lashes at us and I know she’ll cave. I’m caving right now.
Mindy and I exchange glances. She won’t say if I don’t want her to, but I’m not going to stop her, not with Luke leaning over the chair at us like this—knowing he’ll eventually get his way.
“You’re shameless,” I say.
He smiles wide and leans toward Mindy, chin resting on his hands in rapt attention.
“So there’s a whole little story, are you ready for it?” Her head turns from me to Luke.
I let out a dramatic sigh and slump in my seat, but it doesn’t matter. Not with Luke. I’m sort of amazed he hasn’t put it together himself.
“Ready.” He makes another show of wiggling his body back and forth—settling in to listen.
“Her dad named her brother Ben, after him. So her mom named her—”
“Rhonda.” Luke grins.
“Yep, Rhonda, after her .” Mindy sits up tall as if saying this silly little story makes her important.
“Which is why Ronnie is the only name on everything, including my driver’s license. Everything but my birth certificate,” I say. And actually, it’s not much of a story. Just a silly family thing.
“I see.” He nods. “It’s not that bad.”
“Whatever, Luke.” I roll my eyes.
“No Liesl today.” Blackman’s voice booms. “We’ll need Ronnie to step in.”
“Oh.” I lose the air from my lungs. This is the first time Liesl has missed, which amazes me. I’m still not sure how she juggles all that she does.
“Well,” Mindy says. “Guess I get to watch instead of hanging with you.”
“I’m sorry.” I stand, chest tightening and palms already damp from nerves. Why did I think this would be a good idea, again? On stage? Me? Speaking Shakespearean in front of this wide ocean of blue seats?
Luke wags his brows. “Kiss ya later.” He spins and jogs to the stage.
“I swear, he’s such a flirt.” I shake my head.
“Well.” Her eyes widen. “Enjoy being that close to him.”
Luke? Whatever. Why would I care about Luke when I have Shawn? And close to Luke? Not a good idea; not with Shawn’s reaction the other day. Fortunately, this is different. This is theater. I’m okay. This is okay. And again, I’m probably just trying to convince myself.
“I heard he and Aubrey slept together last weekend,” she whispers.
“Really?” My brows go up and a ping hits my chest. They’ve only gone out a few times. I figured Luke would say something if he was seeing somebody. “Well, that’s Luke for ya.” I smirk, and follow him to the stage.
As soon as we start, I realize I know the lines. I even know where I’m supposed to stand. It takes me a second to find my spot because I’ve never done it before, but I know it well enough to give it a good attempt.
And then we get to the party scene.
My heart stops.
Kiss ya later.
Right.
I start to shake my hands to relieve tension, but my wrist is too sore. Okay. It’s okay. I can do this. No big deal, right? Its just Luke. Silly, goofy, friend Luke.
But my heart’s pounding as the sound professionals mess with the music and the extras in the scene all try to find their spots. And me. I’m standing on the X that I know I’m supposed to be on for the first time Juliet sees Romeo, and I’m staring at Luke. He’s laughing with his group, and there’s this lump in my throat that’s getting bigger and bigger as the moment with us together creeps closer and closer.
My heart pounds even harder when his eyes catch mine across the crowd of people pretending to party onstage. But it’s okay. Because right now I’m Juliet and he’s Romeo, and he’s supposed to be looking at me like this. Like he wants to kiss me. Isn’t that the point? But still I can’t breathe and barely manage to move forward. And then my heart starts pounding for real—guess it was just fluttering before.
I think about the kiss he gave Liesl—so soft, so careful—his fingertips just touching her soft chin. Is that what he’ll do? What it’ll be like? Am
Mindy and I exchange glances. She won’t say if I don’t want her to, but I’m not going to stop her, not with Luke leaning over the chair at us like this—knowing he’ll eventually get his way.
“You’re shameless,” I say.
He smiles wide and leans toward Mindy, chin resting on his hands in rapt attention.
“So there’s a whole little story, are you ready for it?” Her head turns from me to Luke.
I let out a dramatic sigh and slump in my seat, but it doesn’t matter. Not with Luke. I’m sort of amazed he hasn’t put it together himself.
“Ready.” He makes another show of wiggling his body back and forth—settling in to listen.
“Her dad named her brother Ben, after him. So her mom named her—”
“Rhonda.” Luke grins.
“Yep, Rhonda, after her .” Mindy sits up tall as if saying this silly little story makes her important.
“Which is why Ronnie is the only name on everything, including my driver’s license. Everything but my birth certificate,” I say. And actually, it’s not much of a story. Just a silly family thing.
“I see.” He nods. “It’s not that bad.”
“Whatever, Luke.” I roll my eyes.
“No Liesl today.” Blackman’s voice booms. “We’ll need Ronnie to step in.”
“Oh.” I lose the air from my lungs. This is the first time Liesl has missed, which amazes me. I’m still not sure how she juggles all that she does.
“Well,” Mindy says. “Guess I get to watch instead of hanging with you.”
“I’m sorry.” I stand, chest tightening and palms already damp from nerves. Why did I think this would be a good idea, again? On stage? Me? Speaking Shakespearean in front of this wide ocean of blue seats?
Luke wags his brows. “Kiss ya later.” He spins and jogs to the stage.
“I swear, he’s such a flirt.” I shake my head.
“Well.” Her eyes widen. “Enjoy being that close to him.”
Luke? Whatever. Why would I care about Luke when I have Shawn? And close to Luke? Not a good idea; not with Shawn’s reaction the other day. Fortunately, this is different. This is theater. I’m okay. This is okay. And again, I’m probably just trying to convince myself.
“I heard he and Aubrey slept together last weekend,” she whispers.
“Really?” My brows go up and a ping hits my chest. They’ve only gone out a few times. I figured Luke would say something if he was seeing somebody. “Well, that’s Luke for ya.” I smirk, and follow him to the stage.
As soon as we start, I realize I know the lines. I even know where I’m supposed to stand. It takes me a second to find my spot because I’ve never done it before, but I know it well enough to give it a good attempt.
And then we get to the party scene.
My heart stops.
Kiss ya later.
Right.
I start to shake my hands to relieve tension, but my wrist is too sore. Okay. It’s okay. I can do this. No big deal, right? Its just Luke. Silly, goofy, friend Luke.
But my heart’s pounding as the sound professionals mess with the music and the extras in the scene all try to find their spots. And me. I’m standing on the X that I know I’m supposed to be on for the first time Juliet sees Romeo, and I’m staring at Luke. He’s laughing with his group, and there’s this lump in my throat that’s getting bigger and bigger as the moment with us together creeps closer and closer.
My heart pounds even harder when his eyes catch mine across the crowd of people pretending to party onstage. But it’s okay. Because right now I’m Juliet and he’s Romeo, and he’s supposed to be looking at me like this. Like he wants to kiss me. Isn’t that the point? But still I can’t breathe and barely manage to move forward. And then my heart starts pounding for real—guess it was just fluttering before.
I think about the kiss he gave Liesl—so soft, so careful—his fingertips just touching her soft chin. Is that what he’ll do? What it’ll be like? Am
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