Read Online Understudy by Cheyanne Young - Free Book Online Page B

shakes his head.
    “Nothing.”
    “You look like something’s wrong. Why were you late?”
    He reaches out and cups my cheek in his hand. My face flushes at his touch and my palms would be sweaty if I didn’t focus intently on keeping them flattened to my jeans. “Everything is better now.” He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. “No worries at all.”
    My breath catches in my throat. Derek has never touched me like this. Why is he acting all serene and peaceful and… kind? I try to shake away these questions by looking back at the stage, but my eyes don’t focus on the actors right away.
    The first person I see is Margot, who is standing on the right of the stage, her cell phone lowered, her eyes glaring straight at me. I’m not sure what kind of wrath Margot will unleash on me when she gets me alone, but I am sure of one thing: I am so into Derek Hayes.
     

     
    Margot catches a ride home with me after rehearsal. I guess there is something that can take her away from spending time with Ricky—yelling at me.
    “I’m serious, Wren.” Margot’s eyebrows lift to epic proportions as she aims her death glare right at me. “What the hell was that?”
    My hands rest on the steering wheel of Mom’s Corolla. I brake for a red light and casually glance over at her. “What are you talking about?” I ask, although I know exactly what, and who, she’s talking about. “I can’t help it that Principal Walsh made me director. Trust me, I didn’t want the job.”
    “I don’t care about that. I care about your little lovey-mushy-goo-goo eyes at Derek!”
    “Wha?” I lift the corner of my mouth and make my best ignorant expression. “You’re imagining things.”
    She crosses her arms from the passenger seat of the car and shakes her head. “I know what I saw. You’re taking your stupid crush too far. He’s going to get you in trouble… or killed or something.”
    “Margot, I know you’re just looking out for me,” I begin in a grateful voice. She nods all matter-of-factly like I’m an idiot for not figuring out her good intentions earlier. I want to explain to her how he’s not a bad guy and there’s nothing to worry about, but the words don’t come out. There’s no way I can tell her I know all these things about Derek without revealing how much time I’ve spent with him. She wouldn’t believe me anyhow.
    “Damn right I’m looking out for you,” she snaps as I pull into her driveway. “He is hot, I’ll give him that, but he’s a freaking psycho. You’re better than that.”
    My phone rings from the cup holder in the center console and I yank it out the second I see Derek’s name flash across the screen. Margot didn’t see it, luckily, but she gives me a weird look. “Who is that?”
    “My mom,” I burst out without thinking, swiping my finger across the screen to answer the call. “Hello?”
    “So I was thinking about the bedroom furniture situation,” Derek says by way of a hello.
    “What furniture situation?” I ask, glancing over at Margot as she gathers her purse off the floorboard and puts it in her lap. We’re at her house now, I don’t know why she isn’t leaving the freaking car.
    “For Jeremy’s bedroom. I think I’ve got the perfect answer. Can you meet up with me Saturday?”
    “Sure,” I say, noticing Margot watching my every move with an expression on her face that isn’t exactly trustworthy. “I gotta go, Mom.”
    “Uh… okay,” Derek says with a laugh. “I’ll let you get back to whatever it is you’re doing.”

 
     
     
    I might spend a little more time than usual in front of my makeup mirror on Saturday morning. I also might have agonized a little too long over what outfit to wear before deciding on jeans and a shirt. Dressing up for a day of scouting the town for props doesn’t exactly send the message that I’m not interested in Derek. If anything, all the time we’ve been spending together lately just makes us really good friends. Good