family and friends who waved flowers and shared hugs and kisses with the heavily made-up cast members. Juliet dragged me around and introduced me to everyone. I discreetly tried to keep my eye on Adam, but he was always surrounded by friends I’d never even met, especially girls.
The atmosphere was charged with both excitement and relief. Juliet held on to my hand, letting go only briefly to give a hug or accept one. I don’t know how many of her friends I met before I realized she was carrying out her own subterfuge. While she wasn’t actually introducing me as her boyfriend, she was providing me that cover. I felt guilty that I appreciated it so much. She’d been doing that a lot in the five weeks since we’d let her, and only her, in—playing girlfriend to me in public, while I played kissy-face with Adam in private, of which there had been precious little.
We finally joined Adam’s group. Juliet flung her arms around his neck. He dipped and grabbed her below the butt and hoisted her into the air, her belt catching the edge of his shirt, flashing some skin. Juliet beamed at the sudden attention, but for me the moment was all about that flash of tanned, smooth, bare skin. I looked away and forced myself to think about oil-covered pelicans.
He put her down and reached out to bump my fist. “Hey, man. I’m glad you came.” He looked at me for a brief moment until someone called his name, and he was off to be adored by someone else.
Hey, man? I’m glad you came?
Juliet had been swallowed up by the crowd, so I found a soda and sat in a plastic chair against the wall. I read Adam’s text again—Stay for the cast party. Pls? GGLA. It taken only minutes to break the code: Gotta Go Love Adam. I nibbled on a cookie and checked the time. When the party finally wound down and parents headed home and cast members headed off to change, Adam made his way over to me. I handed him my soda and he took a sip. “Is that all I get?” he asked.
“What do you want?” I challenged him.
Before he could answer, his leading lady, Chloe, slid up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, her hands flat against his stomach. “Hey, we’re all going out for burgers to celebrate,” she said into his shoulder. Then she deftly slipped her hand under the edge of his T-shirt, an indiscretion that annoyed the hell out of me. “Coming?”
“Sure.” He looked at me with his crazy blue eyes. “Nate’s coming too.”
Nine of us crammed ourselves into a large booth at the restaurant. I was hoping to sit next to Adam, but Chloe dragged him in next to her and I found myself on other the other side of the table, sandwiched between Juliet and a girl named Amanda. I don’t think Amanda had gotten the message that I was “with” Juliet judging for the way she kept leaning into me and twirling her hair.
I inched closer to Juliet and she squeezed my thigh, understanding.
Adam was focused on Chloe and that was pissing me off. I knew when he listened to people, he listened all the way. He made you feel like you were the only person in the world, that what you had to say was more important than any other words uttered since the dawn of time. And I loved that about him, but right now, I didn’t give a shit because Chloe had what was mine, and he was giving it to her, and I didn’t appreciate it one damn bit. He’d hardly glanced my way since we’d sat down. I hadn’t even told him yet how great his performance was.
Amanda said something, but I missed it.
“What?” I said.
Juliet nudged me and I realized how rude I’d sounded.
Amanda repeated her question and I responded with a “Hmph.” Finally she gave up and turned to talk to whoever was sitting on her other side.
“You’re staring,” Juliet whispered in my ear.
Adam looked up and caught my eyes, held them for a moment, then excused himself and headed to the bathroom. I toyed with the idea of following him, but Juliet must have read my mind. She would have had to move for me to get out, and a quick shake of her head made it very clear that was not going to happen.
Moments later my cell phone vibrated.
You’re leaving with me!
In the parking lot, Juliet offered to drive back to school with everyone who needed to pick up their cars. Adam would drop the rest—Mike and Natalie—at their homes. Amanda seemed pretty disappointed about the whole arrangement but went peacefully enough. Not so Chloe. She pouted and clung to Adam’s elbow until Juliet gunned the engine and put the car in drive and let it roll a few feet.
It was nearing eleven by the time we’d dropped everyone off.
Adam pulled away from Natalie’s house and reached for my hand. I folded my arms and looked out the window. He put his hand back on the steering wheel.
“What time do you have to be home?” he asked.
“Midnight.”
“What happens if you miss curfew?”
I shrugged.
He pulled up to a traffic light and looked over at me. “Nate, what’s going on?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”
“You’re mad?”
“You think?”
“Don’t play games with me. Just tell me what’s wrong.”
“Maybe you should ask Chloe.”
“Chloe?”
I finally turned to look at him. “You had quite the little party going there tonight. Too bad she had her car at school. You could have dropped me off first and made her your last stop.”
He stared at me for a long moment like I’d lost my mind. “You cannot be serious.”
“The light’s green. Go.”
He took his foot off the brake and made a left turn. “Nate—”
“You practically ignored me the entire evening.”
“I thought that’s what you wanted. You flinch every time I get anywhere near you when other people are around.” He made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat. “I don’t know what you want.”
“I want you.”
“You’ve got me.”
“Chloe thinks she’s got you. Do you know how that makes me feel?”
He glanced over at me. “How does that make you feel?”
I couldn’t answer. I picked at my cuticles. Up ahead, a deer darted across the road. I watched it disappear into the dark. “Can we go to your house for a while?”
“Mom and Ben invited some friends over after the play. I don’t want to get caught up in all that adult-adoration crap tonight.” He glanced at me. “I want to be alone with you. Unless you don’t want to—”
“No,” I interrupted him. “I mean, yeah. I want that too.”
He
