"... twinkle aljanha!" And the music ended.

  Everyone in the studio applauded as we danced the final steps to TTS's 'Twinkle'. It took a while, but everyone in the class had finally mastered the dance to 'Twinkle'.

  "That's a wrap, people! You guys were great today! See you next week!" said my dance instructor, Ms Jensen, to everyone in the studio. One by one, everyone packed their bags, hydrated themselves and wiped the sweat off their bodies as they left the dance studio. 

  I was just packing my dance bag, about to leave when Ms Jensen approached me. "You did amazing today, Katy! I'm very impressed!" she praised me.

  "Thank you," I thanked her.

  "Speaking of which, how have you been doing? Have you been well?" she questioned me.

  "I've been doing fine, I guess." I reassured her.

  "What about Jesse? Had any encounters recently?" She looked worried, and I didn't blame her.

  A few months ago, we were doing the dance for Troublemaker here at the studio. Back then, I had just broken up with a violent, overly-attached boyfriend of mine, Jesse Choi. He was, like me, Korean-American. So for that Troublemaker dance session, I was paired with another dance student, who was a guy, albeit a muscular, handsome one. Jesse saw us dancing the intimate, provocative dance and, like the breakup, he didn't take it too well. He stormed into the studio and broke the guy's nose. There was a big hoo-ha, and even the police had to get involved. In the end, Jesse was sentenced to a few weeks in prison. But now that he's a free man, I wasn't sure what was coming next... Had prison changed him, or was he shifting his target? Since that day, I never saw him again...

  I shook my head as I looked at Ms Jensen. However, she still looked worried. She placed a hand on my shoulder as she advised me. "Be alert. Keep safe." she told me.

  I nodded as we bade farewell and I headed towards the exit. I tried to relax, but i couldn't get my mind off what Ms Jensen and I just spoke about. Just as I stepped out the dance studio onto the boardwalk, I took the pepper spray my dad gave me after the incident out of my bag and slipped it into the pocket of my exercise pants as a precaution.