Page 42 of I'll Be the One

“I shouldn’t have let Portia tag you on the post, or at least I should’ve okayed it with you before she put it up. I’m so used to posting stuff with other celebrities, people who don’t managetheir own accounts and are used to that kind of exposure, that I didn’t even think about how that might affect you.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Wait, so are you telling me that you were giving me the cold shoulder this entire time because you feltbad? You left me on ‘Seen’ because ofthat?”

Lana was right. Guysarestupid.

“I didn’t let Portia respond because I thought you were forcing yourself to be nice to me. I don’t know. Sorry, it’s complicated.”

“How so?”

“I realized I probably couldn’t be friends with you after all.Shouldn’tbe friends with you. Honestly, hanging out with you after practice that day was great. I had so much fun, and it felt like a breath of fresh air, especially after the last couple of hellish weeks I’ve had. But what happened on Instagram was a wake-up call. I realized I couldn’t just freely hang out with you. It was irresponsible of me, like your friend said.”

“Or, you could just... not post pictures on Instagram.”

It only occurs to me after I say it that I’ve been anticipating us hanging out again. Like it’s something I can take for granted. If Henry thinks that’s weird, he doesn’t mention it. And even though I told Melinda that there was nothing between Henry and me, I can’t deny that I liked spending time with him.

“But that goes against everything I am as a person,” Henry says. His tone is completely serious, but his lopsided grin tells me he’s kidding. His expression, as annoying as it is, is a welcome sight. He’s finally loosening up.

When I don’t say anything, he continues. The words flow out of him, like water rushing out from a faucet. “But yeah, I wasn’t sure if I should have even volunteered to be your partner in the first place—not because of anything you did, but because of all the attention and drama that resulted from it. I also... well, I thought you were mad at me. Or you wouldn’t want to deal with me again after what happened. And you’d have every right to not want to spend time with me. Not after what I did.”

Henry’s voice is now barely louder than a whisper. His vulnerability surprises me, and so does the pained expression on his face.

“I’ve had people stop being friends with me after similar things happened in the past,” he continues. “Granted, the circumstances were really different. And I wasn’t blameless then, either. But I was scared it was happening again. I’m sorry.”

I wait for Henry to elaborate on what exactly happened between him and his friends, but he doesn’t. So I say, “Well, what happened on Instagram definitely wasn’t the happiest experience of my life. And I made the mistake of reading some of the comments. I’ve never seen so many pig emojis in my life.”

Henry winces. “I’m so sorry.”

I hold my head high, thinking back to what Melinda said about me being a “charity case.” “Make it up to me by putting your all into this competition so we can move on to the next round. I won’t accept any other apology.”

“Okay, sure. I can definitely do that.”

By the time we return to the main studio, everyone’s already well into practice. I forgot how short our lunch break is.

Bora smirks at me from where she’s observing everyone from the front of the studio, like she’s pleased that Henry and I are missing out.

“Crap,” I say. “We’ll never catch up now.”

Henry nervously drums his fingers on the door. “I know a place we can practice some more after this rehearsal is over. If you’d be comfortable with going there, that is.”

“Where?”

“I...”

Henry sheepishly looks away and mumbles something. It’s so uncharacteristic of him that I laugh before I reply, “What?”

“I have a private studio that I use whenever I want to dance by myself for a bit. It won’t just be the two of us. Portia and Steve will be there with us, but I totally understand if you don’t feel comfortable practicing there.”

I’m desperate not to let this day go to waste. Besides, other than the whole Instagram incident, Henry, Portia, and Steve seem like good people. It’s not like I haven’t already hung out with the three of them before.

So instead of saying no, I ask, “Does it have AC?”

“Yup.”

“Does it have a good sound system?”

“Yup.”

“Then I’m good. Let’s head there after practice.”

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