someone is, you know, actually here to audition. On the other side of the room, Matt and Rosaline are making out again. My stomach turns. At least this time he isn’t trying to catch my eye while his tongue is smashed inside her mouth.
“Yup.” I don’t really know what to say, per usual, and I’m still distracted by her friend, who’s now slumped against the wall next to us with her arms crossed. “Umm. You’re here to audition? I assume…? Or…?” I do an awkward nodding thing in the direction of her friend. “Is she?”
Lucy glances over at the other girl and smiles. “May? No, not her. I wish. Every band needs a badass trumpet player and backup singer.” The two of them appear to have some weird private conversation with their eyes, then May drags herself over to us, like she’d rather be anywhere else. I know the feeling.
We’re all silent for a beat, and then Lucy smirks. “Okaaaaay…cool, cool. I’ll do all the talking here. May.” She points to her friend. “This is…” She pauses. “Shit, sorry, what’d you say your name is again?”
“Zach.”
“Cool. May, Zach. Zach, May. Okay, you guys talk. Or don’t. Up to you. I’m going to go talk to whoever’s in charge here.” She pauses, appraising me. “You’re not in charge, right?”
My cheeks flush. Is it that obvious? I shake my head. “No, that’d be the guy over there. With the microphone and the Justin Bieber haircut?”
“Gotcha.” She looks at her friend. “You’re okay?”
May nods.
“Great. I’ll be back soon.”
She leaves May and me standing by the couch and strides across the room, all long legs and bouncy hair. Conor’s going to have a freaking heart attack when he sees her.
For lack of anything better to do with my body, I take a seat on the arm of the stupid couch; then I force words out of my mouth. “You’re in my drama class, right?” I groan silently. Cool line, bro. Totally cool.
“What?” She’s watching me talk like I have two heads.
I swallow and clear my throat. “I said, I think you’re in my drama class?” This time it comes out louder but squeaks up at the end like I’m just hitting puberty. I knew I should have stayed home.
“Oh. Yeah?” She arches a perfect eyebrow at me, and I’m embarrassed because obviously when we made eye contact in class it meant nothing to her and everything to me. I wish I could learn to shut the fuck up.
“Yeah. I mean, I think so. Or maybe not? I go to QA….I just thought…you kinda seemed familiar….” I trail off.
She looks out into the room for a minute, quiet, and then back at me. “No, I think you’re right. Ms. Kowalski? Fourth period?”
I nod, trying to be cool. “Yeah. Kowalski. With the hair?”
Her mouth twitches. “Oh, yeaaah. Her hair. Chick’s never heard of a hairbrush. Should be an interesting class.”
I shrug. “I guess.”
That same twitchy smile. “Not a drama person?”
“Not really. It’s more like I didn’t sign up for classes in time, so they stuck me in there.”
Now I get an actual almost-full smile. We make eye contact, and that same electrical bolt I felt earlier today in school zaps my heart and takes my breath away.
“Ha. Ditto.” She nods at the band. “So, this is more your scene?”
I look over at Conor, now deep in conversation with Lucy, and shrug again. “Yeah. Well…it used to be, but not so much anymore. My friend over there”—I point at Conor—“he sort of forced me to come. I was about to take off, actually, when you walked in….”
“Oh.” She folds her arms across her chest and leans against the wall. “Cool. Gotcha. See you around.”
I’m thrown; she went from almost friendly to dead cold in a split second. I stutter, “N-no—no. I mean…I was thinking about it, but Lucy seems like she might be fun to watch, so I think I might stay.” My heart’s beating fast and