Making Ripples
Page 17
He isn’t the only one who wants to thank you for finding this program and suggesting it for him. I had no idea about it before you showed it to me and I am going to refer more of our people who could use the help after returning from difficult active duty. I know you probably don’t think this is a big deal, but you did a good thing and I just wanted you to know the impact you’ve had.
Your mother just arrived in my office and is glaring at me because I’m supposed to be packing, but she does say hi and sends her love.
Looking forward to seeing you at Easter.
Love, Mom and Dad.
I opened up the picture and my heart almost burst from happiness. Tristan was kneeling on the floor of what looked like a gym or community center, his arms around a black dog that was licking his laughing face. His eyes were covered by his sunglasses, but I knew without a doubt that the corners were crinkled up under them. I’d seen him smile, but I’d never seen this kind of joyful expression on his face. And in that moment, I knew he was going to be okay.
My dad was giving me more credit than I deserved for making it happen, but still, it felt good to know that because of a tiny thing I did, Tristan would get more help for his PTSD and in turn, more people would also get the help they needed.
One little stone, lots of ripples.
Thank you
for reading MAKING RIPPLES!
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The Rosewoods Series
TAKING THE REINS
MASQUERADE
PLAYING THE PART
READING BETWEEN THE LINES
I’LL NEVER FORGET (Short Story)
THIS POINT FORWARD
RISKING IT ALL (Short Story)
MAKING RIPPLES
ACTING OUT
HITTING THE TARGET (August 2015)
Find me online at http://katrinaabbott.com, follow me on Twitter @abbottkatrina and come check out my Pinterest board to see some of the inspirations behind the characters (girls and guys!) and the costumes for MASQUERADE.
xoxo
Katrina Abbott
Out now!
ACTING OUT
Book 7
of
The Rosewoods
Read on for a sneak peek!
Identifying a Problem
I never wanted a boyfriend.
Don’t get me wrong; I love boys. A lot. Probably the only thing I love more than boys is kissing boys, but I’ve never wanted a steady boyfriend. Just ask anyone; I’ve been known at Rosewood as the girl who wouldn’t settle down with one guy. The girl who never needed to focus on just one guy. The girl who was no stranger to a casual hookup, which is exactly the way I liked it.
Or so I thought.
Until that day at rehearsal when Declan Ryan, my co-lead, future duke, nice guy and the boyfriend of one of my best friends made me realize what I was missing. Wait, that sounds wrong; I didn’t suddenly find myself with a crush on him.
Let me explain.
We’d just finished rehearsing for our joint school production of Romeo and Juliet and were all hanging around in the auditorium as we always did before the boys left to go back to Westwood. Thanks to Kaylee (and probably her relationship with the aforementioned future duke) building in some downtime at the end of each rehearsal, cast and crew of the production had quickly realized these rehearsals were almost as good as dances for hanging out with members of the opposite sex. I think Kaylee figured it would help us get along and make for a production where everyone worked well together, but really, we were pretty much all looking to hook up.
On this particular night, there was a bit more buzz than normal because it was the first rehearsal since we’d all returned from Christmas break. Everyone was catching up after being apart for several weeks, talking about what we did for our holidays and inevitably bitching about returning to school. Though looking around, it was obvious everyone was happy to be here, chatting up members of the opposite sex. I know I was, especially after the supremely boring skiing holiday I’d had with my family. Read: sans eligible boys (and even if there’d been any, I was under the very watchful eye of my overbearing father).
Len Miles was talking to me as he often did, which made me a bit sad because he was a really nice guy and obviously had a crush on me, (or maybe my boobs, because that’s what he seemed to be talking to), but wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, if you know what I mean. As I pretended to pay attention to him—even giving him an encouraging hair toss to bring his eyes upward—something caught my eye. I looked up to see Kaylee and Declan in the wings, standing so close, there was almost no light passing between them.
I smiled, happy that my friend had found her knight in shining armor, or—more accurately, I guess—her duke. I watched as he said something to her, making her look down demurely, though whatever it was, she liked it, her mouth turning up and that cute dimple appearing in her cheek. He lifted her chin with a long finger so she had no choice but look up into his eyes and that’s when I saw it. It was like a bolt of electricity passed between them as they looked at each other. Then, a half second later, he leaned down and gave her a tender kiss, just a brush of his lips that meant everything. It was the kind of kiss that, if I’d seen it in a movie, would make me sigh and grin at the screen like an idiot. I could send a wrecking ball flying at them and neither would notice because they were in their own universe. No, that’s not right, they were their own universe.
Me, I want that for me. I want someone to look at me like that, popped into my head. As happy as I was for both of them, my heart suddenly ached. Which was so weird, because guys looked at me plenty; I had one right now with his eyes trained on my chest as he babbled away. I never wanted for attention. But that tenderness, the connection; I’d never, ever expected to want that. Especially because having a guy look at you like that meant he knew you. The real you, not just the funny, sexy girl who guys flock to, who just happens to be a mirage.
Something caught my eye and I turned and saw Abe looking at me. Jared Abramovich. He wasn’t even in the show and had sworn off acting after his horrible childhood on a sitcom, so I had no idea what he was doing here. Probably looking to hook up like everyone else.
For some reason, it bothered me, even though I was hardly innocent of it.
Then I saw him glance over at Kaylee and Declan and then back to me and I swear, he could see right through me.
A thread of panic went through my veins and I suddenly felt the urge to look away from his knowing gaze, but instead, I forced a slow smile and gave him an obvious wink. He frowned and then looked away.
Score one for Chelly.
“Chelly? Don’t you think?” the guy in front of me said, bringing my attention back to him. Right. Len Miles, or as all the guys called him, just Miles.
“Huh?” I asked.
“The Patriots are looking like they might take it this year.”
Football? Really this guy is talking to me about football? Of course it made sense since he was on a football scholarship and was probably going to get drafted. But still...
I smiled at him, but not too widely because I didn’t actually want to encourage him to keep trying to talk to me about sports. “Maybe,” I said non-committally. “I’m not really into baseball.”
“Baseball?” He said with a bit of a condescending smile. “I’m talking about football. The only sport that really matters.”
I gave him one of my signature giggles, but my heart really wasn’t in it and I suddenly found myself close to tears. I did a quick calculation, but PMS couldn’t be to blame, so obviously I was having some sort of unexplained meltdown
. “Right. Football. Listen, I’d better go. I have to...”
And then before I even thought of how to end my sentence, I ran out of the auditorium, leaving him standing there on the stage.
~ ♥ ~
About twenty minutes later, after I got myself together in the main floor bathroom, I didn’t bother going back to the auditorium and instead trudged up the stairs to the third floor. I got halfway down the hall to my dorm room and realized I was so not in the mood for Naomi and explaining why I ran out after rehearsal.
After only a moment’s hesitation, I stopped at Brooklyn and Emmie’s room, pasting a happy look on my face before knocking. Celia let me in and I greeted my girls before plopping on Emmie’s bed with her.
Brooklyn, who looked like the walking dead with dark circles under her half-closed eyes—reminding me she was jet-lagged—was in her pajamas, sitting on her desk chair, telling the girls how she and Dave were over.
For good this time.
Obviously exhausted, she climbed into bed. “I’m done with guys,” she said with a sigh.
“Don’t even!” I said, crossing myself because I knew it would get a laugh.
Sure enough, the girls snickered. I winked at Celia.
“Not permanently. Just the thing with Brady...”
Right. Her hot horse coach, the one she couldn’t have. Poor thing.
“But he’s not even here,” Celia said with a frown.
Looking at Brooklyn, it was obvious it didn’t matter that he wasn’t here. She had it for him bad and his geographical situation was irrelevant. It made me feel sad for her and sort of reinforced why I never got involved with guys. It also made me question my thoughts from earlier in the night because no good came from getting involved.
Which made the following come out of my mouth: “You’re nuts. Just casually date. You don’t need anything serious. And then when your hot coach comes around, you can just kick Mr. Right Now to the curb.” Because I knew that hot coach was going to come around; I’d seen the way he looked at her and if it was possible, it was even hotter than the way Declan had looked at Kaylee.
“You’ve obviously given this a lot of thought,” Emmie said, looking at me almost mockingly, which made me smile. “But I think Brooklyn’s being smart. There’s nothing wrong with being on your own and waiting for the right guy.”
I guess, but it was awfully easy for her to say, wasn’t it? “Says the girl with the hot felon,” I said out loud.
Emmie threw a pillow at me, which I easily deflected. But as I looked at her face, I realized she was completely a slave to her emotions for that hot felon of hers.
It occurred to me in that moment, that as I was sitting on the sidelines, my friends were hooking up around me. And they weren’t just random guys, either. These were quality relationships. Kaylee and Declan were obviously the real thing. So were Emmie and Danny. And when Brooklyn’s hot coach got his head out of his ass, that was going to be real deal, too. I’m talking capital L word real deal. For all of them.
I glanced at Celia, but she was still on my single girl team, though maybe not by choice. She looked at Brooklyn and said, “Well I think you’re being smart, too. Emmie’s right. There’s nothing wrong with being on your own.”
“Your hot chef still not making a move?” I asked, remembering how she’s been all googly-eyed over that guy she worked with down in the kitchen.
Celia frowned and sighed as she shook her head. Right, so she was not single by choice. Maybe she’d seen Kaylee and Declan together, too. I had to admit, they made a compelling case for a serious relationship. Not that I was ready to admit that out loud.
“We’re going to have to do something about that,” I said, giving Celia a smile.
She gave me a panicked look. “No thank you.”
“Okay, yeah,” I said, because she totally needed my help or nothing was going to happen. Though I’d buy my time; if I pushed her too much now, she’d completely back off. Maybe I’d get the others involved, too. “So, what’s our next event with the boys?” I asked Emmie.
She smiled. “The talent show. I talked to Kaylee and she said she was going to have you guys do a scene from the play as sort of a commercial for it.”
“That’ll be fun,” Celia said.
I thought about the rehearsals where no one (except Declan) knew their lines and how we did a lot more laughing than acting. If Kaylee was hoping to get a bunch of kids who wanted to see an epic fail, we were totally going to nail it. “That’ll be hilarious. We kind of suck.”
“Even better,” Celia grinned. “I can’t wait.”
I looked at her and winked. “Me, neither.”
She swallowed, the smile disappearing from her face. “Don’t,” she whispered.
But she was scared for nothing. I’d help her with her chef if the opportunity came up, of course, but I was looking forward to our joint events with the boys with my own interests in mind.
Because I, Seychelles Spencer, was going to get me a boyfriend. Not just a hookup, either, but a real relationship with one guy.
I mean really, how hard could it be?
~ ♥ ~
Want more? Buy ACTING OUT.
Also by Katrina Abbott
The Rosewoods
Taking The Reins
Masquerade
Playing The Part
Reading Between The Lines
This Point Forward
Making Ripples
Acting Out
Hitting the Target
Turning the Page
Crossing the Line
New Beginnings - The Rosewoods Series - Books 1 - 3
Fresh Start: The Rosewoods Series Prequel
The Rosewoods - Bonus Content
I'll Never Forget
Risking it All
The Rosewoods Rock Star Series
Along for the Ride
Going on Tour
Working for the Band
Watch for more at Katrina Abbott’s site.