Comeback (14 page)

Or at least share her wardrobe.

We got right to work after she called attendance.

“We've been doing lots of reading in our textbooks about costume creation and inspiration,” Ms. Snow said. Her flatironed hair hit her shoulders, and the caramel highlights gave the cut dimension.

“This will hopefully be of help when you and your partner begin sketching ideas for your costume for
Beauty and the Beast
.”

We hadn't been assigned costumes yet, but Cole and I had our fingers crossed for Khloe's Mrs. Potts. Khloe, however, wished we'd get Riley's Belle costume. I'd told her there was
no
way Cole and I could sabotage Riley's costume, but Khloe had insisted she'd help us come up with something if we drew Belle.

“With the seventh-grade production approaching,” Ms. Snow said, “it's time to assign costumes to each pair of you. These were all a random draw, and there will be
no
trading of costumes.”

A guy raised his hand. “What if we're not familiar with all the characters?”

“Good question, Alec,” Ms. Snow said, smiling. “We will be viewing two versions of the play—the Disney cartoon and a staged production. I'll also be handing out information sheets to each pair with several images of the character as well as links to finding more information.”

I'd seen the Disney movie too many times to count, and Cole had said he'd watched it too, so I wasn't worried that we wouldn't know a character.

Ms. Snow opened a yellow planner and began calling out names of students in our class and the character they were assigned. The characters went fast.

Maurice, Belle's father.

Gaston, the main antagonist.

Chip, Mrs. Potts's teacup son.

“The character of Belle is assigned to Kiera and Luke,” Ms. Snow said.

Cole and I looked at each other. Riley's costume was gone. I'd never admit it to Khloe, but I was relieved. If we
were going to keep trying to all get along, as Clare wanted, it
definitely
would not have helped for Cole and me to have been assigned Belle. The temptation to sabotage Riley's costume would have been too great.

A few more characters went.

“The costume for Mrs. Potts . . . ,” Ms. Snow said.

I tensed in my seat.
Please, please, please . . .

“. . . will be done by Adriana and Lacey.”

Cole and I met eyes, mouthing
no
at the same time. Major. Bummer. I'd so wanted to create Khloe's costume.

I didn't know Adriana and Lacey, but they
had
to do an amazing job. Or they'd have Khloe's BFF in their faces!

“Cole and Lauren, you will both be working on Lumière,” Ms. Snow announced.

Ooh la la!
I grinned and leaned over to Cole. “Lumière is my
favorite
character after Belle and Mrs. Potts!”

“Secret?” Cole said, his voice hushed. “He's my ultimate fave! I'm so glad we got him!”

We touched our palms together, and I wrote
Lumière
at the top of a new page in my notebook. Designing a new look for the famous candelabra was going to be so much fun. I was sorry not to get Mrs. Potts, out of loyalty to Khloe, but if I had to get any other character, I was glad it was Lumière.

“FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY!” KHLOE SANG,
doing a little dance in our room.

I laughed. “This is the most energy you've ever had before our first class.”

Khloe was brimming with energy this morning, and I was exhausted. It didn't feel like the normal worked-too-hard tiredness. My muscles hurt, and all I wanted to do was go back to sleep. But I hadn't finished my usual cup of morning green tea, and I was probably sore from the intense lessons Mr. Conner had put my team through all week.

“That, my dear best friend, is because it is Friday. Otherwise known as the last day of school in a week.” Khloe's reflection in her makeup mirror smiled at me. She
put on a brown-and-black feather earring. “I have more.”

I stepped into black peep-toe ballet flats. “Please. Continue.”

“Also, Friday is known as the day before the weekend starts. And finally, for two lucky girls in this very room, this particular Friday is date night!”

I smiled. “Indeed! Friday is the greatest day of the week per your examples.”

Khloe put on her other earring and stood. “Why, thank you, LT.”

“Did you and Zack decide plans yet?” I asked, walking into the bathroom. I grabbed two Tylenol and came out, then sat back on my bed. Khloe looked at the pills in my hand.

Her happy expression disappeared. “What's wrong? You okay?”

“Oh, yeah!” I said hurriedly. “I'm totally fine. My muscles are just a little sore. Riding was intense this week.”

Khloe's mouth and eyes relaxed. “Okay, whew. I thought you'd hurt yourself or something.” She stood in front of the mirror, smoothing her black V-neck with ruffled sleeves and adjusting the pink belt on her jeans.

“No, not at all. I'll be completely fine once I take these.” I tossed the pills into my mouth and washed them
down with tea. I finished what was in my cup and waited for the caffeine to kick in.

“I understand the soreness,” Khloe said. “The back of my calves are, like,
I hate you!
right now. Mr. Conner keeps saying ‘schooling show,' but he's making us practice as if we're going to regionals or something.”

“I'm complaining now,” I said, trading places with Khloe to stand in front of the mirror, “but I'm relieved the workouts are so intense. The last thing I want is to be unprepared.”

I checked my reflection in the mirror. I wore a pair of Khloe's whiskered jeans with one of my favorite shirts—a sky-blue cotton tee with a white heart in the center. I'd accessorized with thin silver hoop earrings and my beryl birthstone necklace.

Khloe put her bag over her shoulder. “With Mr. Conner as your coach, the last thing you'll ever be is ‘unprepared.' Trust me.”

I grabbed my own bag. It felt a lot heavier than I remembered when I packed it last night.
You need to hit the gym and start lifting weights,
I told myself. Together, Khloe and I left Hawthorne for English class.

•  •  •

Despite my excitement about tonight with Drew, the day dragged.

And dragged.

And dragged.

My backpack seemed to get heavier and heavier after each class. No shock, since teachers always loaded us down with homework for the weekend, but I had to keep putting it down and picking it back up.

The Tylenol never kicked in, and I made a big effort to keep up with my friends as we went from class to class. But any time I had a class alone, I walked so slow, I was almost late.

I downed two Diet Cokes at lunch but didn't feel any more awake than I had this morning. Plus, the soda was the only “lunch” I had. Nothing sounded good. Not even the tomato cheddar soup that I'd usually almost run people over to get.

Khloe and Lexa had asked, repeatedly, if I felt okay during lunch. I'd said I wasn't hungry and had grabbed a bag of chips between classes. They'd seemed to sort of accept my answer and then had gotten distracted talking about the e-mail Mr. Conner had sent, canceling all intermediate and advanced riding lessons for the afternoon. I wanted to be upset about the loss of a practice session, but I couldn't. Getting through a lesson didn't seem possible with my stomach churning and waves of nausea hitting me at random intervals.

Even now, walking back to Hawthorne after my last class of the day, I didn't want to admit it out loud. If I said it, it could come true. I could say it in my head, though.

I think I'm sick.

But if I ignored how I felt, took more Tylenol, and drank white tea—which was packed with antioxidants—I'd feel better before I even got truly sick.

“There,” I said, closing my door behind me. “That's a plan. No need to panic.”

Saying it aloud didn't stop my nerves. I couldn't get sick! Any other time—fine. But not now. Not when I needed every day in the arena to practice with Whisper before the show. Not when I needed to be attending every gym class and keeping myself in shape for the schooling show.

I dropped my backpack by my desk and went into the bathroom. With one eye closed, I peeked at my face in the mirror.

Uh-oh.

My fair cheeks were flushed a light pink. I touched my forehead. Warm. Not hot, though. If Khloe asked about my cheeks, I could tell her I'd gotten carried away with blush. I changed out of my school clothes into comfort clothes—an old sweatshirt, tank top, and lounge pants.

I made myself a cup of white pear tea in the common room and downed it. I found the bottle of multivitamins that Mom had sent (and I'd yet to open) in the bathroom cabinet. I took one and two more Tylenol. Hopefully, the vitamins and tea would stop whatever I was getting before it really started. I'd even call it an early night with Drew to get to bed and, fingers crossed, wake up feeling
perfect
.

I'D JUST PUT AWAY THE TYLENOL WHEN
Khloe walked in. Her tan cheeks were flushed, and she had an extra bounce in her step. Khloe was always animated, but this was her going-on-a-date bouncy. I smiled, despite how I felt.

“Are you
so
ready to start date prep?” she asked.

“Ready,” I said, making sure to sound normal and not on the verge of s-i-c-k. “Drew and I are grabbing Chinese, and our plans are up in the air after that. We'll decide after dinner.”

“That sounds awesome. You guys have a million possibilities for tonight.”

Nodding, I sipped the ginger ale I'd gotten from the common room and poured into a plastic glass. I just didn't
want Khloe to know how I felt. She was my best friend—she'd worry. Plus, she was so excited about her date with Zack. I didn't want to bring down her night. It was
so
rare that we had free time lately with practice and school. I
really
did want to have fun tonight—starting with date prep with Khloe and then seeing Drew.

We sat at our desks and opened our three-way makeup mirrors. We turned on the mirror lights, and I laid out my makeup. I looked in the mirror, and tiny dots of sweat had popped up along my hairline. My cheeks had reddened.

I sneaked a glance at Khloe—her back was to me.
Whew.
A finger to my cheek confirmed what I already knew. I had a fever. No. No. No. I couldn't be sick!

Not now.

Not when the show was next weekend.

Not when I had classwork to do.

Not when I had a date with a boy I liked.

Stop whining. You showed in a three-day event when you had the flu and
nobody
found out. It's just a tiny fever. You can hide this until it goes away. Which it totally will.

I sat up straighter in my desk chair and pulled out a face wipe. The cooling wipe soothed my face, and I pulled off my sweatshirt. The air felt good on my bare arms. My
face was going to require a little, okay, a
lot
more makeup than usual to cover my fever.

“Zack has been so cute about today,” Khloe said. “He texted me a rose emoticon and said it was my pre-date gift.”

“Aw!” I said, working fast to spread ivory foundation over my cheeks. I
never
wore foundation, but I had to. There was no way Khloe would let me out of the room with flaming cheeks.

“The best part,” she said, starting to laugh, “was that Zack added that an
emoticon
rose was the lamest ‘gift' ever and he hoped I didn't expect that all future gifts from him would come through BBM.”

I laughed too, my stomach lurching a little. “I'm so glad you two are going out,” I said. “He's like you in a lot of ways—funny, silly, smart. And he seems like a good guy.”