“Britta,” Holly said. “Are you ready to go home now?”
Britta turned, her eyes shining, her face calm and happy as if she'd been hypnotized.
“Already?” she said. “It's still early.”
“No, it isn't,” Holly said. “It's almost midnight.”
“Oh. I guess I'd better go,” Britta said to the guy.
“Wait,” he said, taking a pen and a scrap of paper from his pocket. He handed them to Britta, and she scribbled something down.
“Who was that guy?” Holly asked Britta at the door.
“His name is Ed Reyes,” Britta said in a gushy, awestruck voice. “And he's the most wonderful guy who ever walked the earth.”
“What?” Holly glanced back at the guy, who waved to Britta. “He looks pretty average to me.”
Possibly even below average
, she thought, but she kept this to herself.
“He's amazing,” Britta said. “Holly, I think I'm in love.”
Touched
To: mad4u
From: your daily horoscope
HERE IS TODAY'S HOROSCOPE: VIRGO: When you play with guns, there's always a chance you'll shoot yourself in the foot.
O
h, Papa, I know what you're thinking. I can read minds now, remember?” Mads stood spotlit on stage at the Carlton Bay Playhouse, eyes closed, rubbing her temples in her best—or rather, worst—imitation of a girl reading someone's mind. She was doing a scene from
Touched
. In the front row sat M.C., Audrey, and the director, Charles Huang, and a few other people associated with the theater. Backstage, other auditioning actors watched as Mads chewed the scenery.
“You're wondering why the cows won't give up any milk,” Mads said. “You're wondering if you're going to lose your dairy farm. But Papa, if you'd only listen to me! I know why the cows have gone dry. It's the Visitors, Papa. They scared the cows. The Visitors from the Great Behind!”
Her eyes popped open dramatically and she threw her arm into the air as if pointing meaningfully toward the sky. The actors backstage tittered. M.C. called from her seat, “
Beyond
, honey. The line is `Visitors from the Great Beyond.'”
“Oh, sorry,” Mads said, even though she'd done it on purpose. It was her third mistake so far. The audition was going even worse than she'd planned. “Should I try it again?”
“That won't be necessary,” Charles Huang said. “Just finish the scene and you'll be done.”
Finally. Mads spat out the last few lines. “Did you ever hear of ESP, Papa? Because I think I have it. I think I have Extra-Sensory Perspiration.”
More giggling from backstage. Mads took a bow. “Thank you, Madison,” Charles said, not bothering to correct her. “Nice job. Next—”
Mads left the stage and sat beside her mother. “You stank,” Audrey whispered. “I told you she would suck.”
“Honey, what happened up there?” M.C. asked. “I've never heard you make so many mistakes before.”
Mads shrugged. “Stage fright, I guess.”
They'd have to be insane to cast me now,
she thought with satisfaction.
I don't have to do the play, and I still get to go to Stanford with Holly! My life is golden!
“Anyway, I'm out of here,” Mads said, gathering up her bag. She'd brought her bike to the theater, knowing that M.C. would be there all afternoon watching boring auditions. Mads had done her part; she didn't want to hang around any longer.
“Be careful on the roads, honey,” M.C. said. “Do you want to go with her, Audrey, or stay?”
“Stay,” Audrey said with grim determination. She wanted to see every actress auditioning for Little Mariah. Audrey wanted that part, and she needed to reassure herself that the competition wasn't good enough to override her obvious advantage of being the playwright's daughter.
“Fine, bore yourself to death,” Mads said. She started up the aisle. The theater door opened, casting a shaft of blinding sunlight into the darkened auditorium. Mads reached for the door, passing the two people who'd just come in. She looked back at them. It was Jane Cotham— and Sean! What were they doing there?
“Hey, kid,” Sean said as he followed Jane down the aisle.
The sight of him—especially so suddenly, so unexpectedly—jolted Mads. She stopped and watched them, dazed, until they disappeared backstage. Sean. He was like a force field to her. And Stephen wasn't there to counteract his power.
Should she go back in? Should she stay and find out what he was doing there?
Thank god he didn't see my audition!
Mads thought.
But maybe someone will tell him about it—like Audrey. I'd better get out of here.
She unlocked her bike and pedaled home, wondering at every block if she should turn and go back. There was only one obvious reason why Sean would be at the theater: he was auditioning for a part in the play! And Teen Mariah had a boyfriend—and she got to kiss him. What if Sean got that part?
Mads wanted to kick herself.
I should never have blown my audition!
she thought.
What if I've missed a chance to kiss Sean?
True Love Defined
To: hollygolitely
From: your daily horoscope
HERE IS TODAY'S HOROSCOPE: CAPRICORN: You're getting mushy on me, Capricorn. Bring back your old hardheaded self—please!
I
can't believe how different you look,” Holly said to Britta at lunch on Monday. Instead of her usual nondescript overalls or baggy corduroys, Britta was wearing a pretty burgundy skirt and a clingy white knit top. She hadn't cut her hair or changed her glasses, but her face glowed. She was blooming.
“Thank you,” she said. “I feel different, too. Holly, you were right. There's so much more to life than studying!”
They settled in a corner of the lunchroom by the window. It was the last lunch period of the day and the room was clearing out.
What could have brought about such a sudden change in Britta? Holly was dying to know. “Tell me everything,” she said.
“I can't believe it's only been three days since I met him!” Britta said, speaking of Ed Reyes, the boy she met at Nick Henin's party. “It feels like a lifetime.”
Aha! Holly's matchmaking prowess strikes again! Okay, so Ed wasn't the match she had planned for Britta. The important thing was that she saw a void in Britta's life and helped her fill it.
“He picked me up at noon on Saturday and we spent the whole day together,” Britta said. “I mean the
whole
day. I didn't get home until after midnight! I've never done anything like that before. My parents didn't know what to think.”
Holly tried to remember if she and Rob had ever done that. “What did you do all day?”
“For a while we just drove around and talked. He told me all about himself, and I told him all about myself. Not that there's much to tell. But he's so interesting. He's a sophomore in college in England! But his father lives here. So he's visiting. We drove to the beach and we found this adorable little house, with nothing else around it, right on the water, with a ‘For Sale’ sign out front. And Ed said, ‘Let's look inside.’ I was afraid to. I mean, it's trespassing, and anyway I thought the door would probably be locked. But it wasn't. So we went inside. It's the sweetest little house! It's completely empty and the electricity is turned off and everything. But you can see the ocean from the second floor, and hear the waves … ”
Holly imagined Ed and Britta holding hands like a newlywed couple, pushing open the door of a pretty little vine-covered house filled with a watery light from the sea. “It sounds so romantic,” Holly said.
“We sat on the floor and talked some more. He's really smart. But he's had a hard time with his parents and everything … Then we got hungry, so we got back in the car. We couldn't find a place to eat that seemed right. We were in this particular mood, you know, and we didn't want to ruin it by going to some noisy restaurant. So Ed pulled into a shopping center and told me to wait in the car. A few minutes later he came out with two big shopping bags and drove off. I asked him where we were going and he said it was a surprise.”
Holly raised an eyebrow. After all, Britta barely knew this guy. “Were you scared?”
“Scared?” Britta said. “Why?”
Holly shrugged. “I mean it was nighttime and he wouldn't tell you where he was taking you—”
“You wouldn't say that if you knew him,” Britta said. “He took me back to the house. The little house by the ocean. He'd bought a flashlight and candles and a blanket and some takeout food and everything. We sneaked inside and he lit some candles and we had a romantic dinner right there on the floor of the house.”
Holly was impressed. “Oh my god! That is incredible.”
“I know,” Britta said. “We stepped out on the deck and looked at the moon on the water. And he kissed me.”
“Wow.” Holly closed her eyes. Why didn't anything like this ever happen to her? Holly wondered. It was like a dream!
“My parents wanted to kill me by the time I got home. He wanted to see me again last night but I was afraid they'd say no. I mean, Sunday night. A school night. So I told them I was going to meet you at Vineland to study.” Vineland was a popular café.
Holly's eyes popped open. “You did?”
“And I sneaked back to the little house to meet him. But on the way I stopped to pick up some food and we had another romantic dinner.”
Holly wanted to go back a step and clarify something. “You told your parents you were with me?”
“You don't mind, do you?”
“Well, no, but you should have asked me first. I didn't go out last night. What if your mother talks to Jen and finds out?”
“You're right…. Next time I'll warn you.”
“Okay.”
“It's just that he's here for such a short time—only a few weeks!” Britta said. “So we have to spend every possible minute together.”
They were really in love. Holly was blown away. She didn't know anybody who was this much in love. Not where the love was mutual, anyway. Sure, Mads loved Sean but he hardly knew she was alive. And Lina and Dan … that wasn't even worth thinking about. Holly didn't think of Mads' and Lina's crushes as real love. They were impossible, unattainable. Nothing would ever come of them, either one. But this … this was different.
It had all happened so fast—and to Britta of all people.
Holly thought about the last evening she spent with Rob. Saturday night, she went over to his house. They played video games. Holly actually liked video games; some of them, anyway. And she remembered thinking what a good time she had with Rob. They didn't have to do anything special; they got along so well they could just pal around like buddies.
Like buddies. While Britta and Ed were having candlelight dinners in an abandoned beach house, she and Rob were blasting aliens and making nachos in the microwave. It was like two different worlds. One so immature and everyday—so high school—and the other so passionate and romantic. Worldly. Grown-up. Serious. Holly envied Britta. Suddenly her own life seemed humdrum, drab, excitement-free. Pathetic.
“It's incredible,” Holly said to Lina and Mads at Vineland later that afternoon. “I mean, did you see her today? She's transformed.”
“It's true, I almost didn't recognize her,” Lina said. “She looked lighter, or something.”
“And she suddenly has a fashion sense,” Mads said. “How did that happen?”
“It's—it's true love,” Holly said. “I think it is.”
“They only met three days ago,” Lina said.
“She hardly knows him,” Mads added. “How could it be true love already?”
“It was love at first sight,” Holly insisted. “Mads, you of all people—”
“Say no more.” Mads held her hand out to stop Holly from going further. “I know what you are going to say, Boobmeister, and you're wrong. Sure, I fell in love with Sean at first sight, but I never said it was
true
love.”
“For one thing, Sean doesn't love her back,” Lina said.
“Well, and for another thing—” Mads didn't want to dwell on that aspect of it “—I'm with Stephen now, so how can it be true love if we're both with other people? Plus I really like Stephen and I might fall in love with him, too, who knows?”
“What about you, Lina?” Holly said. “You won't even date anyone, you're so crazy about Dan.”
“That's not true,” Lina said. “I just haven't found the right guy yet. And anyway, Dan is a perfect example. My love for him may be true, but it can't last, because he's leaving.”
“Oh, yeah, I heard that,” Mads said. “What life form are they going to dig up to teach IHD next year?”
“Luckily we won't be sophomores anymore and it won't matter to us by then,” Holly said. Needless to say, Holly and Mads had nowhere near the same feelings for Dan that Lina did.
“Thanks for the sympathy,” Lina said.
“I feel bad for you, I really do,” Mads said.
“It's just that we think it will be good for you to finally forget about him,” Holly said. “And move on with your life.”
“Yeah, like join us here in the real world,” Mads said.
“So much happens in high school,” Lina said. “People moving and changing…. It's rough on love. Especially true love.”
“Define true love,” Holly said.
“Soul mates,” Lina said. “A meeting of the minds.”
“The perfect match,” Mads added. “Stars in alignment, all systems go.”
“Ed and Britta could have that,” Holly said.
“They could,” Mads said. “But you don't know for sure yet.”
“Too early to tell,” Lina said.
“If you talked to her, you'd know,” Holly said.
“True love has to be proven,” Lina said. “Maybe love can strike you in a second, but only time will tell if the love is really true.”
“There are too many fakeouts,” Mads said. “You can't just assume. Look at Autumn and that guy Trent. She thought it was true love and it lasted a week tops.” Autumn was notoriously high-maintenance.
“Yeah, but look at Autumn and Vince,” Holly said. “They've lasted two whole months!” Holly had matched Autumn with Vince Overbeck herself. Everyone said Autumn would eat him alive, but instead they fell into a sloppy, drooly, disgustingly public love. Chalk up another success for Holly, though, to be honest, she sort of regretted setting up that match.
“That can't be true love,” Mads said. “Autumn doesn't have it in her. And it's too gross.”