Toe to Toe (On Pointe Book 1) by Penelope Freed (comprehension books txt) 📗

to put anything on my fingers, but the purple does a great job at covering up my bruised toenail. Olivia has been checking her phone constantly, which buzzes almost non-stop.

Once everyone’s nails are dry we tumble downstairs to watch a movie and pile up on the couch. Olivia sits on the floor in front of us, holding up her phone. “Smile girls!” she says, snapping a pic.

“Wait, wait, do it again, I look bad!” Lisa cries as we look over Olivia’s shoulder at the picture. We try a couple more times, until everyone is satisfied with the picture. Olivia taps away at her phone while Katy and I debate between watching Center Stage (for the thousandth time) or going really old school and watching White Nights. I can never decide if 1980’s Mikhail Baryshnikov or 2000’s Sascha Radetsky are cuter. But what girl doesn’t want two amazing dancers to have a dance-off over her? Center Stage it is.

I’m getting the movie ready to play when Olivia runs upstairs. She comes back down a minute later with all her bags, dropping them by the door. “What’s up?” I ask. “Did you forget something at home?”

“Uh. No. Yeah, so I think I want to sleep in my own bed. You know.” She looks away. “So I can get a really good night’s sleep. But, if anyone asks, I was here all night, okay? I’ll be back before we have to leave in the morning.” Her eyes flash with defiance as she looks at each of us in turn.

“What? But I thought your dad and Martha were in Santa Barbara? Isn’t that why you were staying here tonight?” I ask, feeling stupid and more than a little disappointed she’s not staying. Why would anyone ask? And why wouldn’t Olivia actually be here? A pair of headlights light up my front windows, a second later Olivia’s phone buzzes in her hand.

“Gotta go! Say you’ll cover for me, please Banana?” Olivia looks up at me with those dang puppy-dog eyes. Ugh. Why can’t I resist her?

“But where are you going? And who is that?” I ask, holding onto her arm, not willing to let her go. “Seriously Olivia, who is that and where are you going?” I add, getting worried. Why wouldn’t she drive herself home if that’s where she’s going?

“Relax, it’s just Tyler,” she laughs. My heart jumps just a little at the mention of his name and I let go of her arm. I can feel a little piece of my heart stabbing me in the chest, thinking about him taking her out so late. “We’re just going to go hang out for a little while and then I’ll go home and go to bed. Promise. Don’t worry Banana, it’s fine.” Olivia opens the front door and starts to walk out but turns back quickly, “Hey, is the spare key still underneath the old rock?”

“Uh, yeah,” I manage to say. Just as Olivia opens the door to Tyler’s car I call out, “Text me when you’re back, just in case, okay?” Olivia waves and slides in, leaning over to kiss Tyler’s cheek. I lean hard against the door jam and watch them pull away. I can feel my eyes getting tight and hot, my throat closing up. I take a second to let the cool night air wash over my face before I close the door. After a moment, I plop onto the couch next to Lisa just as Cooper Nielson is pulling up on his sexy motorcycle and all is right in the world again.

“Did she seriously just ditch us?” I look over and see Katy propped up against the side of the couch, her arms crossed over her chest. I shrug.

“She said she wanted to sleep in her own bed.”

“I thought the whole point was that her parents didn’t want her to stay alone overnight?” Lisa says, distracted by the dancing on screen.

“I don’t know,” I huff defensively. “You know what she’s like…”

“Yeah. We do.” Katy’s voice is flat. “You know she probably just used us as a screen so she could be home alone with Tyler?” I gasp, glad the noise is muffled by the movie. I had been kidding myself, deliberately not thinking about her and Tyler together right now. Another stabbing pain in my heart has me curling around the pillow in my lap, holding myself together physically and emotionally. I don’t respond. I can’t. Lisa pats my knee. I give her a small smile before pointedly watching the movie, chin resting on my knees, heart breaking a little more with each breath.

We’re about halfway through the movie when my phone buzzes, jarring me from the movie. It buzzes again, again, and again. What the heck? The only people who would be texting me are in my house right now. Except Olivia. I grab my phone, having visions of her in trouble. I can hear Lisa and Katy’s phones buzzing too. Okay, that’s weird. Olivia never texts those two. I swipe the screen open and see notification after notification popping up from Instagram. What is going on?

I open up the app and discover that Olivia posted the pic she took of us on my couch with the caption “Dance sleepovers are the best! @hannahbananaballerina @lissssadancer and @kdpops love you!” Our phones are buzzing from all the comments being posted by everyone at school. I guess Olivia had more followers than I thought. I start reading some of the comments, but after the twentieth one saying “guuuuurl! U so gorg!” I drop my phone and go back to the movie. Katy and Lisa have done the same thing. Our phones keep buzzing periodically, which honestly is starting to get a little annoying. I grab my phone to put it on Do Not Disturb, then realize I can’t in case Olivia texts me. I bite my lip, starting to get worried, it’s almost 11:30, I hope she texts me soon.

“Hey, who’s @marvelousStanLey? That’s not Tyler is it?” Lisa suddenly asks,