Bookishly Ever After (Ever After #1)(54)
Grace laughed, circling me and tugging at the sweater like she was trying to make it fit me better. “I like fixing things. Fashion’s a puzzle, like everything else, and it’s fun finding pieces that fit perfectly together and fit the person wearing them.” She then turned to fluffing my hair, and her expression grew serious again. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked softly. She stopped fluffing and rested her hands on my shoulders.
“I said I’m fine.” I waved my hand like I was waving away her concerns. I just needed some time away from Dev and Lexie to clear my head, that was all. I hadn’t had a break in ages from the reminders of my complete and utter fail. “In fact,” an idea flashed into my brain and I said it before I could change my mind, “I’m so fine because I’ve decided I’m signing up to help at sixth grade camp. Coach thinks it’ll be a good experience for me.” If I go to camp, I’m away for the week.
“You’re not just doing this to get away from things, are you? You do realize Dev’s still going to be here when you come back. You can’t use camp as a place to hide.”
I put on my most insulted look. “I’m not going to camp to hide. It sounds like a lot of fun. I like kids and s’mores and stuff.”
“I know we weren’t friends back then, but if I remember right, you hated camp. Didn’t you fake sick and spend the whole time reading in your cabin?”
“I was eleven.”
“And you’re really so excited about it that nothing else bothers you?” She did the whole analytical stare thing again. “Did you just finish a book set at camp or something?”
“No.” I didn’t add that I had finished one about a month ago. Or that Julien was up at the top of my list as my favorite camp book boyfriend.
“Because you know those things are idealized, right? Real life has spiders and kids who like to put spiders in their counselors’ beds.”
“Just because I like to read doesn’t mean I let fictional characters dictate my life.” Grace looked pointedly at the sweater and I tilted up my chin defiantly.
Grace pulled a piece of lint off my sleeve. “Fine. Just really think about why you’re doing this before you actually sign up, okay?” She checked her reflection one last time, then looked me straight in the eye and said, “If you need to stay here the rest of lunch, I’ll cover for you and take your things to class.”
I smiled a wavery smile at her. “Thanks.”
33
“My neck is killing me,” I hissed at Alec. At every single one of Em’s plays or musicals, Alec always insisted on us sitting practically front row and far left. But that meant I was praying for act one of “Phantom of the Rock Café” to be over so I could turn my head to the left again.
“Shh. It’s more fun this way, because you could watch the drama on-and off-stage,” he whispered back. “Now, shut up. Em’s about to start that scene where she has to make out with Christian, and I can’t wait to watch Wilhelm turn all Hulk in the wings when he sees that.”
Em wandered out onto the stage, which was set up like a brownstone rooftop in Philadelphia, down to the William Penn statue painted into the backdrop skyline. Her costume was pretty and sparkly, making her look like she was made of starlight. Christian swept onto the set, the preppy investment banker version of Raoul to Em’s backup singer Christine, and they broke into “All I Ask of You.”
I saw Dev standing in the wings, waiting for his entrance. For a second, I forgot my pretend-I never-crushed-on-him pact and smiled at his costume. Instead of an opera cape, he was wearing a cool long-sleeved vintage tee, and instead of a mask, emo-style bangs covered one half of his face.
Grace seemed to notice where I was looking and nudged me, whispering. “What do you think of guyliner?”
“Stupid,” Alec said, overhearing, while at the same time I chimed in,
“Hot on the right guy.” And this rocker zombie version of Dev was definitely, unquestionably right.
And then my heart sunk back into my shoes and I was slapped back into I’m-an-idiot land as Lexie, dressed all in black, came up alongside him. She said something to him, then reached up to fix his hair in a way that was so much more intimate than anything a normal stage manager would do. Just before he stepped on stage, she stretched up and kissed him on the cheek. I couldn’t watch anymore as she pushed Dev onto the stage, the two of them looking so much like Pine Central’s power couple. Romeo and Juliet in zombie makeup.
I shut my eyes, digging my nails into the upholstery of my seat. Apparently, two and a half months of casual noncrushworthy contact wasn’t enough to make my crush go away. But it was hard to just sit there and not react, especially when he started to sing.
I wasn’t the kind of girl who fell for musicians, but it wasn’t fair that Dev had a beautiful singing voice that did things to the surface of my skin. I opened my eyes, and there was Lexie again in the wings, staring at Dev like he was an advanced reader copy of the last book in a series.
“Bathroom,” I whispered to Grace. I abruptly stood and made my way out of the theatre. I’d deal with the possibility of Em killing me later.
Before I knew it, I was back sitting on the floor in the language hallway. I buried my face into my knees and tried to ignore all of the hurt that hit me full-force, filling every pore. Taking a deep breath that helped break up some of the tension in my stomach, I promised myself I wasn’t going to ever repeat this scene again.