Page 52 of The Perfect Hit

“Thanks, guys. I appreciate it.” The words were barely choked out, and as I turned away to keep from crying in front of them, a mass hit me, arms wrapping around me as the group came closer.

“We’re a family, and we’ve got to support each other.”

“Okay, let’s get going on practice, men,” Coach said. “We’ve still got a lot to cover tonight.”

“Nate,” I said before he took off. “I’m sorry, man. I messed up, and I realize that. Do you think you can forgive me?”

He reached forward and pulled me into a back-slapping hug. “Colt, I get why you hid it. But I’ll be there on the front row Friday. I need to cheer you on.” He grinned and took a step back.

“Thanks, man. That means a lot.”

We started our warmup jog, and I felt lighter than I had in weeks.

Now I just needed to figure out what I could do to resume my friendship with Hazel. It might kill me to do so, but this long without speaking to her was killing me. It was better to have her in my life in any capacity than it would be not to have her at all.

34

Hazel

Colt not coming to the rehearsal made me worry more about the play than I had before. Maybe it was because I was so used to his upbeat personality buoying me up in the difficult moments and not having him there was messing with my brain.

But at least I’d made progress at expressing my feelings with Scott the night before. Now I just needed to survive through this day and hope that the play would go off without a hitch.

“Are you going to be okay?” Marcy asked me at lunch. I should’ve been mad at her for asking Colt to the dance, but she was all I had right now, except for Brynn. Marcy understood the ins and outs, the highs and lows of being in theater, helping some of my irritation to die down as I needed that lifeline.

“Yeah, I just wish Colt had been there last night,” I said, shifting my food around my plate with my fork.

Marcy raised an eyebrow and laughed. “Girl, you’re already bugged that we went on a date. I figured you had a crush on him the day of the dance. He’s an awesome guy, but he likes you. At least I don’t have to kiss him in the play. How are you going to handle fixing your relationship?”

Kissing. Why did I want to kiss him now? Maybe because I knew how much he’d really done for me and I’d flipped out when I realized I liked him.

Kissing was such an intimate thing that I’d sort of dished that training off to Mrs. Sanderson, not wanting to watch Scott and Ellie work on that aspect of the play.

“I’m going to get through this production and figure out how to make it up to him.”

“Are you sure you can make it that long?”

I shook my head, not sure of anything at the moment. But an idea was forming, and I hoped it played out how I wanted it to.There were only a couple of hours until the performance, and I needed to make sure this worked.

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The lights dimmed, and I felt like all we’d done was run around making sure we had all the costumes on and all the props in place for the play. I’d seen Colt from afar and felt those butterfly shivers, different than the scared butterflies I usually got when I was about ready to go on stage. I had a plan, and tonight was the best time to enforce it.

The first few scenes went off without a hitch, and then a small trip in the middle of the fourth scene had me worried things weren’t going to continue on that path. But Tanna got back up and made it look like she’d fallen on purpose. Yay for acting skills when the lights were on.

Scott and Ellie did a good job of the push and pull of a relationship, while Colt and Marcy, along with the rest of the cast, only added to that with their lines and actions.

Colt did an amazing job, and I could tell that although he was nervous, he’d gone through his lines without a mistake or a forgotten phrase, and I wanted to hug him and praise him for that. I knew what a big deal it was for him and couldn’t have been happier.

Then it was time, the end of the play when things were wrapping up. Scott and Ellie had their few moments to kiss, and then it was time for Marcy and Colt to go on stage.

As planned, Marcy stood offstage, and I was now wearing her costume. I took a deep breath and walked out there, trying to enjoy every moment of confusion and hope on Colt’s face.

His eyes widened as if trying to ask what I was doing out there. He took a deep breath and began.

“Don’t you know how much I’ve wanted this moment, since forever?”

“Wanted what in forever?” I said, biting my bottom lip so I felt like I had some sort of control over this exciting and scary moment. And then with his next words, it was like the audience melted away.

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