dangerously exposed, more fiercely than I would have dreamed I was capable of, and I wished for the green, protective forests of Forks...of home.
When I rounded the last corner, onto Cactus, I could see the studio, looking just as I had first remembered it, all those hours ago. The parking lot in front was empty, the vertical blinds in all the windows drawn. I couldn't run anymore—I couldn't breathe; exertion and fear had gotten the best of me, all of me. I had to think of my mother to keep my feet moving at all, one in front of the other.
As I got closer, I could see the sign inside the door. It was handwritten on hot pink paper; it said the dance studio was closed for spring break. I touched the handle, tugged on it cautiously. It was unlocked. I fought to catch my breath, and opened the door.
The lobby was dark and empty, cool, the air conditioner thrumming. The plastic molded chairs were stacked along the walls, and the carpet smelled like shampoo. The west dance floor was dark, I could see through the open viewing window. The east dance floor, the biggest dance floor in the east, was lit.
Terror seized me so strongly that I was literally trapped by it. I couldn't make my feet move forward.
And then my mother's voice called.
"Bella? Bella?" That same tone of hysterical panic. I sprinted to the east hall's door, to the sound of her voice.
"Bella, you scared me! Don't you ever do that to me again!" Her voice continued as I ran into the long, high-ceilinged room.
I stared around me, trying to find where her voice

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Chapter 22

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