A/N: Thanks so much for all your enthusiastic reviews! I don't think I would've had the motivation to continue the story without them. This one's for youse guys. :)

Wednesday was a bad day for Boo. She didn't sleep well the night before and stumbled through all her classes at school, trying to avoid Charlie, Carl, and Sasha. When she got to ballet, it was clear that her efforts were completely wasted, however, because she had to spend the next few hours under the same roof as her crush of forever, her first kiss gone sour, and whatever Sasha was.

"Charlie's here?"

"Yeah, he's here to check out my best friend like the life-ruining vulture with a stupid haircut he is." Melanie's usual joking voice and mischievous grin had been replaced by a bitter tone and a scowl.

"Where is Ginny anyway?"

"Hell if I care. Probably putting on glittery lip gloss to distract people from how stupid she gets around him."

"Hey, guys," Ginny said as she skipped over to them. Her lips did look suspiciously shiny.

Mel stalked away to warm up on the other side of the room.

"What's up with her?"

"PMS?"

"But our cycles have been synced since we were fourteen and I'm not PMS-ing. It can't be that."

Boo considered telling Ginny that this was TMI, but the girls were so tight that it really didn't matter. She had suspected that the best friends had been on the same schedule for a while, actually.

"You don't look so good, Boo. You all right?"

"It's been a long day."

"Less flapping tongues and more arabesques!" Madame Fanny shouted.

"Did you hear that Sasha slept over at Michelle's last night?" Ginny whispered.

"Where did you hear that?" Boo's stomach gave a queer twist at the sound of Sasha's name.

"Truly told Sam who told practically everybody."

"How did Truly know?"

"She came over to have an early breakfast with Fanny or something and saw Sasha's BMW in the driveway. And Sasha was definitely not having breakfast with Fanny."

"That doesn't mean anything. She could've been practicing."

"Sasha? Doing a morning practice? You know she loves sleep more than her own mother. Besides, Truly peeked into the studio and it was empty."

"Ginny, Boo, what part of 'stop talking' do you not understand?" asked Madame Fanny from behind, startling them. "It's a relatively simple concept. You just take all the words coming out of your mouth and shove them back where they came from."

"Sorry, Madame Fanny," they mumbled.

"Now take that apology and turn it into the best dancing I've seen from either of you and then we'll see what I can do about forgiving you."

Without the tiny blonde's gossip to distract her, Boo tried in vain to think of other ways to ignore the fact that Charlie was looking her direction. She told herself that it was because she was standing behind Ginny and he was staring at her. That didn't stop her heart from pitter-pattering whenever they accidentally made eye contact, though. At least Carl wasn't throwing her reproachful, lovelorn looks. Right? She told herself that that was a good thing. As for Sasha...

Boo stole a glance at her. Perfect form. Of course. The way she moved didn't betray what she was thinking at all. Boo could tell that Carl was sad because he didn't stand as tall or bounce as high. Sasha was indecipherable. She didn't let her emotions control her body. She didn't show that Boo had mercilessly shot her down the night before.

"Eyes forward."

Or perhaps she wasn't heartbroken at all. Boo hadn't actually seen Sasha's expression after she left her on the porch. Maybe the kiss had been a joke, just one more way to express her feelings through cruelty. Not that it had been cruel. It had felt kind of nice, actually. And the only way it would've been hurt her is if Boo had felt something for Sasha in the first place. Which she hadn't. If only she could remember what she'd said to Sasha. Something about the kiss confusing things. But it hadn't really confused things, had it? Boo was straight. She had a crush on Charlie Segal and was developing feelings for Carl Cramer. Sasha kissing her was just the surreal, M. Night Shyamalan-esque topper to her bizarre love life.

"Boo, did you leave something at home?" Madame Fanny's voice once again pierced her thoughts. "The part of your brain that processes outside stimuli, perhaps? I said it's time to practice scenes from our new ballet."

Boo blushed and hurried to her spot, praying that Charlie's eyes weren't on her. She was so busy wishing that she forgot that she and Carl started from the same mark until she got there.

"Hey, Carl," she said with a timid smile.

"Hey, Boo." His gaze were fixed determinedly ahead.

The music started and Boo lost herself in learning the choreography. It was challenging without being too complicated. The steps were familiar enough even if the sequences didn't automatically mesh in her mind.

"All right, Sasha and Boo in the center for the pas de deux. Start with the lead up to the lift."

She'd forgotten about this bit too, which was stupid because Madame Fanny had recently started using Boo as Sasha's partner in almost everything. Normally it didn't bother her because Sasha was an exceptional dancer and weighed next to nothing, but today the thought of holding Sasha made her nervous. What if she dropped—

As if the gods of irony had heard her thoughts, she lost her grip and Sasha went sprawling to the wooden floor. The rest of the class held their breath, waiting for Sasha to explode in true diva form.

"Careful, Boo," she said in a low voice as she got up to try the lift again.

There was an almost audible sigh of relief, as well as some titters. Sasha turning up a chance to unleash a scathing comment on someone? Hopefully it wasn't too late to start buying insurance for the end of the world.

As they danced, Boo tried to get a reading on how Sasha was feeling. Her brown eyes were distant, seeing but not really seeing her partner. Eventually Boo gave up because all the deciphering was affecting her performance and she didn't want Madame Fanny to yell at her again.

"All right, class. You are dismissed."

The dancers relaxed, breaking into groups to chat or stretch. Boo, almost insane from curiosity, followed Sasha into the dressing room. She needed some confirmation that she hadn't dreamed last night, needed to hear Sasha laugh it off, so she could get on with her life.

"Hey."

"Hey." Sasha didn't so much as glance up.

"About last night..."

"What happened last night?" Ginny entered with Mel (who couldn't stay away from her best friend for long no matter how pissed she was) in tow.

"Yeah, Sasha. I heard about your sleepover with Michelle. Did she sleep in her underwear? Did you sleep in your underwear?"

"Did she give you a special performance in her showgirl costume?"

"Did she tell you she's pregnant with Hubbell's child?"

"Ooh, that's a good one, Mel. Anyone want to put money on it?"

"What happened last night is none of your business," said Sasha coolly.

"I heard about your dad," said Mel.

"Yeah, I heard he was so hammered he put the moves on Godot."

"Shut up, you did not!"

"Totally did."

"Anyway, you could've slept over at my place or Mel's or Boo's if things were so bad at home. You didn't have to spend the night with someone who doesn't love you as much as we do."

"I don't think spending the night at Boo's was an option." Sasha smiled wryly, hoisted her dance bag onto her shoulder, and left the room without another word.

The girls immediately rounded on Boo.

"What did she mean by that?"

"Did her dad throw up on you?"

"Oh my gosh, did she deck you?"

Her head spinning from the barrage of questions, Boo shook them off and followed Sasha. She was determined to get some answers. The brunette was almost to her car by the time Boo caught up.

"Sasha!"

"Yeah?"

"Can we talk about it? Please?"

"Do you really want to talk about it?"

Boo hesitated. Putting into words what happened last night would make it real. It was confusing now, but somehow it seemed that if they acknowledged it they would be crossing into an unknown and frankly terrifying territory.

"I didn't think so." Sasha tossed her bag in the back seat. "I'm fine with pretending it didn't happen if you are."

"No." Boo shook her head. "It did happen and I want to know why."

"Why do you think, Boo?"

Before the kiss Sasha had said she liked Boo. Like, like liked her. But that was impossible. Sasha could have her pick of anyone, boy or girl. She was pretty and smart and talented. She was going places. Boo was not. Why Sasha would have a crush on someone as mediocre as her? It was surprising that they were even friends, actually. Maybe it wasn't that Sasha liked her, but that she was bored and wanted to try something new. Sasha got bored easily and Boo seemed like the logical candidate to experiment with. She went along with almost everything. Yes, that seemed likely. It wasn't that Sasha was trying to be mean; she was just taking advantage of her friend's docile personality for entertainment purposes.

"I don't know," she said at last. "I can't figure you out."

"That's okay, I can't either. Bye, Boo."

Boo watched the car disappear and wondered for the hundredth time what was going on inside Sasha Torres.