“Cut! Stop what you’re doing!” shouted Adrian. All the dancers who hadn’t stopped of their own accord stopped where they were. Brenna extricated herself from the mob, murmuring polite good-byes as she stepped back to let the judges have their way with us. I stayed where I was. If Ivan was willing to hold me up, I might as well see how long I could maintain a full extension. Like yoga with a partner.

Adrian looked less intimidating when he was upside down. As things settled back into a semblance of order, he also started looking amused. “Valerie darling, did you decide to become a fruit bat between seasons?”

“Nope,” I said. “I just met this nice man, and I was trying to figure out whether I liked hanging out with him.” I righted myself, planting my feet firmly back on the stage, and offered Ivan a smile as I pulled away. “He’s okay.”

“Glad you think so. All right, everyone, if you haven’t checked in with the production assistants at the back of the room, you can go do that now. Fill out your paperwork and sign your waivers before we start putting you through your paces. We’ve got housing in the same complex as always, four to a two-bedroom flat. Roommates have been assigned, but if you want to negotiate a trade, feel free: just make sure everyone’s comfortable.” Adrian fixed us with a stern eye. “I’ll expect to see you all back here at seven o’clock tomorrow morning to begin rehearsals for the first episode.”

A hand went up. It belonged to a skinny redhead with hair several shades lighter than mine and cheeks brimming with freckles. Jessica. I wondered how many fits she’d had to throw to get her place on the show back. Technically, she’d been a part of her season’s top four, but she’d never performed with them: she’d dislocated her knee so badly during rehearsals that she’d required surgery, and the number five dancer, Honey, had gone on in Jessica’s place. If it had been up to me, Honey would have been the one tapped for this reunion, not Jessica.

(Jessica’s involvement with the show had never ended, damn the luck. She’d become a choreographer’s assistant after her elimination, and haunted the stage to this day.)

It looked like I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. The people around Jessica gave her sidelong looks, some annoyed, some pitying. There was little of the easy camaraderie that seemed to pervade most of the dancers, even the ones who’d never met each other before.

“Yes, Jessica?” asked Adrian.

“Is everyone going to have a roommate?” she asked. “I’m a light sleeper.”

“Every apartment will contain four people at the outset, with two bedrooms and four beds,” said Adrian. “There is also a couch. You may attempt to convince whomever has been assigned to share a room with you that they’d rather sleep on the couch, but I’m not going to step in on your behalf.”

“Shouldn’t be a hard sell,” murmured someone behind me. I bit my lip to keep myself from laughing.

“Are there any other questions?” asked Adrian. Without hesitating, he plunged on: “No? Good. We’ll see you at seven tomorrow morning. Please fill out your paperwork before tripping over a cable and breaking an ankle or something, no one’s getting sued today.” He stood, adjusted his jacket, and strode away, with Lindy scurrying close behind him.

Clint paused long enough to throw us a smile just as bright as the one he’d been using for the cameras, if not quite as crisp. “I really am excited to see you all,” he said, and trotted away.

“Guess we’re doing this,” said Anders, stepping up next to me.

“Guess we are,” I said. “Can you and Lyra go find out whether we’re all rooming together, and start making trades if we aren’t? I need to go say good-bye to my boyfriend.”

“Always knew you’d land a hottie,” said Anders. “I should’ve moved faster to make sure it was me.”

“Not getting my email address from Jessica would have been a start,” I agreed, and kissed his cheek before heading for the stairs. I could have jumped off the stage—it was only a four-foot drop, and I have a tendency to leap off the sides of buildings at the slightest provocation—but I hadn’t filled out my paperwork yet, and I didn’t want to give the poor production aides panic attacks. They already had to work with Adrian and Lindy. They didn’t need me to start torturing them, too.

Dominic was seated on the aisle about two-thirds of the way back, where he had a good view of both the stage and the aisles leading up to it. He’d been providing cover, in other words, making sure nothing was going to get the drop on me while I was playing good little dancer.