by Kylie Key
“Me!” I clasped Lily’s hand and held it up. “Us! Me and Lily will audition for Evie.”
Lily tried to squirm herself out of my grasp, but my hold was firm.
“Excellent!” Mrs Dornan said, and she called us all over to the front and allocated lines. I had no desire to be Evie, but I sensed Lily wouldn’t do it on her own. She gave me a frown, but there was no time for her to debate my actions, and funnily enough I hadn’t flinched at the thought of speaking out in front of the class. Because nobody knew Blaire Ashley, nobody had any expectations of her.
It was a liberating discovery.
Hands down, Lily was the best out of the actors. Chloe spoke with the monotone of a boring politician, and Olivia had facial expressions that were plain ridiculous. Even I looked like academy award winning material next to them. Mrs Dornan said she would announce the roles next week.
“What’s Evie’s costume like?” Chloe asked. “Will I have to wear pointed shoes?”
The assumption that she had the role was staggering, so much so that I had to respond. “Are you so sure you’ll get the part?” I snapped, an unintentional bite to my words.
Chloe looked taken aback, and did that thing. That looking down her nose thing, as if I was chopped liver. A haughty laugh emitted from her delicate nostrils, causing them to twitch and flare.
“Well, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an elf wearing glasses,” she said with a glare at me, “or one with a cleft lip.” Her pronunciation of those two words was so clipped that I had the urge to punch her in the face. Imagine that—me inciting violence, and suspended from both of the high schools in River Valley in a matter of weeks! And, as if it was a foregone conclusion that one or the other would get the lead, Chloe hooked her arm in Olivia’s and sashayed out of the room, sweeping up Alex in their departure.
My reaction was too slow, my face burning, ears fuming, my seething anger causing my voice to be stuck in my throat.
And then I looked at Lily, her eyes and lips drooping.
“I’m sorry,” I choked out an apology, “Lily, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for her to...”
Lily took my hand. “It’s okay,” she said, her tight smile telling me this was indeed something she was used to.
I squeezed her hand back, strangely feeling like I was on the verge of tears. In my attempt to help Lily, I had unwittingly made her a target. Were humans always this cruel, this insensitive?
“No, I’m really...” I started to say, but Lily cut in.
“I do have a cleft lip, Blaire,” she said softly. “It is what it is. I’m okay with it.”
Her resilience astounded me, but the thing is, I wasn’t okay with it.
“Ahem.” A throat cleared, and Lily and I dropped hands to see Alex standing beside us. I blinked and adjusted my glasses—hadn’t he left a few seconds ago? “Hey, you did a brilliant audition,” he said, and silly me felt a stab of jealousy as he directed his words at Lily. But it quickly passed when he nudged my elbow and winked, “And you weren’t too bad yourself.”
“Thanks,” Lily said shyly, “but I won’t hold my breath waiting for the part.” She turned to me. “Thanks for making me do it though, Blaire. I probably wouldn’t have tried otherwise.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, “and I actually quite enjoyed it.” I nudged Alex, “So, Lord Alex, why didn’t you try out for the Lord of the Zombies?” Alex winced, like I’d offended him. Maybe British humor was a little different. “Or Santa? You’d make a great Santa,” I said in an attempt to appease.
Alex shrugged. “I’ll happily play one of the raving mad zombies. In the background,” he said, taking a few steps, walking with a stiff leg, zombie style. Lily and I laughed. “Well, good luck,” Alex said as he kept going towards the door, moving into a more normal walk.
I felt momentarily crushed that he hadn’t stayed to talk, probably wanting to catch up to Chloe and Olivia.
“Well, have a good weekend,” Lily said as she slung her backpack over her shoulder.
“Sure,” I said, “you too.” I unzipped my bag to pull out my jacket. The wind was swirling around outside and the outside temperature was projected to be down in the thirties.
“Uh...do you have much planned?”
“Uh, probably staying home and keeping warm,” I said with a lame laugh. Though it was the unfortunate truth. I had nowhere to go, no one to see, other than a video chat with Mom, and maybe Jack, if Mom deemed it safe. Wow, just a month ago I would have been inundated with parties, sleepovers, movie and shopping invitations. Now it was doubtful I’d get out of my pajamas and leave the house.
Mom’s video call didn’t come. She said she’d wait till midweek. They were having a dinner party, and she had a lot to organize. She sent me all her love, but I was bewildered. I couldn’t understand why a dinner party meant she couldn’t talk to me. It’s not like she’d personally plan stuff herself. She had staff to do that, and Margaret had baked her special chocolate profiteroles for it. Margaret brought some back for Tony and me, but she was very cagey about the dinner party and the guests.
“It’s for big business people,” she said, which seemed a bit unusual. Business dinners were usually held in hotels or restaurants, not at our home.
The weather was atrocious most of the weekend, so holing up wasn’t so bad. I read through the zombie script several times, wishing I had gotten Lily’s number. I might have been able to help her rehearse, I was certain she’d get the main part.
Jack texted saying he had been on a movie date with Bella, but she hadn’t mentioned anything about a new girl arriving at school, though was it true that there was an exchange student from England? A boy? Jack seemed kind of jealous. Just to rile him up, I told him he was extremely cute. Well, he was!
The word at Covington was that I was settling into my new ‘boarding school’ which was super strict, hence nobody had heard from me. Jack had made up some story about my punishment including being banned from social media. He said he and Troy were doing their own undercover investigation to try to find out who had set me up. Unfortunately, they had made no progress.
Tuesday’s Theater Arts class couldn’t come quick enough and I was high with the anticipation that we would learn who had gotten the lead roles. I scuttled into the drama room right before Mrs Dornan closed the door. Lily was sitting in the back row of the semi-circle of chairs, and Alex was nonchalantly leaning against the wall, scrolling through his phone. On seeing them, a smile burst onto my face, making me realize that they were the reason for my excitement. Yes, these were the only two people I had connected with at River Valley High. Well, I had spoken to some kids in the library (Me: I’m returning this book. Kid: Great, thanks). And in pre-calculus, I’d paired up with a boy to work through an exercise (Him: Did you get the same answer? Me: Yep). And in biology a girl had dropped her pen on the floor and I’d picked it up for her (Her: Hey, thanks. Me: You’re welcome).
The conversations I’d had with Alex and Lily were the only real ones I’d had in a week, and though I wanted to be invisible, being an island was lonely.
As Mrs Dornan called us to sit, Alex pushed off the wall and, despite Chloe and Olivia’s pleas that he sit next to them in the front, he headed to the back row, the two of us converging on Lily at the same.
Lily smiled in shock, her misshapen lips curling up to reveal dimples on both cheeks.
“You ready to play the lead role?” Alex said, bumping her shoulder.
“Don’t be silly,” Lily replied, bumping him back. Over Lily’s slouched body, Alex looked across at me, giving a minuscule, barely perceptible eyebrow raise.
My heart fluttered wildly—and not because he’d acknowledged me—it was Alex’s simple act of kindness to Lily, done while ignoring Chloe and Olivia, who were frantically trying to gain his attention.
“Okay, let’s do this,” Mrs Dornan’s voice went a decibel louder. “I have considered all the roles. Santa, Ethan Townsend.” A roar of applause thundered around the room a
nd Ethan stood and took a bow. “Chief Zombie, Donovan Valdez.” More enthusiastic clapping. “Evie the Elf...” I impulsively grabbed Lily’s hand, squeezing it tight, probably cutting off circulation to her fingers. “...Lily Bloomfield.”
An awkward second of silence followed, and then Alex leapt to his feet, and with a clap that required earmuffs, stood and cheered as if Oscar statues were being presented. I joined him, as did half the class. Chloe’s pout and scowl were obvious for all to see.
I was named as Elf Number 2, which got me two single lines on my own. Chloe was Elf Number 1, and Olivia Elf Number 3. They refused to turn and acknowledge Lily and me. Alex was listed as Zombie Eight, which was a non-speaking role. It suited him fine, he said.
Mrs Dornan made us read through the script again, and gave us a schedule for extra practice times. In class we would concentrate on stage props and costumes, so it was imperative that those with lines attend all the rehearsals.
Already Chloe announced that she might not be able to make some, that she had cheerleading and dance and gymnastics and a social life. She said those last two words while giving Lily and me the evil eye. Mrs Dornan expressed in no uncertain terms that commitment was required, telling Chloe she needed to prioritize if she wanted to be included. She then said that she would have to learn Evie the Elf’s lines too, as she would be Lily’s understudy. Chloe’s eyes sparked back to life and she sucked in her glossy red lips with a look of smugness.
I wanted to talk to Alex and thank him for his support of Lily, but he was swept up with Chloe and Olivia and I didn’t have the chance. As always, after school I went and claimed my regular spot in the library, the chess club kids giving me a friendly smile as I hovered over them and watched for a minute. I didn’t have much of a clue about chess, only that the game included kings, queens and pawns, and smart people played it.
I checked the graphic novel shelves for zombie books. Mrs Dornan said we would have to do our own makeup and help those who were of ‘limited ability.’ I think she meant the boys. Little did she know that Blair P had been a makeup fanatic, and the idea of making up zombies had me excited. At last year’s Halloween party at Mikayla’s house, I’d helped Jack and Hunter (who I’d been dating at the time), with their zombie costumes, so you could say I was somewhat of an expert. I wondered if I could ask Margaret to bring my makeup kits from home. It also made me wonder if my locker had been cleared out at Covington Prep, or were they expecting me to come back.
“Thought you’d be here.” A blue backpack was tossed onto the floor next to me and Alex slumped into the chair beside me, rubbing his hands together. “It’s windy and cold and miserable out there.”
“At least it’s not raining,” I said with a smile, a jitteriness rising in my chest.
He shivered as he removed his black puffer jacket. A beanie completely covered his hair and ears. It made his features appear perfect, his clear blue eyes, red cheeks stung from the cold, his full plump lips. Man, why did I always stare at his lips?
“Trust you to look on the bright side,” he said, and it took me a second to decipher his accent.
“Well, you basically arrived on the first day of winter, what’d you expect?”
“Good point,” he relinquished, taking off his beanie and ruffling his own hair. I had an urge to assist, to fluff up his flattened hair.
“So, did you come in here to warm up? Or are you joining the chess club?” I averted my eyes from his luscious locks to the boys in deep contemplation over their chess boards.
“Ha!” He did a quick look around and said in a muffled mumble, “I figured Chloe would never come in here.”
I should’ve been happy to hear he was hiding out from Chloe, but I couldn’t help but think that it was an insult that I was in the library. Best not to overthink it.
“So, I’m just looking up some pictures, you know for the zombie makeup,” I said.
“You can do makeup?” The disbelief in his tone irked me, until I realized I wasn’t wearing any, that I hadn’t for weeks. Blaire Ashley was a natural girl with every pore and blemish exposed.
“Uh, I’ve done a few Halloween parties in my time,” I said with a smile. “Well, one.”
“Oh yeah, you’ve gotta thing for Halloween here,” he said.
“You don’t have it in England?”
“Yeah, kind of, but not like you do. Some kids might dress up, but it’s a lot more low key.”
“Oh, well you’re missing out on all the fun then,” I said.
Alex rolled his eyes as if he didn’t really care. Strange, for an exchange student he didn’t seem keen to learn about the American way. Johanna, the Swedish girl at Covington Prep had totally immersed herself in our high school culture, attending every event. She had more pep than the cheerleading squad combined.
“So, what did you get dressed up as then?”
“This year?” Oh heck, Blair P had been dressed up as Catwoman, complete with a skin tight black suit and cute cat ears. “Uh, Harry Potter.” It was the first thing that came to mind—Ginny and Troy had dressed up as Harry and Hermione. Though it’s anyone’s guess why I hadn’t said Hermione. Alex howled with laughter, can’t imagine why. “Anyway, if you want my help with makeup, let me know,” I said quickly.
“Photos?”
“What?”
“Of you dressed up as Harry Potter.”
Now it was me rolling my eyes. “I don’t have any,” I said defiantly.
“You must-” He reached out to the table, snatching up my phone before I realized what he was doing.
“Noooooo-”
In Mom’s effort to make Blaire Ashley look like any other River Valley student, she’d given me an outdated phone. In fact, she’d gone overboard in making me look ordinary—mine was so basic and budget as to be an embarrassment. And that’s why I hadn’t set a lock on it.
With magician-like fingers Alex had clicked on the photos app and was scrolling. My breathing came to an abrupt halt as I tried to think what incriminating evidence was on it.
A smirk appeared on Alex’s face, then a frown, and another as he swiped across the screen. I was sure I was about to pass out. Why couldn’t I remember what I’d taken photos of?
He lowered the phone and I immediately reached for it. Only, I thought he’d offer some resistance and that I’d have to wrench it from him, so I took hold of his hand firmly and tightly. My phone dropped down onto his lap, but my hand stayed wrapped around his—and it didn’t want to let go. Nervous energy, or something rushed through me, bringing oxygen back into my lungs. I was polarized by both feelings of warmth and chills, goosebumps making me bristle, but in a good way, in a nice way...
Ryan, Hunter, Magnus, Nicholas...none of the boys I’d dated had never made me feel like this, not even Ryan’s kisses.
Gah...seconds had passed and we were still joined in a hand lock. Why wasn’t I releasing? Why hadn’t he pulled away? It was like we’d been put on pause, stuck in time, frozen.
“Oh yeah!” Someone from the chess table jumped up in victory. Only then did Alex and I separate, my heart pounding with the velocity of an orbiting satellite. I had the distinct impression that his was too.
I realigned my glasses, and was about to pick up my phone from his lap. But that would mean touching his jeans. I never wanted something so much in all my life...to touch his jeans, I mean. I didn’t care about my phone.
“You’re...you’re not much of a photographer,” he said with a hint of a stutter.
“Uh, no,” I said, relieved to remember that Blaire Ashley’s photos were minimal.
“So, you love your dog more than me?”
My cheeks flamed hotter than a jalapeño pepper as he clicked on my photos again, showing me the pic of him that I’d snapped on that first Theater Arts lesson. I’d forgotten all about it. Then there were about ten pics of Peppy in various poses of cuteness, and a couple of my bedroom showing its twin bed with a patchwork quilt and dated floral wall paper. I’d sent them to
Mom and Dad.
“That’s Peppy,” I said, willing my skin to cool down. “She’s a Pomeranian.”
“Yeah, my Grandmother’s got one. Sure can yap.”
“Peppy’s generally pretty good, but she can get noisy around new people. What’s your Gran’s dog’s name?”
“Fergus.”
“Fergus? That sounds posh,” I said, and now he was the one blushing, lowering his head like he’d gone all shy. “Uh, have you got a dog?”
“Yeah. Three.” He scratched above his left eyebrow. “We English love our dogs.”
As he went on to tell me about Buddy, Vincent and Astral, my heartbeat returned to a more sustainable rate and tension eased. Ridiculous how or why I’d gotten so worked up over a simple touching of hands.
Alex’s phone buzzed and I took that moment to take off my glasses and wipe the lenses. Tugging at one of the many layers I was wearing, I used the hem of a white t-shirt to clean them. Then I held them up to the light to inspect them, my eyes averting to my right to see that Alex was staring. Good grief. The large frames concealed not only my true identity, but a multitude of flaws, and in my panic to put them back on they twisted in my hand and sailed to the floor. We reached down at the same time, but he grabbed them first. Again, time stood still—both of us hunched over, our eyes locked. My vision was imperfect, but I could clearly see how perfect he was.
Oh...to be Blair Pennington, rich girl, heir to Whittakers Ice Cream Empire—Alex Lord would have asked her on a date already. Blaire Ashley—not a chance.
“I’ve gotta go,” Alex said, handing me my glasses, and moving at the speed of light to put on his jacket. “See ya, yeah?”
“Sure,” I said with a ghost of a smile, my stupid heart beat ramping up again as he headed for the exit.
In another life, in another time, Alex would have fallen hard for Blair P.
It was so unfair that he’d never get to know her.
Chapter 6
Alexander
A whirlwind.
That’s what it was.