In the Spotlight (17 page)

“I’ll take you home,” Kyle snapped.

“No thanks,” I shook my head. “I have some stuff in Josh’s car that I need to get.”

“I’ll wait.” Kyle eyes narrowed as he got more insistent.

Josh grabbed my backpack and shouldered it before turning to Kyle. “Thanks anyway, but I’ll take her home today. Besides our parents are having dinner together tonight. It’s just simpler for me to head out with her.”

With that, Josh offered me his arm, but I shook my head and grabbed my crutches. As much as I wanted to stay connected to Josh, I really didn’t feel like provoking Kyle further. I really did just want to get out of there. Josh seemed to understand, and he gave me a slight smile as we headed for the door.

I could hear chairs clattering together as Josh and I made our way out of the music wing. We were silent until we emerged into the warm April twilight.

“Kyle has quite the temper,” Josh remarked.

Nodding, I wasn’t sure what to say. “He scares me,” I confessed.

“I thought…” Josh began, but quickly trailed off, shaking his head.

I glanced sideways at him. “You thought what?” I prompted.

“Nothing,” Josh said, suddenly serious. “It’s nothing. Let’s get you home. I need to run home, too, before we come over for dinner tonight.”

“Wait, what?” I stopped. “I thought you were just making that up.”

“No, why would I make up something like that?” Josh asked. “Your mom is hosting some thing for families in the department. We’re all coming.”

Hmm. Josh at my house. That was an interesting turn of events. Why must my mother forget to tell me everything? And, oh my, what if she had invited Harlow? There was about a zero chance that I could hope to keep Josh’s attention with Harlow there. I doubted Mom would invite Grandma and Duke.

“You know my family’s crazy, right?” I blurted.

Josh laughed and opened the car door for me. “All families are crazy, especially when one of your parents is an academic. No worries.”

“Yeah, but just in case my grandma happens to be in attendance, I think it’s only fair to warn you that she’s, um, a little different,” I began.

“Okay,” Josh said. “Different is fine.”

“No, like she’s marrying a guy thirty years younger different. Like she met him at the strip club where he works different. She was there for amateur night different. As a performer different,” I blurted in rapid succession.

Josh burst out laughing until he realized that I was serious.

He still couldn’t stop laughing as he said, “I really hope she’s there.

She sounds much more interesting than my grandma. My grandma’s idea of fun is going to play bingo at the Knights of Columbus hall.”

I buried my face in my hands. “This is so embarrassing. I can’t believe I told you that.”

“It’s no big deal, Han,” Josh said, still chuckling. “It makes things interesting. And to tell me means you trust me, and that’s really cool.”

I peeked at him through my hands. Maybe he was right.

Maybe telling him the truth would be better than keeping all my feelings all bottled up. Josh stopped laughing, and for a long, intense moment, we stared at each other. But then someone honked and the moment passed.

Josh dropped me off saying he’d see me soon. Mom was in a tizzy when I walked in the door even though the whole thing was catered and a professional cleaning service had made the house sparkle earlier in the day. I slipped up the stairs to my room without being noticed and changed into a blouse and skirt that Mom would like.

And then I went downstairs to wait. Hayley met me in the living room. “Grandma and Duke aren’t coming,” she said, relief evident on her face.

“How come?” I asked.

Hayley rolled her eyes. “You don’t want to know, but let’s just say that there is a special event at the Sugar Bomb tonight and Grandma is the star.”

“Ew!” I said, covering my eyes as if I could physically block the image. “That is not something I need to infest my brain.”

Hayley and I sat in squeamish silence while we both tried not to imagine our grandmother in her new career as star stripper at the local strip club. Not an easy task.

“Did you know Josh’s family is coming to this little shindig?” Hayley said. Then she laughed, “Of course you do.”

“At least I don’t have to worry about Josh meeting grandma and Duke tonight. Can you imagine?” I said, shuddering.

“At least Josh knows about Grandma and Duke,” Hayley lamented. “I never mention that sort of stuff to Mike. It’s too embarrassing.”

“Hayley! Hannah!” Mom yelled from the kitchen. “I need you!” We scooted off the couch only to be put to work unloading containers of appetizers that the caterers had failed to plate to Mom’s approval. As we began our thankless task the doorbell rang, and Mom abandoned us to play hostess. By the time we finished, most of the guests had arrived. I was on my way to see if Josh’s family had come yet, when I got waylaid by Harlow.

“Sis,” Harlow said, blocking my path. I tried to see around her nonchalantly, but she shifted in front of me.

“Harlow,” I said, not sure how to deal with this little meeting. We hadn’t really spoken since she ditched me at the party.

“I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Free food,” Harlow shrugged. “So how’s that little thing you’re in at school going?”

I rolled my eyes. “You mean the musical? Great. It’s going great.” “Well, if you need any pointers, you know, I’m a pro,”

Harlow offered. Or at least I thought that’s what she meant. She might have just been bragging, which she did fairly often.

“Hey,” Josh grinned at me from around Harlow’s elbow.

I felt warm and beamed back at him. The evening suddenly looked a lot more promising. Harlow turned around, following my smile. I saw her eyes widen with interest, Josh smiled politely at her before turning his attention back to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Harlow flush with frustration or anger.

“Oh, you must be Kyle,” Harlow said, all fake light, but I could hear the malice in her voice. “Hannah has told me so much about you.”

Josh’s smile dropped. “I’m Josh,” he replied, “not Kyle.”

Harlow opened her eyes in faux shock. “Oops, sorry,” she said without sounding the least bit sincere.

“And you are?” Josh asked.

“I’m Harlow, of course,” Harlow pouted. “Doesn’t my baby sister ever talk about me?”

Josh frowned at her, then briefly at me before transferring his gaze back to Harlow. “I guess we aren’t close enough for that.

Excuse me, I need to find my parents.”

Tears pricked my eyes as Josh walked away. I shook my head at Harlow, not wanting to let her, or anyone else, see me cry.

The kitchen seemed like the safest place to be, so I hurried in there to hide. From my stool at the island, I had a perfect view of Josh talking to his parents, and then leaving.

As the front door slammed behind him, my heart squeezed first with pain and then with anger. What was his problem anyway? He knew all about Harlow and what she was capable of doing. Well, fine, if he was that upset over one stupid thing my sister said, then I’d be mad that he left without even asking me for an explanation.

It still hurt, though, but being mad was easier than dealing with the pain.

****

After the party, Hayley and I lounged on her bed talking about Harlow’s theatrics. The evening hadn’t gotten any better. We all heaved a sigh of relief when she sailed out the door at nine o’clock.

“I’m so glad she doesn’t live here anymore,” Hayley said, tossing her backpack on the bed beside me.

I picked up her school planner and started flipping through it idly. Hayley began organizing her homework for the next day.

Suddenly my eyes caught a tiny notation she had made on the May calendar. Prom. Spelled out in pink glitter pen. I stared at the date dumbly while running through dates in my head.

“Hayley?”

“Huh?”

“I just realized that Grandma’s wedding is the day after prom.” Hayley stopped shoving books in to her backpack. “What?”

I showed her the dates. Her face crumpled in dismay. Even though I didn’t have a date yet and things were suddenly tense with Josh, I shared Hayley’s feelings.

We sat there for a long time staring stupidly at the calendar.

****

Josh and I were tense with each other the whole next day at school. By the time we got to rehearsal that afternoon, we were both on edge. Josh didn’t actually speak to me until we were sitting down to put our make-‐-up on.

“Wait, you mean I have to wear make-‐-up too,” Josh frowned at me. “Well, yeah, everyone wears make-‐-up for a show,” I shrugged. “You’ve been in shows before.”

Josh watched me applying the white foundation to my forehead and his frown deepened. “Yeah,” he said, “but tonight’s just a dress rehearsal. Not even a full one or anything. I mean, we have school tomorrow.”

“So?” I smeared the thick base over my nose.

“Well, what if, you know, I can’t get it off or something. I can’t be wearing eyeliner to school.” Josh sat down next to me as I giggled. “I’m serious. Don’t laugh.”

“You have to wear make-‐-up,” I replied. “But don’t worry I’ll help you get it all off at the end of the night. Honestly what did you do at your old school when you were in shows?”

“Okay, fine,” Josh huffed. He picked up a soft sponge and tentatively dabbed it into the base. He touched to it to his cheek with the faintest of touches. “I got away with not wearing any. Our director never cared very much.”

I watched him continue this little ritual in the mirror for a few more seconds. “You know, you’ll never finish if you do it like that,” I pointed out.

Josh scowled at me. “This isn’t funny,” he said, grumpily.

“Oh, it is,” I assured him. Josh patted at his nose again, barely getting any white foundation on at all. “Do you want me to do that for you?”

“No,” Josh huffed.

“Fine, suit yourself.” I shrugged. “You’ll probably end up looking like a clown at the rate your going, though. Just giving you a fair warning.”

“Fine,” Josh grumbled. “You can do it for me, but you have to make me look good.”

I grabbed the make-‐-up sponge from him, annoyed and amused. “You can be such a baby sometimes,” I complained, smearing a good portion of his face in one swipe.

Behind us, someone cleared his throat. We turned and Kyle was standing there frowning at us. “Will you two be ready for curtain?” He snapped. “I want this rehearsal to run smoothly.”

“We’ll be ready,” I promised.

“Better be,” Kyle muttered as he stormed away.

I turned to Josh with a bemused grin. “He’s so crabby lately.

I think all the pressure’s getting to him. Maybe his head will explode.”

Josh grinned but continued to stare after Kyle. “I’m telling you,” he said slowly, “the guy has a major thing for you. Maybe you should put him out of his misery.”

I let out a frustrated sigh, and dropped the make-‐-up sponge on the dressing table. Pushing my chair back, I stood up. As I turned to walk away, Josh caught my hand.

“Hey,” he said, “where are you going? I thought you were going to help me with my make-‐-up.”

Shrugging and doing my best to give the impression that I didn’t care, I said, “Maybe I’m ready to take your advice and go put Kyle out of his misery. Besides, I’m sure one of your groupies would love to assist you.”

“Hey,” Josh said again, only more softly this time. “I was just kidding. I know it bugs you. I won’t say it again, okay?”

He tugged my hand and I took a step closer, sitting back down in my chair. My heart was starting to do all sorts of crazy, arrhythmic things as I realized that Josh still hadn’t let go of my hand.

“Help me with my make-‐-up, and then let’s get out there and rock the stage,” Josh cajoled.

I couldn’t resist him, with his big eyes and his hand wrapped firmly around mine. I was more certain than ever that he liked me as much as I liked him, and I was getting mightily frustrated that he wouldn’t do anything about it. Picking up the sponge felt like the most intimate gesture suddenly. I wondered if maybe I could make the first move, but as I brushed some foundation across Josh’s jaw, I knew that I didn’t have the guts for that. So I would revert back to the waiting game. If he didn’t hurry up, the show would be over, and then what? I had no clue if he would continue to sit with us at lunch, or if he and I would continue to hang out even as friends.

As I put the finishing touches on his make-‐-up, Josh caught my hand again. “Hey,” he said, “I need to talk to you about something.”

His eyes were serious, belying his light tone, and I shivered.

My gut told me to run screaming because the outcome of any serious talk couldn’t be good for my poor heart. Instead of jumping up and heading for the nearest exit, I found myself nodding agreement.

Josh glanced around, and opened his mouth to say something, when Kaylee shrieked through the green room,

“Curtain in five! And I mean five!”

Frowning, Josh said, “I guess we’ll have to talk later.”

“Okay,” I whispered before following him up to the stage.

I nearly forgot about our promised talk as the frenetic pace of the rehearsal engulfed me. My brain did manage to register how amazing Josh looked when he emerged on stage in his tux. It wasn’t until we were waiting in the wings that I realized we were actually going to talk later. My stomach instantly filled with carnivorous butterflies. I tried to focus all my attention on the stage so my mind wouldn’t drift to the upcoming conversation and how it could change everything. And change in my head was all in capital letters with huge exclamation points and arrows dancing around it.

Josh tugged at the collar of his tux. “This is ridiculous. I’m boiling in this thing,” he grumbled.

The chorus was in the middle of their big band number, so I grabbed Josh’s hand without thinking and pulled him out the side door. Immediately the air felt cooler in the deserted hallway than it had waiting in the wings.

Josh was still fussing with his tux, mumbling, “I don’t see why we have to wear this stuff tonight. The play doesn’t even open for a week.”

I suppressed a laugh. “It is called a dress rehearsal,” I pointed out.