Page 16 of Dancing on Air

“There.” She pointed to the empty bed. The boxes she had shipped were piled beside the unmade bed. She had fresh sheets and blankets thanks to Emma, who had taken her shopping the previous week.

“Okay, now what?” her brother asked after dusting his hands off.

She looked around after setting her own box down. “Now we find my sheets and unpack.” She wrapped her arms around her brother. “Have I told you how much I appreciate you?”

JT chuckled as his arms wrapped around her. “Not in the last hour,” he joked. She felt him sigh and knew he was trying hard not to bring up the fact that, even though they had just started getting to know one another, they were going to miss each other.

“Oh!” someone said from the doorway. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

A short dark-haired girl stood in the doorway. She was in leotards and a large gray sweater and had Uggs on her feet, suggesting she had just come from outside.

“You must be my roommate, Robin?” Cora said, stepping back from her brother.

Robin’s eyes ran over her, then turned to JT. Cora saw the moment she recognized her famous brother.

“Wow, you’re really him, aren’t you?” Robin said, dropping her bag just inside the doorway and rushing over to her side of the room. When she turned around again, she held out a copy of her brother’s book towards him. “Would you sign this for me?”

“Uh, sure,” JT said. His cheeks turned a little pink. Cora knew her brother didn’t like the attention or the fame he’d earned thanks to his spooky storytelling skills.

When her brother handed Robin her signed book, she sat on the edge of her bed and just looked at it. Then she glanced up and started spraying questions at her brother. Was he really dating Emma Wilder? Was it true they were getting married? How was Emma after her car accident? Had Emma really shot an intruder on the island? What was it like to live on a private island?

Guessing that her new roommate would keep JT busy, she turned and started unpacking.

Her brother tried to help, but every time he turned away, Robin had another question for him.

Then Robin pulled out her phone and took a few selfies with him. The entire time, she had yet to say anything to Cora. It was as if she didn’t exist.

Cora tried not to roll her eyes. Too much.

An hour later, she nudged her brother to head back to his hotel room. They would meet for dinner later that evening, and he’d head back home in the morning, while she attended her very first BAC class.

When the door was shut behind JT, she walked over to break down the boxes she’d finished unpacking. Robin watched her like a hawk.

“You’re not the first Cora in the school,” Robin said, breaking into her thoughts.

“Hm?” Cora turned and looked at her. Robin had put her legs up on her bed, as if she was watching a show instead of Cora unpacking and trying to turn the small space into her home.

“Cora Jenkins has been here for almost ten years,” Robin said, tilting her head as if trying to figure Cora out.

“Oh, well, there’s bound to be others with the same name.” She shrugged. “There was another Cora in my dance class back home. And three Robins.”

“Where is that, exactly?” Robin asked.

Cora glanced over her shoulder. “Just outside of Columbus.”

“Ohio?” Robin said. She chuckled. “Seriously?”

Cora frowned. “Where did you go before coming here?”

Robin held up her hand and ticked off three fingers as she listed some of the top dance schools in New York.

“You’ve lived in the city your entire life?” Cora asked, sitting down.

Robin nodded quickly. “Why did they pick you?” Her eyes ran over Cora’s body. “You don’t look like anything special. You’re tall. What are you, five-seven?”

Cora nodded and assessed Robin quickly. “Five-five?”

Robin smiled and nodded.