Always Never Yours(79)

I ram my shoulder into the glass, interrupting him. I hit harder than I intended, and the whole machine bounces against the wall with an echoing bang. The Skittles tumble into the bin at the bottom.

Tyler’s watching me, mouth half-open. Before he says anything, a door opens across the hallway. Owen’s head emerges. “What’s going on?” he asks, his eyes round with concern. When they find me, it’s like someone’s switched off a light in an upstairs room.

“Our Juliet just beat up a vending machine,” Tyler says behind me, sounding impressed.

“Oh,” Owen replies flatly, his gaze shifting to Tyler. Without a word to me or so much as a glance in my direction, he withdraws and closes the door.

I stare at it after he’s gone, feeling the laughter of a couple moments ago ebb away. Tyler nudges me. “Hey, slugger,” he says, and I turn, putting Owen and his disinterest firmly behind me. “Do you need some ice? That looked like it hurt.”

I rub my shoulder, considering. “It felt kind of good, actually.”

Tyler looks at me for a long second before he shrugs, his expression relaxing. He tears open the Skittles and tips the bag in my direction without taking any for himself. “You want some? They never would have happened without you.”

I feel myself smiling as I hold out my hand. He shakes the bag, and two purples and a green fall into my palm. We start to wander down the hall, not saying anything while we pass a group of juniors playing cards on the floor. “Final rehearsal tomorrow,” Tyler says, slowing down and tipping more Skittles into my hand. “You feel prepared?”

I glance at him out of the corner of my eye. “That depends.”

“On?”

“On if you remember to lift your leg before you roll over me in the bedroom scene.” I wince, remembering a week of rehearsing the scene in November and the consequent bruises on my thigh.

“It looks good!” Tyler protests. “Jody said it looks good from the audience.”

“I don’t care! You knee me every time! I’m going to have nerve damage by the end of this play!” He laughs, and I point a finger in his face. “I’m serious. You do it in tomorrow’s rehearsal, and I’m eating garlic before the premiere.”

He pulls a look of horror. “You wouldn’t.”

I nod threateningly. “You think playing opposite me is hard now? I want to see you ‘It was the lark, not the nightingale’ me when I smell like ten servings of raw garlic.”

“Actresses . . .” Tyler rolls his eyes. Then his voice softens. “But seriously, it’s awesome starring with you. You’re a great Juliet.”

“Really?” I snort, keeping my eyes on the floor. “I feel like I’m kind of stumbling through it. I still think I’m going to freeze up and forget my lines in front of a real audience.” An audience including members of the SOTI faculty.

Tyler drifts to a halt in front of a door. “Everyone thinks that’s going to happen. But it won’t.” He smiles reassuringly. “Not if you know it.” He nods toward the door, and I realize it must be his room. “We could go over it one more time, if you want?”

Why not? I think to myself. Running lines with Tyler will definitely distract me from my empty room and the look on Owen’s face before he closed his door. “That’d be great,” I say, following Tyler into his room.

It’s empty, but I quickly deduce Jeremy’s his roommate from the backpack on one bed with Jeremy stitched on it. Walking over to the other bed, I briefly wonder if Cate’s managed to sexile her roommate, and if anyone but me will actually sleep in their own room tonight.

I close my eyes, bringing to mind my lines and the staging for my first scene, and feel Tyler sit down on the bed next to me.

“How now—” I begin to recite.

The rest of the line is smothered by Tyler’s lips crashing into mine. His hands grab my waist, his nose pressing into my eye. This isn’t his Romeo kissing, gentle and thoughtful—this is Tyler, kissing me with the sloppy overenthusiasm I remember from a year ago. What the fuck is he doing?

I shove a hand into his chest, pushing him off me. “What the hell?” I gasp, wiping my lips.

“I thought it was obvious.” His brow furrows, but his voice sounds impossibly reasonable.

“What’s obvious?” I jump off the bed.

He gestures at the door, looking at me like I’m the one who’s lost my mind. “I invited you into my bedroom to read lines . . .”

I don’t believe what I’m hearing. “You think after complimenting my acting and giving me some Skittles, I’ll just jump back into bed with you?”

“It doesn’t have to be a big deal,” he says easily, sending my head spinning all over again.

What doesn’t have to be a big deal? I want to ask. Is it that his relationship with Madeleine means so little that he’d throw it away to cheat with me? Or if he really is in love with Madeleine, is hooking up with me so inconsequential he’s not even considering what it would do to his relationship? I don’t know which one is worse.

“A big deal?” I get out. “I thought you were in love with my best friend.”

Tyler shrugs. “Madeleine doesn’t have to know. Not if you don’t tell her.”