Project Dance

Chapter 2

As soon as I step foot into my sister's room the next day, I know that something's wrong. Mismatched socks and Chemistry papers alike are strewn across the carpeted floor, forgotten and neglected.

"Helene?" I toe my way around the mess.

She's sitting on the edge of her bed, eyes rimmed red with tears. A tissue box sits in her hands.

It's empty.

"Helene," I say, rushing toward her. "What happened?"

I comb through her hair gently with my fingers, knowing she likes the feeling. She lets out a puff of air and hiccups.

"I–he–" She breaks down again, sobbing into my shoulder.

Hell. I don't remember the last time my sister has cried like this. I don't even remember the last time I've cried like this.

"Is it him?" I ask abruptly. "Jason?"

She looks up at me in shock. "What–how did you–"

I brush away a tear from under her eye. "I figured. The last time you cried this hard was when you got a B minus on that Econ test in senior year."

She shudders at the memory. "He– he broke up with me."

"What did he say," I manage to bite out through my shock.

"He said that he's going to study abroad. Cambridge. And he said we can't do long distance."

Classic. Jason Bernstein is the heir to the multi-bajillion dollar company Bernstein Software, the leading computer software company in the whole of the United States.

I grit my teeth. He and my sister have been together for years. I genuinely thought they were right for each other, despite my gripes with Jason himself. While it's true that I believe his entire picket-fence, country-club family is snobby and stuck-up, I had actually started to believe that Jason was different somehow, less snobbish than the rest of his family. Something about this doesn't add up.

"Hel, I think something's up with Jason," I said. "Why would he break up with you now? He's so in love with you."

She released another wracking sob. "He's going to inherit Bernstein Software once he's done at Cambridge. He says that he needs to focus on– on that, not on girls."

I almost choke at her words. "Bull. Shit. You are not girls. You're Helene. His girlfriend. You were there when he got his wisdom teeth taken out, for God's sake. And I know for a fact that can't have been a pretty sight."

That just makes her cry harder, and I rub her back consolingly.

"Cel, I think he– I think he was influenced by someone to break up with me."

I frown. "Who?"

Her eyes narrow, and she turns away. "His brother. Liam. A few weeks ago, I overheard them on the phone. Liam told Jason to break up with me, because I was a distraction from his future, or something along those lines. I never thought– I never thought that Jason would actually listen and do it."

My heart breaks as I realize how long my sister has known of this. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you're always at ballet. And I just– I thought nothing bad would actually happen."

"I am going to kick his ass," I say. "Both of them. And you can tell me anything, Helene. I know I'm usually pretty busy, but never too busy to talk to you, okay?"

She nods and sniffles into a tissue.

I try to picture Liam Bernstein for a second, but for some reason, I can't conjure up a mental image. I don't think I've ever had a direct, face-to-face conversation with him, but if what Helene says is true, then I will have no choice but to confront him.

—

I lift the gigantic old-fashioned knocker on the door, letting it fall back heavily on the wooden front door. 

I have never been to the Bernstein household, but even past the sea of red I'm seeing I can see how utterly... fantastic it is.

I don't know why I was expecting an austere black house surrounded by high fences and ferocious guard dogs, but this surely isn't it. In fact, it's one of those pretty Victorian-era houses, with tiled spires and brick and shit. And it's huge. Massive, even. It's so intimidating that I have to remind myself it's not King Kong's summer house or something.

I steady myself, taking a deep breath in and out, trying to ignore the nagging voice in my head that this is a terrible, terrible idea. I tug a little at the shirt I'm wearing, which I paired with denim cutoffs and my purple Converse.

Even though Helene tried to prevent me from doing this, it obviously hadn't worked, because here I am, ready to confront the Bernstein brothers. No one hurts my sister and lives to tell the tale.

I expect a butler of some sort to open the door, Addams Family-style, but instead there's a boy standing on the doorstep. And it's not Jason.

If my powers of deduction don't fail me, It's Jason's brother, Liam. He has light brown hair that curls above his ears, thick black eyebrows, and dark brown eyes that blink when he sees me. Liam's tall and lanky, with lean muscles that kind of remind me of a dancer's. Huh. Weird.

Strictly objectively speaking, he's also pretty good-looking, in a boring and overdone way, of course.

And Liam has the audacity to look like he just rolled out of bed, as if he hadn't dismantled my sister's relationship with a flick of his wrist. He's wearing gray Adidas track pants, a long-sleeve black shirt, and a small gold chain that gleams around his neck. I almost roll my eyes at that. As if he needs to flaunt his obvious wealth any more.

The fury burning hotly in my chest subsides only slightly, replaced by something akin to betrayal. I trusted these goddamn people to not hurt my sister. Though I had never exactly been best friends with the Bernsteins, they had seemed decent enough. But clearly, I had been hideously wrong.

And this... this must be Liam Bernstein. The boy who allegedly broke up Jason and Helene. And I will find out why.

Momentary confusion ripples across his features. "Hey. Are you–"

"Yes," I finish his sentence. "I am. Celeste Nomikos."

He blows out a breath. "Oh. So you're sister is–"

"Helene," I finish again, looking him squarely in the eye. "Good for you, rich boy. You made the connection."

For a moment, an expression of hurt flashes across Liam's stony exterior at my patronizing tone, but it's gone as quickly as it came. It's replaced by his cool mask of calm, one that chills me to the core.

"To be honest, I only made the connection based on your appearance. Your personalities are so..." He cocks his head, narrowing his eyes in scrutiny. "Different."

His bitter sarcasm strikes me to the core, and I ball my hands into fists, infuriated.

 "Look, just because I'm not about to kneel at your feet like everybody else does doesn't mean you get to be rude."

Liam puts up his hands. "Geez. I just said you two were different, that's all."

"Can I see your brother?" I snap. "We need to talk. All of us."

I start to walk in, but unexpectedly, he puts up a hand to stop me.

"He's not at home at the moment," he says. "Whatever you need to say, you can say right here."

I grit my teeth. "I want to talk to both of you at the same time. When will your brother be back?"

Liam scratches the back of his neck, and I can't help but notice that there is a bracelet tied around his wrist. It looks like a friendship bracelet, with red and blue string.

"Well, given that he is at Cambridge right now, I really don't know. But you're welcome to come back at another time."

With those words, Liam Bernstein promptly closes the door in my face. I stand there, the late August sun beating against the back of my neck.

What an asshole.

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