“Okay, spill,” I tell her, guiding her to one of the chairs and taking the other. My brow furrows when I realize just how heated she is, glaring at me like I purposefully offended her or something. And who knows? Maybe I did. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Rue leans in closer to me like she’s about to tell me a secret, even though it’s just us over here. I’m momentarily captivated by the depth of her dark eyes, the fullness of her top and bottom lip, and the way her curls brush her shoulder like a caress.
And then she says, “Miss Fern is having me work the sound booth for the musical.”
I wait for her to elaborate, or for her to tell me how I have anything to do with this. But she doesn’t. She’s just…telling me. Confiding in me. For a second, it feels so much like old times that my chest feels lighter. “Wow…congrats.”
She scoffs. “Congrats? I don’t know the first thing about that.”
“Yeah, but won’t you learn?”
“Are you kidding? It’s bad enough not being able to audition because I can’t sing. I really wanted to try to get the lead, Ezra. But this? I’m in over my head, and I know it. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Okay, look.” I sigh, hesitating before touching her arm as lightly as possible. At first I expect her to pull away, but to my surprise, she seems to relax a bit under my hand. “You’re smart,Rue. I don’t understand why you’re so worried. If anyone at this school could learn a new aspect of theater—one that makes them uncomfortable—and still excel in it, it’s you.”
She casts her gaze downward, cheeks turning pink. I’m vaguely aware that the bell rang a long time ago, but I can’t bring myself to care. Not with her sitting here next to me, having a real conversation with me for once.
“I don’t know why I’m making you listen to all this,” she finally says. “This isn’t even your problem. But then again, it’s just easier to think everything is your fault.” A teasing smile appears on her mouth.
I laugh. “Listen, you can blame me for things I have nothing to do with if it makes you feel better. I don’t mind.”
Her gaze meets mine. For the briefest moment, the stress in her eyes disappears. And something strange happens in my chest.
I’ve always known Rue was pretty. Anyone with eyes could see that. But noticing it like this—when she’s sitting inches away from me, trusting me with something that matters to her—hits differently.
The girls I’ve dated before usually noticed me first. They liked that I was captain. That I was the guy everyone knew. But Rue has never cared about any of that. She barely cared when I made the team in middle school, and she definitely doesn’t care that I’m captain now. If anything, she seems more interested in reminding me when I’m being annoying.
And somehow… I like that. More than I should.
The thought lands in my brain so suddenly it almost knocks the air out of me.
I have a crush on Rue Sullivan.
The realization is terrifying, because it means this fake relationship isn’t fake for me anymore. I swallow hard. “Rue…”
She shakes her head. “We, um, should probably get to class now. I don’t want to get in trouble.”
“Right.” I nod, helping her up from the chair, and keeping her hand once she’s standing. When she frowns at our hands in confusion, I say, “You never know who might be watching.”
Thankfully, she seems to buy it.
But no one is watching, just as I thought. And as I walk her to class and find my own, I can’t help but like it—holding her hand when no one is looking.
I just wish she did, too.
Tucker corners me in the hallway before first period with a grin. "Okay, real question," he says, walking backward so he can watch my face as I head for class. "Is it true? You and Rue? Because if those Little Birdie posts are real, man..."
I sigh and keep walking through the hallway, which hums with morning chatter and the occasional slamming of locker doors.
"You just sighed," Tucker points out. "That’s not a no."
"Because I don’t owe you an explanation."
"But you want to give me one, don’t you?"
I stop walking. "It’s true."
He stares at me like I just confessed to being in love with his grandmother. "You’re serious?"
