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Stephanie fell into step beside her. “I’m not just talking about the hug. I’m talking about everything before the hug. The jacket, the dramatic walk to the front row, even the little waves and smiles. A loyal girlfriend showing up for her boyfriend in his finest hour.” She spoke like a movie narrator. “You guys have this place completely fooled. I think I even heard a few girls sigh like they were watchingSixteen Candles.”
Tully rolled her eyes and unconsciously adjusted Nathan’s jacket. “You can thank Nathan for most of that. I’m dead awful at this.”
“I dunno. Seems like you’re getting the hang of it.”
“Hardly.”
Nathan picked the perfect moment to come out of the locker room, changed out of his uniform and into a new outfit with his hair damp. “You ready?” he asked, and Tully and Stephanie nodded.
He led them to his car, resuming the same spots they had earlier that morning.
Stephanie spoke first. “You’re a great actor, Rondeau.”
He smiled at her, and briefly caught Tully’s eye before looking back at the road. “Thanks. I like to think so.”
“I don’t know why you’re not signed up for drama class. I think you’d make a killer Danny Zuko.”
“You need to be able to sing to be Danny Zuko.”
“And you can’t?”
“Everyone can sing. Not everyone can do it well,” he shrugged. Tully looked out the window at the passing trees. She smiled a bit, trying to imagine Nathan Rondeau singing. “But I do a pretty killer Romeo.”
“In English class?” Tully asked, because she remembered how they were required to read through the script her sophomore year and she hated every second of it.
“No. For the fall play. Freshman year.”
Tully’s jaw dropped before she could catch it. “Wait. You actually played Romeo?”
He looked at her expression and laughed. “You didn’t know that?”
“No,” she said. “How would I know that?”
“Well, I figured since your sister watched every single performance you would have known that it was because I was in it.”
Tully didn’t even know Joliet went to any performances ever since Tully started high school. Joliet had been in middle school after all. “I don’t keep tabs on what she does. Especially not the boys she deals with.”
“What? Are you too good for me, angel?” He looked at her from the corner of his eye.
“I thought that was obvious,” she said, and crossed her arms over her chest. “And stop calling me that.”
He laughed, and once again, Tully rolled her eyes. She knew Nathan wouldn’t let up, so as her own personal stance, she refused to get used to that dumb name.
They were at Stephanie’s house in no time. Stephanie grabbed her stuff and waved goodbye to both of them, but not before giving Tully a look that only she would be able to notice and decipher. It told her that Stephanie would love to hear all about whatever happens between their houses, and Tully shook her head to let her know, there will be nothing to tell.
With Stephanie gone, they drove away from the curb in a new silence. It wasn’t awkward, per se, but it was a noticeable shift from when they weren’t alone. Tully just kept watching the trees outside her window, passing by in a darkening blur as the sun neared the horizon.
“Sorry about earlier,” Nathan finally said, and Tully knit her brow, because she really forgot what he was even talking about. He must have noticed it, because he added, “About the hug.”
Oh. That.
“It’s fine. Really. I’m just not used to being touched.”
He looked at her fully this time and took a moment to study her like he was trying to figure out if that was a lie or not. But why would she lie about something like that? “Didn’t you touch your boyfriend?”
At first, it came across as a strangely invasive question, and Tully was prepared to snap at him for asking her something like that. But then she saw the look on his face, his features twisted into genuine confusion and curiosity and she calmed immediately. She knew him well enough now that she could tell he wasn’t the type to do things like that on purpose. “Of course. He was a pretty touchy person, so I let him do what he wanted occasionally.”
He looked back at the road, and she could tell he was thinking very hard about something. “But did you want to?”
