༺ THIRTY ༻

"Thomas!" I yelp when he drops the flour into the bowl so aggressively it sends white powder everywhere.

"Don't blame me!" He coughs. "The bowl fell out of my hands!"

"Oh, so it's the bowl's fault?" I blow in an attempt to get the powder away.

"Yes! Exactly! Besides, you dropped the pan before!"

"Well, that one also jumped out of my hands!"

"My pans and bowls are weird," he says, and looks at the mess we made. "Well, I'm sure the pancakes will taste fine."

I smile through it all. Thomas is clearly not made for the 'harder' recipes. Mac and Cheese? Yep. Warming up lasagna? Alright. Baking pancakes? ...sort of.

I pull my pants back up again. I'm wearing his, since all I wore yesterday were my ballet clothes and those don't smell at their finest after two hours of dancing, but since my own pants don't even fit me, these are like I'm a rapper with oversized pants that keep slipping off.

I elbow him in the side: every time the material slips off and I'm basically standing in my underwear, Thomas takes his chance. "Don't you do that."

"Give me a good reason why I can't touch the bella butt."

"Tho-mas," I groan out, but not many reasons follow. "Just don't ever say 'bella butt' again. That's weird. And cringe."

He scoffs. "I'll say whatever I want. Unless it makes you uncomfortable. Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"No, but it makes me cri—"

"Perfect!" He kisses my cheek, and then we're back at attempting to bake the pancakes. "Wait, lemme just put a Luca skill here..."

With his tongue between his teeth, Thomas pours the mixture into the pan in an... interesting way.

I lie my chin on his shoulder, taking a look at the creation. "What's that supposed to represent?"

"You can't see what it is?" Offended, he points at the pan. "Wait, look this way." And he turns it a bit. "See?"

I frown. "It's a heart?"

"Yes!" Thomas nods heavily. "But I messed it up."

"Better you mess this heart up than mine," I decide, smiling before I kiss his cheek. "Thank you."

I think that I, especially after last night, fall in love with him more by the second. It's the first time in years that I'm not motivated to go to ballet. Kind of wish we could stay here the whole day, cuddling and watching movies and maybe some kissing before all the privacy is gone.

Ballet only starts at thirty past three, though. We have basically half of the day.

Once we're sitting to eat the few pancakes we've managed to make decent, I realize that not one second I have thought of gaining weight or breaking my diet. Guess Thomas distracts me that much.

Fine. Another cheat day can't hurt. But I'll have to be extra stern after this.

"Was everything in the basket alright?" He wonders.

I nod. "Perfect. Well, I haven't tried the period products out yet, but the rest was perfect."

I'm mostly just happy Thomas can talk about those things without finding it weird. And he nods, too. "Alright. Great."

We finish eating, clean up together, and then I'm petting Glitter for the third time this morning. "I think we should go tell Newt and basically everyone about our relationship soon," I say. "It doesn't sit right to keep lying or not mentioning I was with you."

"Sure," he says.

✵

"Perfect, Rosalind! Aris, straighten your arm— yes, amazing!"

It's going very well right now. I've got more energy, Janson and Henry are satisfied, and I'm personally quite satisfied, too.

I don't think I'll have to worry much about the parts I don't dance with Aris. It's just harder to dance with someone, which is why it takes such a long time to learn this with him. All the other things I have to dance? Under control.

"Alright!" The music stops. Aris wipes a hand over his sweaty forehead and I catch my breath. "Awesome, you guys. We're right on schedule. By the time the play is, you'll dance perfectly."

"Agreed." Henry nods at Janson. "And since the play is in a few weeks, we'll have to get your clothes in the right size. Rose, you can follow Mrs. Crawford and Aris will go with me."

Crawford is a dark-skinned woman I've seen walking around Sports a few times before. She takes me in a different room, which seems to be one where they also treat injures, because there's medical equipment and a bed.

"I'll have to measure a few parts of your body," she explains, taking a tape to measure it with. "Just your waist, chest, hips, et cetera."

I nod. I'll be fine. But the idea of someone measuring my body gives me discomfort.

Crawford starts doing her job and writes everything down. "Don't hold your stomach in," she tells me. "I have to get this right."

"But I'll be thinner by the time the play is," I say. "The clothes will be too tight then, if I don't hold my stomach in."

She gives me a short glance, then sighs. "Alright. Whatever you say. But if it's still too tight.."

New goal: making sure my stomach is the same as when I hold it in. The clothes have to fit, of course.

Soon, we're done with the measurements and I walk back to where we were dancing earlier, when I hear Janson's voice.

"How's Gally? Did anyone inform you?"

It's Henry who replies. "Yeah. The Keeper of the hockey team. Said he wasn't doing too good."

I frown. Minho?

"Why does the Keeper of the hockey team know how Gally is doing? He isn't supposed to be interfering with any of this at all. Gally would've never had time to contact him on his rugby tour."

"That's because the other kid told him," Henry says in a simple tone. "I asked him how he knew, he said because his friend told him."

"Which one? I swear to god if—"

"Sorry to disappoint," Henry interrupts. "Because yes, it was him."

There's a loud sigh, followed by a groan. "If that boy doesn't stop digging in our cases..."

"Come on, Janson. Heads up. You know there's plenty of ways to stop him. Physically, he's barely alright, let alone mentally."

I frown. Who are they talking about? Yeah, one of Minho's friends, but he's quite popular and has plenty of friends. Could it be Thomas? Maybe. I doubt Newt has anything to do with this.

"Oh, I know how to stop him," Janson says. "But if we want The Nutcracker to be a success, I can't work it out just yet."

Is it Aris?

"I know," Henry replies. "But let him know who the boss is here. Gally is in the UK now. With Ava. He's gonna get us a lot, trust me."

Ava? The UK? My old ballet teacher is named Ava. Ava Paige... could it be possible?

No. I don't even know Gally, but he plays rugby, not ballet.

"Yes. But I would've hoped we got the jackpot. We could've gotten it before the summer vacation even started."

"Hey, man, it's not your fault."

"I know. He just shouldn't have found out about anything. Now he pulls Teresa right away from us. Really thought she'd be the next star. Another missed jackpot," Janson says.

My frown deepens. It might actually be Thomas or Aris they're talking about.

"We've got Rosalind now," Henry says. My senses get clearer at the sound of my name. "She'll do a lot."

"Not if she keeps hanging out with him. You know how much they see each other, Henry. He'll say things he isn't supposed to say."

"I'll make sure he won't. And think about it... you really think he's ready to talk about what happened?"

It's Thomas. It must be. I hang out with him a lot. He's not always ready to talk about his accident and Teresa said he'd be the next star if the accident never happened. It makes sense. All their words.

Just not completely. The only thing that makes sense it's that it's Thomas they're speaking about. The rest? I don't have a clue.

"Of course not," Janson says. "After the arm thing, he understood the threat."

Thomas explained how he got all his injuries except for his arm. Another puzzle piece that clicks.

"But he's got her in her palm, and he's friends with Aris. You think he won't take action soon?"

"As I said, I'll make sure he won't. We just need time until the play."

"You're not gonna hurt him, right? It'll cause suspicions."

"I won't," Janson says. "There's just one tiny thing I have to say, and we can make him do anything."

Bloody hell...?

"Also, files have been stolen. They're searching the cameras to find out who it was, but I've checked the vents and that proves the stealer got through there. Some cameras got covered."

"Well, I don't think we need much proof to know who that was. Not his first time, is it?"

"He got Gally's and Teresa's. Exactly the people he's been contacting lately."

"You put the rest of the files somewhere, I may hope. And warned Ava to keep an eye on Gally so he won't text anyone people we don't want him to text."

"Yes. There's a certain file I hid really well. He's very predictable, Henry. I know exactly what file he wants next."

"Tell me he won't even manage to find it."

"Oh, Thomas won't lie one finger on that thing."