Page 17 of Love is a Dance Step
Lola walked down the nearly empty hall in the direction of her next class. She’d almost reached it when she realized she couldn’t do the student thing anymore. Not today. Instead of walking in, she left the building, going straight for the parking lot, thankful for the first time that Asher hadn’t spoken to her since Saturday. It meant she didn’t have to wait for him.
He was being a child, and she refused to do the crawling back this time. She deserved better than what Asher Stone was willing to give.
Even if that meant lonely afternoons on her own. She wished she’d made an effort to keep in contact with people from high school or even to make friends in college. Instead, she’d relied entirely on Asher, and now, she had no one.
The benefit of arriving home an hour early? Her mom’s car sat in the driveway, an old Chevy Malibu in need of a paint job.
The house smelled like sopaipillas as she walked in. Her favorite dessert. “Mama?” She dropped her bag in her room before walking to the kitchen.
A plate of the delicious fried dough sat on the counter.
“Lola? What are you doing home,mija?”
Lola bit into a sopaipilla and sighed. “I must have sensed you were cooking. Delicious.”
“Spanish,Mija.”
Lola grinned. “Delicioso. Do we have any honey?” English had always come more readily for Lola.
Her mom shook her head with a sigh and retrieved the honey from the cabinet. “Did you miss a class today?”
“Only one. I’m a little worn out. It’ll be fine.”
“I shouldn’t have let you go to that concert. Studies come first.”
Lola sighed. She knew her mom would bring this up at some point. School was the most important thing in their house. “It wasn’t the concert. Just the boring classes. You heading to work?”
She nodded. “I don’t like you missing a class, but if it means I get to see you before I leave, then I won’t be mad.”
Lola wrapped her mom in a hug, careful not to let the honey drip onto her scrubs. “I miss you, Mama.” She pressed a kiss to her cheek.
That was her mom’s kryptonite, and Lola instantly wanted to call the words back. Her mom hated the schedule that kept her from her daughter and carried constant guilt around. For Lola’s entire life it had just been the two of them against the world, but lately their worlds had separated. “Lo siento, Mija. I do not mean to always be gone. One day, this will change.”
“I know, Mama. I know. Now, scoot. I’m going to eat my weight in sopaipilla before work.”
Her mom cupped her cheek once more before leaving her to an empty house and a plate of fried dough.
She wasn’t lying about eating every last bite.
* * *
Eating a plate of sopaipillas right before work was a really bad idea. At least, that was what Lola’s stomach told her as it protested against getting out of the car. A groan escaped her throat, but Lola had to go in, she had to let her favorite place in the world soothe her.
Her eyes scanned the square concrete building that held the Gulf City dance studio. Teaching kids to dance was one of two jobs Lola had, but if she had a choice, she wouldn’t go anywhere else. Not class, and not the hotel she’d worked at for years.
Hiking her bag onto her shoulder, she pushed through the glass double doors.
“Welcome to the GC Dance Comp—oh, it’s you!” The familiar girl jumped out from behind the desk. “You’re late.”
“Good to see you too, Pen.” She raised an eyebrow, trying not to let the sight of Penny Stone make her think of Drew. “What are you doing behind the desk?”
“Dad brought me early, and Lauren told me to greet people while she talked to him.”
Lola wrapped an arm around the pre-teen’s shoulders. “All right, let’s go see if the rest of our class is here, shall we?”
Penny looked up at her. “Okay, but first… question. Ever since the concert, Ash has been home a lot when he’s not out with this girl he brought over yesterday.” Lola tried to hide her flinch. “Did you two break up?”
“Is your family ever going to believe we’re just friends?” Or were. Were they past tense now?
