Little Do We Know(16)

“There you are!” Mrs. Calletti was standing at the stove holding a wooden spoon and stirring something in a big orange stockpot. She wiped her hands on a black apron with white bubble letters that read SHIITAKE HAPPENS.

Addison was sitting on a barstool at the kitchen island typing on her phone, and Luke was slicing through a loaf of French bread.

“You can help Luke slice,” she said, using her spoon to point at him. “And, Addison, help your dad set the table please, and don’t say ‘one sec’ again. How was rehearsal?”

It took me a moment to realize she was talking to me. “Good,” I said. “Actually, really good. I have news.”

Mrs. Calletti stopped stirring. Addison stopped typing. Luke stopped slicing. And Mr. Calletti, who was reaching into the silverware drawer, stopped cold.

“I’ve got an audition at UCLA.”

“Told you!” Luke’s dad crossed the kitchen and high-fived me. His mom yelled, “I knew you would!”

Luke dropped the knife on the counter and hugged me. “See. You’ve been all worried for nothing.”

“What do you have to do for your audition piece?” Addison asked as she opened the cupboard and removed five water glasses.

“Heather from The Blair Witch Project and Phoebe from Shakespeare’s As You Like It.”

“Okay, I’ve gotta see you do Heather,” Addison said. “Just give us a few lines.”

I hadn’t thought about Heather in over a month, but I suddenly had a crystal-clear vision of her in my mind, with her gray wool cap and those big brown eyes. I stepped away from Luke and got into character, speeding up my breathing and feeling my limbs begin to tremble.

“It’s all because of me that we’re here now…hungry, and cold, and hunted.” I let each of the words linger in the air for a moment before I said the next one. “I love you, Mom. And Dad. I am so sorry.” I paused, panting and shaking. I squeezed my eyes shut, and then I opened them wider. “What was that?” I whispered. I waited for a long time, listening. And then I continued. “I’m scared to close my eyes and I’m scared to open them. I’m going to die out here.”

I bowed while all four of them cheered. Mr. Calletti even let out a “Woot-woot,” and that made me laugh.

“Seriously, that’s the most I’ve thought about that scene in over a month!” I said. “I’ve spent all my time trying to get my lines for Emily Webb down—she has this long monologue in Act Three, and I can’t seem to get it to stick.” I sliced the last piece of bread and tossed the pieces into a bright orange bowl. “I’m supposed to be off book by the end of this week, but I’m far from it.”

“Well, I think you’re going to kill it,” Mrs. Calletti said as she picked up the pot of sauce, dumped it over the spaghetti noodles, and stirred it all together. “Grab the bread, would you, Luke?” she asked over her shoulder as she headed for the dining room.

As soon as we were alone, Luke wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me behind my ear. “Damn, that was hot.”

“How is being lost in the woods and chased by a witch hot?”

“I don’t know, but it definitely is. Need me to run lines with you in my room after dinner?”

I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I’d love that.”

“I’ll get you off book,” he said suggestively, and I buried my face in his neck and kissed him.

“Oh, will you now?”

I was still laughing as I pulled my phone from my pocket and wrote it down next to Day 277.





“I’m going for a run,” I called as I flew past the kitchen.

“Dinner’s almost ready,” Mom called out.

“I’ll make it a quick one.”

“Wait a sec,” Mom said.

I didn’t want to wait a sec, I wanted to get outside. I’d been thinking about my run all afternoon. A crisp breeze had blown all the thick smog away, and the air smelled clean and new. I was itching to feel my feet against the pavement, to fill my lungs with air that hadn’t been trapped between walls all day.

I stopped anyway.

“Will you do me a quick favor when you get back?” She wiped her hands on the towel draped over her shoulder. “I’m putting my youth-group mission-trip presentation together for Admissions Night, and I want to include some pictures from your trip to Guatemala last year. Would you send me a few of your favorites?”

“Sure.”

I waited for Mom to return to the kitchen, and when she didn’t, I knew she hadn’t stopped me to ask for pictures. I shifted in place, feeling antsy.

“Have you given any more thought to going?” she asked.

Ah. There it was.

“That trip is for high school students, Mom. This summer, I will no longer be a high school student. Remember?”

“You’d go as a junior counselor. Since we don’t have a full-time coordinator this year, we need as many older volunteers as possible.”

“I’ve done that trip four years in a row.”

She leaned against the wall and folded her arms across her chest. “I know, but…this trip is kind of our thing. And, it’s just…I guess I didn’t realize the last time was the last time.”