Face the Music (10 page)

“
Uh, not forget the words,” Sam said, stating the obvious.

I shook my head. 
“Come on, I’m being serious.  Dig deeper.  After Sabrina forgot the lyrics, what happened?  How did she react?”

Riley sighed before speaking up.  Her grey eyes were red around the rims.  She and Sabrina had been close, so I knew this was hard for her.  “She panicked. 
She completely freaked out,
”
she said.

“Exactly.  What can you learn from that?  If, Heaven forbid, one of you should forget the words during a performance, how will you react?  What will you do?”  I spoke slowly and looked from one face to the next.  “It’s always a good idea to have a
plan.  Take a minute and u
se your journal to w
rite down
what you will do
.” 

The sound of pencils pressing against paper broke the silence as they scribbled away.  After a few minutes, they finished and looked up at me
for more directions
.

“Does anyone want to share?”

“No way,” said Melody, shaking her head.  “These are my competitors, right?”  She gestured around the circle.  “Why would I want to give them any good ideas?” 

We all laughed.  Jimmy
launched a
notebook at her.
  She ducked just in time, and it hit the wall behind her before falling to the floor.

I released the kids
a bit
early for lunch.  Someone came in as I was pushing the desks back into rows. 

“Did you forget something?” I said as I
turned
around.  It was Chris. 
“Oh, hi. 
I thought you were one of the kids.”  A maroon sweater
hung nicely from his broad shoulders
. 
I had to
make a conscious effort
to keep from staring.

“Hey, how’s it going?”

I sucked in a deep breath
.  “Good.  You?” 

“Can’t complain,” he said,
eyeing
the
cluster of desks
.

“I already released the kids for lunch,” I explained, assuming he was here for Sam.  “They’re probably all at the snack bar.”

He flashed me an incredible smile, dazzling me.  “I’m not here for Sam.”

I looked at my feet as blood rushed to my cheeks.  When I got up the nerve to look at hi
m again, he was staring at me.  “You did great last night.  I love that song
,
”
I said nervously. 
Why
is
he here?

“I thought you’d enjoy it.  You seemed to really like it when it came on in the car the other night.”

“What?”

“You know,” he urged.  “W
hen I drove you home from the club.  Don’t you remember?  The song was playing when you got in.  You said you liked it.”  His smiled broadened enough to show a pair of perfect canines.  “You even sang a little.”

“Really?”
  My face got even hotter.  “
I had a little too much to drink.” 

He laughed and leaned against one of the desks.  “A little?  You could hardly walk.”

“How about Sabrina?” I asked, eager to turn the subject away from
my indiscretions
.

He glanced towards the door as someone walked by. 
“
What
a way to go,” he said.
 
“
Poor girl. 
The kids
were sure bummed last night. 
How were they this morning?”

“Wo
rse than normal.  Distracted, I guess. 
I tried giving them a pep talk, but I don’t know if it did any good.”

He seemed thoughtful as he studied a poster hanging on the wall beside my desk.  It was a picture of a child standing before a chalkboard.  A series of complex molecular formulas were scribbled across it.  The caption read: 
The more you know, the more you know you don’t know
.

“Did you see the newspaper yesterday?”
he asked.

I groaned.  “Yep.  But unlike you, I tend to shy away from the extra attention.”

He
laughed and
started to say something but was interrupted. 

“Knock, knock!”  Eddie Ortega stepped into the room, dressed to
kill in a pair of tight, black,
leather pants and a long-sleeved turquoise blouse.  “Hope I’m not interrupting.”  He gave Chris an appreciative smile.  “
Hello there
.”

Chris blew out a long breath.  “Eddie.  What brings you by?”

Eddie didn’t answer the question.  Instead, he walked a wide circle around me before settling into a desk next to Chris.  “My, my,” he said, his eyes coming to rest on my face.  “You are a cutie, aren’t you?”  He crossed his legs and folded his hands over a knee, his shoulders back and spine stiff and upright.  “No wonder the kids like you so much.”

“Oh, thank you,” I said, uncomfortable with the compliment. 

“I’m Eddie, in case you missed that.”  He held out a limp hand, and I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to kiss it or shake it.  I went with the lat
t
er, and Chris coughed back a chuckle.  “So you’re our newest starlet?  Your hair was different
in the picture.  I
t was curly, wasn’t it?”

Damn article
. 
I reached up and touched my stringy ponytail.  “Yeah.  My sister…”  I stopped and shook my head.  “I’m sorry, is there something you needed?”

“No.  I just had
to
come by and meet this girl who’s been distracting Chris from his work.”

My jaw dropped. 
“
What?
”  Why
thi
s strange little man thought I w
ould be distracting to Chris was beyond me
.

Eddie laughed.  It was a high pitched, snorting type of sound.  “I’m joking.  You shouldn’
t be so serious all the time.”

I couldn’t help but smile.  Everything about the guy, from his
eccentric
outfits
to his guiltless way of barging in on a conversation was too much.  How could anyone not like him?  He was downright hilarious.

“I was never much into school,” he continued, looking around the classroom. 
Aside from my one poster,
a white board,
l
ight blue walls
,
and fluorescent lights
was about all there was to see. 
“
I was too easily distracted
.” 

I laughed.  “I can see how that would be a problem.”

“I didn’t see the need for a good education.  I wish I had been a better student though.  Ah, well, no need to bore you with
details.  I’m off to the pound. 
I’m going to adopt a cat.”

Chris and I exchanged a curious glance.

“Are you looking for anything in particular?”
I asked.

Eddie nodded and waved a finger in the air.  “A calico, but he has to be male.  They’re so much more affectionate than females, don’t you think?”

“Naturally,” I agreed, although I didn’t have the faintest idea.  I was never reall
y a cat person.  “But don’t be
too
surprised if you can’t find one
. 
Male calicos
are
rare.” 
I tried to explain
,
“It’s a sex-linked trait on the X chromosome.  Kind of like colorblindness.
 
That’s
way oversimplified, of course.”  I should have stopped there, but with Chris so close, scrambling my senses, I blabbered on.  “
Calico males are the result of a chromosomal mutation.  If you wanted to
get into the actual genetics-
”

They
both looked at m
e as if I’d just spoken Greek. 
Eddie threw his hands up in the air.  “Lord no!  Honey, that’s already way more than I neede
d.”

I wanted to crawl under a rock. 
“
Sorry.  This is my thing.  I
t’s what I do.”

Eddie patted me on the back and turned to Chris.  “We’ve got a smart one on our hands, don’t we?  You’ll have to be careful with her.”

Chris nodded, still looking at me.  “For sure.”

“Okay, Miss Allie, thanks for the lesson.”  He headed towards the door, waving at Chris and me from over his shoulder.  “Bye
-bye
, dearies.”

“He’s quite entertaining, don’t you think?” I asked once he was out of earshot.

Chris stared out into the hallway.  “He’s something, that’s for sure.”  He returned his eyes to me.  “The
se
kids are lucky.  My
Biology teacher was an old crow.
”

“What can I say?  I have a gift.”  I gave him a crooked smile and glanced at the clock.  “I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to get over to the university.  I’ve got some work to do before tonight.”

“What’s going on tonight?”

“I get Molly, Emily’s kid.  She’s four.  I watch her in the evenings while Emily works.”

“Yeah?  I have a
niece too.  She’s a real kick
.  S
he’ll be six this summer.
”  He
sighed.  “I miss her.”

For the first time
I saw Chris as more than a Superstar.  He wasn’t just some
gorgeous
guy who could sing.  H
e
was a real person
.  My heart went out to him.

“That must be
so
hard.  I never thought of it before.  I mean, I know the competition is stressful and all, but I never considered how difficult it would be to be so far away from your family and home.”

“Some days are harder than others.”

“It’s supposed to be a nice evening.  If you don’t have plans, you could meet Molly and me at the park.”  I immediately regretted asking.  Now he’d have to come up with some excuse to let me do
wn easy. 
“But it’s okay if you don’t want to,” I said, offering him an easy out.
 
“
I’m sure you’ve got better things to do th
an hang around a playground, so
-”

“I’d love to,” he said, standing.  “What time?”

Seriously
?  I couldn’t believe it. 
“I’l
l be home a little after five.  Y
ou can meet us at the apartment if you want.”