The Comeback Part 13

"So you and Connor broke up, huh?"

I nodded. "Being single sucks," I said.

"You said it, sister," Chad replied. He tapped his gla.s.s against mine.

For some reason, maybe because of my lack of success with Chad or because Eli and Madison seemed to be trying to make out on every available flat (and not so flat) surface in his house, the party had lost its sparkle. Besides, it was always best to leave 'em wanting more, so I took off.

Monday at school, I was riding high until I saw Monet walking toward me in the hallway. One look at her face and I knew I was in trouble. She was seriously p.i.s.sed off.

Still, I was shocked when she said, in a low voice, "You and I are no longer friends."

"Why?"

She looked at me levelly. "You know why."

"I can't believe Dev told you."

"Dev? What does Dev have to do with this?"

"N-nothing." For a minute, I thought that it wasn't about the party, but her next words robbed me of that notion.

"Eli's party," she said. "You stood Tanner up so that you could go to Eli's party. And I worked so hard to convince him-"

"I'm sorry. Let me explain-hey, wait a minute. Convince him of what?"

She had been about to say "convince him to go out with you," I was sure of it.

"Convince him that you were a nice girl," she replied. "And then you do this. We're done." She started to walk away.

I caught her arm. "You have to give me another chance. You're my best friend."

"We're only friends when it's convenient for you," she said. "You're not ever really there for me. You're always so busy trying to become some sort of It girl that you barely even listen to me anymore."

"You're just mad about the Eli thing," I replied. "I told you I was sorry."

"It's not just about that," she said. "You've always liked being popular, dragging me along to hang out with those phonies."

"You never said anything," I replied.

"Oh, I said things," she said. "You just never listened."

"We can do whatever you want," I said. "I promise you I'm trying."

She softened a smidge. "Art museum on Sunday, and you have to call Tanner and apologize."

I had called Tanner to apologize, but we both knew that there wasn't anything between us. Even simple, sweet Tanner had figured that out.

Chapter 18.

I went to rehearsal feeling pretty good, until I saw Connor and Angie onstage. Then it hit me. She had everything that should have been mine. My boyfriend, my popularity, and, most important, my role.

Just then, Connor swept her into a pa.s.sionate kiss.

"That definitely isn't in the script," Monet muttered.

"It's hot, though," Olivia said. Her eyes gleamed. I could tell she was bursting to spread the word about Connor and Angie's hot lip-lock as soon as rehearsal ended.

The whole cast was watching, enthralled, as they continued to make out.

"Where's Mr. Fanelli?" I said. "He can't seriously be allowing this. It's practically p.o.r.n."

But no one was listening. The entire cast ignored me. It was as though I wasn't even there, and I realized that this was what most kids went through every day, being invisible. I didn't like it.

Tears were forming, but I blinked them away. I thought I was over Connor, that it was just about the popularity, but it hurt to see him so into Angie that he didn't even notice anyone else. He'd never felt like that about me.

It was too much to bear. I ran from the auditorium and headed for the costume room to mope in peace. I was sure that someone would notice I was gone, but I was wrong.

I cried until my eyes were swollen and my nose was running. Which was horrifying when I realized that someone had followed me. Dev.

"Sophie, are you all right?" I heard his voice from the hallway and ducked behind a rack of costumes.

"Sophie, I know you're in there," he said in a gentle voice. His footsteps grew close.

"Go away, Dev."

"Come on out of there," he said. "I'm not leaving until you do."

I frantically tried to erase the signs of my weeping. A second later, the costume I was hiding behind was pushed aside and Dev appeared.

The expression on his face caused me to promptly burst into tears again. He took me into his arms. My face was pressed against his shoulder and I prayed that my nose wouldn't run on his s.h.i.+rt.

At first he held me for comfort, but then he put a finger to my chin, lifting it and forcing me to look directly into his eyes. He kissed away a tear trailing down my cheek. His lips moved to the corner of my mouth. The kiss deepened.

We kissed pa.s.sionately. Part of my brain was processing the fact that I was kissing my best friend's brother and screaming bad idea, but the other part of my brain, the part in control, was marveling at the splendid way Dev kissed.

Somehow we tumbled to the floor, landing on a pile of discarded clothing. A foggy part of my brain knew we should stop, but somehow, instead, my hands were caressing his back when the door opened.

My eyes snapped open, dreading that I would see Monet. Instead, Olivia Kaplan stood in the doorway. She met my eyes and then, with a smirk, slowly backed out of the room.

Dev didn't notice. I stiffened, suddenly realizing the enormity of what we were doing.

I put a hand to Dev's chest and pushed him away.

"We should get back," I said, "before someone misses us."

Besides, I needed some time to figure out what was going on.

He reluctantly agreed. He gave me one last kiss and helped me to my feet. "I'll see you later."

I watched him leave. What did that mean? "I'll see you later?" "I'll call you later?" Or "Thanks for the seven minutes of heaven but I don't want to be seen in public with you"? Either was a possibility.

I sat back down and contemplated the sad state of my love life when I worried if a guy was blowing me off or not. The old Sophie would have been completely sure of herself, certain that the lucky guy would be on the phone before the sun set.

I realized I was sitting on one of the costumes for the current production. It must have fallen off the metal rack they used to take the costumes back and forth to the dressing rooms.

When I looked at the rich red silk costume, I wanted to throw something.

On impulse, I grabbed it off the hanger and tried it on. It looked fabulous on me. And who knew? If something happened to Angie and she was unable to perform, I could step in. We weren't exactly the same size, but it fit. It was a little tight in the bust, but not enough to be a problem. And I'd been secretly memorizing Katharina's part along with Bianca's for a reason, after all.

Way in the back, I found a section of clothes from when the school did Oklahoma! a few years ago.

Next, I tried on the costume Haley had worn when she'd screeched out "I Cain't Say No." Despite her resemblance to Alicia Keys, Haley didn't have Alicia's pipes. I took it off and then hung it back up carefully. I don't think anyone in the drama department wanted to revisit Oklahoma! after Haley's performance.

Next, I found a gorgeous blue flapper costume. I didn't know what production that was from, but trying everything on made me remember how much I loved acting, being able to slip into someone else's skin for a few hours and make an audience believe I was somebody else.

I exited the costume closet feeling pretty satisfied with myself. I looked both ways, but the hallway was empty.

The auditorium was empty, too. Rehearsal had ended, but it looked like no one missed me. I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe I could alibi my way out of what was sure to be gossip tomorrow. I was in rehearsal the whole time.

But unfortunately, Monet had noticed my absence. My phone rang as soon as I made it home.

"Hey, I'm sorry about today," she said. "I started to go after you, but then Fanelli had a crisis and I had to take care of it."

"No big deal," I said.

"Are you sure you're okay? You sound funny."

"Just a long day."

"Where did you disappear to?"

"I holed up in the costume closet and tried on some costumes. Alone," I added quickly.

"Don't let them bother you," she said. "Have you heard from Tanner lately? Scott and I thought we could all hang out at the gallery this weekend."

It was on the tip of my tongue to confess, honestly. She was my best friend, so I could tell her anything, right?

"Monet-" I hesitated.

"What?"

"I wanted to ask you something about Dev," I said hesitantly.

"Sophie Donnelly, don't you dare go there," she said hotly. "My brother is not some arm candy you can use for your own purposes and then toss aside."

"I didn't say-"

"You didn't have to," she replied. "I know how your scheming little mind works. Did you ever ask yourself why I put up with you for so long?"

"I didn't realize you were putting up with me," I said. "I thought we were best friends."

She hesitated. "You know I didn't mean it like that."

"How did you mean it?"

"It's just-I always knew that you were so into Connor and being popular that you'd never look in Dev's direction."

"Don't you trust me?" I said. I was getting a little angry myself. She was supposed to be my best friend.

"Now that you mention it, I don't," she said. "At least not with Dev's fragile little heart. Let me be perfectly clear. I do not want you going near Dev. You'll just ruin him for anybody else and then dump him when somebody new comes along."

"But what if I-"

"What?" she snapped. "What could you possibly say to convince me?"

"Never mind." I chickened out and hung up without telling her the truth, which turned out to be a seriously bad judgment call.

Chapter 19.

The next day, I jumped at every shadow. As I walked down the hall, I felt like everyone was staring at me. Guilt colored every movement. I flinched every time I pa.s.sed Olivia in the hall, but she just gave me a Ches.h.i.+re cat grin and kept on going.

By sixth period, I was almost hoping that it would happen, just to get it over with. If nothing else, the experience taught me that I didn't have the steely nerves of a successful criminal.

Then I saw Haley and Vanessa in the hallway. As they breezed by me, Vanessa said, "So, Dev Lucero, huh? Nice."

The news was out. Olivia's jaw must have hurt from all the talking she'd done.

It wasn't completely unheard of for her to text message a juicy bit of dirt, but she usually preferred to deliver the news in person. That way she had the satisfaction of seeing everyone's reaction.

And people evidently couldn't resist embellis.h.i.+ng the truth. So I wasn't surprised that everyone was buzzing, but I was surprised to hear the following versions of the rumor: a) Dev and I had been meeting in secret for months. He was the real reason Connor and I had broken up.

b) Connor, Dev, and I were currently in the midst of a steamy love triangle, and Connor was on the verge of breaking up with Angie for me.