For Real(15)

“Likewise.” Jim shakes our hands, and I pray mine doesn’t feel too sweaty. “Follow Brandon, and he’ll get you sorted out.”

As we follow the flammable PA through the Great Room, Miranda grabs my arm. “That was awesome!” she whispers. “I can’t believe this is actually working! They loved us!”

There are a lot of things I’d like to say to her, like I’m sorry, did you say us? Because you’re acting like you’re the only one here who matters. Supporting Miranda through this will be harder than I expected if this is how she’s going to act the whole time. But I don’t want to bring her down when she seems so happy and determined. So I remind myself that we’re on the same side, that we’re one step closer to reaching the goal we both want. Once we’re on the race, she’ll see how much I have to offer.

“You did great,” I say.

“It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be,” Miranda replies.

I try not to wish she had returned the compliment instead.

*

After dinner, Natalie and I sprawl on the couch in her aunt’s guest room and turn on a marathon of Derby Doctors, a show about ER physicians on roller skates. When I reach across her for the Cheez-Its, she grabs my arm and inspects the inside of my wrist. “Is that a phone number?” she asks. “Whose is it?”

I’d entered Will’s number into my phone and scrubbed the pen off the best I could in the hotel bathroom, but I should have known nothing would escape Nat. “Just this boy I met at the audition today.” Even saying it to my best friend makes a blush threaten to creep up my neck.

Natalie’s eyes widen with delight. “You didn’t say anything about boys earlier! Why are you holding out on me? Tell me everything.”

I shrug. “It’s really not that big a deal.”

“Yes it is! We’ve only been out of Braeburn two days and you’re already picking up guys! I knew you had it in you.”

The blush wins. “I didn’t pick him up!”

“Oh, so he picked you up? That’s even better!”

“Nobody picked anybody up! We were standing in line in front of him, and he was playing this trivia game on his phone, and he asked if I wanted to play. That’s all.”

“And you kicked his ass, right?”

I smile. “Five times.”

“That’s my girl. So what’s his name? When are you going out?”

“His name is Will Divine. He was cool, but it was really nothing. I’ll probably never even see him again.”

“How’d he do today? Maybe he’ll be at the next round of auditions.”

“No idea.”

Natalie rolls her eyes. “Well, text him and ask, woman! Why do you think he gave you his number?”

I swallow hard. “You really think I should?”

“You better, or I will.”

Nat lunges for my phone, but I manage to grab it first—there’s no way I’m letting her get involved in this. She’d probably send Will something like, Hey, hot stuff, wanna come over and play strip trivia? No matter who loses, we both win. Instead, I settle on:

ME: Hey, this is Claire from the audition. How’d you guys do today?

The moment I hit send, my heart starts pounding like it’s trying to escape from my chest. But five minutes later, he still hasn’t responded. “I don’t think he wants to talk to me,” I say. “He probably has a girlfriend.”

But then my phone chimes.

WILL DIVINE: Hey! Good, I think. They made us fill out a bunch of paperwork. You?

Natalie squeals, and I shush her—I don’t want Miranda running in here and finding me all fluttery and ridiculous over a boy I barely know. “What do I do, what do I do?” I hiss.

“Act happy, but not too excited. And keep it simple. You don’t want to overwhelm him with your awesomeness this early in the game.”

I roll my eyes and type,

ME: Us too.

Moments later, my phone chimes again.

WILL DIVINE: Told you. I knew you had it in the bag.

Nat puts her hand over her heart and fake-swoons. “He believed in you, right from the very moment he saw you,” she says. “How divine.”

“Oh my God, shut up.” I giggle and shove her with my shoulder. “What now? Do I write back?”

“Type, ‘You were right,’ ” Nat says. “That way you’re saying, ‘You’re so smart’ and ‘Why, yes, I am awesome’ at the same time.”

“You’re really good at this.”

“I know,” Nat says. Modesty has never been one of her strong points.

I type it, and a minute later, Will writes back.

WILL DIVINE: Always am.

ME: Mm-hmm … except when it comes to pop culture trivia …

WILL DIVINE: Ooooh, burn. Just wait. I’m gonna take you down next time.

“Next time!” Natalie bounces up and down on the sofa. “He thinks there’s going to be a next time! He’s totally flirting with you!”

I spend a good five minutes typing and deleting things before I finally send:

ME: I’d rather fight you for a million dollars.

WILL DIVINE: Fingers crossed for both of us …

When I start to respond, Nat stops me. “That’s enough,” she says. “Leave him wanting more.”