Page 35 of The Perfect Hit

“I’m not sure,” I said, trying to think about when I’d talked to her last. We’d been close friends when I lived in Buffalo, and we still texted each other from time to time, but it was harder and harder to have much in common since I lived so far away.

“Well, it looks like you’ve got support for this play even when they live thousands of miles away.”

I smiled, happy that I wasn’t completely forgotten by my friends back in New York. It had been hard the few weeks at the end of school, and most of my friends had sided with Seth. They’d known how much I hurt every time he said he was coming to something and didn’t show up, yet he was able to sway them to his side. At least Lina was still loyal. Not that I should let it matter much since this was my life now.

I hadn't unfolded all of it and found this at the bottom:

P.S. Seth is dating Darcy Cutler now. They're a mess.

Darcy Cutler was another girl from our drama department, and I wondered what the deal with Seth was. Did he just like girls who loved theater? The only problem with him liking her was that it made me wonder if it was just me he'd stopped liking. Or had he moved on with her before we broke up? I figured I would've heard something if that were the case.

At least I wasn't there reliving things every day.

All these thoughts caused me to remember Colt and Marcy laughing on stage. What was it that I wanted? Did I want to just be a best friend for the rest of my life?

Insecurity tugged at me. I could make it through the play for a few more weeks. I just hoped everything that kept me stable here in Pecan Flatts wouldn’t be gone by the time it was done.

23

Colt

It was Grandpa-moving-in day, and we still had a lot to get done before he came home. We’d spent almost four weeks cleaning and remodeling the place. I’d gotten up before school to help with the last bits of cleaning, and then my parents were going to get all the supplies they needed for him to stay there. My dad had even taken the day off, which I think my mother was grateful for. She was used to holding down the fort and keeping everything spinning in our family, but something as big as this was fraying her patience.

I glanced at the calendar on my phone, surprised to find that we’d been working on rehearsals for the play for five weeks. Things had still been going well, and I’d managed to keep my double life a secret for this long, but Hazel had seemed a bit off since Mrs. Sanderson had told me to let her fight for herself. Was she bugged at me for that?

She was usually so upfront about her feelings when it came to me, and to keep this to herself wasn’t like her. I needed to confront her about it; there just hadn’t been a great time to do so.

I made it through the first few classes of the day and headed down the hall to the commons area. I wasn’t sure if I was in the mood to go out for lunch, but I figured I’d let the other guys decide.Just trying to get from practice to practice was difficult enough, and I didn’t want to waste brain power on something like that right now.

Once I turned the corner, I saw a ginormous white sign spread across the upstairs balcony and visible into the commons.

Colt Buttars, pizza will you go to the spring dance with me?

It looked like someone had tried to draw a pizza on both sides of the words.

My stomach dropped, and I stood there gaping like a fish. Tanna, the needy girl from the play, walked up with a large pizza and handed it to me, causing me to give a sort of fake smile.

“You’re asking me to the dance?” I asked, not sure if I’d ever talked to her before now. She usually skulked in the background, but she’d done a pretty good job with the scenery so far. I doubted she was the one to draw on the poster.

Tanna’s eyebrows rose. “Not a chance.”

I waited for her to say more, but she turned and walked away, leaving me confused.

I scanned the upper balcony, looking for some sign of who was asking me out. For a few seconds, I wondered if Hazel was doing it, using someone in the cast to bring me the pizza. But as I studied the lettering on the poster, I knew it couldn’t be Hazel. There were no hearts over the I’s. I’d gotten excited for nothing, and apparently, I was bordering on crazy with recognizing this wasn’t her handwriting.

People stared and several of them whispered something about me, but I was still trying to figure out who’d asked me. I sat on one of the benches, opening the pizza box.

“What did you bring me?” Jake asked, sliding up next to me and grabbing a slice.

I motioned toward the sign hanging from the balcony. “Not me.” It was then that I noticed the note written on the lid of the box. Marcy Johnson.

Well, the options could’ve been worse, but how was I going to tell her I wasn’t into her?

Jake stopped mid-bite as he read the sign and glanced back at me. “Are you going to say yes?”

I looked back at the sign, an inner debate taking place. “You know my mother will force me to.”

Ben walked up in front of me with Dax at his side. “Your mom forces you to go to dances?”

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