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  Trystan bent over and picked the books up. He handed them back to me and our fingers brushed, sending sparks through me when I took them. “Can we finish talking about this later?” I didn’t trust my voice, so I nodded. “I’ll catch up with you after practice.”

  CHAPTER 12

  ~TRYSTAN~

  When he saw Mari sitting alone in the dark theater, Trystan walked in and quietly sat beside her. He’d been thinking about this moment all day. He was going to tell her that he was Day Jones. Dropping a big enough hint should help her figure out that she was the object of his affection.

  Then Seth bounded in and kept him from saying it. Part of Trystan considered blurting it out in front of his best friend, but he knew the guy wouldn’t let him. Seth effectively ended the conversation. He pulled Trystan out into the hallway like nothing happened.

  “What the hell?” Trystan finally asked. He stopped at stared at Seth.

  Seth smiled carefully, like he knew he was on cracked ice. “I can’t let you do it.”

  “It’s not your call,” Trystan’s voice was cold. His eyes narrowed as he stepped toward Seth.

  Seth could tell that this was going to be a fight, but he wasn’t letting Trystan make this kind of mistake. He’d seen it before. The guy is completely in love with some chick and then she shoots him between the eyes and bats her eyes like he was nothing. Seth knew Trystan was secretive about his life, and he never pressed him before, but he had to know now. “Something’s up with you, man. If it’s not the girl, then what is it?”

  A redheaded teacher stepped out of her classroom, “Get out of the halls, gentlemen. You know there’s no loitering after school.”

  “We’re waiting for Tucker,” Seth replied.

  Since we were standing in front of the auditorium, she didn’t force the issue. “Well, he should be here any second. If he isn’t, come and get me and I’ll turn on the lights for you.”

  Seth nodded and said, “Thanks.” When she was inside her classroom, Seth turned to Trystan, “I don’t nose into your life, but something’s going on. It’s obvious. If it’s not the girl, then what is it?”

  Trystan was fuming. Did everyone see it? Did the dark circles under his eyes give him away? He couldn’t tell anyone. Not even Seth. He wouldn’t understand. Maybe it was a mistake, he wouldn’t know until later, but he lied. “It’s the girl.”

  Tucker raced past them, and into the theater. He didn’t say anything to Trystan about his earlier outburst, or that he walked out of detention.

  Seth nodded curtly, “That’s all you had to say. I’ll catch you later.”

  Trystan walked into the theater and slipped into a chair while Tucker went over the things he wanted to work on that day. A group of girls sat down behind him, like always. Sometimes he wished they’d follow someone else around.

  Trystan couldn’t focus, he couldn’t keep his mind here, until he heard Monica whispering behind him. She was one of the actors that were always around, but he didn’t really know her.

  “Did you see this? Someone offered Day Jones a contract.” She held out her phone and the girl sitting next to her took it.

  “Holy shit. What’d he say?” Chanel spoke too loudly and Tucker glared at her.

  After a small pause, Monica whispered, “Nothing.”

  CHAPTER 13

  ~MARI~

  Something was up, but I had no idea what. The way he looked at me was curious. There was something in his eyes that reminded me of panic, but it was more subdued. I couldn’t place the emotion that darted off his face as soon as Seth called his name.

  Looking down at the play book in my lap, I followed along. I no longer fed people their lines. Instead, they waited next to me in the wings, waiting for their prompt to enter the stage. Brie stood next to me, her arms folded across her chest like she was bored. Her blue eyes were watching the actors on stage, completely ignoring me. When I heard her line, I motioned with my hand for her to enter, but she just stood there.

  “Go,” I whispered. She should have started walking two seconds ago. The pause will result in a gap in the on-stage banter. She’d mess up and I’d get blamed for it.

  “I think I know my part better than you,” she snapped. Before I could say anything, she stepped away from me and onto the stage. The lights shone down on her making her crown of golden waves look ethereal.

  Brie was a classic bitch. She had the cheerleader Barbie body and all the guys fell all over her. The way she swung her hips when she walked made her impossible to ignore. Today she had on thigh-high boots coupled with a short skirt and a tiny tee shirt that showed her midriff when she moved her arms. The outfit barely met the school dress code. All eyes were on her as she walked on set.

  Tucker yelled, “You’re late, Levetto! Who the hell is prompting that wing?”

  Brie replied sweetly, “Mary Jennings. I think she zoned out.”

  “Mari,” I muttered to no one. That girl never said my name right. It wasn’t Mary. It’s Mar-e. The muscles in my arms twitched. I wanted to strangle her. Brie glanced back at me and smiled like this was funny.

  “Get out here Jennings!” Tucker’s voice boomed across the stage from his seat in the first row.

  My cheeks flamed red as I walked out on stage with the play book in my hands. I shot Brie a nasty look. Trystan was across the room. When I walked on stage, he looked up at me. He was sitting on a kitchen table, his legs dangling. His eyes flicked to Tucker.

  The teacher’s chest puffed up like he was going to explode. I hated public humiliation. If I could run, I would have. Trystan stopped swinging his legs and straightened, as he watched Tucker have an embolism.

  “Everyone listen up!” Mr. Tucker yelled. “A play is only as good as its weakest link and right now that link is Miss Jennings.” My face grew hotter, but he didn’t stop. Brie was smiling like a demented doll. “Take note. Anyone who doesn’t pull his or her weight will do double time. That means no lunch, no free periods.” Some of the students groaned. He waved his meaty fist and they fell silent again. “Let this be an example to all of you. Miss Jennings,” he said tartly, his fat face pinched into a scowl, “you will report here every day for the next week. If you don’t come, I’m throwing you out. And since this isn’t an elective, you’ll have a serious problem come graduation.” By the time he finished screaming at me, my face was bright crimson. Every inch of me was stained. I stood there, pulse pounding taking a beating that should have been dished out to Brie. Instead of protesting, I nodded. Everyone was watching me and the sooner I was in the shadows again, the better.

  “Good. Now that that’s cleared up… Scott, on stage with Brie. Pick it up from the second half of the second act.” Tucker leaned back in his chair, visibly deflating.

  Everyone cleared off the stage, except for Trystan and Brie. As people poured out of the wings, no one would look at me. I sat down in my metal chair and flipped the book open to the page Trystan rehearsed with me yesterday.

  Brie sashayed up to him and folded her arms across her chest and threw out her hip. Bitch is the only role she can play, I thought to myself. God, I hated her.

  Trystan took a deep breath and they started. He said his lines with efficiency, but they didn’t sound the way they did the other day. Something wasn’t right. I leaned forward, trying to see him better.

  Trystan’s voice carried across the stage, “But I didn’t. I was a coward.”

  Brie sighed and switched her weight to her other foot, “If you had it to do over again, what would you do?” Instead of sounding like he was winning her over, she sounded annoyed, like he was wasting her time.

  I didn’t want to watch, but I couldn’t look away. Everyone was watching. The wings were filled with actors and the stage crew. Each one was silent, wanting to see that kiss.

  Trystan leaned closer to her, slowly, hesitantly, his lips nearly touching hers.

  He whispered, “I’d do this.” His hands shot out and grabbed her waist. He pulled her tight to his chest an
d dipped her backward over his arm. Her long hair dangled and she screamed. Brie’s arms flailed before she slapped Trystan in the head. When her hand sailed into his face, Trystan lost his grip and dropped her. Brie fell to the floor and landed hard on one hip. Her short skirt flew up. Laughter erupted. It was comical. Everything from the slapstick way Brie went down to the floral granny panties she was wearing.

  Brie fixed her skirt and jumped up, screaming in Trystan’s face, “You did that on purpose!” She shoved him hard, but Trystan didn’t move.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said calmly, but his voice was a little too high, like he was trying not to laugh.

  Tucker pinched the bridge of his nose, watching the shrieking Brie assault Trystan. When he stood up, the kids in the wings fled, and went back to whatever they were supposed to be doing in the first place. Tucker’s deep voice boomed, “Scott!” Trystan squinted and looked past the stage lights at an irate Tucker. “For the next week, your life belongs to me. Every free period, every lunch, every day. And so help me God, if you show up one minute late, I’m failing you.” Trystan’s eyes went wide. He held up his hands, stepping forward like he was going to protest, but Tucker cut him off, “NO! That’s enough from you today. Jennings!” he yelled, calling to me.

  I wanted to die. When Brie fell it was awesome, but I didn’t want more attention from Tucker. I stepped out onto the stage again. When Tucker saw me, he said, “You two. Get your act together or you fail. It’s that simple.” He tossed Trystan a set of keys. They arced across the stage and Trystan reached out and grabbed them. “My classroom. Both of you. Practice until I come for you.”

  “Now?” Trystan asked, intentionally goading the teacher who was about to blow a gasket.

  If Tucker was a cartoon, steam would be screeching out his ears. “NOW!”

  Trystan nodded his head at me, and I followed him off the stage. We walked to the back and escaped through a side door. As I followed him down the hallway to Tucker’s room I had to ask, “You did that on purpose?”

  He glanced over his shoulder at me, a small smile on his lips, “Of course not.” The playfulness in his voice was tantamount to saying, Hell yeah.

  “Thanks,” I replied.

  Trystan stopped and turned toward me. “Brie had it coming. Besides, you took a few hits for me over the years. I figured I owed you one.” He smiled at me softly and shrugged his shoulders, like it didn’t matter. “Come on. Better get into Tucker’s room before he finds us out here.”

  “Wait,” I said, reaching for his shoulder. When my fingers touch him, Trystan stopped. His back was to me, but I could see the tension shoot up his spine like a steel rod. He breathed in slowly, like my touch bothered him. I lifted my hand and pulled it back. I felt foolish, and didn’t know why.

  Trystan turned and looked down at me, “What’s the matter?”

  “I don’t have the play. We can’t practice anything.”

  The corner of Trystan’s mouth pulled up, “That was never my intention.”

  CHAPTER 14

  ~TRYSTAN~

  When Tucker chewed out Mari, Trystan couldn’t stand it, but if he said something or did something right then, everyone would know he cared about her. Besides, it was better to flip things around and humiliate Brie.

  Trystan and Brie were an item over a year ago, and Brie never let him forget it. She hung on him, acting like they were still together, which pissed off her current boyfriend beyond belief. Brie must have fantasied about the two of them fighting over her. Although Trystan knew how to throw a punch, that wasn’t going to happen.

  The entire thing worked out perfectly. As soon as he started saying his lines, Trystan knew what he was going to do. Brie walked right into it. Dipping her back like that made the rest of the dominoes fall in rapid succession. It was perfectly played. And here he was walking back to Tucker’s room with Mari. Alone.

  He slowed his pace a little, to match hers.

  “I don’t know how you used to date her,” Mari said.

  Trystan stared straight ahead, “She seemed different then.”

  “Every girl seems different before you go out. It’s not until after a few months that you see who they really are,” Mari picked an imaginary piece of lint off her shirt.

  Trystan looked at her out of the corner of his eye, smiling, “Yeah, and you’d know this because...”

  “I’ve dated before Trystan.” She didn’t look at him. Shrugging she continued, “He wasn’t who I thought he was either. He was really sweet at first, and then he turned angry—controlling.” She laughed like it was funny. Trystan felt jealousy twist around his heart and squeeze. Mari looked over at him, “I’m enough of a control-freak for two people in a relationship.”

  “No?” he said sarcastically, grinning at her.

  She leaned into his side, bumping her shoulder to his. “You already knew that. Why do you think Tucker stuck us together in the first place?” She pointed her thumbs at her chest, “Control freak perfectionist. He probably thought I’d beat you with the play until you learned it.” She was laughing, picturing swatting Trystan with a rolled up play book.

  Mari thought she was uptight, but Trystan thought she just liked things a certain way. Whenever they were together, she made him feel happy to be alive. Everything else, every other thing that was weighing him down flittered away when she laughed. He loved that sound, so he made her laugh as much as possible.

  “That would have been far more enjoyable,” Trystan smirked with a wicked gleam in his eye.

  Mari’s jaw dropped in a wide smile and she laughed. “Only you would say that.”

  “Only you would offer.”

  Mari shook her head. The smile on her face was aching like it did when Trystan was around. “God, you’re so—”

  He stopped and turned toward her, “So what?”

  They stood motionless for a moment. Trystan’s heart raced in his chest, faster and faster as she stood there with her shiny pink lips pulled into that shy smile he loved. When her big chocolate eyes looked up at him from under those dark lashes, he wanted to kiss her. His eyes stayed locked on hers. The amused smirk he often wore around Mari lined his lips. Trystan put his hands behind his back, clutching them at the wrists so that he didn’t try to kiss her again. Every inch of him was drawn to her. Smiling, he rocked up and down on his feet, his dark brow inching up his face waiting to hear what she had to say.

  “Do you ever think about anything else?”

  “Does this have something to do with the innuendo?” he grinned.

  Mari’s smile was perfect. She laughed and shook her head as she said, “You’re starting to sound like Seth.” She glanced up and down the hall and then leaned closer to Trystan. “We have a nickname for him, you know. Me and Katie call him Seth Sexbot.” Trystan snorted, a wide grin spread across his lips. He watched Mari try to repress a giggle, but she couldn’t. “When he’s done, he says, I’ll be back.” She lowered her voice and said the phrase like the famous movie line.

  Trystan burst out laughing. It made the grip on his wrists loosen and his shoulders hunch. He tried not to laugh too loudly, but he couldn’t help it. The way she said it cracked him up. Mari touched his arm, leaning into him, and she said it again. And if it wasn’t hysterical before, it was now. Trystan and Mari leaned into each other laughing so hard they thought they’d fall over.

  Mrs. Collen came out of her classroom down the hall, “No loitering in the halls, Mr. Scott. Get to where you’re going. Now.”

  That only fueled their giggles more. Trystan and Mari started to walk down the hallway again. They staggered along, trying to swallow their laughs. When they got to Tucker’s door, Trystan could barely get the key in the lock.

  Mrs. Collen was watching down the hall. Finally the key slipped in and the door opened. Mari pushed in first, followed by Trystan. They both laughed until they couldn’t breathe.

  CHAPTER 15

  ~MARI~

  After our laughter
was spent, Trystan made himself comfortable on top of Tucker’s desk. His long legs dangled off the sides. I sat opposite him on top of a student desk. For a moment neither of us said anything.

  Then Trystan slumped and breathed in deeply. He leaned forward on his hands, which straddled his legs on the edge of the desk. “Can I ask you something?”

  When people ask that question, it’s never something simple. And from the weight in his voice, I knew it was something major. I nod, “Yeah, sure.”

  He looked up at me, his blue eyes somber. It makes him look older than he is. No smile lined his lips. “Have you heard of Day Jones? That internet guy.”

  “Yes. Who hasn’t?” He nodded slowly, like he was collecting his thoughts. Since that wasn’t the question I expected him to ask, I was even more intrigued. I leaned forward, mirroring his posture. “What about him? Did they find out who he is yet?”

  Trystan shook his head, “No. I don’t think so. But it’s not about that. It’s about the song.” His voice was too somber for this conversation. I didn’t know where he was going with it, but it felt like something was wrong. Running his hands through his hair, he said, “I know it’s just another guy with a guitar, but that song—the words—they’re hard to ignore.”

  I nodded slowly, watching him watch his shoes nervously. “I know. I heard it once and the words were burned into my brain. It’s haunting.”

  He looked up at me from beneath dark lashes, “I know. That’s what I wanted to talk about.” His voice was soft, quiet. I could barely hear him. This was so unlike him that he had my full attention. If a pin dropped right then, it would sound like a sonic boom. I didn’t even breathe. It was too loud and before I knew it, I was leaning closer to him. Trystan didn’t look up at me. Instead he stared at the floor, saying, “If you were… if you—”