George shook his head. “I’ve been there a couple of times. I think I know what you’re getting at.”
Natalya giggled.
Victoria leaned toward her. “Why are you giggling?” she whispered. In response, Natalya giggled more, which made Victoria giggle.
“I don’t know,” Natalya answered between giggles. “I’m just having fun.” She took Victoria’s hand. “Are you sure you’re having fun?”
“Yeah,” answered Victoria. She smiled at Natalya, and Natalya hugged her. “I’m having so much fun.” Victoria lowered her voice. “While you were gone, this boy came over and he quoted Shakespeare to me.”
“No!” Natalya couldn’t believe it. She and Victoria had both met amazing guys.
Victoria nodded. “But Morgan made him go away. She said he’s a shark who smelled fresh blood.” She laughed at the memory.
So much for their both meeting amazing guys. “Still, it’s cool that he recited Shakespeare,” Natalya pointed out.
Victoria nodded, a dreamy look on her face. “It was. And Morgan’s really nice.”
“I’m so glad you guys like each other,” Natalya whispered into her friend’s shoulder. She felt like she might explode with happiness.
A handsome blond guy came over to where the girls were sitting. George stood up, and Katrina suddenly looked vaguely nervous. “Hey,” said George. “Where’ve you been?”
“It just took forever to get back from Jersey,” said the boy.
“Hi, Grant,” said Katrina, smiling and lifting a finger in the newcomer’s direction.
“Hey, Kat,” said Grant. He turned back to George. “Paul’s parked outside. Can you help me unload the car?”
George stood up. “Sure,” he said. He turned back to Natalya. “Nice meeting you.”
“You too,” she said as the boys walked out of the room.
Katrina leaped up. “We can help,” she offered. She turned and pulled at Morgan’s and Sloane’s hands. “Come on.”
“No way,” said Morgan. “Here’s what I’m not doing. Carrying heavy boxes in this.” She gestured at her beautiful dress.
“Don’t be such a princess,” Katrina said.
“Don’t be so obvious,” said Morgan. She got up. “I’m going to the bathroom. Anyone want to come?”
“I’ll come.” Sloane stood up, too, and then Victoria, Jane, and Natalya were sitting alone on the couches.
“Okay, what is up with you?” asked Jane, moving to where Morgan had been sitting. “You are being so weird.”
Choosing to ignore the irritation in her friend’s tone, Natalya directed her answer to Victoria. She spoke in a whisper. “I feel really sparkly.” She laughed. “Don’t you guys feel sparkly?”
Jane didn’t say anything, but Victoria nodded. “Now that you mention it, I do feel a little sparkly.” She looked around the room at the party surrounding them. “This is fun.”
“See?” said Natalya, still amazed by how perfectly everything was going. “Aren’t you glad you came?” Then she pulled Victoria and Jane close to her and said, “I met a really cute boy.”
“You did?” asked Jane.
Victoria squeezed her hand. “Oh, Nat, that is so cool. Who is it?”
“It’s Morgan’s brother.”
As if on cue, Grant’s voice called out from the landing. “It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for, folks. Come aboard and let the booze cruise begin.”
“Him?” asked Jane, shocked.
“No, no,” Natalya corrected her quickly. “Her other brother. He’s upstairs.”
People started filing out of the room, and Victoria turned to her friends sadly. “Guys, I don’t think I should stay if there’s drinking.”
Natalya’s eyes widened. Was this Victoria’s way of saying the party was over? “But…I mean, we won’t drink anything.”
Victoria stood up. “I’m really sorry, Nat,” she said. Then she added, “If you guys want to stay, you can stay. Just meet me at my house before midnight.”
“Don’t be crazy,” Jane said. “Of course we’re not staying without you.”
“Yeah,” said Natalya quickly. “Right. We’re not staying without you.” But she was nervous. Would Morgan think it was weird if they left early? And what if Colin came looking for her?
Jane put her arm around Natalya’s shoulders. “If we go now, he’ll look for you all night. He’ll be obsessed.”
Natalya laughed at how easily Jane had read her mind. “Do you really think so?”
“Definitely,” Jane promised. “Exhibit A: Cinderella.”
Natalya thought for a second. “Should I leave one of my shoes?”
“Um, negative,” said Victoria, holding a finger up to correct Natalya. “My sister would kill me if we lost one of her shoes.”
“Besides,” Jane pointed out. “Imagine if Morgan’s brother searched the whole of New York City for you and wound up with Emily instead.”
Victoria shook her head sadly. “Poor guy. That would really suck.”
“Seriously,” said Jane. “Now, say good night.”
“Can we come up with an excuse?” asked Natalya. “So they don’t think we’re lame for leaving.”
“Sure,” said Jane. “We’ll make up something totally glam.”
Morgan had apparently gone off to some distant wing of the house, but Jane, Victoria, and Natalya found Katrina at the bottom of the stairs. Jane explained that they had another party to go to, and Katrina looked genuinely sad to see them go. She promised to relay their good-byes to Morgan.
“Tell her thanks for having us,” said Victoria.
“Yeah, thank you,” said Natalya.
“Of course,” said Katrina. “See you guys around.”
“This is cool,” Victoria said when they were finally in the foyer.
“Sneaking out like this.”
Natalya touched the pearl at her throat. “It is.”
“This is having a real life!” Victoria snapped her fingers and spun around like a flamenco dancer.
“Easy, tiger,” said Jane, laughing. She looked at her friends. “You’re both sure you didn’t have anything to drink?”
Natalya shook her head and leaned against Jane. “We’re drunk on life, darling.”
And with that, they stepped out into the cool night.
IT WASN’T AS IF Jane always had to be the center of attention, but she couldn’t help thinking it was weird how totally Natalya’s new friends had ignored her. Saturday morning, when Jane, Natalya, and Victoria went on Facebook, Morgan had already sent Victoria and Natalya friend requests, and later she invited them to look at her photos from the party. Natalya and Victoria were so busy being relieved about there being no pictures of Victoria in Morgan’s photo album (Oh my god, the campaign people would kill me!) that they hadn’t even noticed Jane’s being excluded from the friend invitation.
Was she being paranoid? Had Morgan and her friends not liked her for some reason? Had she done something? But the energy they’d focused on Victoria—that had been there from the second the three of them walked in the front door. It was almost as if they were…waiting for Victoria to get there. There was no way Jane could have imagined that. Could she?
“So, Jane, tell me about Hippolyta.”
Jane jerked her head up. The cast was sitting on the stage in a circle, and Mr. Robbins had just announced that they were going to talk about their characters before blocking the next act. She’d been only half paying attention, assuming he’d start by asking about Hermia or Lysander or maybe Puck or Oberon—one of the major characters in the play. But now that everyone had quieted down, he’d turned to her.
Tell me about Hippolyta.
Jane took a deep breath. Her job was to focus on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, not the party she’d been to Friday night. She thought about Hippolyta.
“Well…she’s the queen of the Amazons. And she’s going to be a bride,” Jane said. The play started with Theseus and Hippolyta talking about how th
ey were about to get married, so her statement was pretty incontrovertible.
Mr. Robbins grinned as though Jane had just said something amusing. She found herself smiling back at him. “An Amazonian bride.” He laughed, and so did several cast members. “Seems like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?”
As she nodded, Jane silently thanked her fifth-grade English teacher for teaching them that an oxymoron was a contradiction in terms. “I’d be scared to marry an Amazon,” she confessed.
Mr. Robbins laughed again. “Me too.” He turned to Matt, who played Theseus. “How about you, Matt. You scared to marry this woman?” He gestured with his shoulder at Jane.
Jane tossed her head and raised her eyebrows at Matt, mock seductively. “You scared, Matt?”
“A little.” Matt smiled down over at her, which made Jane feel cool. Matt was a senior; he wasn’t one of the stars of the drama clan like Fran, Bethany, Hugh, and Daniel, who played the lovers. But he hung out with them sometimes, and at Friday’s rehearsal, Jane had been talking to him when Fran and Bethany arrived, and Bethany had said, “Hey, Matt. Hey, Jane,” and Fran had given them a little wave.
Mr. Robbins clapped his hands together to punctuate Matt’s admission. “Okay, that’s important. Matt, you see Theseus as scared. Remember, this guy is King of Athens. He took on the Minotour, for god’s sake.”
Vaguely, Jane remembered a story about the Minotour from a book of Greek myths that her dad had read to her when she was little. It was some kind of monster, she knew that. Wasn’t it a man-eating bull? She shuddered. Talk about scary.
Matt leaped to his feet. “That’s right, I kicked Minotour ass!” he announced, staring at Jane. “I’m not scared of you.”
Jane and the rest of the cast laughed, but Mr. Robbins asked, straight-faced, “So he’s not scared.”
Matt dropped back down and shrugged. “I can go either way on this.”
Now Mr. Robbins laughed, but then he turned serious. “See, this is what we’re going to keep doing—together and individually. It’s very important for everyone that we make concrete decisions about our characters. At any given moment, you”—he pointed at Josh, who played Oberon—“and you”—he pointed at Lysander—“and you”—he pointed at Fran—“need to know what you’re feeling. What you’re thinking.” Now he turned to Jane. “Theseus conquered you, but has he conquered you?” Jane opened her mouth to answer, but Mr. Robbins held his hand up. “Don’t answer yet, just think about it.” Looking around the circle slowly, Mr. Robbins continued. “Your performance will be believable because you believe it. If you don’t know why you’re saying a line, if you have no idea what motivates you, it’s simple trickery.” He moved his hands around in the air. “Smoke and mirrors. Your audience will sense it, and they’ll get bored. Your fellow cast members will know it, and they’ll feel betrayed. Most important, you’ll know it, and you’ll feel empty. Because you’ll be violating the sacred commandment of theater: Be truthful.”
Jane felt herself shiver. No one had ever described being in a play to her this way. It was like acting was…holy or something.
There was silence in the theater, a silence Mr. Robbins allowed to grow for a moment before he interrupted it. “Okay, Lysander, tell me a little about yourself.”
Jane listened, but it was hard for her to focus on what Daniel was saying about his motivation for running off with Hermia.
Mr. Robbins’s speech was like a light turned on in a dark room, a black-and-white movie that had suddenly dissolved into color. Friday night was completely eclipsed by the intensity of his words.
Jane stared at Mr. Robbins as he listened to Lysander describe how he felt about leaving Athens forever.
He was the most amazing man she had ever met.
NATALYA FELT LIKE she was living in a dream. A sparkly, beautiful dream. After English class, Morgan said, “Much to discuss at lunch,” and she gave Natalya a knowing smile. That smile told her two things: One, that she was welcome (expected, even) in the secret library room at lunch. Two, that Colin had told Morgan about his conversation with Natalya.
Natalya had to stop herself from skipping to Math, then to Greek, then to Bio. She could completely picture the upcoming conversation. Morgan was going to say something like, So my brother’s totally in love with you. Katrina would gasp, shocked, but then Natalya would turn to her, put her hand on Katrina’s arm, and say, Don’t worry, Katrina. She’s talking about Colin. Katrina would think about it for a second, then she’d smile and so would Sloane. Oh my god, of course! You guys are perfect for each other. Sloane and Katrina would be totally at a loss to figure out why they hadn’t thought of putting Natalya and Colin together in the first place. When lunch ended and it was time to go to class, Natalya would find a way to be alone with Katrina. I promise, she’d say, now that I’m in with the Prewitts, I’ll do everything I can to help you get with Grant.
“So,” said Jordan, dropping into her seat at the other end of their lab table. “I heard you were at Morgan’s party this weekend.”
Jordan’s statement felt almost like an accusation; the tone wiped the daydreamy smile off Natalya’s face. “For a little while.”
“Oh,” said Jordan, fussing for something in her bag. “Well, was it fun?”
“Um, yeah,” said Natalya, unable to completely repress the smile that came back each time she thought about the party. As soon as she’d said it, a hurt look flitted across Jordan’s face, and Natalya felt bad. But what should she have said? No, it sucked.
She was relieved when Dr. Clover walked to the front of the room and started class, though it was hard for her to focus on what their teacher was saying. All she could think about was lunch and Morgan’s forthcoming announcement.
My brother is so into you.
A double period of Bio had never felt so long. There had to be something wrong with the clocks—by the time the bell rang, she was sure she’d been in the lab for over a year, not an hour and a half.
Lingering by their lab table, Jordan watched Natalya shove her textbook and notebook into her bag. As Natalya slid off her stool, neither one of them said anything.
“Are you coming to lunch?” asked Jordan.
“I have to go to the library,” Natalya said quickly. It sounded like a lie, and Natalya almost added Really, but she knew that would only make it worse.
Jordan exhaled through her nose in an almost laugh. “Right.”
“No, I do,” Natalya said. But she was talking to Jordan’s back. “I’ll see you later.” Why had she said that? She was going to spend the whole period with Morgan, Sloane, and Katrina. She wasn’t planning to go to the cafeteria today.
If things went well, she wasn’t planning to go to the cafeteria ever again.
But did that mean she couldn’t be friends with Jordan? She liked Jordan. Jordan was smart and funny. Did she have to choose Morgan or Jordan?
Apparently she did. Without turning around, Jordan lifted her hand briefly over her head in a sort of wave. Natalya started to wave back, then realized Jordan couldn’t see her.
For a second she felt guilty, but then she was running through the crowded hallways. By the time she arrived at the tiny room where Morgan, Katrina, and Sloane were already lounging, she’d forgotten all about Jordan.
“There you are!” Morgan announced. “Oh my god, I have got to talk to you. You will not believe who asked about you.”
Should she say? Or was it cooler if she let Morgan announce what Natalya already knew?
Before she could decide, Morgan had grabbed her iPhone off the table and was waving the screen toward Natalya.
“Read this! I got it this morning.”
Natalya took the phone from Morgan and read the brief message. How’s your friend Natalya?
Natalya felt triumphant. She could have picked up the sofa Morgan was sitting on and carried it around the room.
“Is it from—” she began.
“Yes,” said Morgan, “it’s from George.”
“
George?” Natalya had completely forgotten about meeting George.
Morgan took her confusion as pleasure and smiled. “I know. He’s completely cute, isn’t he? We just need to get him to go to the gym a little more, that’s all.” She leaned across the small table to reread George’s text. “We’ll wait to answer, of course.” She tapped her phone knowingly. “Strategy.”
“Meanwhile, did we decide on costumes? Because in case you’ve forgotten, it’s a costume gala.” Sloane took a spoonful of yogurt. “What’s the final verdict on movie stars? I say yes.”
George? He was totally nice. But he wasn’t…She didn’t like him. Just because they were both Russian didn’t mean they had to like each other. Like-like each other.
“It’s not as if we can all go as Audrey Hepburn. And anyway, you look nothing like her,” said Katrina.
“Oh, and you do?” Sloane spluttered.
“At least I have the right coloring,” Katrina pointed out, patting her thick, dark hair.
Natalya couldn’t take it. She had to know if Colin had asked about her. Mentioned her. Some friend of yours got lost and I gave her directions. She had to know if he’d at least…noticed her.
Natalya cleared her throat. “Um, I think I met…I mean, I met your brother on Friday.”
As Natalya had predicted, Katrina’s head spun practically three hundred and sixty degrees so she could glare daggers at Natalya.
“Oh god,” groaned Morgan. “Not another one with a crush on Grant.”
“No,” Natalya said quickly. “I didn’t mean Grant. I meant…um, I think he said his name was Colin?”
Now all three girls groaned simultaneously. It was Morgan who spoke. “Natalya, I am so sorry. He is such a loser.”
Suddenly there wasn’t enough air in the room.
Katrina rolled her eyes and put her fingers up to her forehead in an L shape.
“Okay, well, I’m going as a movie star,” Sloane announced. She twirled her spoon thoughtfully through the air. “Maybe Marilyn Monroe.”
Morgan gave Natalya a sad little smile. “Sorry about Colin. He didn’t try to talk to you or anything, did he?”
The Darlings Are Forever Page 14