First, by Kenneth, who is hard to say no to. Then, by Mr. D’plume, the one person I thought was my full ally in all this.
The man is conniving and intuitive. I never had to tell him about my relationship with Agatha. No doubt he recognized her voice coming from the sound booth during auditions, too.
No doubt he knows I’m the kind of person who would run the moment before I have to take the stage in front of a real audience.
Now, if I do,shegets my place.
Anger and terror morph into a creature with teeth and claws inside my chest. It dredges through the last bits of my sanity. And breaks only when a familiar voice hits me.
“What happened in there?”
I stop short, my stomach flipping, and turn to find Lex catching up to me in the middle of a rolling field that separates the bundle of art buildings from the clusters of academicinstitutions. A stream slices campus in half, and the bridge connecting the two sections rests just ahead, marking the central point. On this side rests Grazioso Hall and the gazebo I decided to seal my fate under.
A sneer catches my expression. “I don’t believe I owe you an explanation.”
“You don’t like Agatha. You were planning to be sick performance weekend. You don’t want her to play your part, but you still don’t want to perform.”
I scoff. “Seems you didn’t need it either.” Picking up my pace again, I head for the bridge.
Lex catches my arm, stopping me short and turning my full attention to his hard expression. “What I want to know is how Mr. D’plume knows all that and why he brings you coffee and why you seem to be just ‘Calypso’ to him.”
I know Mr. D’plume wouldn’t jeopardize the play by revealing anything about my true part in its existence. I also know that our relationship isn’t illegal. I huff, tugging my arm free. “I had to ask to use the piano in his room, didn’t I? He knows I’m in there, and sometimes he comes in early to work. He’snice, so I getcoffee.” What does it matter to Lex? Unless he really is protective of his position as teacher’s pet. “Why does it matter to you,Mr. Hawthorn? Scared you’re not favorite?”
Lex ruffles his dark hair and lifts a brow. “I’ve never, once, assumed I was any of my teachers’ favorite, Calypso. You’ve got to know that much.”
The ugly monster in my chest needs to escape. My fist clenches, and I hold my coffee cup close. “Why do Igot to? Becauseyou’reintuitive enough to pick up on stuff like that, andwe’re alike?”
“Yes.”
He leaves no room for argument, and nothing about his tone or stance stokes the one I’m attempting to brew.
I know I was grasping at straws and drawing from the statements I told my mother about him rather than actual facts, but everything inside me is a chaos that I’ve not been subjected to inso long. And, at the root of things, I only have him or myself to blame. Mr. D’plume’s opportunistic decisions in manipulating me into a place he wanted me to be in from the very first moment he decided I wasbrilliantdoes play a part in the crime. But I’d never be here if this boy hadn’t invaded my space, decided I was his new pet, and talked me into being okay with it.
“I’m so stupid,” I spit, and walk away from him again.
He remains tight at my heels. “Calypso,” he calls, but I ignore him, heading straight for the bridge.
“Sugar.”
I whip around. “Stop calling me that! I’m going to take it as an insult, especially now that I know what it’s a reference to. I’m not some stupid little flying rat-possum that you’ve decided to capture. I’m just a stupid little kid who’s in way over her head. Swayed bymoney, I sold my soul, and now I’m twisted up in all the repercussions.”
“Calm down,” he states firmly.
I take a breath, releasing it as a laugh. “Wow. At least I’m not the only stupid one here. You never tell an angry woman to calm down,Alexander.”
“Will you just listen to me?” He extends a hand, and I watch the motion, the graceful edge of it. Melded with those words, it makes my heart stop.
I shake my head. “No. No, don’t you dare.”
The line and the implore come from an ending scene inThe Magpie Girl. It’s right before Kenneth confesses his love.
Lex doesn’t oblige. He takes a step forward, closing some distance, and that’s perfectly in the script as well. If one of us is brilliant, it’s this boy who hasn’t written every line he knows toowell. “Even though your wings have been clipped for so long, you never cease to try and fly away from me.”
I won’t respond. Even if my lines are burning in my head. I’m not going to give him the satisfaction. I’m not going to proceed in this scene.
Lex is practically on top of me now, looking down, only the slim span of my coffee cup retaining any distance. “Maybe I am.” Lex keeps the scene moving all the same, and that’s terrifying. “But maybe I don’t want you to.”
I drag my gaze off the grass, even though I know by looking up I’ll find a far more vibrant green.
