The music was still soft in the background when we finally stopped dancing, and I realized I hadn't thought about the steps once in the last several minutes. I had just followed him, and it had felt easy, like breathing.
The island nights were their own kind of beautiful. No city noise, no crowds, just the sound of the ocean and the wind moving through the trees. I had even stopped being afraid of the snakes a long time ago , they were just part of the landscape now, the way everything here eventually became familiar. The only thing that never got easier was the quiet when Vito was gone. No family. No friends. Just me and the teachers who spoke to me only in lessons and never once asked how I was doing.
So when Vito came, I became a different version of myself. Lighter. Like something that had been held under pressure finally got to surface.
That night, after my bath, I grabbed my pillow and pushed open his bedroom door without knocking.
