Fallen Stars and Broken Dreams - C.C. Masters Page 0,65

great.”

“Be down here and dressed professionally at six,” Richard ordered before giving me a smile to soften his tone. “You can accompany me to several meetings in the morning, we’ll have lunch, and then you can meet with the team. We’ll call it a job shadowing opportunity.”

I grinned. “That sounds awesome.” I was pretty sure that this was an opportunity that tons of people would kill for. It was rare that Awake.com opened their inner sanctum to any non-employee, and probably unheard of for a high school student.

Richard gave me a wave as he headed out to the waiting car that would bring him into the city. I couldn’t help but smile back at him.

I had an Abby-like bounce in my step as I headed out to my ballet studio. Things were turning around for me. Today when I danced, it wasn’t grief or loneliness that motivated me - it was hope.

I even cut my morning session shorter than usual because Abby started texting me around eleven, wanting to know what we were doing today. I told her to come over this afternoon for some yoga to burn off all the froyo we had eaten yesterday.

Abby: Fine! But we’re hanging out at your pool afterward.

I laughed when I got her text. I don’t think I’d ever just sat around at a pool before, so this counted as me branching out and living life. Ryan had to do pool therapy for an injury he had once, but that was at an indoor, city pool - nothing like the pool we had here. A flash of sadness hit me when I thought about Ryan, and I was calling him before I even had time to second guess it.

Ryan had been ghosting my calls and answering my texts with only short answers, making it evident that he was trying to put some space between us. That hurt, but I probably deserved it for abandoning him in NY while I lived my fancy life out here in the land of the wealthy and overly privileged.

I sighed sadly when I thought about what a mess our relationship had become, but I was determined to make it up to him once I got back to NY. However, I still didn’t have a plan or even the slightest idea of how to accomplish that. I wanted to believe that Nina would fuck things up on her own, but I wasn’t patient enough to wait around for that.

A little thread of doubt floated across my mind, but I refused to admit that any part of me wanted to stay here. Yeah, it was nice having my own ballet studio, but what was the point if Ryan wasn’t here to share it with me?

Maverik and Kingston somehow wormed their way inside my thoughts, but I pushed them away, shoved them out, and locked the door behind them. I dialed Ryan’s number again since he didn’t pick up the first time.

“Hey!” Ryan said as soon as he picked up the phone. “You must be psychic because I was just thinking about you.”

“In a good way or a bad way?” I teased him.

“In an, I wish you were here right now way,” he answered, and I could hear the grin in his voice.

“What are you doing?” I asked curiously.

“Sitting on my couch, debating on what I want to watch on Netflix. It’s just not as fun without your running commentary,” he joked.

“I bet you regret throwing popcorn in my hair all those times,” I laughed.

“Nope. That’s part of the fun that I miss.” His voice had a hint of wistfulness in it that mirrored my own feelings.

“I wish you were here with me,” I confessed as I started to stretch.

“What’s changed?” Ryan asked sharply.

“What?” I stopped what I was doing in confusion.

“You lack your usual desperation to return to me,” he chuckled, but I could hear an edge to it. “Usually, you tell me how much you want to come back to New York. Today you actually sound…happy?”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“No,” Ryan said softly. “It’s just… I’m selfish. I don’t want you moving on without me. You know it’s going to kill me when you finally get a new best friend.”

Guilt flooded through me. I had instantly connected with Abby, but she wasn’t a replacement for Ryan - things were completely different between us. Ryan and I had years of history that no one else could ever compete with.

“Ry,” I comforted him. “You know that I love you more than