Unscripted - Nicole Kronzer Page 0,27

my bunk and gestured for Will and Jonas to join me. They followed, settled in next to each other, and leaned against the window.

“So . . .” I looked around at the groups of twos and threes alternately hydrating and laughing. “What—how was—”

“Z.” Will grinned. “We had the best day. These are the BEST PEOPLE!”

Half the cabin cheered. The other half was busy adding their two cents about the CD. “It sounds like the whales are lonely!” “It sounds like drowning cows.” “It sounds like trombones are being murdered.”

Ignoring the debate raging below us, Jonas tilted his head back on the window and closed his eyes. “Dion and Roger are amazing.”

“Yeah, we basically spent the whole day together,” Will agreed. “It was all trust building, all day.”

That. That was what I was used to. Team building. Improv through trust.

“Sounds awesome,” I said, reflecting on my own day, feeling my cheeks redden all over again. I put my hands on them in a vain attempt to cool them down.

“It was.” Jonas shifted on the bunk. “They brought everyone together and turned off all the lights and we sat back-to-back in a circle. Each one of us was invited to say something that was true.”

“At first it was stuff like, ‘I’m wearing a red shirt,’ ” Will said, “but then it got deep. Someone said—” He looked at Jonas. “Oh, I’m not—I really shouldn’t say. It was all supposed to stay in the room.”

I nodded, understanding. That’s how those things go. But it didn’t stop me from feeling a little left out.

“Anyway.” Will gestured at Jonas. “You tell this part.”

My eyes widened. Telling a story with Will was like combat—you fought for control. Jonas was softening him. I smiled.

Jonas did, too. “People were dropping some serious secrets, and as I sat there, it just felt like the secret of Will and me . . . didn’t need to be one. Especially once we realized Sirena and Emily were together. I reached over for Will’s hand in the dark. And he let me take it. And then he squeezed mine. And then—”

Will’s face started to redden. “I didn’t quite realize we were going to go through the entire play-by-play here.”

I laughed. I liked seeing this vulnerable side of Will.

Jonas elbowed him. “It’s part of the story. You said I should tell this part of—”

“I know, I know.” Will elbowed him back. “Go ahead.”

He smiled. “And then when it was my turn, I said, ‘Will is my boyfriend.’ ”

I grinned.

“And I was next,” Will said, “and I said, ‘I’m Will.’ ”

I laughed and wrapped my arms around both of them in a messy hug. “Did everyone laugh?”

They beamed.

“Yeah,” Will said. “The good kind.”

“And after,” Jonas continued, “it was . . . normal. It feels so good to not have to hide this part of who I am.”

“I’m so glad you felt safe,” I said, laying my head on Will’s shoulder.

“Me, too,” Jonas agreed, laying his head on Will’s other shoulder. “What about you?” Will asked, poking my leg.

It was as if a cold rain blew in.

“Well . . .” I lifted my head. I wasn’t sure what to say. Will had already been shocked about my alleged flirting yesterday. What would he think about Ben’s hand on my naked back? About our walk? About my promise not to tell anyone? Earlier, I’d been desperate to confess all of my embarrassment, but now it seemed so wrapped up in the walk with Ben. I wasn’t ready to be lectured about a thing I wasn’t even sure was a thing.

“It was very . . . serious. Ben is unlike any coach I’ve ever had. Intense. He says he’s preparing us for the professional world. And seeing as how he’s been teaching and taking classes at UCB, not to mention the film and TV he’s done, he must know what he’s talking about.”

“Oh.” Will frowned. “But you’re having fun, right?”

Fun? Uh . . . “It’s . . . it’s good,” I said. “It’s going to be good.”

Normally, Will would never let me get away with that level of evasiveness, but he was distracted by Jonas, whose eyes were suggesting things to him a sister did not need to see.

“Those whales moaning kind of sound like something else to me,” Jonas said, raising his eyebrows at Will.

“Go. Get out of here. No one wants your love!” I tried to push them off my bunk.

Will laughed and kicked me a little but climbed down with Jonas. Hand-in-hand, they tried