Human - phan

Ten

And then it hit me. I'd seen a guy with brown hair and a purple shirt jogging into the woods, the day I confronted Phil about Jakob.

I shivered. Phil and Jakob were in the woods with a murderer. They could have walked right past him without knowing. What if they'd seen? What if the murderer saw them? He probably would have killed them both on sight. The thought made my knees weak. Phil, my Phil was just a few metres away from a murderer — he could have been just inches away from death.

"Dan? Dan, are you there or have you fallen asleep?"

I shook my head and blinked. "Sorry I... daydreaming. You were saying?"

I wouldn't tell anyone, except maybe the police. I still didn't know why Phil had freaked out quite so badly, but I was pretty sure this knowledge wouldn't help his state of calm.

*

The changing room off the side of the dance studio smelled like feet. I stood alone in the small room, considering. Did I change into a leotard and tights, for the sake of the cinematography, or did I opt for shorts and a vest top for the sake of my dignity? Phil's voice rose above the others' in his gorgeous, melodic laughter outside the door and my mind was made. Baggy shorts. Another squirt of deodorant wouldn't go amiss, either.

The floor was cold under my bare feet. I rubbed a little rosin on my heels; partly because today really wasn't a good day to slip over and land on my arse, and partly to delay opening the door. I closed my eyes. Suddenly, I realised I was dragging my fingers through my hair again. I yanked my hands away, keeping them busy by running through a couple of stretches — more to psych myself up than anything else. As I pulled my left leg up to my ear, the door flew open with a crash.

"Oi Dan, did you get stuck in your jeans or something?" PJ called.

"Ahh no, he's just limbering up." Chris grinned.

Phil made a show of looking my up and down very slowly and deliberately, before raising his eyebrows appreciatively and winking.

I rolled my eyes, already blushing, and strode past them into the mirrored hall. This building was a lot smaller than my studios, and — to my absolute horror when I'd first ventured here — one wall was lined with large windows which overlooked the forest instead of mirrors. Suddenly my mouth was dry, a lump rising in my throat. A mass of tripods and cameras were set up in the back two corners, and I tried not to think of the many more passing eyes that could potentially see me this afternoon.

"Can we just get this over and done with?" I said through gritted teeth.

Phil took my hand briefly as I passed, giving it a tight squeeze, and I smiled gratefully at him.

"Well Dan, you're in charge. If you want to just put some music on and do your thing and we'll take as much footage as we need. We've already fixed the lighting and everything; silhouette only, have no fear." PJ disappeared behind a camera with a reassuring smile and suddenly I was alone in the middle of the room. I gulped.

Think of Phil.

Quickly, I skipped over to the sound system before I could change my mind and plugged my iPod in. I bit my lip as I scrolled through the tracks. I knew I would have to do a routine I knew well - I didn't have the confidence to just improvise.

Human — The Killers.

One of my all-time favourite songs, and a routine I'd been working on for several months. I glanced over my shoulder and caught Phil's eye, his crystal blue staring steadily into my dull brown. He gave me a thumbs up and I pressed play without looking.