Run, Girl (If You Can)

Chapter 452: I Can Wait

Noah hadn't been terribly concerned when Violet told him Jeremy Ward was treating her to dinner. His dad had previously described the guy as 'Aaron 2.0' because he was even more business-minded and didn't have any attachments to other humans whatsoever.

He probably thought of it as nothing more than repaying a debt. People could be weird about not wanting to owe anybody sometimes.

Since Violet wasn't going to get out from rehearsals until 8 PM the following day, Noah decided to bring her dinner. A turkey sandwich on wholegrain bread ought to do the trick. As a dancer, she had to eat a whole lot of protein to repair constantly damaged muscles.

Over the past couple of years he had been to her studio dozens of times to drop things off so he knew his way around. The person up front let him go right back. It was a few minutes to six so all of the other dancers were packing up for the night but Violet was in the middle of a dance sequence.

She had a joyous smile on her face and pranced around in a rather cheerful manner. At first Noah wondered how she was able to dance with no music before realizing she had a set of wireless earbuds on.

That was actually really smart. Everyone could practice individual parts if need be without distracted other people.

Of course he knew that the majority of rehearsals were done as a group to get the entire scene flowing smoothly—Violet had told him—but he couldn't deny it was a neat trick. She had probably started practicing her part by herself when everyone else began turning in for the day.

Noah assumed her song ended when her smile immediately dropped and she began massaging her cheeks. He couldn't help but laugh at how the illusion had been broken so quickly.

Violet was about to start another dance sequence when he called her name. She looked up, startled, before smiling more naturally at him than she had been while dancing.

"You actually came! My hero."

"I told you I would. A turkey sandwich for the smiling Cinderella," he said with another laugh.

She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, Cinderella has too many facial expressions. I have to look tragic when she's being bullied by the stepsisters and smile constantly during the transformation sequence with the fairy godmother. That's only in act one! My face can't take it!"

Noah sat down next to her against the mirrored wall. "You realize you don't have to do facial expressions until the dress rehearsals, right? You're going to kill your cheeks if you do it the whole time."

Violet pulled a face. "It helps me get into character when I'm trying to memorize a sequence. I don't do it all the time though."

She dug into the sandwich gratefully and sighed with contentment. He was glad. He knew she didn't always eat enough during rehearsals. Nuts, her most common snack, couldn't fill you up.

Honestly he wondered how she could torture herself like this for her craft sometimes. Dancer's diets were rough. But he also knew that his best friend poured her heart and soul into dancing. She had been the most enthusiastic kid there in her first ever ballet class and that never changed.

It was impossible to remember that far back but Noah had seen the video footage that proved it. At Violet's very first recital the other kids weren't quite managing to stay in sync with the teacher but she executed everything perfectly with a huge grin on her face.

She had loved to sing and play the violin too but once they conflicted with her ability to dance she dropped those activities for the most part. She still sang along to the music she listened to in the car and would play a piece on the violin every so often so she wouldn't forget everything she learned but that was the extent of it. Dance had taken over her life.

Noah thought it was good for her. She had never been the best at expressing herself in words but she could do it through dance perfectly.

He had attended her senior showcase in college and the solo piece she choreographed managed to capture every contradictory aspect of her personality. It was beautiful, calm, chaotic, joyful, and fearful all at the same time.

People in the audience weren't allowed to film the student showcase because the dance department had recorded it themselves. They wanted to sell the footage to help boost their budget for things like costumes. Noah had bought a copy solely to be able to watch Violet in her truest form again and again.

"How did your date with your dad's minion go yesterday anyway?" he found himself asking.

Noah really didn't think he had anything to worry about based on what his dad said about Jeremy Ward but Violet had always told him about her dates. It would break their pattern if he didn't ask.

She swallowed her bite of sandwich and shrugged. "It was super awkward at first but then we ended up talking about college for a while and that was kind of fun. I haven't had a conversation like that since I graduated."

Noah's heart sunk slightly. She didn't seem terribly invested in Jeremy—as expected; she wanted romance and he was a machine—but they could talk about things that he couldn't. He usually didn't have a problem with the fact that he didn't go to college but when Violet talked about it sometimes and he couldn't relate…

He never felt inferior to her despite her higher education because she treated him like he was her equal. They had deep conversations about countless topics over the years and she always said he was the only person she could talk to like that.

When he was younger, it made him feel special. At this point Noah realized they had the relationship she wished she could have with Kaleb. It was likely a large part of why he got brother-zoned.

"I bet it was nice reminiscing," he said mildly, concealing his true feelings on the matter.

"It was. People are normally so difficult to talk to but he wasn't so bad after the first five minutes or so," Violet replied before finishing off her sandwich. "Ah, that was exactly what I needed. Thanks! But now I need to get back to work. You don't have to stick around if you don't want to."

It wasn't like Noah had anything better to do. If he went home now he would probably end up watching a movie with his parents and he didn't always appreciate their genre choices.

Violet had gotten him into horror movies ages ago but his parents preferred spy flicks and the like. The fight scenes in those movies could be so unrealistic. His time would be much better spent hanging around watching her dance until they could play games.

"I can wait," Noah said casually. "I still need to beat your winning streak in UNO."

Her smile grew c.o.c.ky. "I would love to see you try. Suit yourself. I'm going to use the loudspeakers in the room now though since everyone else is gone."

He shrugged. "Have at it. You know I enjoy ballet music."

Having a ballerina for a best friend and going to so many shows had helped him get a feel for the genre. Noah normally listened to more pumped up songs, like the ones they played in the gym, but when he wanted to decompress he would listen to classical ballet pieces. They helped him relax.