Page 29 of Chasing Your Ghost

“Because she’s the reason Asher was driving the night he went missing,” Noah explained, his chest rising and falling with his rapid breathing. “Ella was always calling him at all hours of the night, and Asher would go to her place every time, no matter if he was meant to be hanging out with us or if it was the middle of the night.”

Riley frowned. “Why did she keep calling him?”

“We don’t know.” Noah flung his arms up. “It’s just always drama with her. No matter how many times we told Asher she was taking advantage of him, he kept running to her whenever she snapped her fingers.”

She looked between Noah and Chris uncertainly. “Were they a couple?”

“Hell no,” Chris said adamantly. “They’ve always just been friends.”

“Well, maybe there was a good reason she kept calling him,” Riley said with a shrug. A few bad reasons came to mind, but she wasn’t going to start listing all the possible terrible and personal reasons Ella would need her friend’s help that late at night. “Asher never said anything?”

“Never,” Noah replied. “He would only tell us it wasn’t his secret to share.”

Riley sighed, still confused. “So you’re mad at Ella for needing her friend’s help.”

“No,” her stepbrother retorted snappishly. “I hate her because when Asher went missing, she didn’t bother to show up at any of the search parties. She didn’t even help put up missing person flyers. She didn’t bother helping at all, even though she was the reason he was out so late at night.”

Riley gulped. “Oh,” she murmured, suddenly feeling foolish.

“Yeah,” Noah bit out. “So the way I see it, Ella can go to hell for all I care.”

“I guess I just thought…” Riley wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence.

“You thought we were being assholes,” Chris supplied for her.

She shrugged. “She just looked so exhausted and sad. I guess I felt bad for her.”

“Don’t,” Noah said. “She doesn’t deserve your sympathy.”

Riley wasn’t sure if she entirely agreed with him, but she let it go. “Right.” She awkwardly looked back at the studio. “Well, I need to stretch and warm up. I’ll see you guys later.”

“Good luck,” Chris called out as she headed for the door.

“Thanks. Have a good practice,” she replied, looking over her shoulder and hoping that none of Noah’s frustration was directed at her.

He nodded, which was enough to assuage her worries, and he and Chris got back in the car and drove off. Riley opened the door to the studio and got right to it, sparing only a moment to take in the mirror-lined walls and the pristine wooden floor as she made her way through the entrance hall that looked like it served as a place for parents to sit and wait while the younger kids had their lessons.

Riley put her bag on one of the chairs and then walked to the barre to start stretching. She had warmed up, taken off the sweatpants covering her tight-clad legs, and switched out her warm-up booties for her ballet shoes by the time Miss Markova strode into the studio from the door at the back of the space.

“You must be Riley,” the tiny woman said in a voice that seemed too loud for someone so small.

Riley lowered her leg from the barre and stood up straight. Her shoulders instinctively pushed back now that a ballet teacher was watching her. “Good morning, Miss Markova. Yes, I’m Riley.”

“I see you’ve already warmed up,” the teacher said with an appreciative nod. “Good, let’s begin at the Barre.”

Riley didn’t hesitate to place her left hand on the barre and ready herself in first position. She was used to the fast-paced world of ballet.

“You realize that your hair is rather unusual for a ballet dancer?” Miss Markova asked while she put a CD into the small stereo at the front of the room. So old school. Riley loved it.

She winced. “Yes, Miss Markova.”

“Most teachers would tell you to have it a natural color by your next lesson,” the teacher added. “But between us, I rather like it,” she said after she’d pressed play on the music.

She sent her student a wink before she began giving the instructions for the exercise, her booming voice echoing off the mirrored walls. Riley didn’t have to fake her smile as she lowered herself into a plié. Miss Markova might be strict, but her comment made her ridiculously cool in Riley’s eyes.

???

“How was the lesson?” Noah asked as Riley got into the Jeep.

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