Lions and Tigers and Boys

by Tawny Stokes

  Anna had been smart and showered last night. She’d tried to convince me to, but I had been way too tired and lazy, preferring to snuggle in my bed and munch on a few gummy bears, which were my Achilles heel. Now I would pay for that and quite possibly miss out on breakfast. My stomach rumbled, chastising me for the possibility.

  After waiting ten minutes without moving, I tapped the shoulder of the girl in front of me. I think her name was Rebecca. “Do you know why it’s so busy?”

  She smirked. “Queen Maggie and her crew are holding court.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “They aren’t letting anyone else in until Maggie is finished. And knowing how much makeup she puts on, it could be an eternity.”

  “She shouldn’t be doing her makeup in there. It’s for showering and other washroom like things.”

  She shrugged. “You’re preaching to the choir, sister.”

  Another two minutes went by, and finally Maggie, followed by Shelby and Nia, and a couple other hangers-on flounced out of the washroom in a mist of designer perfume and face powder. When she passed me, she gave me her wickedest grin that set my teeth on edge. “See you in math class.”

  Once she was gone and down the hall, there was a mass press into the washroom, and unsurprisingly, we all fit. There were six shower stalls, six toilet stalls, and two banks of sinks and mirrors. Plenty of room for everyone to do their thing.

  I jumped in the shower—the water not as hot as I normally liked it—and washed my hair, my face, and body, and was out in six minutes. I used the facilities and was back in my room in another ten minutes. Anna had already gone down for breakfast. She left me a note, letting me know she would grab some eggs and fruit for me. She was a true blessing and quickly becoming my favorite person in the entire world. At least I had someone on my side here. That took a bit of the sting out of all the embarrassing things that had already happened to me.

  After putting my wet hair up into a ponytail, I dressed and made my way over to the cafeteria. As expected, it was packed, while everyone got in enough nourishment to keep them going for the next four hours of academic classes and training. Some people would be amazed at how much food dancers and gymnastics put away. Probably expecting not much, since the majority were small and compact, but we burned off a lot of calories.

  Through the crowd, I spotted Anna easily, as there weren’t many African-American girls enrolled in the school, which was crappy in my opinion. She was one of five girls, and she sat at the table in the corner near the big windows. There were other people at the table, but it looked like no one was talking to her despite her wide smile.

  I weaved my way through the crowd, fully admitting to searching for ginger hair and startling blue eyes. After a cursory search, I slid into the chair Anna saved next to her. “Thank you. You’re a lifesaver.”

  “It was no problem.” She slid her tray over, which had another plate of scrambled eggs, a piece of whole grain toast, and some fruit.

  As I ate, Anna chatted away about her body manipulation class while I did an instant replay of last night in my head. I was still having a difficult time wrapping my mind around the fact that I saw Cai naked. I mean, what the heck was he doing outside like that, anyway? Who does that? But Lord have mercy was he divine to look at. My cheeks flared just thinking about it.

  Anna gave me an odd look. “Are you still feeling sick?”

  I shook my head and shoveled more eggs into my mouth, but they nearly fell out when Cai bounded into the cafeteria. He beelined to the counter, grabbed a fruit bowl and a cellophane-wrapped muffin, and turned to find a spot at one of the tables. And that’s when he spotted me. He dropped his muffin. It rolled across the floor and then landed right next to my foot.

  I bent to pick it up just as he rushed to grab it. I handed it to him.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  “You’re welcome.”

  We just stared at each other for a very long, awkward moment.

  “Well, I’m going now, to eat my muffin.” He lifted it to his mouth and bit down, realizing too late about the plastic wrap.

  I rolled my lips, pressing them together, to stop the laugh that was threatening to burst through.

  He didn’t stop to take the plastic out of his mouth, just kept chewing and quickly walked out of the cafeteria.

  Anna gaped at me. “What was that all about?”

  I shrugged, putting my gaze back onto my breakfast. “Nothing.”

  “It didn’t look like nothing. It looked like something.”

  I stood and picked up the tray to set it on the counter near the kitchen. “We should get to class before we’re late.”

  Anna trailed after me, tenacious. “You are going to explain to me what just happened, one way or another, Dani Gale.”

  Not answering, but smiling, I walked down the hall with her to our math class. My smile immediately dropped the moment I spied Maggie sitting at her usual desk, front and center. Thankfully there were two desks close together near the front on the far side. After the other night, I was a teeny bit afraid of Maggie. And not her woo-woo power that I imagined the other night, but the dominance she had in the school. It was clear she was Queen Bee, but I was loathe to bow down. I wouldn’t make trouble, but I wasn’t going to cower at her tiny feet. Unfortunately, I didn’t think Anna was going to have that problem. She seemed to have that mesmerized look when she was in Maggie’s presence. I really hoped that wouldn’t become a point of contention between us.

  But I didn’t have time to dwell on it before the teacher, Ms. Mayer, swept into the room and immediately tossed us into the mundane miracles of algebra.

  After an hour of monotonous numbers, everyone was eager to get to our next classes, since they were all discipline classes. Mine was dance. Which was one of my most favorite things to do. It always relieved stress in my mind and body. But as I came out of the classroom, the Queen ambushed me.

  Without any preamble, she plunked her notebook on top of mine. “Make sure you finish my assignment first and get it to me before breakfast tomorrow.” Then she was off, her head high, her hands out as if she were expecting people to drop to their knees and kiss her rings.

  Anna glanced at me, her eyes wide. “What was that all about?”

  “Nothing.” I didn’t want to go into it and started down the hallways to find the dance studio. Anna chugged along beside me.

  “Why are you doing Maggie’s work?”

  “It’s a long story.” We reached the studio, and I sighed. “Can I tell you about it later?”

  “You better. As well as spilling about Cai.” She squeezed my arm, then skipped down the hall toward her acrobatics class.

  I entered the studio, let my bags and books drop onto the floor in the corner, and sighed. At least here, I was safe. At least I was in a good place. I was a strong dancer, and no amount of “Maggies” could take that away from me. Here I was free and had the power and grace I just couldn’t manage in my everyday life.

  The main form of dance we practiced at the school was contemporary, but we always warmed up at the ballet bar for fifteen minutes. It was all about strengthening the core muscles. As I put my leg up on the bar and bent into it, I thought about Cai again. It was hard not to with his lean form now etched in my brain. His core was exquisite. He had a drool-worthy six-pack, and I imagined he could hold a plank for ten minutes or more.

  After our warm-up, Miss Oona put on some tribal African music, and we did movement exercises across the floor. As I glided weightless, spinning and jumping, I imagined Cai as my partner. I didn’t know if he was a dancer, but it didn’t stifle my imagination. We moved in perfect rhythm together, perfect synchronicity. When I reached the other end of the studio, Miss Oona clapped her hands.

  “Beautiful, Dani. You were positively glowing. I don’t know what you were thinking about, but keep it there.”

  I nodded to her. Yeah, I didn’t think that was going to be a problem. Cai had completely and utterly filled my min
d.

  Chapter Eight

  Cai

  My gut was churning during the next balance class. When Dani walked in and smiled at me, I had to look away. She didn’t deserve what Marvel wanted me to do. She was an innocent girl caught in the crossfire. And I was the gunman firing the bullets.

  Gisele walked to the front of the studio, a beaming smile on her face. “Today we will be pairing everyone up in an attempt to help each of you reach your highest potential. You will now have a training partner, who will be responsible to push you and motivate you to be the very best.”

  There was a murmur through the class, as friends looked at friends hoping to be paired up. I kept my gaze on the floor, knowing full well how this was going to go down and why.

  Gisele rattled off some names, pairing them with the sophomores. Then she called, “Dani.” Dani’s head came up, and I could tell she was nervous. “You’ll be with Cai.”

  She looked over at me, and I gave her a smile. But I could feel daggers digging into the back of my skull. I glanced over my shoulder to see Maggie seething. She’d been paired up with Wesley, who wasn’t anything great to look at, but the guy was almost as good as Li Kwan when it came to pure strength. He was actually a great partner to help her excel in balance, especially doing hand-to-hand stuff. It was the best pairing considering the circumstances.

  “So, together, together, mes beautés.” She swept her hands over us.

  Everyone moved to stand next to their partner. Dani crossed the room to me. She gave me a shy smile, those dimples making it hard to not melt into her.

  “Hi.”

  “Hey,” I said, not looking at her, although I could see her lips turn down into a bit of a frown.

  “If this is too awkward, I can ask Miss Gisele for a new partner.”

  “No, it’s fine. You’re fine.”

  “Well, that’s good to know,” she said under her breath with that little sarcastic tone I heard now and then from her. And it kind of made me want to grin.

  “We will start with something simple. Static hand-to-hand balancing.” Gisele gestured to the door, and Li ran in, waving. Everyone in the class cheered. Li was a popular instructor, because he was so easygoing and funny.

  Li positioned himself in front of Gisele, bending his knees, leaning back a little. They grabbed hands, and Gisele stepped up onto his thighs. He held her there, and she leaned back, bracing her legs against his. It was the easiest of the hand-to-hand strength poses.

  “Now all of you try,” Gisele said.

  I turned to Dani, and bent my legs a little. I held out my hands to her. The moment she took them, I felt a jolt of awareness. By the look on her face, I think she felt something, too. She carefully stepped up onto my right thigh and then my left. It looked like she was worried that she was too heavy or something. She wasn’t at all. In fact, she was pretty light. I could probably lift her over my head with little to no effort.

  Once we were stable, she leaned back, and we made a perfect V-shape. “This is amazing.” She laughed. “Can we do something else?”

  “Sure.”

  “Do you think we could do a single-armed plank?”

  “Let’s try it.”

  She straightened, then stepped over to my left thigh so she had both feet braced there. We wobbled a little, and she laughed again. “Don’t drop me.”

  “I won’t.” And I meant it. I never wanted to let go of her. I never wanted to hurt her. Intentionally or not.

  She got ready, and we locked arms by holding each other’s forearms, then she leaned to the side, and I came up a bit until I was holding her straight out from my leg. Everyone else in class stopped what they were doing to watch us. My grin was huge. I couldn’t help it. This just felt so natural with Dani. Like we’d been partnering for years instead of just this moment.

  “Well done, you two.”

  I glanced over at Gisele and Li. They were both smiling and nodding, but I could see the look in Gisele’s eyes. The one that said, This is not what you were supposed to do. Marvel is going to be pissed off.

  I locked eyes with Dani and sighed inwardly, hating what I was about to do.

  Shifting my weight from my left leg to my right, I unbalanced her a bit. I could feel her wobble, and I slackened my grip on her arm. Her eyes widened as momentum sent her down to the floor. She landed on her shoulder, but thankfully had the presence of mind to shift a bit so she didn’t land on her head.

  “Oh God, are you okay?” I reached for her to help her up.

  She laughed. “I’m fine. It’s not like I haven’t fallen a hundred times before.”

  Relief soared through me, although it did nothing to dampen the guilt, even as she said, “Do you want to try again?”

  I smiled. “Absolutely.” I’d try it as many times as she wanted, as I didn’t think I would ever be uninterested in touching her. Her skin was soft and warm, and ignited something deep and primal inside. I’d never experienced that sensation before. It came from the most fundamental part of me. From the beast simmering beneath my human surface. It liked Dani. And so did I.

  Chapter Nine

  Dani

  For the rest of the week I alternated between giddiness at having Cai as my partner and confusion at having Cai as my partner. We worked really well together; we had a synergy I’d never experienced with any other person, and I knew he felt it, too. It was in his face every time we touched. And when we did some amazing strength or balance move, he grinned, and it made every nerve ending in my body fire. But then he’d do something, just slightly so it was almost indiscernible, and our pose crumbled, or I’d be thrown off-balance, or he’d drop me.

  I suspected something was going on. I couldn’t possibly imagine what, but I could feel it. Especially when I caught Cai and Miss Gisele exchanging weird glances. I had to find out, but Cai would leave class in a hurry, and I’d never get a chance to talk to him about it. So I decided the best course of action was to wait for him to go for a run.

  I wasn’t sleeping well anyway, so for the majority of the night I stood at the window waiting to see either the tiger in the woods or Cai. I would never use the word obsess in relation to what I was doing, because it carried bad connotations, but I had to admit it did fit my mindset.

  My diligence and insomnia finally paid off. At around midnight one night, I spotted Cai walking into the woods, and I was dressed, even with shoes on, to follow him. Satisfying my curiosity was way better than tossing and turning in bed.

  Careful not to wake Anna, I scurried out of the room, down the hall, and to the stairs. I took those two at a time, vigilant that I didn’t sound the Maggie alarm. She was nowhere to be seen, so I dashed out the main dorm door praying they didn’t lock behind me and rounded the corner for the path that Cai took into the trees. I found it easily enough, but he had a good ten-minute head start on me, and he knew the grounds better than I did. Still, I had determination and an obvious penchant for humiliating myself, so I figured it didn’t really matter whether he heard me coming or not.

  But I tried to be stealthy anyway, and tiptoe jogged—the effect of being in pointe shoes a lot—down the path until I saw a shadowy outline of Cai ahead of me. I slowed my gait and stepped off the lighted path to hide behind one of the big oak trees to set up my surveillance. I watched as Cai stopped on the path just out of range of the pool of lamplight, looked around, then veered off suddenly to the left.

  I followed him at a cautious distance, creeping through the bushes. At one point, I stepped on a substantial tree branch, and it cracked. It was loud. I was sure Cai would stop and catch me in the act, but he didn’t even slow down. Regardless, I continued to follow him, curiosity fueling every brisk step. I had to know where he was going and what he was doing, really hoping he wasn’t involved in some weird secret society where they danced naked around a huge bonfire. Although I would enjoy seeing Cai naked again, I wasn’t sure I could handle the other part.

  As I continued to follow him, I realized we were gett
ing close to the north side of the wrought iron fence that surrounded the spacious seventy-five-acre campus. Was he leaving some secret way? He kept on a straight path, then he stopped on a dime. I ducked behind a thick bush. I tried to peer through the foliage, but it was too dense, and I couldn’t see anything but what was right in front of me. After a few seconds, I stood to take a peek.

  He was gone.

  “Aw, crap.”

  I walked over to where I had seen him last and looked around, now realizing just how dark it was this deep in the woods. I hadn’t noticed it before because I was so focused on Cai and where he was going, and with having his silhouette guiding me, it didn’t seem as murky. And isolated, and ominous. I was alone out here in the dark with no real path to follow to get back, and there was the fact that no one knew I was out here. Smart, Dani. Real smart.

  From the spot I was standing on, I could see the fence. Thankfully the moon was out and swathed it in pale-white light as well as the surrounded grasses that weren’t blocked out by all the trees. It would’ve given me some comfort, especially as a guide to get back to the main campus if worse came to worst, except…

  I could feel someone or something watching me from beyond the metal bars.

  I stared hard into the night, narrowing my eyes to focus more. I watched for any movement, waited for any out of the ordinary sound. Although I really didn’t know what out of the ordinary would mean. There were noises all around me—leaves rustling, branches creaking, creatures scurrying, something grunting? Almost sounded like a pig. Then there was a flash of eyes glowing in the dark. Yellow eyes that seemed to be getting closer and bigger… The tall grasses outside the fence rustled as something moved intentionally through them.

  It was probably an animal, and the fence technically protected me—nothing too big could squeeze between the iron posts—but dread surged anyway, an ominous malevolent dread that made my skin crawl. I took a step backward, keeping my gaze trained on the spot beyond the fence. I didn’t want to turn my back on whatever it was out there stalking me.