Project Dance

Chapter 9

"Guess what?"

I glance up from my grueling AP Biology homework long enough to see Helene's jubilant expression.

"Jason got kicked out of Cambridge, or ooh! You keyed his car?" 

"No, and no," Helene says, sitting on the edge of my bed. "I don't have anything to do tonight, and our parents aren't home, so..."

I gasp. "Girls' night?"

"You betcha." She grins. "Come on, get rid of that homework. Let's order takeout and watch movies together and make fun of people. You know, Gilmore Girls style."

"Yes!" I pump my fist in the air. "I'll take care of takeout, you queue up the movies and snacks, okay?"

"On it."

"Is Thai okay?" I ask, thumbing through the countless takeout paper menus stacked on my desk.

"When is it ever not?" Helene says lightly. "Oh, and also, if you want to invite Pamela that's fine too."

"Thank you thank you thank you," I say, pulling out my phone. "God, I've missed you. It's like college has taken my big sister away from me."

She frowns. "Cel, you know I'll always be around if you want to talk or hang out or if you need anything. You did the same for me, when I, when Jason–"

I nod. "Yeah. I know. Helene, I-"

"I know what you're going to say," my sister says abruptly. "And it's fine. I mean– Jason and I are officially over. There's more than just an ocean separating us now. Really. Now that I'm finally free though, you're going to have to tell me about his brother. I heard about Project Dance, and Liam Bernstein..."

I raise my eyebrows. "I have a lot to say about that... situation."

"Well, we have all night, don't we?"

Thirty minutes later, Helene, Pamela, and I are seated in front of the TV. We all have lavender and honey-scented face masks on, and we're slurping down spicy pad Thai and beef lo mein like we haven't eaten in days.

Pamela crunches into a spring roll, groaning as the sauce dribbles down her chin. She wipes it off with a napkin, and we all laugh.

"So," Helene says after a pause. "Don't get me wrong, I love watching Love Island, but I think we have some things to discuss."

"Right," I say, looking down at my half-eaten noodles. "I haven't been able to wrangle an answer out of Liam yet. It's like he's determined not to explain why he interfered in your relationship."

"It's okay," my sister says, and shrugs. "It's not that big of a deal anymore. As I said, I don't really feel that strongly about Jason and my relationship anymore. In hindsight, maybe it was right that we broke up."

"Don't say that," Pamela says gently.

Helene swivels her head to look at her. "But it's true. It really is. If Jason was weak enough to bend to his brother's wishes and hurt me, then he probably didn't love me as much as I thought he did."

"So what is his brother like, anyway?" Pamela asks me, biting into another spring roll.

"Liam?" I wince as I remember our altercation in the studio yesterday, and how he thought I wouldn't believe him if he told me about his volunteering work.

"He– well, I don't really know what I think of him. He's not the monster I thought he was, that's for sure."

"Yeah, because he's a regular Mr. Darcy," Helene says dryly, and I throw a stuffed bear at her.