Complete Nothing (True Love #2)(80)

“We couldn’t miss that,” my dad said.

“You did this?” I said to Peter, releasing my mom. “But you have a game tonight. . . .”

“We’ll make it back in time,” he said with a shrug. He was wearing a black polo shirt that made him look older somehow, more sophisticated, but still my Peter. “We wanted to be here for you.” He cleared his throat and lowered his voice. “I wanted to be here for you.”

My heart was so full I thought it might pop. We both looked around at our audience, and they quickly turned away, pretending to be enthralled by the black-and-white framed dance posters decorating every wall.

“Claudia, whatever happens next year, I want you to know, I’m going to be there for you from now on.”

“Peter,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry about the things I said to you. I can’t even—”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “I’m over it. As long as I can be with you.”

Before I could answer, the door to the audition room opened with a squeal. A hush fell over the gathered crowd.

“Claudia Catalfo!” a woman with a clipboard called out.

My heart hit the ground. My mouth went dry. This was it. This was the first moment of the rest of my life.

“Oh my God,” I gasped.

Peter smiled. He tossed his head back, flinging his bangs off his forehead. As always, they fell right back where they’d been. “Kick some ass,” he said.

“I will,” I told him confidently, grinning from ear to ear. And somehow I knew that I would. Knowing that these people were here to support me, how could I not?

“I love you, Claudia,” Peter said.

Somehow the grin on my face widened. “I love you, too.”

He leaned in and gave me a gentle but firm kiss. “And just so you know,” he whispered. “When you come out of there, I’m going to ask you to homecoming.”

I squeezed his hand, giddy beyond belief. “Just so you know, I’m going to say yes.”





CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN


True


The job was done. The timer had turned. And if the kiss a victorious Peter was now planting on a blushing Claudia at the center of the field postgame was any indication, my latest match was one that was going to last.

As an added bonus, Wallace and Mia were now sitting in the almost empty bleachers cuddled together over his iPad. I had talked Lauren into driving me, Wallace, and Mia down to Princeton yesterday, forcing the two of them to share one small backseat for over an hour, during which they’d discovered a mutual love of spinach pizza, a shared obsession with Angry Birds, and some kind of ancient Boy Scout/Girl Scout connection I couldn’t quite understand. Whatever it was, it was working for them. Perhaps I’d already sent my third couple out on their journey to true love.

I looked around at the torn-up football field, the smiling faces of the retreating fans, the yellow school buses, the GO RAMS! banners, the packs of students milling around the Snack Shack, and felt at peace. I was a human now and for better or for worse, I was starting to feel more human. This place was becoming my home. It was scary, but at the same time, exhilarating, to feel a part of something—to feel real. I took a deep breath and relished the moment.

Almost as if to mock me, Orion’s laugh sounded nearby and I turned. He was standing at the top of the bleachers along with a group of football players, cheerleaders, and other random students, with his arm around Darla’s waist. I wished like anything I could be next to him, hearing his voice, holding his hand.

I turned away, sparing myself the torture. Claudia and Peter were now moving across the field toward the school, her head resting comfortably against his shoulder. That was what I wanted for myself. That simple intimacy. Was it so wrong that I wanted it with the guy I loved?

Otherwise what? Otherwise what?

No, I decided. It wasn’t so wrong. And I was going to do something about it. I’d spent so much time meddling in other people’s lives over the past few weeks, I could spend five seconds meddling in my own.

I started up the steps toward Orion and his friends, wondering what it was going to take to extricate him from Darla’s grip, when I realized he was no longer there. Darla, Veronica, Josh, Charlie, Katrina, Gavin, and a few other jocks were still hanging out, but Orion had disappeared. Of course. Right when I’d decided to swan-dive off the high wire.

“Where in the world did he—”

The most awful peal of electronic noise split the air so suddenly and so loudly, it made everyone in a half-mile radius cringe. Then someone cleared his throat, and the sound blasted through the speakers set into the booth behind the bleachers.

“Sorry about that.”

It was Orion’s voice.

“I just wanted to say that Darla Shayne, I think you’re the most beautiful girl at Lake Carmody High, and I would be honored if you’d go to the homecoming dance with me.”

Every girl in hearing distance let out a sickening “awwwww” of delight.

“Oh, this is Orion, by the way.”

Darla ran up to the open window in the booth, and suddenly Orion’s face appeared.

“Yes, yes, yes!” she shouted.

And then they kissed. They kissed a lot. They kissed and kissed and kissed, and hot fireballs of fury roared to life inside my chest. My bones began to shake. My every cell vibrated from the heat of my rage. I closed my eyes and tried to contain it. I could see only destruction. I saw the bleachers collapse beneath Darla’s feet. Saw the ceiling cave in upon the Orion who was not my Orion. I felt the entire Earth begin to quake beneath my feet.