loml | marz

chapter one

the studio didn't really go quiet when practice ended.

it just changed noise.

instead of music and counts and grant's voice cutting through everything, it was now water bottles clinking, shoes scraping against the floor, someone laughing too late like their body hadn't caught up to the fact that they were exhausted yet.

lara stood near the mirror longer than she needed to.

not looking at herself properly—just watching the room behind her reflection.

people always moved differently after practice.

looser. heavier. less controlled.

grant had already left. sohey had followed a few seconds after him, pausing at the door like he always did.

"you're getting there," he had said before leaving.

not to anyone specific.

to all of them.

and somehow that made it worse and better at the same time.

because it meant no one was being singled out.

and also that everyone still had work to do.

the door shut.

silence didn't fall.

it leaked in.

sophia was already sitting on the floor when lara finally moved, legs stretched out like she had claimed that exact spot the second practice ended.

"i swear my legs are not attached to me anymore," she said, bending forward slightly, hands reaching for her toes.

it wasn't dramatic. it was just how she spoke—like she didn't bother filtering what she felt before it came out.

megan dropped beside her, letting out a breath. "that last run was actually better though."

"better doesn't mean good," daniela replied immediately, twisting her hair up without looking in the mirror.

"it means we're not dying," sophia said.

"low standards," daniela muttered.

"realistic standards," sophia corrected, leaning back on her hands.

yoonchae laughed from where she was tying her shoe.

not a quiet laugh either—her amusing, loud two 'ha-ha's' that were enough to pull attention for a second.

"you two argue like it's a sport," she said.

daniela pointed at her without looking. "because it is a sport."

"we would win," sophia added.

megan shook her head slightly, smiling into her bottle.

it should've been normal.

it almost was.

except for the fact that the space near the mirrors still felt wrong.

lara felt it before she looked.

manon hadn't moved yet.

she was still there.

standing like she was waiting for something no one else knew the rules to.

not leaning. not checking her phone. not joining the others immediately.

just still.

lara looked away first.

of course she did.

but sophia noticed.

she always noticed the temperature of a room changing before anyone named it.