ask me?”
“I wanted to. But he said you’d get upset if I brought it up.”
I looked at her.
“He told you that?”
She nodded.
“He said you were hoping I’d decide to quit by myself.”
I closed my eyes.
All those evenings when I’d asked about class.
All those conversations when Audrey had seemed angry with me.
She’d believed I was pretending to support her while secretly wishing she’d give up.
Suddenly, her behavior made terrible sense.
She wasn’t simply being moody.
She felt betrayed.
And the person who’d convinced her of that betrayal was someone we’d trusted for years.
***
On the drive home, Audrey told me more.
She’d been spending lesson time sitting in the studio lobby or at a nearby café, doing homework and waiting for Derek to pick her up.
She was afraid that if she kept practicing, I’d become angry with her.
She thought
