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“Why are you doing this?” I demanded, turning around to glare at him.
He stood just behind me, that ridiculous grin still plastered on his handsome face. “What do you mean?”
“Why are you hijacking my one chance to show everyone the one thing I’m good at in this world? You’re the varsity quarterback. One of the most popular guys in school. Why do you need to take this too?”
He arched a single eyebrow and scratched the back of his head, flexing his bicep in a way that made me feel all tingly, despite my rage. “I’m not hijacking anything. I auditioned this summer just like you. We both earned it.”
Pursing my lips together, I took a step toward him and wagged my finger. I knew I probably looked like a ninety-year-old granny scolding him, but I didn’t give a care. All I could do in that moment was try to keep myself from falling into a puddle on the floor and crying my eyes out in front of him. “You didn’t earn this. You went in there with your charming grin and your muscles and your face and you tricked her. You made her give my performance to you.”
He laughed and then grabbed my wagging finger, holding it tight. His smile melted away into a smoldering expression that made my knees quiver. “Audrey, don’t act like you don’t like the idea of us working together, very closely, for the next few months.”
I gulped, my brain suddenly refusing to work. No way was I commenting on that.
“You’re going to be seeing a lot of this face and these muscles pretty soon,” he added, a cocky grin slowly returning to his perfectly shaped lips. I couldn’t make myself look away even if I wanted to. “So you’d better get used to it, raccoon girl.”
He released my finger and turned on his heels to leave, all the while the wheels in my brain turned frantically in hopes of coming up with a retort. But it was no use. Instead, I was left huffing to myself in an empty hallway, furious about the nerve of that guy.
There was no way I was writing and performing a song with Collin Preston. Not in this life or the next. I had to find a way to get him to quit.
And I had to find it fast.
Chapter Seven
“I think I’m going to die.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, inhaling sharply as a painful sensation filled my head. Brain. Freeze. It was the risk one had to take when slurping Lola’s Icees in the Rock Valley Mall food court. One that my friends and I gladly took every Tuesday after school; sunshine, rain, or snow. It was a tradition that couldn’t be broken.
“Should’ve stuck with the salted pretzel,” Mandy said, calmly taking a sip of her blue raspberry icee. She sat across the table from me, still wearing her cut off t-shirt and running shorts. “You’re in no shape to be drinking, young lady.
“She’s right,” Trina added with a serious expression. She still had a streak of blue paint under her chin and some white in her hair from art class. “This whole Collin thing has you flipped upside down. Why are you letting him get to you?”
Haha. They were so funny.
“Collin Preston has no effect on me whatsoever,” I said, pushing my black cherry icee away from me. “But if he thinks he can come in and steal my show, then he’s got another thing coming.”
I saw Mandy and Trina exchange glances. They were doing that a lot lately.
“But he auditioned,” Trina said softly. “Isn’t it his show too?”
She was right, of course. It never had been my performance. Mrs. Banks could give it to whoever she wanted. And she’d chosen me and Collin. My mom would say that I should’ve been grateful for what I got.
“Whose side are you on, anyway?” I grumped, crossing my arms over my chest.
In true Trina fashion, she pushed her palms together and gave me a sympathetic frown. “I’m not on any side, but you’re my best friend. I’ll always have your back.”
“Maybe I should just drop out of it,” I said miserably, stirring my icee with the straw. “I’ve got enough on my plate with senior year, college applications, and cheerleading. It could be for the best.”
I hadn’t sent out one college application and the deadlines were looming. Sometimes, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to go. It just seemed like the next necessary step in life. Trina had her eyes on California Institute of the Arts and Mandy already had invitations from several track programs around the country. I had nothing. My future had never been so open. And I’d never felt so terrified.
“Don’t you dare drop out,” Mandy growled. “This is the one thing you’re actually doing for yourself this year. You’ve got to stick it out.”
I took another sip of my icee and let the sweet and cold sensation roll around in my mouth as I thought about the coming year. Singing was the only thing that kept me going. If I abandoned it, all I would have was my parents’ messy divorce to stress about. That didn’t seem fair. But neither was having to share my one chance at a spotlight with the football god himself.
As if on cue, my phone dinged and a message popped up on my screen.
Unknown: Hey raccoon girl
It took me a second of staring at the screen to realize who’d sent it, but then my cheeks began to burn. The nerve of him.
