Jealousy

by Jessica Burkhart

  “Khloe, wow,” I said. “Thank you. Of course I forgive you and Clare. You’re my roommate and best friend—I know you were only looking out for me. Clare and I have gotten a lot closer too, and she only had good intentions.”

  I reached out and touched Khloe’s knee. She was cozy in black leggings with a stripe of cheetah print down each side. She’d found the leggings and an off-the-shoulder terry-cloth sweater at Deb online a few weeks ago.

  Khloe smiled. A huge smile. “Omigod, LT. I’m so glad we’re okay! I hate it when things are off between us! Wheeew!” She let out a giant sigh, flopping onto her back.

  I giggled. “It’s not funny, but I know what you mean. It sticks with me every second when we’re fighting or things aren’t right with our friendship. I think it’s an extra-stressful time right now.”

  Khloe, still lying with her legs stretched in front of her just beside me, propped herself up on her elbows. “Tell me about it.”

  “We’ve got,” I started, holding up a hand to count, “Parents’ Weekend. A play. A glee club performance for the families. Riding lessons. Tons of schoolwork. Did I mention families?”

  We giggled, and I held one palm up like a high five and on the other hand just my thumb to give her a high six.

  “Six things,” I said. “And these are only the B-I-G things.”

  “Oh God,” Khloe said, dropping back onto the rug. “Don’t even try to count all the little things. You’ll run out of fingers and toes.”

  I took a deep breath. I needed some calming tea. Maybe some of the Celestial Seasonings Honey Vanilla Chamomile that Mom had sent me last week.

  “We need to do something, I don’t know, bonding,” Khloe said. A mischievous smile played on her lips. “Agree?”

  “Most definitely. What do you have in mind?” I grinned.

  “Oh, maybe a little thing called . . . online shopping?” Khloe sat up, staring at me and wiggling her eyebrows.

  “Ooh la la! Grab your laptop!”

  We got up, grabbed our computers, and lay on our stomachs across my bed. The need for calming tea completely disappeared.

  “I think,” Khloe said, “we need new socks. Not the boring white ones, but awesome ones for fall that act as accessories. What do you think?”

  “I love that idea,” I said. “We could keep them in a bin and share like we do with everything else.”

  “Yes!” Khloe said, shimmying her shoulders.

  “It’s so funny that you said socks, because I’ve been looking at the coolest socks online the past couple of days. I found the ultimate never-shopping-anywhere-else Website. It’s going down as an EBT.” I frowned. “Well, socks aren’t beauty, technically, so I guess we need a new category.”

  “EST!” Khloe said.

  “Essential style trick!” we said simultaneously.

  Giggling, I opened Firefox and pulled up the Website. “Look. At. It.” I said. “I’ve been trying to figure out a way to justify a huge charge on my credit card as an ‘emergency,’ but I think seeing ‘Sock Dreams’ as the charge will ruin my defense.”

  Khloe grinned. “Lucky for us, we have some cash in our checking accounts.”

  “Exactly. Check these out.”

  I showed Khloe the home page of Sock Dreams’s Website. Then we got lost in socks. Ankle socks. Knee-high socks. Over-the-knee socks. Toe socks. Socks with rainbows. Argyle. Stripes. Fall patterns. Winter shades.

  “Let’s shop for LT socks first,” Khloe said. “Then Khloe socks.”

  “Deal,” I said.

  Almost an hour later, I had an overflowing cart. Khloe and I had added every single pair of socks we liked, promising we’d cut socks before I checked out.

  “Okay, I have to go through my cart, narrow it down, and check out,” I said. “If I don’t stop now, I’ll never finish homework. Help me choose!”

  Khloe put on her serious face. “Khloe Kinsella at your service.”

  It took us half an hour to settle on five pairs that I loved and Khloe fawned over: Extraordinary Harvest Rainbow Thigh-Highs (parfait to keep me warm during fall, and the colors—pomegranate, burnt orange, and plum, among others—were in for the season), Angora Faux Zipper Knee-Highs (gray with red tops and chic zipper detail), Confetti Kneesocks (ivory with army-green top and très cute polka dots), Cotton Argyle Tights (I’d chosen gray, black, and purple colors), and Peacock Feather Knee-Highs (black with a metallic-gold-and-turquoise peacock feather).

  I let out a happy sigh once I’d checked out.

  “I’m going to so be bugging Christina about the mail!” I said. “I wish we could snap our fingers and make the order appear right now.”

  “If online shopping worked that way, it would be sooo bad,” Khloe said, shaking her head. “I’d be broke, and you’d have to stage an intervention and force me to go to Shopaholics Anonymous meetings!”

  We laughed.

  “Seriously,” Khloe said. “Total score, LT. Now . . . we’re about to double our new collection!”

  She turned her laptop screen in my direction. “My turn! Help me choose five.”

  “And this is why it’s amaze to have a best friend and roomie that you can share clothes with,” I said.

  Khloe and I high-fived. I closed my laptop lid and leaned toward her computer. Together we browsed the Website for Khloe-like socks.

  As we shopped, I let out a silent breath of relief that Khloe and I were okay again. I wasn’t me without my best friend.

  OUI, BE OUR GUEST!

  MONDAY EVENING I SETTLED INTO MY SEAT at the theater. Opening night for Beauty and the Beast had sold out. I’d checked. Three times. I’d thought about Khloe all day and had only seen her after classes when I was changing for riding. She’d been excused from her lesson for the day, because her drama teacher wanted KK rested and to have plenty of time to get to the theater for makeup and costume.

  Pre-performance Khloe was a side of her I’d never seen. She’d been terrified.

  “Lauren,” she had said hours ago. “I think I’m going to puke. I can’t do this!”

  “Khlo, yes you can. You are Belle.” I pulled my roommate away from the center of the room, where she was pacing a hole in the floor, and gently pushed her into her desk chair.

  “You know every line in the play. Not just your lines but everyone’s! You could probably recite all of Beauty backward.” I crouched down and looked into my roomie’s worried eyes.

  “But I didn’t get the role of Belle. I was cast as Mrs. Potts. Riley was supposed to be Belle! There had to be a reason why I wasn’t cast as the lead, and it had something to do with me not being good enough.”

  “Khloe.” My voice was firm. “You’re more than good enough. You’re right—Riley did get the role, but you were always the understudy. We’ll never know why you weren’t cast as the lead, and we could spend hours trying to guess. But know what?”

  “What?” Khloe asked in a small voice.

  “You are Belle now. I’ve run lines with you. I’ve seen you practice. I wouldn’t lie to you and say ‘Oh, Khloe, you’re going to be amazing!’ if I didn’t think it was true. I’m being one hundred percent honest. I promise.”

  “Really?” Khloe’s heaving chest started to slow, and color began to return to her face.

  “Promise on our BFFness. I’m going to be in the audience tonight and every single night, silently cheering you on. You’re a great actress, Khloe Kinsella. I can’t wait to see you bring Belle to life.”

  A flutter of the red velvet curtain pulled me out of the memory. I’d gotten Khloe calmed down and had her laughing and back to Old Khloe by the time I’d left for my riding lesson. I’d lucked out that Mr. Conner had spent today’s session teaching from a chapter in our horse manual instead of having us do flat work or jumping.

  My intermediate class had spent the session covering a topic I thankfully knew—conformation. When I’d been called on to point out a conformation fault on a sketch of a horse on a piece of paper that Mr. Conner had given ea
ch of us, I’d answered the question right.

  The theater kept filling as the seconds ticked down to the start of the play. Under my seat was a surprise for Khloe—a bouquet of daisies and baby’s breath that I’d ordered online from the local florist. I’d managed to hide them from her all day by stashing them in one of the common room cupboards, and I couldn’t wait to give them to her when the play ended.

  The seat to my right was one of the few empty spots. It belonged to Cole, and he and I had bought tickets during lunch and made sure we had seats together.

  I pulled my phone from my purse, turned it on silent, and opened Chatter. I typed a quick update. LaurBell: Abt 2 watch KK give a Tony-worthy performance as Belle! Très excited!

  A familiar laugh cut through the talk in the theater. I didn’t glance up as I put away my phone. Do not look, I told myself. But my body didn’t listen to the warning voice. I glanced up, and two rows ahead Lacey sat with her friends. She was twisted around in her seat and chatting with someone in the row behind her. Her eyes met mine, and her mouth twisted into a fake smile. Lacey rolled her eyes, looking at me to make sure I’d seen her, then focused her attention back on the girl she was talking to.

  “That was beyond tacky.”

  Cole slid in front of me and sank into the cushy seat next to me, sliding out of his coat.

  “You mean Lacey?” I asked.

  “Um, yeah. The girl’s embarrassing herself so much. This whole ‘Lauren’s got two hotties after her’ talk is so old. No one’s even listening to her anymore. It’s like she’s talking to herself.”

  I shook my head. “People are listening. Don’t pretend you haven’t noticed that almost every girl in our grade won’t talk to me anymore and is suddenly BFFs with Lacey.”

  It was Cole’s turn for an eye roll. He brushed his light-brown hair off his forehead.

  “All of those brainwashed girls are going to be incredibly embarrassed when they realize they’d ever listened to Lacey in the first place.” Cole’s voice rose and was tinged with anger. “They’re going to remember how much they like you, and they’re going to either flood you with apologies or be so embarrassed that they try to be your friends and pretend nothing ever happened.”

  I smiled. “Cole, you’re the best. Thank you.”

  “Just telling you the truth.”

  I tipped my chin in Lacey’s direction. “My truth is that I don’t want to spend Khloe’s night talking about her.”

  “So agree. Tonight’s exciting for you and me, too!”

  “I haven’t forgotten that all day! We’re actually going to see a costume we created and made, onstage in a real play.”

  Cole’s green eyes were wide. “I’m so making sure I get backstage after to get a picture with Lumière.”

  “I know it’s not the first time we’ll see the costume on someone, but it’s different because this isn’t a costume fitting or a dress rehearsal. It’s opening night, and students who aren’t part of the play’s production are going to see something you and I made!”

  Cole grinned, nodding.

  The lights dimmed and I swallowed. Hard. Every bit of my body felt electric. Like if I moved, I’d create static on the red seat and get shocked. I wasn’t worried about Khloe, but I was still nervous. I wanted the play to run smoothly from the first line to the last. I’d watched Khloe give a flawless performance during a rehearsal, and I knew she’d do it tonight and every night the play ran.

  I crossed my fingers and whispered, “Break a leg, Khlo.”

  The play began, and when Khloe appeared, in Belle’s first costume, I almost stood and cheered. Khloe’s blond hair was in a cap, and she wore a brown wig in a ponytail tied back with a ribbon. The blue ribbon matched Belle’s dress.

  Cole reached over and squeezed my arm. I smiled at him in the dim light and became transfixed by the actors onstage. Khloe Kinsella disappeared and became Belle. I didn’t see my bubbly blond roommate anymore. I watched a book-loving small-town girl fight for her father’s freedom, be held captive by a beast, and soon, fall in love.

  TAKE A BOW

  THE LIGHTS WENT UP AND THE ACTORS FILED onto the stage. I wiped tears from my cheeks as the cast joined hands and bowed. I leaped to my feet, with Cole right beside me, and clapped as hard as I could. My hands stung, and I whistled.

  The entire cast had been parfait. I’d laughed, cried, and even sung along in my head to the songs I knew from watching the Disney movie version of the play.

  Cole and I had grabbed each other’s hands when Lumière had appeared onstage. There, for everyone to see, was a candelabra costume that Cole and I had created during fashion class. Cole and I had Googled dozens of images of Lumière, both from the Disney movie and from productions put on, from a high school in California to a college in England. We had pricked our fingers countless times with sewing needles, cut fabric the wrong size, and sketched dozens of bad ideas—but all of that disappeared when we saw our creation onstage.

  Darren, the actor who played Lumière, had his face painted eggshell white to match the gauzy fabric Cole and I had used to create the tall headpiece. The “candle” parts of Lumière were made of light fabric so it wouldn’t be too heavy for Darren’s head or his arms. Ms. Snow had helped us stuff a portion of fabric with cotton and drape it over the front of the headpiece so it looked like melting wax.

  For the wicks on Darren’s head and hands, we’d twisted together black pipe cleaners and stuck them into Styrofoam that filled plastic plant pots. The pots had been green, but we’d spray-painted them gold. Inside we’d staple-gunned handles for Darren’s hands that were hidden inside the pots.

  For days Cole and I had been stumped on how to create realistic-looking flames. We’d tried half a dozen fabrics and hated them all, before we’d found it: red-gold satin. We’d cut the fabric into flamelike shapes, filled them with polyester toy stuffing, and sewn the flames together and onto the wicks.

  We’d used satin again, gold this time, to create the main body of the costume. Our first sketch had Darren walking in a pipe-shaped costume that would cover his legs and feet. Ms. Snow had critiqued our sketch and worried that our costume would make it difficult for Darren to move onstage. She suggested that Cole and I go to the theater and watch a rehearsal so we could see how much Darren moved when he danced and sang.

  After we’d watched Darren go through his part, Cole and I gave each other The Look. The look of I can’t believe we almost made him wear that! Darren was all over the stage, and our initial sketch would have been a huge pain to wear.

  Cole and I redid the sketch with Darren in mind. This time we got the green light from Ms. Snow. We’d drawn a shirt with long gold sleeves and gold pants. As a final touch we’d added gold socks with rubber grips on the bottom. Darren would have much more freedom in pants than our original idea.

  The rest of the costumes created by my class were amazing. Khloe looked stunning in every outfit. The rest of the costumes, from Chip to the Beast, were creative and interesting to look at onstage.

  Now the work of my fashion class really showed while the entire cast was onstage.

  Khloe, in the center of the stage, stepped forward from the rest of the cast. Her brown wig was piled and curled into an elegant half updo. Her final costume was a gleaming gold ball gown and white gloves. She looked like a princess! In Belle fashion, she curtsied and got a thunderous applause. Beaming Khloe stepped back in line, and Sam, who played the Beast, stepped forward for his moment in the spotlight. He received the same applause. Together the cast bowed, and I got teary. My best friend had nailed it.

  It wasn’t easy fighting the exiting crowd to get backstage. I carried Khloe’s flowers in one arm and climbed down a few stairs. The excited, cheerful vibe was almost palpable. All of the actors were high-fiving each other or the crew. It was a scene full of smiles, and I grinned when I saw the brightest one.

  “Khlo!” I called.

  She’d taken off Belle’s wig and gloves but was still in the gown
. Khloe shot a hand into the air, waving at me, and I skirted around a few furry wolves to get to her.

  “Congratulations!” I said. “You killed it!” I offered her the bouquet of flowers.

  She covered her mouth with one hand before reaching for them. “Lauren, oh my God. You didn’t have to do that! This is so sweet!”

  Khloe smelled the flowers and hugged me.

  “Are you kidding me? I had to get you flowers. KK, I watched you work like crazy for this moment. You were the star of the play, and not because of the role. You brought this . . . this energy to the stage. I am so proud of you!”

  Khloe Kinsella teared up in front of me. She never cried! I’d only seen her cry when we’d made up after a huge, awful fight.

  “Laur,” she said, shaking her head. “You have no idea what that means to me. I’m so happy that you think I did well. You’re my best friend, and your opinion means so much.”

  “You did more than well. You did amazing.” I smiled. “I’m so happy I got my tickets for the rest of the week. Any idiots who didn’t come tonight are going to be sorry, because there’s going to be a riot on campus for tickets!”

  Khloe laughed, shaking her head. “Oh, please.”

  “I think someone else might want to congratulate you,” I said, looking over her shoulder.

  “Who?” Khloe turned.

  Zack walked up to Khloe, smiling at her. He had a dozen pink and red roses in his arms.

  “I’m so lucky to be dating the girl who’s going to be on Broadway one day,” Zack said. He held the flowers out to Khloe, and she looked back at me, letting out a tiny squeal.

  “I’ll see you back at Hawthorne,” I whispered to her, winking.

  I left backstage with a smile on my face. Khloe had her very own real Prince Charming.

  NOT ONCE BUT TWICE

  “OMIGOD, LAUREN, OMIGOD!” KHLOE YELLED. We were getting dressed in our room for school.

  “Shhhh!” I said. Khloe was on her computer, and knowing her, it was probably a breakup of the current A-list couple or some other celeb news. “Whatever it is, everyone in Hawthorne had to have heard you. Christina’s probably going to be at our door in a second.”