Sidelined 2: Intercepted

Chapter 6

DALLAS

The common area in our dorm had definitely seen better days. The furniture wasn't old so much as well-used. A lot of bodies had passed through, sitting or sleeping on these couches, eating a meal while stuffed into an armchair. It was the kind of room you should never do a black light test on. Otherwise, it was perfectly comfortable and a great place to whine away my sorrows while Miley made her dinner.

"Library? Dining hall?" She opened the microwave when it beeped and took out a plate of mac and cheese. "Oh! Or a tour guide. You'd be great at that!"

She let the too-hot plate slide onto the counter, shaking her hand to cool her fingers. There was yet another party tonight, and Miley was dressed up as a sexy pirate. She wore a skintight shirt as a dress. There was a ruffle down the front, and only a few buttons kept the shirt closed. The outfit was topped off with a pair of thigh-high boots and a wide belt cinched tight around her waist. I had no idea if it was a costume party or if Miley was simply in the mood to express her inner pirate.

"You think I would be a great tour guide? In what world?" I'd never looked into the qualifications, but surely one of them would be "likes to talk to people."

"Dorm cleaning staff? Chief photocopier in the admin office?"

"Filled and filled." I scrolled through another page of closed job postings. It felt like I'd been sitting in front of my laptop for hours because I had. I should have spent my afternoon in the dance studio. Or back in the library to find out how much or how little William Morris had influenced modern stage design. Instead, I'd spent hours trolling for a job that didn't exist. "At this point, I'll need to start doing OnlyFans."

"I looked into it when I got into NYU, but it's like a full-time job, and it's such a saturated market."

"You got into NYU?" I completely ignored the OnlyFans part. It was a lot harder to shock me these days. Living with Miley had clearly already changed me.

"Yeah, but my parents were very clear. Out-of-state tuition was out of the question."

She carried over her plate in one hand and a bottle and two shot glasses in the other. She sat down opposite me. Even when relaxed, Miley had perfect posture. One of the side effects of spending years in ballet classes.

"But it's fine. I got over it. New York might be the dance capital, but there's plenty going on here. I'm constantly going to open calls. I'll get there eventually."

How did I not know Miley was going to open calls? Had she gone to many—or any—since we'd met? I filed that one away for a later conversation.

"Is New York the dream?"

Funny how I'd never even considered going to New York. It was always CalArts for me. I knew I might have to settle for Colorado, but not until I'd exhausted all possibilities and auditions with CalArts.

"Isn't it for all of us?" She poured herself a shot of tequila and drank it.

"To attend NYU?"

"No. To dance. Anywhere." She filled the other shot glass and pushed it across the table toward me. "NYU has a good program, but it was a way to get closer to the action and not have my parents completely freak out."

I drank the shot then winced at the taste. Tequila was always harsher than I remembered. Miley didn't offer a lime wedge with it, so I guessed that wasn't a California thing. Or a Miley thing.

"Are your parents protective like that? They'd worry about you being in New York on your own?"

I lifted my foot onto the chair, wrapped my arms around my bent leg, and rested my chin on my knee. I was dressed for comfort, or maybe depression, in sweatpants and an oversized hoodie. I had no desire to dress up like a pirate, sexy or otherwise.