“You’re not safe here.”

He sighed, grinding the bottom of his cane into the grooves between the tiles. “I know.”

She decided to finish pulling her long brown hair back into a ponytail, personally unphased by his presence. “I’m not going to cover for you when the other girls come in.”

He swallowed, tugging at his collar with his free hand. “But we need to talk.”

“Anywhere else?”

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

She rolled her eyes. “They’ll be out out of the showers soon.”

“I’m blind! Just tell them I can’t see anything.”

“What part of me avoiding you didn’t you understand?”

It was annoying, but he knew better than to make a scene. He left the locker room, planning how next to accost her in a place that she wouldn’t be able to evade him.