And that’s what I’m doing now, when I set my pointes on my father’s desk. A symbolic gesture. One
that causes a fire to spark in his eyes.
“What is this?” he demands.
“I’m not her,” I tell him. “And I’m never going to be her.”
It’s the only explanation that I can give him. The only one he will understand.
Chapter Fifteen
Keller
My beautiful ballerina.
My actions have devastated her.
I try to tell myself that it is for the best. I try to find something meaningful to do with my time.
I will never get another teaching position now.
Mr. Dacosta tells me that Chloe will not admit to any sort of relationship with me, though I already
admitted it myself. I signed my resignation, and the deed is done.
That is no loss to me.
My heart was never in it. But my hands are idle and so is my mind. And something else.
An ache in my chest. For a girl too young for me. A girl who still has an entire life to experience
and learn.
I keep reminding myself of that. That it could never work between us. That she deserves better than
me. But that girl still feels like she’s mine.
And the thought of someone else - anyone else - taking what she has to offer burns me. The idea of
her lighting up for another man when she talks about her ideas is detrimental to my sanity. And the
thought of another man making art with her, that’s the worst.
That’s the one thing that is ours.
The thread that holds us together. Despite our differences in age and life experience we understand
each other on that level. And that doesn’t come easily. It is a gift so rare I doubt it comes along more
than once in a lifetime.
It is this reason that keeps me hesitant. That has me searching out real estate around the city, even
though my nights are spent looking for career paths somewhere else.
I am split in half. Just like she said.
There are the things that Rellek wants. And then there is the logic of Keller Vaughn. Two very