Page 71 of Love Me Not
“Do you like how it’s going?” asked Megan. “I’m sure it’s odd without the musical aspect. Or maybe that makes it easier?”
“Half of the cast has participated before, but for the other half this is their first time on stage, so it balances out. Emma’s realized that she was relying far too much on her singing chops in the past so this has been an eye opening experience for her. She’s grown a ton, which is what she needed before heading off to college next fall.”
“What about the football players?” Becca asked. “Trey told Jacob they’re doing well, but I’m guessing he’s biased. How are they really doing?”
I loaded a bite of cheesy eggs onto my fork. “He isn’t wrong, actually. Burke’s part is small, but he sells it well. Aiden is a revelation. I wish I’d gotten him on stage three years ago because he’s a complete natural.”
“Do you think he’ll keep acting after this?” Donna asked, snagging Noah’s binky off the floor for the third time. The little man threw anything he could get his chubby little hands on these days.
“I don’t think so, no.” Which was a pity. The young man had a face for the big screen and the chops to back it up. “Kaitlyn has real promise, though, and makes me less stressed about losing Emma at the end of the year. For a freshman, she has stage presence out the wazoo.”
“Does she have a big part?” Donna asked.
“Not a lot of lines, no, but she plays the girl who drives drunk and nearly kills her friend, so it isn’t a lightweight part by any means.”
Josie held her napkin in front of her face to play peek-a-boo with Noah. “What’s it like having input from Trey? His experience must come in handy, too.”
“I’m not sure experience coaching applies to the play much.”
“No,” she said, “his acting experience. He told Miles that he acted in plays the last two years of college.”
Confused, I stopped with my fork halfway to my mouth. “I’m sorry, what? Trey acted? The Trey who has come to nearly every rehearsal and never mentioned this?”
The girls exchanged concern-filled glances and Josie lowered the napkin back to her lap. “I think that’s what Miles said, but maybe I misunderstood.”
“Trey better hope so,” I mumbled.
Why wouldn’t he tell me that? The man was a walking open book, but he kept this very pertinent piece of information to himself? Or, worse yet, told one of his poker buddies and not the person he was literally working with on a stage play?
“Maybe we should change the subject,” Donna suggested.
“Noah has a new tooth,” Becca volunteered. “That makes two now, and I can’t wait until the rest come in so we can all sleep at night.”
Having been through this with countless nieces and nephews, I knew that was a pipe dream. “Good luck with that.”
For the rest of breakfast, Trey Collins became he who shall not be named, but I was still annoyed. Part of me wanted to believe that Miles got it wrong, but Josie’s other half was a smart man. What else could Trey have said that sounded remotely like I acted in college?
We’d exchanged numbers on Friday, so I could send a text demanding answers, but this was a conversation to have in person. And have it we would.
Monday was a hectic day that started with a frantic hunt for my keys, which were hanging on my little key hook thingy where I never put them. This was why cleaning and organizing did more harm than good for me. My mess might look like chaos to others, but it made total sense to me.
This meant I was running late, but my gas tank was nearly on E so I had to stop for gas. I made it in time for first period, but barely. The day didn’t improve, and by lunch time I was convinced the planets must have hit some odd alignment because the students were distracted and moody, no one made the coffee in the lounge, and even Nina Mathers, who was typically the sunniest person in the building, snapped at me when I asked if Carole was in.
She wasn’t and I didn’t ask any more questions.
None of this made me forget about Trey’s possible acting revelation. Though he’d left a sticky note on my desk simply saying Good morning and had waved once when our eyes met across the hall during a class change, we’d yet to speak since he left my apartment late Saturday night.
Or, technically, early Sunday morning.
I had to admit that the note was sweet enough to make me forget I was annoyed with him for a full four and a half seconds. The gesture even bordered on romantic, which would normally make me nauseous. The lack of nausea proved I was already in deep. That I tucked the note inside my top desk drawer where I would see it every time I needed something revealed exactly how deep.
“Hey there,” Trey said as he strode down the left aisle of the theater. “How was your day?”
Rehearsal didn’t start for another fifteen minutes and the kids had yet to arrive.
Concerned he’d charm me out of asking, I went right to the question. “Did you act in college?”
He paused and did the head tilt. “I’m not sure anyone would call that acting.”