Autumn's Kiss (9 page)

Reenzie finds me, though. I hear her voice behind me. “Good, you've got it!” She takes the veil and fixes it in my hair.

“I noticed your screen saver,” I say. I try to keep my voice light and casual. “Cute pictures!”

“Aren't they? They're all from this year.”

“And the summer, right?” I dig. “I saw some of Sean…from his football camp trip?”

Reenzie spins me around to check the veil from the front. As she checks it, she smiles. “Yeah. It was nice. Our parents are so close, we've always spent the summer together. This was the first one we didn't. It felt a little weird, but he texted me every day and sent me goofy pictures….It was like we were still hanging out even when we weren't.”

“Every day?” I ask. My voice is shaky now, but the room is loud. That has to hide it. Sean did
not
text me every day. Close, but not every day.

“Almost,” she says. Then she gives the veil a final tweak. “There. You look beyond.” She links her arm in mine and leans in close, like she's telling me a sisterly secret. “I actually think it was good we weren't around each other all summer. He never had the chance to miss me before. I think it made him appreciate what we have. And since he came back, things have been…different. I feel like it's only a matter of time now…you know?”

Oh, I know. I know because I feel the same way about Sean and
me.

At least, I felt that way until tonight.

I want to talk to Sean, but the party's not the place. There are too many people, and he's always in the middle of some group. Or when he's not, Reenzie has him running around helping with the snacks or the music or the fog machine.

So since I can't do anything to make my life more peaceful and harmonious at the moment, I figure I can at least help my friends.

Now I just have to find them. I know Taylor is somewhere, since she came in with us, but I haven't seen Amalita at all. That doesn't mean much, though. It's a crowded party.

“Hey,” I ask Jack when I find him chowing on a jack-o'-lantern-shaped cupcake. “Have you seen Ames?”

“I don't think she's here,” he says. “Haven't seen her. She really should just get a room.”

He isn't making sense. “Who, Ames?”

“No, Carrie.”

He nods to the makeshift dance floor, where Carrie Amernick, ridiculously pushed up and pinched into an over-sexy French maid outfit, is basically painting herself all over Alec Hoeffner, one of the football players.

“I thought she was dressing to match J.J.,” I say.

That's when Carrie opens her mouth in a leer that shows off her vampire fangs.

“Well, there we go,” I say. Then I wince. I'm a little embarrassed for her, actually, because even though she's slathering her body on Alec's, she's staring at J.J. like she wants him for lunch. He seems oblivious, dancing in a group with—oh, there she is—Taylor, Ryan (who's dressed as Elvis), and a few other actors from the play.

“Want to know the sick part?” Jack asks.

“That she's only dancing like that to get J.J.'s attention?”

“No, that if she wanted to slime on someone, she could totally have used me. I've been right here the whole time.”

I just look at him.

“What?” he asks. “I can't have her, so I want her more. Everyone's like that.”

I want to tell him he's wrong, but maybe he isn't. It's got to be why Carrie's making an idiot out of herself over J.J. And why Ames was losing her mind until she got Denny's attention. And it's definitely why Taylor's so set on Ryan…but she won't be for long. I leave Jack and case the room until I find Leo. Not only did he make it in the correct costume, but he's also in character, lurking in the shadows and watching Taylor from afar.

At least, I think that's in character. I've never seen the musical. Even if it is in character, I'm pretty sure Leo isn't doing it on purpose. It's just who he is. I run up to him, a huge smile on my face. “Leo!” Then I peer closer. A white mask covers half his face and he's not wearing glasses. “It is Leo, right?”

“Yeah. Autumn?”

The one eye I can see well is squinting. “You're not wearing contacts?”

“I can't. I've tried, but the feel of something on my eyes…it makes me pass out. Even thinking about it…”

He reels and puts a hand on my shoulder to steady himself. “Easy,” I say. “Focus on here. You look amazing. Has Taylor seen you?”

“I don't think so,” he says.

“You haven't gone up to her?”

“No!” He says it quickly and scandalized, as if I'd asked if he'd set her on fire.

“Leo, you have to talk to her.”

“How? What would I possibly say to a girl like her?”

“Talk to her about stuff you have in common. Like theater! Talk about theater.”

“I don't know anything about theater,” he says. “I know lights.”

“Okay, then outside theater. What do you like to do?”

“I like chess a lot,” he says. “I play it online all the time.”

“Moving on,” I say. “Outdoor stuff. You like the beach?”

“I peel.”

“Forget things in common. You like her, right? You think she's pretty?”

He looks at her and the visible half of his face gets dreamy. “She's the most beautiful pink blur I've ever seen.”

“Yes! Good, Leo! Go with that! But leave out the blur. Just tell her how beautiful she is. And here.” I pull out my phone and look up
Phantom of the Opera.
“Prep. That's how you're dressed, so she'll want to talk about that. Pretend you're a huge fan. And tell her that from watching rehearsals, you think she's talented enough that she should go to an acting school for college. A conservatory?”

“Really?” he asks. “Aren't those limiting in terms of an overall liberal arts education?”

“That's on the list of what
not
to say. Tonight you are pro–acting school, pro-
Phantom,
and pro-anything-you-can-remember-about-her-
Guys-and-Dolls
-performance-to-compliment. And the beautiful thing. Got it?”

He nods. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, Autumn.”

“No problem,” I say. “That's what superheroes do.”

“Are you a superhero?” he asks. “I thought you were a zombie bride.”

“Just study,” I say.

After Leo bones up on
Phantom,
I look for a moment to get Taylor away from Ryan. For a while it doesn't seem possible, especially when the two of them start theatrically tangoing across the basement floor. They're pressed cheek to cheek and she follows him effortlessly. When they move slightly apart and look into one another's eyes, I see sparks.

Was I wrong? Is Ryan actually interested in Taylor?

He dips her dramatically, and I see Taylor breathlessly lean upward for the kiss she knows is coming.

Instead he pulls her back to her feet, twirls her so she's facing away from him, then puts his hands on her hips and invites everyone to grab on for a conga line.

Mission back on track.

I pull Taylor off the conga line. She still looks shell-shocked from the kiss she didn't get. “Hey!” I say. “Check out the Phantom!”

I drag Taylor toward Leo. She lights up when she sees the costume. “You're the Phantom—I love it!”

“Thanks,” Leo says. “Did you know they usually double-cast the role of Christine?”

“Yes! I
do
know that!” Taylor says. “Producers think it's too much for one actress to handle all the performances. Which is weird, because the Phantom's role is just as challenging. And audiences want to see the main actress.”

“Exactly,” Leo agrees. “I mean, imagine if someone came to
Guys and Dolls
and saw anyone but you playing Sarah. They'd miss out on the most incredible performance ever.”

Taylor's melting. I can see it. As I start to slip away, I hear Leo clinch it with, “You look really beautiful in that costume. You look beautiful
every
day. Especially when you're onstage. Hey…have you ever thought about a conservatory for college?”

My work here is done. I'd say halfway done, but Ames isn't anywhere. I wonder if she got sick. Maybe it was Denny who got sick, but that wouldn't be enough to keep Ames from Reenzie's party. Or maybe it would. Maybe she's scoring new-girlfriend points by bringing him chicken soup or keeping him company on FaceTime while he gets over a cold. Like I did with Sean when he called me from Michigan when he was getting over food poisoning and we watched
When Harry Met Sally
…together over the phone. It was funny because in the movie Harry and Sally watch movies together over the phone and neither of us said that it meant the two of us would go from being friends to being together just like the lead characters in the movie; it was totally implied.

At least I thought it was. Now I wonder if he called Reenzie right after he hung up with me. I wonder what movie they watched together over the phone.

No. Have to get Sean out of my head. Can't do anything about him right now. I grab Jack and pull him onto the dance floor with J.J., and the three of us jump around for the next couple hours until it gets really late and the party dwindles down to around twenty people, including myself, J.J., Reenzie, Sean, Jack, Taylor, and Leo.

Yes, Taylor and Leo, who talk almost constantly after I leave them to their own devices. I do notice Leo subtly checking his phone a couple times along the way, but I don't think Taylor sees, and I know he isn't doing it to talk to other people but to keep up his research. I like that. It shows dedication. Taylor deserves someone motivated to impress her.

Ryan's already gone. Carrie Amernick is sticking it out, though Alec Hoeffner's trying very hard to pull her away for some serious one-on-one sliming. Poor guy doesn't realize it only counts for Carrie if it's in front of J.J. There are enough people around that it's still a party, but it's small enough that it would be very easy for me to pull Sean aside and maybe get a moment outside to talk.

Easy, except that every time I look at him I feel my heart shred. Especially when he peeks up from whatever else he's doing and smiles like I'm the only person in the room. I have to keep reminding myself he's probably doing the same thing to Reenzie, just not when I can see.

I don't want to confront him. I don't want to hear him admit that he likes us both, or can't decide. I don't want him to tell me that every moment I thought was special was just a foreshadowing or an echo of the same moment with another girl. I already know it's true, but it'll be a million times worse to hear him say it.

I have to, though. I have to know.

I'm about to go up to him, when Alec gets an idea that I guess he imagines will force Carrie into some alone time. “Seven Minutes in Heaven—who's in?”

“What are we, twelve?” Reenzie laughs.

“Next we'll do the Ouija board,” another girl says.

“Then Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board!” Taylor chimes in.

“Then board games?” J.J. asks. “I'm seeing a ‘board' theme.”

Jack shrugs. “I'd play Seven Minutes in Heaven.”

“Gonna need more than just you and me, Star-Lord,” Alec says.

Jack looks so happy Alec knows his costume that I think his Seven Minutes in Heaven have already begun.

“It
would
be fun,” a girl in a firefighter dress giggles.

“Seriously?” asks her friend in a slinky catsuit. “I mean, it's not like we can just play. We need a pen, and paper, and a hat, and a closet or something….”

“Pen and paper upstairs,” Reenzie says. “Sean knows where. We'll use the fire hat. And closet under the stairs—half empty, carpeted, and nice.”

She looks at Sean and raises an eyebrow, and he scrunches his face. “For real?”

Everyone laughs. Sean does too, but a second later he's running up the stairs and the firefighter's handing her hat to Reenzie and Taylor's throwing open the closet door to make sure it's acceptable.

When Sean comes back down, he's grinning. “I can't believe we're doing this.”

None of us can—we're all cracking jokes about how middle school it is—but we're doing it anyway. Reenzie writes down everyone's names on the paper, then cuts the paper into small pieces, one name per piece, and tosses the pieces into the hat. As she holds the hat above her eye level and shakes it around, she says, “Rules are simple. Two names are picked out of the hat. Boy/boy, boy/girl, girl/girl, doesn't matter. Then the two people go into the closet. When the door closes, I start the timer on my phone. When the alarm goes off, we open the door, but not a second before. Until then, whatever happens in the closet, stays in the closet. Names are
not
taken out of rotation when they're picked, which means every single one of you could end up with Jack.”

Moans, gagging noises, and laughter ring through the room. Jack bows deeply, then tells Reenzie, “Or
you
could end up with Jack.” He waggles his eyebrows.

“Should that happen, the game is automatically over,” she says. A few people protest, mainly Jack, but she just shrugs. “Not my fault, in the rule book.” She swishes the hat around some more and holds it over Taylor's and Leo's heads. “Pick one each,” she says.