems right? So you'll have someone else to blame but yourself."

The comment hits harder than expected and I instantly look away. He's right which is absolutely terrifying. I know that I push away those that are trying to help me. Mainly because I don't want them to see me suffering or how emotionally unstable I am. So I push them away to avoid them seeing me weak.

For Rhys to pick up on that is terrifying and proves he's smarter than what I thought. I exhale and finally look back to him. "I told you that you don't need to be around me anymore for your brothers sake. Maybe you should take that advice."

"For my sake?" Nate questions and I notice Rhys' jaw clench.

"I wanted to make sure she wasn't a threat," Rhys explains briefly getting a glare from his brother. "As for you, you had no reason to bring that up."

"You shouldn't keep secrets from your brother. He's your family and he cares about you more than you think," I glance to Nate who's gaping when Rhys steps forward with a glare. "I don't care if you glare or yell at me but you told me yourself that you're from a broken family. You shouldn't ignore what you have left."

There's something that flickers across his face while Nate hesitantly speaks. "You told her that-"

"Don't you have a date to go on?" I cross my arms as Nate frowns from his brother's harsh question.

"Don't speak to him like that." I argue.

"Or what?" Rhys snaps back, tone hardening as he walks towards me. I stand my ground even when he's practically thirty centimeters in front of me, using his height as a scare tactic. "You're not a threat."

"I'm starting to think I am," I whisper, watching his eyes divert from mine for a second. "It's like you're trying to convince yourself . . . but I'm not capable of being a threat unless you push me and I don't want that to happen. Maybe you should just stay away from me."

Rhys inhales sharply but doesn't respond, allowing me to leave without looking back. I don't know why that was such a big deal but for some reason it was. He acted like I betrayed him for some reason when realistically I was just letting his brother in on the truth.

Maybe I did but I wouldn't know. He's something more than a stranger but less than a friend. By the sounds of it, he doesn't let many people in on what he's thinking or feeling which sounds scarily familiar to me.