The Comeback Part 15

Just then, Dev and Beth walked in. I ducked down in my seat. "Oh, no."

"What is it?"

I motioned to where they stood, scanning the theater to find seats. It was crowded, but there were seats next to us.

"Do you want to leave?" Ava said.

"No, of course not," I said.

But she wasn't convinced. "Let's get out of here," she said. "We can watch the movie in the next theater. C'mon, before they see us."

But it was too late. "Hi, Ava. Hi, Sophie. Do you mind if we sit here?" Beth asked.

What could I say? "Of course not."

It was almost worth my own discomfort when I saw Dev's expression.

"I'll get us some snacks," he said. He practically bolted down the aisle, as if fleeing the scene of a crime.

Beth chatted away, completely oblivious to my discomfort.

Ava shot me a puzzled look, but I shook my head. Beth wasn't doing it on purpose, at least I didn't think she was. She wasn't aware of the gossip about Dev and me because she was too much of a straight edge to listen to it.

When Dev got back, the only seat left was the one next to me. He sat there because he didn't have any other choice, but I could tell he'd rather be anywhere else.

Thankfully, the movie started, which discouraged any conversation. Beth, I noticed, talked during movies.

I kept my eyes on the screen but was hyperaware of Dev's every move. I swore I would kill him if he made a move on Beth in front of me, but he kept his hands firmly on his own side of the armrest.

Still, I was consumed with jealousy.

His leg b.u.mped against mine once and he whispered a "sorry," but other than that, we didn't exchange one single word.

It was the longest hour and a half of my life. When the lights went up, I practically bolted down the aisle.

Outside, Ava looked at me. "So, how did you like the movie?" she said deadpan, but I could see the twinkle in her eye.

"That wasn't funny," I said, "it was horrible. You have the worst taste in movies."

We burst into hysterical laughter.

Chapter 21.

No, no, no," Mr. Fanelli shouted. "Try it again. And, Dev, this time, kiss her like you mean it, not like you're kissing your grandmother." We were practicing the wedding scene and Fanelli had it in his head that we needed a big kiss at the end.

"Can't we just stage kiss? The audience can't even tell the difference, anyway," I pleaded. I mean, how embarra.s.sing. Dev wasn't even trying to hide his reluctance to put his lips on mine.

"I can tell," Mr. Fanelli replied, "so no, you can't. We are striving for authenticity, Sophie. We want the audience to think that you and Dev are pa.s.sionately in love, carried away, transported."

"Let's just get this over with," I said to Dev. He grunted, which was what pa.s.sed for communication from him these days.

He put his arms around me, but it looked artificial, even to me. There was no feeling in his arms or his lips. I kept my own lips firmly closed.

Mr. Fanelli clapped his hands again. "Wait, wait," he said. "This is not working. We need fire." He snapped his fingers. "Angie, Connor, come show Sophie and Dev how it's done."

"Great," I whispered furiously to Dev, "now we have to take kissing lessons from Connor."

"Not if I can help it," Dev said. He grabbed me and planted a long, slow kiss on my lips. He moved to the curve of my cheek and murmured, "Kiss me back, Sophie."

So I did. Wildly. Gladly. Pa.s.sionately. I forgot about our audience, forgot that I was angry with him, and forgot everything except the feeling of him pressed against me.

The sound of applause brought me to my senses, and I ended the kiss. The cast finally went back to what they were doing, Connor frowned, and Dev disappeared, but I still stood there.

Monet bustled up with the pretense of showing me something. "Don't stand there like a guppy with your mouth open, Sophie."

They were the first words she'd spoken to me in days. "We were just acting," I said quickly.

"I get it now," she said.

"Get what?" But she ignored me and went back to her clipboard.

When Mr. Fanelli called a five-minute break, I decided to pa.s.s out the cookies I'd made the night before.

"Can I talk to you?"

It was Connor. I handed him a chocolate chip cookie and then remembered that they were his favorite. So what? I told myself, they were everybody's favorite.

Connor led me to a corner of the auditorium, but I balked. "I'm not having an audience to our conversation. Not again. Whatever you have to say to me, you need to say it in private."

"Okay, that's fair. Hallway okay?"

I poked my head out the door and surveyed the hallway. Deserted. "Make it quick."

He followed me out. "I wanted to say something," he began. He gave me his trademark roguish grin, the one he used to charm me into going out with him in the first place. If I knew my ex-boyfriend, he was about to ask me for a favor.

"You may have heard that Angie and I have been having some problems lately."

"I never listen to idle gossip," I replied. Hey, if you can't lie to an ex-boyfriend, who can you lie to?

"It's just not working out. I was so stupid before, the way I treated you. And you're so great..."

Oh, no. It couldn't be. Dread filled my stomach. Connor couldn't be asking me out again, could he? As he spoke, I realized that I was completely and utterly over him. I wouldn't take him back even if it meant that I would never be popular again.

"Connor, listen, you're great, too, but I'm not into you anymore."

He looked startled. "I know that."

"You do?"

"Yes, but I thought maybe you could talk to Angie. Let her know that I'm a great catch. That kind of thing. I think she might be losing interest."

Was it possible that Connor was actually unsure of himself? He was, probably for the first time ever.

"I don't know," I replied. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Anything." He smiled charmingly.

"Tell me why you dumped me in the first place." Monet said I never learned, but maybe I could learn from this.

"I don't know why," he said.

"Of course you do," I replied. "You're just afraid that if you tell me, I'll get mad and do something stupid."

"Won't you?"

I winced. "Probably," I admitted. "But I'm trying not to."

He shrugged. "Remember when we met? You were kind of awkward and a little shy. I thought you needed me. But after a while, it seemed like the only thing you needed was to be talked about, no matter how you went about doing it."

"You liked me because I needed rescuing?"

"Everyone needs to be needed," he said. "I did care about you, but it started to feel like you didn't really care about me. Angie did."

I didn't say anything. I stood there trying to absorb what he was saying.

"That's it? No scenes, no drama?"

"Nope."

He grinned. "Why, Sophie, I believe you must be changing."

"So what exactly do you want me to do?" I wasn't going to completely transform, at least not overnight, anyhow. These things take time.

"I want you to convince Angie that there are no hard feelings."

"Why does she care?"

"She thinks it was bad for her image, the way I broke up with you. She wants us to hang out to show everyone that everything's okay."

Translation: She was worried that everyone thought she was a boyfriend-stealing ho.

"Why should I do this for you?" Or for Angie, for that matter. But maybe it would give me some sort of closure. It took a lot of energy to hate someone.

"Why? You have firsthand experience. I was a good boyfriend to you, and I'd be a good friend." He said it with such confidence that I didn't have the heart to point out that good boyfriends don't dump their girlfriends in public.

"I'll try, Connor, but I can't make any promises."

"Let's meet at Wicked Jack's later tonight."

"Tonight?" It wasn't like I had anything better to do.

"Please?" he said.

"Angie has to come, too." The last thing I needed was new rumors about Connor and me getting back together or something ridiculous like that.

"Then you'll do it? Sophie, I love you!" He picked me up and whirled me around.

"Put me down," I said, but I was laughing as I said it. Connor's exuberance was contagious.

"Not until you say yes."

"Yes, yes. I'll meet you tonight. Now put me down before someone sees us."

But someone already had. Dev was glowering at us from the doorway of the auditorium. "They need us," he said curtly.

Connor set me down, and we followed Dev back into rehearsal. Connor wandered off and I was left to deal with Dev.

"What's your problem?" I said, but he didn't answer.

We went through another scene, thankfully not one in which we were supposed to kiss.

Mr. Fanelli called out, "Okay, people. Let's call it a night. Dress rehearsal on Thursday. Don't be late."

Connor and I left together and waited for Angie by his car. We were heading to the restaurant as soon as she managed to tear herself away from whatever it was that she was doing. The waiting was irritating me and I looked at my watch again.

"You can ride with us, you know," Connor said.

"Now you're pus.h.i.+ng it," I said.

Dev walked by us.

"Good night, Dev," I called out, but he ignored me and got into his car. A minute later, it tore out of the parking lot.

"What's with him?" Connor said. But the subject was dropped when he saw Angie.

"Let's get this over with," she said.

"Hey, I'm the one doing you two a favor," I said. "I'm not the one who broke up a happy couple."

She observed me for a long minute. "You have a point," she said. "But let's call it a mutually beneficial endeavor."