The Third Message novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: Street Shoes

Two days later, Burke walked into Studio B in the middle of my class.

He wore his field jacket and street shoes, and he carried a duffel bag over one shoulder.

Twenty dancers stopped mid-phrase.

I stood at the barre with my hand on the rail.

"Lana," he said, and the whole room heard it. "I flew across the country to find you."

The mirrors gave me back his face from three angles.

"Burke, this is a class."

"Then I'll be quick."

He put the duffel on the floor and unzipped it.

He pulled out a thick folder and held it up for the whole room.

"These are all your tuition receipts, from freshman year to now. I've added them up. I'm going to pay back every cent of it myself, so you know I'm not asking for money."

"I never asked for that."

"I'm showing you I've changed."

He took a breath and turned to face the class.

"I know I haven't been there for her. I was careless. I put another person first. But she's been my best friend for eleven years, and I won't lose her to a bad month."

Somebody in the back row whispered, "A month?"

I had gone through surgery and four months of rehab alone, and he called it a bad month.

"I'm here to bring her home," he said.

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