Page 33 of With You

“Yes, finally,” Amelie says, then explains all the different pairs she went through. She misses out the part where I paid for them, but it’s not something I’ll bring up either.

Evie ordered before we arrived so the food and drinks flow steadily throughout the evening. These are my favourite type of nights, the simplicity of sharing good food with the people I care most about. I’m content to listen as everyone shares their finds from the day and we discuss what places we can visit next. We don’t take as many trips together as we should, but it’s definitely something I want to do more while we’re all still at university.

Once we graduate, I know nights like these will be much harder to have. We’ll all be working in different countries, with schedules that are way busier than they are now. There won’t be time for us to meet for the sole reason of wanting to enjoy ourselves. Even Damien and I, though we’ll be working together, it won’t be the same as it is now. I need to enjoy this time with my friends as much as I can before it gets taken away from me.

“You okay?” Amelie’s leg presses against mine underneath the table as she leans toward me slightly.

“Yeah, just thinking,” I tell her, forcing myself back to the present instead of imagining the future arriving all too quickly.

“Don’t hurt yourself, I know that’s really hard for you,” she says, and I let out of a huff of laughter.

“So, when are you going to start rehearsing?” Zena asks, and Amelie jumps back from me as if we were doing anything other than talking.

“Hmm?” she says, not having heard her.

“From next week,” I respond in Amelie’s stead. “We only learned a minute of the routine for the audition, but the full thing is about five minutes long.”

“I don’t know how you guys do it,” Damien remarks. “I’ve got two left feet.”

“Yes, I know all about that,” Evie says, rolling her eyes.

There’s been more than a few instances of Damien stepping on her feet whenever the two have to dance together at events. The two start bickering, but it’s playful, just the gentle teasing that comes with years of being friends.

Once we’ve finished eating, all of us stuffed to the brim thanks to Evie ordering what felt like the entire menu for us, we head back to the hotel. Each suite is on its own floor, and we take the elevator up together, with Damien and Evie getting off first, followed by Layth and Zena, and then Amelie. Grayson and I are the last to reach our room for the night, and he runs into the bathroom before I even get a chance to speak.

I take off my jacket and sit on one of the sofas, undoing my top button as I scroll through my phone. I’m not much for social media, but Grayson has already posted plenty of photos from tonight. Somehow he’s managed to capture a moment between Amelie and me. I can’t remember what we were talking about but judging by the scowl on her face and the smile on mine, it must have been something good.

I realize then that this is one of the few photos of Amelie and me together. We have some from classes of course, and from other times we’ve gone out as a group, but this one is just focused on us. I try not to think too much about why I’m doing it as I take a screenshot. As if she’s caught me in the act, a text from her appears at the top of my screen.

Amelie

Can you come to my room for a second?

My eyebrows furrow as I reread her message. Did I leave something with her, or accidentally take something of hers? I pat my pocket, and my wallet is still there. It’s the only thing I took with me apart from my phone, and there’s nothing else in my pockets. I can’t imagine why she wants me to go to her room, but I do anyway. It only takes a few minutes for me to get there, and she opens the door on the first knock.

“Hey,” she says, gesturing for me to enter.

I glance around as I do, noting how tidy everything still is. Grayson destroyed our room as soon as he entered, throwing his things everywhere as if we weren’t just staying for one night. All of my things are still in my suitcase, as I don’t see the need to bring a lot or unpack for such a short trip.

“Is everything okay?” I ask as she starts pacing around the room.

“I think we need to start practicing as soon as we get back,” she says, hands on her hips as she continues to pace.

“Why? We have a lot more time until the showcase.”

“We don’t. This has to be perfect, River. I can’t waste a single second. No performance has ever meant this much to me, and I can’t mess it up, but it’s not even just me I have to worry about this time-“

She starts rambling, her words picking up speed and switching to French halfway through as nerves take over.

“Amelie,” I say quietly as I approach her. I keep my arms raised as I reach out to her until my hands meet her shoulders. “Je suis là, calmes toi, tout va bien.”

She stares up at me, brown eyes wide, her chin trembling. Please don’t cry, I think. Anything but that.

“We can start tomorrow,” I tell her. “We’ll go to the studio as soon as we get back, okay?”

She nods, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, her eyes still on mine.

“It’s all good. You’re the best dancer I know. I’m pretty capable,” I joke, and it gets a spluttered laugh out of her. “We’ll be fine.”