The Odds of Lightning (20 page)

“We'll have to hurry,” Nathaniel said.

The elevator was still working. They hurtled back down to earth.

Of all the crazy things that had happened so far, the craziest was that Will Kingfield suddenly believed in love.

(But she would just go along with the plan and see if it was true.)

Lu had told him to prove it. Well, game on.

Besides, Tiny was right. He had been focusing on the wrong things. He had been focusing too much on himself. Now was his chance to think about someone else for a change.

It had been all about looks and image and what other people thought of him. But Will was good on the inside, too. He knew he was. He just had to find his way back to himself, again.

They stood on the street in front of the Empire State Building. The wind was howling around them, and they had to shout to be heard.

“Okay,” Will said. “Any ideas where he might be?”

“Well.” Cleo fidgeted with the twirly hem of her dress. “There were three parties we'd planned to perform at tonight. The Urban Explorers Club speakeasy, a sweet sixteen at the Plaza, and a wedding at the Museum of Natural History. As we were getting pushed in opposite directions by the crowd at the Rapture rally, all I heard him say was, ‘Meet me at the party!' But he didn't say which one!”

Nathaniel's face fell in dismay. “But all those places are in the opposite direction of school!” Will shot him a look.

“Are you really going to stand between two star-crossed lovers?”

“Yeah, Nathaniel, don't be the reason they get
crossed
in the first place,” Lu added.

“I mean, okay.” Nathaniel shook his head like he had no idea what was going on anymore. “You'd think I was trying to help or something.”

“It's okay,” Tiny said to him. “It's just like Romeo says in the play: ‘I am fortune's fool.' We have to do this now, even if it makes us fortune's fools. Don't worry—we'll get to school. I have faith.”

“Faith.” Nathaniel took a deep breath. “The firm belief in something for which there is no proof.”

“See? You'll be fine tomorrow.”

“If we make it to tomorrow,” Nathaniel grumbled.

“We will.”

“You know this goes against everything I believe in. No facts. No logical explanation. Just a feeling.”

“God, Nathaniel, you need to loosen up,” said Will.

“We'll hurry,” Cleo said. “I have a car. I guess I could do this myself. I just hate the idea of getting stuck out there alone in the middle of the storm. You guys have no idea how good it felt to see some friendly faces.”

Cleo's car was a 1992 Jeep Grand Wagoneer that looked like it had belonged to her grandfather. It was plastered with indie band stickers and underground theater posters.

“That one's vintage, from when my grandpa toured with Phish,” Cleo said, proudly pointing to a faded neon fish. “Jasper and I can't afford much right now, car-wise, so we have to use my grandpa's old wagon. We're trying to save money to put up this modernized adaptation of
Macbeth
that we're working on. It's, like, this psychological thriller set on Wall Street. We're going for this kind of
Gone Girl
vibe. We already found this abandoned warehouse we can use for free, and Jasper's roommate goes to fashion school and is doing all our costumes. So really, we just have to pay for publicity.”

“This thing looks like it's about to fall the fuck apart,” Lu said.

“Isn't it so cool? It runs on veggie oil.”

“Do you always leave it unlocked?” Nathaniel asked, dubiously trying the handle.

“No one's ever tried to steal it,” Juliet said proudly. “But you can see why I didn't want to drive it alone in a storm.”

“I can't imagine it holding up in a light breeze,” Will said.

Lu's eyes lit up. “Hey! An Unsexy Gum sticker!”

“They're my favorite band.” Juliet smiled. Will glowered. “You know,” she said to him. “You look a
lot
like the lead singer. Are you two related?”

“No,” said Will, and crossed his arms. “I hate that guy.”

The five of them crammed in. “Roomy,” Will said. He sat in front next to Cleo. Lu, Nathaniel, and Tiny squeezed in the back. Cleo adjusted the rearview mirror, snapped in her seat belt, and slid on a pair of mirrored Ray-Ban aviators. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Will said. “Lose the shades. It's dark enough out there, and the last thing we need tonight is to get into an accident.”

She rolled her eyes, like Will was the biggest tool. “These are
prescription.
”

Cleo pulled out of the narrow spot and down the dark street. She turned onto Fifth Avenue and floored it.

“Whoa,” Will said again, grabbing his seat. “Hang on!”

As they drove (and Will held on for dear life), Will wondered what kind of guy a girl would travel across the city in the middle of the night during a superstorm to find. Maybe he had been thinking about this in a narrow-minded way. Going after Lu. Proving things to Lu. He knew why none of it was working. He could suddenly see why it was only making her more pissed off.

None of it was real.

He was too in his head about it. It was all for show. Maybe he needed to work on himself more, figure out who he really was. Maybe he needed to be happy in his own skin before he could expect Lu to care about him as much as he still cared about her. And once he did, he needed to have confidence that the kind of guy he wanted to be was the kind of guy Lu thought was worth fighting for.

He glanced over at Cleo to make sure her hands were at ten and two.

“Chill,” she said, taking her eyes off the road and turning to him. “I got this.” Will stopped abruptly when he saw his reflection in her aviators. He did a double take, and swiveled the rearview mirror back around to face him. His mouth dropped open.

“Hey!” Cleo shouted, swerving to the right so that the car drove up onto the sidewalk. “Lay off, dude! Don't touch my mirror! I thought you were the one who was all for automotive safety.” But when she straightened the wheel and came to an abrupt stop, she looked at Will and her jaw dropped too.

Suddenly they were
all
staring at him. With trembling hands, Cleo took off her aviators. Will's chest felt tight.

“What is going
on
?” Cleo's voice was shaking. “I thought maybe disappearing girl was, like, a trick of the light or something. But this is fucking, like,
wha
t
?”

Will caught his reflection in the rearview mirror. His hair was suddenly coal black, buzzed short on the sides with a kind of asymmetrical faux-hawk thing going on up top. He had a beard, too. He scratched it. It was itchy, and it made his face hot.

“How did you do that? Is this some kind of performance art piece?” She looked around the deserted street, panicked. “Get out. Get out of the car. Now!”

“Listen,” said Will. “I know this looks—uh—weird. I couldn't explain it even if I wanted to. But you have to believe it when I say that we're risking our lives to help you right now, so I'm begging you, please, just go with it and try not to ask too many questions.”

Cleo's face scrunched up like she was weighing her options.

“No one's ever risked his life for me before,” she said, thinking it over. “Okay, I won't kick you out. But I can't promise I won't ask questions.” She started the car again. Every few seconds she looked over at Will and shook her head.

“Eyes on the road!” Will cried. His new asymmetrical haircut was blowing everywhere in the wind that was coming in through a crack in the ancient window.

Fifth was almost deserted. The car sped whip-fast up the avenue, a straight shot.

Lu leaned over and stuck her head between the front seats. “So, you're a professional actress, huh? That's cool. It's kind of, like, my dream.”

“Really?” Cleo smiled in that weird fake way girls do when they feel like they're being threatened. “What have you done?”

“Not to brag, but I've done a lot. Lady MacB, Nora Helmer, Heidi Holland. I played Maggie the Cat before I even got to high school.”

“Nice,” said Cleo. “I did Gertrude in summer stock last year. Have you ever been to Williamstown? That's where everyone gets their start. You have to go next summer.”

“Cool,” said Lu. “I keep telling these suckers it's a good thing I don't have to worry about the SATs tomorrow, amiright?”

Cleo's mirrored shades locked with Lu's eyes in the rearview. “I aced my SATs,” she said. “Tisch won't even look at an applicant with subpar scores. Most acting conservatories won't either. Unless that's not the kind of actress you want to be.” She laughed to herself. “I mean, if you're not serious about your craft, you can always do toothpaste commercials!”

Lu sat back in her seat, hard. “Oh,” she mumbled. “The guidance counselor said that too. I thought she was just trying to trick me into taking them.” Will tried to pat her knee in a comforting way from the front seat, but Lu swatted his hand away.

They parked across the street from the Plaza and ran up the steps.

“Uh, excuse me.” A white-gloved doorman stood in their path. He eyed Cleo's metallic legwarmers and Will's new edgy Jasper haircut. “Are you guests of the hotel?”

They all looked at one another.

“No,” Nathaniel said. Lu elbowed him.

“We could have lied,” she said through her teeth.

“I'm afraid I can't let you in. Due to the storm conditions, we're restricting access to the main lobby for the safety of our guests. Please find somewhere else to . . . carouse.”

“No, no, she's a performer,” Will said. “She's performing here tonight.” Cleo's face grew red. She coughed.

“We weren't actually, like,
hired
to perform,” she said. “Technically. This is more of a guerilla theater experience.”

“So how are we going to find Jasper?”

“Please,” Cleo said to the doorman. “My Romeo is in there.”

The doorman shook his head. “All the girls say that. What is it about a storm that makes people so dramatic? Listen, miss, it's for the safety of the guests.”

Cleo's shoulders slumped. A single tear slid down her cheek.

“But what if I never find him?”

The doorman's face softened just a little. “There, there. He's out there, princess. You know what they say. You'll meet him when you least expect it.”

“I've just”—her lower lip trembled—“been searching all night.”

While this was happening, Will turned oh-so-casually around. He looked at Lu. Lu looked at Nathaniel. Nathaniel looked at Tiny. Maybe they could use what was happening to her to their advantage. Tiny looked a little like a TV ghost, pale and see-through.

He looked meaningfully at the front doors, then back to her. Tiny nodded.

She took off through the revolving doors, spinning around and around.

“What the?” The doorman jumped back.

“It's the wind!” Nathaniel shouted.

“It's a ghost!” Lu said, pointing.

“It's a security hazard, is what it is!” he shouted. A luggage cart from inside came rolling through the door, and the doorman took off after it. Nathaniel, Will, Lu, and Cleo hurried through the door when the doorman wasn't looking. On the other side of the lobby, Tiny jumped out from behind a potted palm.

“Boo!” she said.

“Nice work,” said Will. “To you and Cleo.”

“Why, thank you,” Cleo said, bowing deeply. “Do you even know how long it took me to learn how to cry on cue? I use it every chance I get. It comes in
so
handy.”

Inside the lobby of the Plaza was as grand as the movies made it seem. The old-fashioned lamps and plush red fancy carpets felt cozy and warm in the middle of the wild storm. Huge green palm fronds cast tropical shadows across their faces.

“That's the Palm Court,” Lu said. “I recognize it from
Eloise
.”

“I'm going to look for him,” Cleo said. “I'll meet you guys back here.”

Will heard thumping bass coming from the Palm Court. “Do you hear that?” A smile spread across his face. “Come on.”

The enormous room was lined with arched windows, and above them was this cool geometric glass ceiling. True to its name, the Palm Court was studded with palm trees. Round dinner tables were set up across the room for guests, and on the dance floor in the middle of the tables, a group of younger kids were dancing to some hip-hop song from a couple of years ago. A spangly banner read
HAPPY SWEET SIXTEEN!

“Uh, Will?” Lu said.

“Yeah?” He looked down. A group of younger girls were standing in front of him, giggling.

“Are you the guy who does Shakespeare on the street?” one of them asked. “I recognize you from Instagram.”

“Me?” Will almost laughed at the thought. Then he remembered he now looked like Jasper. “Er. Yeah. I guess I am.”

“Will you perform for us?” The girl batted her eyelashes.

“Oh no, not tonight. I—”

“Please! It's my birthday!”

“And a very happy birthday to you,” Will said, “but I don't know any—”

The girl crossed her arms over her chest. The girls behind her did the same. All of Will's old girls-are-scary instincts kicked in. They were wearing a lot of makeup and short dresses. These were definitely the kind of girls who would maul you in your sleep.

“Okay, okay,” said Will. “Shhh.” He cleared his throat.

“You have to stand at the front of the room.”

“Um—I—okay.” The girl was already pulling him to the front of the dance floor by the arm. Will stood there awkwardly and looked out at the crowd, which had fallen to a hush. “Okay.” He didn't even know that Romeo and Juliet died at the end—how was he supposed to recite an entire monologue? “Uh, but soft, er, what light, um, is shining through that broken window . . . ?” The girls were looking at him dubiously. And then he caught sight of Lu watching him. There was a smile on her face. Not a teasing smile, but a real one. Suddenly the right words began to pop into his head, falling into place like dominoes. He got down on one knee. “It is my lady, O, it is my love! O, that she knew she were!”