Page 45 of Counterpoint and Harmony

Chapter Twenty-Four

Portato:carried; non-legato but not as detached as staccato

Damian

The knock on my door has me telling my mom to hang on so I can check the peephole.

Charlie stands on the other side, a baseball cap pulled low over her face, darting looks down the hall as she bites her lower lip.

I pull open the door, and she lets out a relieved breath as she pushes inside. “Thank you,” she whispers. “I didn’t want anyone to see me. But the coast was clear.”

Her gorgeous smile twists a knife in my guts, the same feeling as when she put out the press release that said we were just friends. Yeah, I know she explained her reasons, but would it really be so bad if people saw her coming into my room?

Swallowing down the acid in my throat, I bring my phone back to my ear. “Mom? Yeah. Hey, someone’s here. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

“No problem. Thanks for calling,mijo. We’re so proud of you. Your dad and I will be sure to get the time off to come to the final concert.”

“Thanks, Mom. Love you.”

After we say our goodbyes and hang up, I take a deep breath before turning to face Charlie again, crossing my arms over my chest.

“So your parents are happy?”

“Yeah.”

She looks at me, her face expectant, but I don’t offer anything more. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she looks away for a second before meeting my gaze again, her expression more guarded now. “Right. You must be excited, though, right?”

“Of course.”

She waits again, but still I say nothing.

After a long moment, she clears her throat. “Oh. Well. Okay, then. Sorry to bother you. I just …” She makes a helpless gesture with her hand, then reaches up to adjust her hat. With a weird smile at me, she heads for the door.

I drop my arms and let out a big sigh. “What did you want, Charlie? Why did you come here?”

Her hand is already on the doorknob, but she turns back to me, her face as open and vulnerable as I think I’ve ever seen it. “I don’t know, Damian. I guess I thought … well, after this afternoon, I thought maybe you’d want to hang out. Celebrate. Talk. Something. Instead you’re shutting me out. Again. So, fine. Sorry to interrupt your phone call. I thought you’d be done. But if you don’t want to see me, then no biggie.” She shrugs, her eyes dropping from mine, the set of her mouth giving away her lie. “I’ll just sprint back to my room and hope no one’s out there. No one’s supposed to know I’m here until tomorrow when the announcement goes out about the show.”

Understanding dawns. “That’s why you were sneaking over here? Why you were so relieved no one saw you?”

Her blue eyes meet mine again, surprise there now. “Of course. Why else? That’s why I’ve been hiding out in my room the entire time we’re here. Normally I fly in the night before a pop-up show to minimize the possibility of word spreading too early. The whole attraction is that people find out only a few hours in advance, and they never know where the next one is going to be. And there are all these supposed ‘sightings’ of me all over the place.” She lifts her hands to make air quotes and then drops them with a sigh. “I mean, I guess if I were spotted for real, it’d probably blend into the noise. But so far, none of them have been real, or at least not where a show was going to be, so they’re all red herrings. If word gets out I’m here today, and then there’s a show here tomorrow, it’ll make them only try harder to figure it out next time. The paparazzi will hound me even more.”

“So it’s not because you don’t want people seeing you come to my room?” I’m stupidly hammering the point, but I need to hear her say it.

Her eyes widen. “No. That has nothing to do with it. I’d be just as paranoid about going to Natalie’s room. Or Lauren’s room. Which is why you’ve all been coming to me instead of the other way around. Not because I’m some diva on a power trip or something.” She spreads her hands. “But I’m the one who has to stay hidden.” Her mouth twists in a sad smile. “After coming to Marycliff, they’re onto my attempts to disguise myself.” She gestures at her face and hat. “This doesn’t fool anyone for long.”

Closing the distance between us, I pull her into my arms. She holds herself stiffly for just a second, but then relaxes into me, her arms coming around my waist. “I’m sorry.”

“For?” She pushes back enough to look up at me.

Pressing my lips together, I shake my head, pulling her close again. “For being a dumbass. I thought you were embarrassed to be seen coming to my room.”

She pushes back again. “Damian, why would you think that? I’ve never tried to hide our relationship.”

I arch an eyebrow at her. “You were the one who put out the statement that we were only ever friends.”

With a frustrated noise in the back of her throat, she shakes her head. “I told you why I did that. And at the time I didn’t think you’d care, since you basically told me you never wanted to see me again.”

Pressing my lips together again, I tilt my head to one side. “I don’t quite remember the conversation going that way.”

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