One of Us is Lying(94)
“Are you nervous?” Maeve asks as we head downstairs. She’s dressed for the concert in a burgundy velvet dress that has a Renaissance feel, her hair in a loose braid threaded with small jeweled pins. She recently got the part of Lady Guinevere in the drama club’s upcoming King Arthur, and she’s gone a little overboard getting in character. It suits her, though. I’m more conservative in a scoop-necked jacquard dress with a subtle gray-and-black tonal-dot pattern that nips in at the waist and flares out above my knees.
“A little,” I reply, but she’s only half listening. Her fingers fly across her phone, probably arranging yet another weekend rehearsal with the boy who plays Lancelot in King Arthur. Who she insists is just a friend. Right.
I have my own phone out, texting last-minute directions to Kate, Yumiko, and Addy. Cooper’s bringing Kris, although they’re having dinner with his parents first, so they might be late. With Kris’s parents, that is. Cooper’s dad is slowly coming around, but he’s not at that stage yet. Yumiko texts Should we look for Evan? and at that point I remember I never invited him.
It’s fine, though. It’s not a big deal. It was in the newspaper, and I’m sure he would have mentioned it if he’d seen it and wanted to come.
We’re at Copley Symphony Hall, in front of a capacity crowd. When it’s my turn to play I walk onto a huge stage that dwarfs the piano at its center. The crowd’s silent except the occasional cough, and my heels click loudly on the polished floor. I smooth my dress beneath me before taking a seat on the ebony bench. I’ve never performed in front of this many people, but I’m not as nervous as I thought I’d be.
I flex my fingers and wait for a signal from backstage. When I start, I can tell right away it’s going to be the best I’ve ever played. Every note flows, but it’s not only that. When I reach the crescendo and the soft notes that follow, I pour every ounce of emotion from the past few months into the keys beneath my fingers. I feel each note like a heartbeat. And I know the audience does too.
Loud applause echoes through the room when I finish. I stand and incline my head, absorbing the crowd’s approval until the stage manager beckons me and I walk into the wings. Backstage I collect flowers my parents left for me, holding them close while I listen to the rest of the performers.
Afterward I catch up with my friends in the foyer. Kate and Yumiko give me a smaller bouquet of flowers, which I add to the ones already in my hands. Addy is pink-cheeked and smiling, wearing her new track team jacket over a black dress like the world’s unlikeliest jock. Her hair’s in a choppy bob that’s almost exactly like her sister’s except the color. She decided to go full-on purple instead of back to blond, and it suits her.
“That was so good!” she says gleefully, pulling me into a hug. “They should have let you play all the songs.”
To my surprise, Ashton and Eli come up behind her. Ashton mentioned she’d be here, but I didn’t think Eli would leave the office so early. I guess I should have known better. They’re an official couple now, and Eli somehow manages to find time for whatever Ashton wants to do. He’s wearing that moony grin he always has around her, and I doubt he heard a note I played. “Not bad, Bronwyn,” he says.
“I got you on video,” Cooper says, brandishing his phone. “I’ll text it once I make a few edits.”
Kris, who looks dashing in a sports jacket and dark jeans, rolls his eyes. “Cooper finally learned how to use iMovie, and now there’s no stopping him. Trust me. I have tried.” Cooper grins unrepentantly and puts his phone away, slipping his hand into Kris’s.
Addy keeps craning her neck to look around the crowded foyer, so much that I wonder if she brought a date. “Expecting someone?” I ask.
“What? No,” she says with a breezy wave. “Just checking things out. Beautiful building.”
Addy has the world’s worst poker face. I follow her eyes but can’t catch a glimpse of any potential mystery guy. She doesn’t seem disappointed, though.
People keep stopping to talk, so it takes half an hour before Maeve, my parents, and I work our way outside. My father squints at the twinkling stars above us. “I had to park pretty far away. You three don’t want to walk there in heels. Wait here and I’ll bring the car.”
“All right,” my mother says, kissing his cheek. I clutch my flowers and look at all the well-dressed people surrounding us, laughing and murmuring as they spill onto the sidewalks. A line of sleek cars pulls forward, and I watch them even though it’s too soon for my father to be among them. A Lexus. A Range Rover. A Jaguar.
A motorcycle.
My heart pounds as the bike’s lights dim and its rider removes his helmet. Nate climbs off, skirting past an older couple, and advances toward me with his eyes locked on mine.
I can’t breathe.
Maeve tugs on my mother’s arm. “We should go closer to the parking lot so Dad sees us.” My eyes are on Nate, so I hear rather than see Mom’s deep sigh. But she moves away with Maeve, and I’m alone on the sidewalk when Nate reaches me.
“Hey.” He looks at me with those dreamy, dark-fringed eyes, and resentment surges through my veins. I don’t want to see his stupid eyes, his stupid mouth, and every other part of his stupid face that’s made me miserable for the past three months. I had one night, finally, where I got to lose myself in something besides my pathetic love life. Now he’s ruined it.