Paper Dolls

Chapter 52

They say the high leaves you once you exit the stage but I feel it lingering in my veins. The lights dim, stage lights giving way to fresh evening sun. 

Rehearsals are done for the day and what a day it has been. My body is still buzzing from all the nerves from our performance, the impromptu voting that had been sprung upon us and me coming out on top. 

I can tell the girls aren't happy, specifically JinJin, Rachel and Grace but they aren't the ones concerning me right now. 

We exit the building, the sound of peak evening traffic flooding my ears as I run to catch up with my best friend. 

"Hey, wait up!" Is it just me or has she been avoiding me all weekend. I blink a few times noticing that she has picked up her pace.

I came back early Sunday morning to find Binna's bed empty. Once the girls had woken up they told me she had gone back to her house for the weekend, which was a rarity even though Binna stays in the city. 

Plus she didn't send me a single text all weekend, despite fussing over me and Hyeon about our Saturday night plans. Something is wrong and now that practices are over, I can tell it has nothing to do with stage fright. 

I finally catch up to her once we've reached the bus stop, thankful that the bus to our dorms hasn't arrived yet. I half expect her to get up and walk away when I sit down next to her. 

"Hey," I say again, because she's spaced out, looking at the road ahead like the cars passing by are the most interesting things. 

She doesn't even nod, I wonder if she knows I'm sitting next to her. 

I give her a small nudge, soft and cautious and she stirs slightly. "I didn't see or hear from you all weekend. You went back home?" 

Binna blinks a few times, as if my questions are in another language that she has to process first. 

"Yeah, I did," She finally says and my shoulders relax only slightly. Honestly this entire weekend, up to now has been spent in such pure tension. It has me wound up to an extent that I wonder if I will ever be able to relax again.

"You're acting weird," I state the obvious. Binna's always been the solid one between us. I'm usually the worry wart who overthinks and panics. The fact that she's acting like this could only mean that it's bad. 

She's still staring at the road, fixated on a point in front of us that I can't see. I wish I could read her thoughts. We ended today on such a high. I got first place, Binna got into the top five. Aside from the fact that I nearly got killed on Saturday, the two of us should be celebrating right now. 

"Did something happen?" I can't take seeing her like this and now I finally realise what she's been going through with me with the whole Dalia thing, all the secrets and hiding making her worry just like I am right now. 

She runs a hand through her hair and I try to rack my brain for anything that could have caused this. She was fine on stage today, Binna's always been a natural, she barely gets any criticism but then again she was missing over the weekend. 

Did something happen then? Or Friday? 

"You were great today," She finally says but her tone is so resigned it hardly feels like a compliment. 

"You were too. What's up? Where were you all weekend?" I'm not sure if I'm coming on too strong or pushy but the bus chooses to arrive at this exact moment making me curse under my breath. 

Binna's the first to jump up and head to the side doors that slide open immediately. People begin to pile inside and I have to squeeze through to head after her.