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stifle it.
     
    “Come here,” Daniel said, reaching for her. Cara fell into his arms and buried her face into his shoulder, the smell of him doing nothing to alleviate the empty void in her chest. Her Jewel Academy dreams were over, her prima ballerina dreams were hanging on by a thread and now her relationship with Daniel was in jeopardy. Hadn’t it been just yesterday that she had been on top of the world? “Shh, it’s over and done with. There’s nothing you can do about it now, Cara. Now we have to figure out what we can do.”
     
    The tears just came harder as she clung to him, Daniel stroking her hair and whispering words of encouragement to her. What was she going to do?
     

***
     
    Cara sighed heavily as she picked up another box full of clothes, stacking it neatly beside the door to be hauled downstairs. It had taken her two days of crying over her lost future to finally get out of bed and get on with her life. No longer could she dwell on what could have been. She would focus on what she could do now that her mind was clearer. Calling her parents had been the hardest thing for Cara to do in all of this mess, to hear the disappointment in their voices had been heartbreaking. Still, her hard-working parents had decided that the best thing for their daughter was to stay in the city and at least try to live out her dream. They were sending her enough money for a deposit on a crummy little apartment so that Cara could stay. Cara had been overwhelmed by gratitude. Now she was trying to pack up her meager belongings to move into her new place that Daniel had helped her find. She had a roommate, a fellow Broadway performer in Daniel’s last tour group who was currently on another tour and was rarely actually at the apartment.
     
    Cara leaned against the doorjamb and looked at the space that had been her life for the last year, after spending her first three years in the dorm. She had been so proud the day she had moved into that dorm, fresh out of high school and excited about the new adventure. Cara had felt like she could take on the world that day but now, she was more reserved, more concerned about the direction her life was taking.
     
    Her phone vibrated in her pocket and Cara pulled it out, a sad smile on her face as she saw that Daniel was calling again. He had been great during this time, much better than she had ever hoped for him to be now that she had ruined their chance of performing together. Though her chances had dwindled on touring, there was no way she was going to allow him to turn down a six-month tour. He had worked hard to get where he was at and she was not going to hold him back, even if it meant that their relationship wasn’t going to survive that type of separation. She had to find her own way now and couldn’t plan on him and his connections to pull her along.
     
    The chime sounded of an impending voice mail and Cara placed the phone back in her pocket, her own emotions in turmoil. She was going to have to end it with Daniel, even though her own heart hurt at the thought of never seeing his grin again or having him gently kiss her to distraction. He had to go on that tour and somehow Cara doubted he would, knowing that she couldn’t join him on tour. It sucked, but it was what had to happen.
     
    Leaving the boxes with her belongings to pick up later, Cara grabbed a few things she could carry in her backpack and walked down the stairs to the street below, saying goodbye to the academy and the life she had there.
     

***
     
    “Is there a reason you have been avoiding me?”
     
    Cara ran a hand through her hair as Daniel slid in the booth across from her, her heart hammering in her chest. She had finally texted Daniel back once she had gotten settled in her new place, asking him to meet her at a burger diner not far from the apartment. She wanted to be in the midst of the public when she broke it off, not in a vulnerable spot like her place or his where her emotions might