The Comeback (2 page)

W
hat do you mean, I didn't get the lead?” I slammed my locker shut and leaned against it to glare at Monet. It was the Monday after my disastrous party, and it was shaping up to be a pretty lousy one.

“Sophie, don't be like that,” she replied.

“Like what? I'd be the best damned shrew ever. Who else could play Katharina, anyway? And you know it's the only decent part in that whole misogynistic play.” I blocked out the fact that Angie Vogel had Fanelli eating out of her hand during her audition.

“Who's using their SAT words?” Monet teased. She was trying to coax me out of my bad mood, but it wasn't going to happen. Not today.

“At least tell me that Connor and I are playing opposite each other,” I said.

“C'mon, we're going to be late for the first rehearsal,” she said, avoiding my eyes.

I stopped in my tracks. “Tell me,” I commanded. I'd been certain that I was going to be Katharina. I'd been involved in drama since I was a freshman. No way would Fanelli give it to anyone else. Not after everything I'd done for the drama department.

“Sophie, keep your voice down,” Monet said. “People are staring.”

“Let them,” I said, but I did modify my tone. I was used to the staring, but I didn't want everyone to know what I had planned. “I'll talk to Fanelli,” I said. “He'll see it my way. He always does.”

“I don't think so,” Monet said. “Not this time. He's impressed by Angie's vulnerability. And you don't want to look desperate, begging a teacher for a role,” she added.

Monet knew me too well. I loathed the stench of desperation. “What part did I get?” I said.

“Bianca,” she said. She seemed to brace herself for another explosion.

“Hmm,” I said. “There are possibilities there. As long as Connor is Lucentio, we'll steal the show right from under little Miss Angie's nose.”

“Er, Sophie,” Monet started to say, but I cut her off.

“Let's go. We're going to be late for rehearsal if we don't get moving.” I linked arms with her.

Monet wasn't feeling well or something. She was having trouble keeping pace with me. If I didn't know better, I'd say she didn't want to go to rehearsals.

Kennedy High had a fabulous auditorium, and that's where we headed for the first meeting. We were a little late, but Monet was the stage manager and I was a lead. Nothing would happen without us.

I spotted Connor's blond hair. It was easy to locate him because he stood head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd. He was, as usual, surrounded by his adoring public.

“Hey, Sophie,” he said. He gave my arm a friendly punch. What kind of greeting was that from my boyfriend? It was the kind of hello you'd give your soccer buddy, not your prom date. “Did you hear the good news?”

Obviously, Connor felt the same way I did, that the important thing was that we played a couple.

I snuggled into him and ignored his look of discomfort. What was with him today? “I know it's not what we planned, but I think we can make the best of it.”

“Yeah,” he said in a puzzled tone. “You're taking it well.”

“What?” I said. “Taking what well?”

That's when I noticed that Angie was standing next to him. And the script in her hand was labeled K
ATHARINA
.

My gaze went from her to the playbook in Connor's hand. It said P
ETRUCHIO
.

I could feel my ears heating up. Mr. Fanelli chose that moment to walk up and hand me my playbook, marked B
IANCA
.

“The ingenue role?” I sneered. “I could do that with my eyes closed.”

“You'll have your chance to dazzle us with your Bianca,” Mr. Fanelli replied mildly.

“Who's playing Lucentio if it's not Connor?” I said, trembling with rage. I shot an accusatory look at Monet.
Why didn't you tell me?

I tried,
she mouthed, but my attention turned to the guy who was strolling up to our little confab.

“Sorry I'm late, Mr. F.,” Dev said, smiling broadly.

I moved to Monet's side and pasted a fake smile on my face as I talked through gritted teeth. “Your brother? Your brother is playing a romantic lead opposite me and you didn't bother to tell me? You know I loathe him.”

A masculine voice responded before Monet could. “Right back at ya, Sophie,” Dev said. “But I'm afraid you're stuck with me.”

I whirled around and glared at him. “You don't even like theater. You just tried out to annoy me.”

“Don't flatter yourself,” he said. “Mr. Fanelli asked me to audition. He thought he might have problems filling the role when it got out who was Bianca.”

I glared at him, but he strolled over to the stage and plopped himself on the edge. He looked unbearably pleased with himself.

“Your brother is still a jerk,” I said to Monet.

She shrugged. “Around you, he seems to be,” she admitted.

I knew we both remembered how rotten Dev was to me in middle school, when I still had braces and baby fat. And much thinner skin.

I was a completely different person now. The braces were off, the baby fat was gone, and my skin was now as tough as a rhino's. More important, Connor and I were the most popular couple in the junior class. Everyone knew we'd be senior prom king and queen. Dev would be gone from the school by then. Just a distant memory. Oh, of course, lots of girls in the junior class thought he was the hottest senior boy, but all I saw was the guy who put a worm down my back when I was in sixth grade.

Mr. Fanelli clapped his hands. “People, let's settle down and get started.”

“Monet, did you find the costumes yet?”

“Yes, Mr. Fanelli,” she replied. “And they're already back from the dry cleaner.”

“Kaitlin, be a dear, and try one on for us,” he said. “They've been in storage and I'd like to refresh my memory.”

Kaitlin got up reluctantly. The costumes must be really ugly this year.

I noticed that Connor was sitting with Angie. He said something to her in a low voice and she laughed. Her laugh matched her, sexy and confident. She had her hand on his arm and he looked like he'd just been handed a winning lottery ticket.

Kaitlin came back into the room, wearing a long, flowing gown. It was too tight in the bust and was an ugly green that made her look sickly.

Connor bent down and whispered in Angie's ear. A panicky feeling rose up inside of me.

“Those costumes are horrible,” I said in a loud voice, checking to see if Connor was paying attention. He looked up. “Look at Kaitlin,” I continued. “That dress makes her look pregnant.”

There was a stunned silence before Kaitlin burst into tears and ran from the room. Angie got up and went after her.

“Sophie,” Monet whispered, “I can't believe you just said that.”

The dismay in her voice clued me in.

“You mean…?”

I looked to Connor to rescue me from my own big mouth. He always saved me in situations like these. But not this time. He was looking anywhere but at me.

Fanelli was wringing his hands and looking alarmed. The cast and crew glared at me. I'd just broken the cardinal rule of high school: Never let the adults, especially teachers, know the truth.

“Could you just, for once,
think
before you open your mouth?” Dev said.

At least he only thought I was an idiot. I realized what it looked like to everyone else. That I'd deliberately tromped on the feelings of a girl everyone liked. Even worse, I'd outed her in front of a teacher.

Finally, Angie and Kaitlin came back in and rehearsals continued. I prayed Fanelli would forget about the whole thing, but I doubted I'd be that lucky.

Dev and Monet were the only people who would talk to me the rest of rehearsal. Even Connor, my own boyfriend, avoided me like I had a communicable disease.

That's when it really sank in that I would be spending a lot of time with Dev. We were playing romantic leads. I tried to remember if I had to kiss him onstage.

I was flipping through the script, looking for the dreaded love scene, when Mr. Fanelli said the words that struck fear into my heart. “Angie dear, Connor, where are you? I want my stars to spend time together and get intimately acquainted.”

I swear there was a special emphasis on the way he said
intimately
. I started forward but felt Monet's
hand on my arm. “He doesn't mean what you think he means, Sophie. Calm down. You know everyone is just waiting for some drama in the drama department.”

I took a deep breath and looked around. It was true. All eyes were on me, waiting for a reaction. I wouldn't give them a show. At least not yet.

I watched as Mr. Fanelli led Connor and Angie offstage.

“Don't trust your boy alone with the lovely Angie?” Dev's voice said in my ear. How had he gotten so close? And how did he know what I was thinking?

I stuck an elbow in his rib and moved away from him. “Of course I do,” I growled at him. But I wasn't telling the truth. I didn't trust Connor, not completely. We'd been together for two years, but I knew that he wasn't the sweet guy from the pool anymore. At least a little of his loyalty and affection was because I was considered the hottest girl in the class.

Most of the girls hated me; most of the guys wanted me. And Connor liked that. But from the looks in the eyes of the male student body, there was someone else who was piquing their interest. And she was new—as Dev would probably put it, “fresh meat,” a challenge. The
x
factor, the unknown.

And me? If they bothered to burn a few brain cells or (shudder) look through our middle-school yearbook, they'd see me, complete with brace face. People
had short memories, and we all had our secret middle-school shames. Unfortunate haircuts, awful orthodontia, or embarrassing bodily functions. We'd left those secrets behind, but it wouldn't take much to dredge up the memories of the old me. And then where would I be?

Not a challenge. Not a popular, gorgeous girl. Just another girl who'd managed to lose the fat and gain a good hairdresser. No mystery there. And then Connor would dump me.

Dev's pesky voice broke me out of my reverie. “Come on, Donnelly, time to get cracking.”

Wimpy role or not, I did need the rehearsal time. How else was I going to steal the show?

“Coming,” I said, giving him a tight smile.

We started to run our lines, reading from the playbook. I was surprised that Mr. Fanelli had chosen not to have a table read at the first rehearsal, but more time one-on-one with Dev meant that I could coach him.

Turned out that he didn't need any coaching. He was good, better than Connor. Dev had a deep, rich reading voice with actual feeling behind it. I'd always known there was more to him than a good-looking superjock, but I didn't realize he was into drama.

“Why didn't you audition for the lead?” I asked him.

“I'm
a
lead,” he said mildly. “Lucentio is a plum part.”

“I mean Petruchio,” I said. “He's the one who gets Katharina.”

“That role didn't interest me,” he replied, “and besides, Mr. Fanelli asked me to audition for this part.”

I was miffed that Dev hadn't been interested in the lead role. Even though I hadn't been given the female lead, everyone expected I would get it. Hadn't he wanted to work with me?

“Did you take it because you thought you wouldn't have to work with me? You could have gotten Petruchio, you know. You're good enough.”

His eyebrow lifted, but he didn't comment. “Of course not,” he said.

“Yeah, right,” I stated.

“This isn't middle school,” he said. The condescension in his voice made me want to smack him. “Some of us have grown up, if you haven't noticed.”

I had noticed, to tell the absolute truth. Dev was gorgeous, dark wavy hair, tanned skin, white teeth. Connor's physical opposite, not at all my type. And now I was stuck with him and his “maturity” for six long weeks.

B
ut, Mr. Fanelli, you know that I should be Katharina instead of Angie Vogel.” It had taken me a day to corner him, but I'd finally tracked Fanelli down in the front office.

Ms. Murphy, the principal's assistant, watched us in fascination.

“Sophie, my decision is final.” His voice shook a little, but his expression remained firm. “I am the director of this production.”

“Of course you are,” I soothed. “But it's not fair. I've been a lead in every production since freshman year.”

“And you're still a lead,” he pointed out reasonably.

“Everyone knows that Katharina is the star of the show,” I said scornfully.

“But don't you think it might be time for a little new blood?”

“No, I don't,” I said. My voice was rising. “Mr. Fanelli, you have to give me that part,” I shouted.

There was a loud snort from the front desk, but Ms. Murphy had her head buried in paperwork.

“No, I don't,” he said. But he looked nervous.

“Maybe I should just quit altogether,” I said loudly. Fanelli hated offstage scenes, especially ones that took place a few feet from his boss's door.

“Go ahead,” he said, but I could see a little bead of sweat form on his brow. “There are plenty of girls who would love to have the Bianca role.”

He was right. If I quit, he'd give my part to some other girl, probably some stagestruck freshman, just to spite me. On the other hand, the guy parts were a lot harder to fill.

“Fine, I will,” I said triumphantly. “But you know, Connor, my
boyfriend,
will go with me.”

“Now, let's not be hasty,” he said. “We can work something out.”

I moved a little closer to the principal's office and turned on the tears. “I'm just trying to do my best for Kennedy High,” I wailed.

“What do you want?” he said.

I opened my mouth immediately, but he cut me short.

“I can't give you the role of Katharina,” he said. “It would cause way too many problems.”

I hadn't really expected that he would take the role away from Angie, but now I knew I could make a demand. “A guaranteed lead for the spring musical,” I said.

We shook on it and I tried not to inhale. He overdid it on the cologne. “You're smarter than I gave you credit for,” he observed.

“That's what everyone says,” I replied. “See how easy that was?”

I was at my locker at lunch the next day, waiting not so patiently for Connor. We had a standing Wednesday lunch date. Juniors and seniors could leave campus for lunch, unlike the freshmen and sophomores, who were confined like prisoners to the lunchroom swill.

I was sending him a
where are you?
text message when Olivia Kaplan appeared.

“All alone?” she smirked at me. Olivia was the biggest gossip at school, and I could tell by her smile that she was dying to reveal something.

“Just waiting for Connor,” I said nonchalantly.

“Oh, yes, it's Wednesday.” Her eyes gleamed. “Well, I wouldn't want you to go hungry. I just saw him drive off with Angie Vogel.”

Which is why she'd hurried back to rub my face in
it. I grabbed my wallet and car keys. “Oh, that's right. They're getting a jump on memorizing lines. I must have forgotten. Connor's so conscientious.” I smiled at her as though I didn't have a care in the world, but inside I was seething.

“Of course that's it,” Olivia said blandly, but I knew that look on her face. It was the look of a gossip hound on the trail of a juicy scent.

I was going to kill Connor when I caught up with him.

I strolled away, aware of Olivia's beady eyes watching my every move. Fortunately, Monet hadn't left for lunch yet. I caught up with her at her locker.

“Let's go to Wicked Jack's,” I said.

“But it's Wednesday,” she said.

I smiled at some random guy who was watching us.

“I know that,” I replied through gritted teeth. “Evidently, Connor has other plans.”

“Are you okay?” she said.

“Of course I am, why?”

“Because you just smiled at Jason Brady, the guy who put his hand on your butt in PE when we were freshmen. You hate that guy.”

It was true. I couldn't believe I had smiled at Jason Brady. The guy was a total perv. A casual smile was like an engraved invitation to him.

“He won't bother me,” I said with confidence I didn't feel. “Everyone knows I'm Connor's girlfriend.”

A fact I would remind Connor of as soon as I tracked him down at Wicked Jack's and scoped out the situation.

There was no sign of him or his gorgeous costar when we walked into the restaurant. Where were they? Connor was a creature of habit and Olivia Kaplan said she had seen them leave campus. I tried not to jump to conclusions. Connor had never given me a reason not to trust him. But I wasn't stupid. Angie Vogel was beautiful, and he was spending a lot of time with her. He'd better have a good explanation.

Wicked Jack's is pirate-themed, decorated in head-to-toe pirates' booty. There are stuffed parrots, treasure chests, and even a skeleton wearing a skull-and-crossbones bandanna. Tacky, but the food is good and affordable. And it's close enough to school that we could make it back without getting a tardy slip.

Vanessa waved at us from a corner booth. “Sophie, Monet, over here,” she said.

I didn't feel like talking to anyone, but I squared my shoulders and called out, “We'll be right over.” Then, to Monet, I said, “Will you get me a salad? I might as well get the inquisition over.”

“Sure,” she said. I handed her a twenty and watched her walk off. We'd managed to stay friends even though she wasn't into the whole popularity
thing and I was. I knew she thought it was silly to care so much about what other people thought, but she never made fun of me or trashed me behind my back.

The girls at the corner booth, however, were a different story. They were my couples friends, girls who dated Connor's friends. We had absolutely nothing in common, except that we were each one-half of a power couple.

I plastered on a bright smile and headed for the booth. “Hi, all,” I said gaily and plopped myself down next to Vanessa.

Vanessa was still dating Connor's best friend, Chase McDermitt, who had been a total player before Vanessa organized him into submission. He still was a bit of a player, truth be told, when Vanessa wasn't around. Vanessa was also in drama, but it was only a résumé padder for her. She had her fingers in every extracurricular pie.

Everyone wrote her off as one of those bubbly blondes, but the girl was cold as ice when it came to her GPA. She was determined to get into an Ivy League school. My money was on Vanessa to make it happen.

“We were so surprised to see you here today,” Haley Owens said.

Haley dated Mark Vedder, a senior. She was a junior, had a passing resemblance to Alicia Keys, and sang in every musical.

Everyone knew it would be over the minute Mark graduated from high school and left to play college basketball on the East Coast. Everybody except Haley, that is.

“No biggie,” I said. “Connor wanted a little more rehearsal time, that's all. And I thought it might be fun to mix it up a little.”

Connor had his faults, but a wandering eye wasn't one of them. He peppered his conversation with way too many
bro's
and
dude's,
had once eaten an entire apple pie without offering me a slice, and sophomore year, during his annual ski trip with his parents, had forgotten to call me for an entire week. That was it for Connor's faults.

Haley piped up. “I'd be careful, Sophie,” she said. “Angie Vogel is serious competition. And they've been spending a lot of time together. Jason says she's all Connor talks about these days.”

“He does, does he?” I said. I started to say something more, something I'd probably regret, but Monet came to the table loaded down with our lunch.

Vanessa leaned in close to me. “Sophie, I just want you to know that no matter what happens, we're still here for you.”

I'd believe that when I saw it, I thought. And I ignored the rest of what she was trying to say.

“Everything is fine,” I assured them. “Connor's
just excited about his role. It's a big deal for him. Who knows where it could take him? You know how important extracurricular activities are on college applications.”

They all nodded in agreement, but Monet gave me an inquiring look.

As if the whole subject bored me, I speared a leaf of lettuce with my fork. “Now, what's been going on with you guys? I've been so busy with rehearsals that I need you to catch me up on the latest.” But as I put the lettuce in my mouth, it tasted a little like sawdust.

Haley said, “Speaking of rehearsals, how's it going with gorgeous Dev?” She glanced at Monet and shrugged. “I know he's your brother, but he's totally hot.”

Monet replied, “But Sophie and my brother have known each other forever. She's immune to his questionable charms, right, Soph?”

“Exactly,” I said firmly. “Dev's like a brother to me.” Monet had been burned before by so-called friends who just wanted to get closer to Dev. It was always a sore topic.

Besides, I didn't need any speculation going around about my costar and me. Not when there was evidently already enough gossip about Connor and Angie.

I'd talk to him and make it clear that his
professional
admiration for his leading lady was becoming fodder for gossip. I didn't realize that it was much too late for a heart-to-heart with my boyfriend. Matters were already well out of my hands.