Secret Admirer (2 page)

Selena shrugged.

“So are you ready for your next role?” Katy asked.

“What do you mean?” Selena demanded as she exchanged grins with Alison, who was also trying to push through the crowd of students.

“Come on.” Katy laughed. “You know you'll get Juliet.”

“Everyone keeps saying that,” Selena declared. “But it's not like there's a guarantee I'll get the part.”

Katy snorted. “Yeah, well, there's no guarantee the sun will rise tomorrow. But everyone knows you're perfect for Juliet. I mean, it's the last play of the year. No one will come if you aren't the star.”

“Yeah, right!” Selena rolled her eyes.

Why did Katy always have to exaggerate everything? “Anyway, it's up to Mr. Riordan,” she added.

“What's up to me?” Mr. Riordan approached the girls.

“We're talking about casting for the spring play,” Selena told him.

Mr. Riordan nodded. “Casting for this next play might be particularly important,” he confided.

“Why?” Katy asked.

“Well, it's supposed to be a secret, but … I just found out that the drama coach from Northwestern University will be here,” Mr. Riordan whispered.

“You're kidding!” Selena gasped. Northwestern had one of the best drama departments in the country.

“I'm serious,” he told her. “Each year he visits different schools in the area to check out the talent. This year he has chosen Shadyside High.”

“Whoa!” Selena cried. “I'm applying to Northwestern. But there's no way I can go without a scholarship.”

“Then this is your big chance,” Mr. Riordan said with a wink. He turned and headed for the stage door. “See you girls at the party.”

“You never told me you wanted to go away to college,” Katy remarked.

“Well, sure I
want
to,” Selena replied. “But it's only
a dream. I mean, Mom doesn't even make enough money to send me to the junior college.”

“If that drama coach sees you play Juliet, he'll give you the scholarship,” Katy predicted.

“That would be amazing,” Selena replied. “But I'll believe it when I see it.”

Most of the other students had cleared out. Selena yanked open the door of her locker. Her backpack hung on the hook where she'd left it.

But leaning against the pack, she saw something new—a large bouquet, wrapped in blue-striped paper.

“What is it?” Katy asked, gazing over Selena's shoulder.

“Cool!” Selena exclaimed. “Someone left me flowers! I wonder who?”

“Open them!” Katy urged.

Selena carefully pulled out the wrapped bouquet.

She ripped the paper from the top and peered inside.

And then she gasped in open-mouthed horror.

2
 

S
elena dropped the bundle and stared down at it in shock.

Both girls gaped as the black, dead roses tumbled onto the floor.

“How gross!” Katy cried, pressing her hands against her cheeks.

“Yuck. Dead flowers,” Selena groaned. “That's so sick.”

And then she noticed a small white envelope shoved under the rubber band holding the limp stems together. She bent down and snatched it up. With trembling fingers, Selena pulled a typed note from it and read:

Dear Selena,

Congratulations!

Enjoy your last curtain call.

Did you know you are giving up the stage—to be with me?

Forever.

Selena stood frozen, staring down at the black bouquet. Her disappointment quickly turned to anger. “What a sick thing to do!” she exclaimed.

Katy held her nose against the foul odor of decay. “Why would anyone do this?”

Selena scanned the note again. “Look at this.” She pointed to the bottom of the paper. There was no signature, only a bright orange sticker shaped like the sun. Selena scratched at it with her fingernail.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Katy asked.

Selena shrugged. “It's just a sticker. The kind that little kids collect.”

“But why is it on the note?” Katy persisted.

“Who knows?” Selena snapped. “Who cares?” Holding her breath, she picked up the ugly bouquet and dumped it in the trash can in the corner of the room. “It's just a dumb joke.”

“A
joke?”
Katy cried. “Are you crazy? What kind of person would think dead flowers are funny?”

“Someone with a really warped sense of humor,” Selena replied. “Someone like … Jake!”

“Huh? Jake?”

“He's been playing tricks on me ever since we were little.”

“Maybe,” Katy agreed. “But this isn't his style. Besides, I don't think Jake is in the mood for jokes.”

“Why not?”

“Haven't you noticed?” Katy replied. “Jake's been so weird lately! Tonight he went ballistic just because I asked him to hand me a prop.”

“You know, he did look tired,” Selena agreed. “I wonder what's up with him.” She thought about it as she followed her friend out to the parking lot. Katy's car was parked under a tall oak tree.

“I still think Jake sent the flowers,” Selena announced as they approached the darkened car. “I'll ask him about it later.”

Selena shivered as she waited for Katy to open the car door. It was a chilly, overcast night, and the tree branches whipped in the wind as if they were dancing.

“I hope it
was
Jake,” Katy said, pulling her keys from her jacket pocket. “But that note sounds like it could be from someone really messed up.”

As Katy pulled out of the parking lot, Selena's thoughts were already racing with ideas about the spring play. She could imagine how she'd begin her audition, which scenes she wanted to learn …

“Earth to Selena,” Katy's voice interrupted her thoughts. “Are you still with us?”

“Huh?” Selena blinked at her friend.

Katy burst into laughter. “Are you on another planet, or what?” she cried. “You can't get changed for the cast party if you don't get out of the car.”

“Sorry,” Selena murmured, surprised to find that they were already parked in front of her house on Fear Street. “I was thinking about
Romeo and Juliet.”

Katy rolled her eyes. “We just finished with this play! Do you ever think of
anything
else?”

“Well, occasionally I think about guys,” Selena joked. She led the way up the crumbling sidewalk, opened the front door, and switched on a light. “I wish my mom didn't have to work nights this month,” she commented. “I really wanted her to see the play.”

“She'll be able to see you in the spring play,” Katy said.

“If
I get the part,” Selena reminded her friend. She straightened the runner in the hallway, then started up the creaky steps.

Everything around me is falling apart,
Selena thought. She hated living in such a shabby house. But she knew it was all her mother could afford. Money was tight since Selena's father had died.

“There's no way anyone else could be Juliet,” Katy insisted, following Selena into her bedroom. “I mean, Alison is good, but she's not as good as you. Even she says so.”

“Alison is just being nice,” Selena answered. She dumped her backpack on the pink-and-white bed-spread.

“I'll help you learn your lines for the audition,” Katy offered.

“Mmm-hmm,” Selena replied absently. But she already knew she didn't want help—she liked to learn lines by herself. “Why don't
you
try out for one of the parts?” she suggested. “You don't always have to be a stagehand, you know.”

Katy snorted. “What part could I get? I—I'm too big to get a decent role.” Katy was about twenty pounds overweight—and very self-conscious about it.

“Stop putting yourself down.” Selena tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice. “There are lots of parts in the play. Maybe you could be Juliet's nurse.”

Katy didn't respond.

Selena dipped a tissue in a jar of cold cream and began removing her stage makeup.

“Selena?” Katy said after a moment. “When we were little, did you ever think you'd grow up to be so popular?”

“Of course not,” Selena replied. “I thought Fd be fat and unpopular forever.”

“Like me,” Katy murmured.

Selena ignored her. “But once I got interested in
drama, I stopped thinking about being popular. I just wanted to be a good actress.”

“It happened so fast,” Katy said. “I mean, you took one drama class and that was it. You lost weight, you started going out with Danny … and you were the star of the very first play you did.”

“Pure luck,” Selena reminded her. “The girl who had the lead had to leave school.”

“I know,” Katy agreed. “But everyone knows you're the best actress at Shadyside High. You might be good enough for a professional career.”

Katy sank back against the pile of pillows on Selena's bed. She sighed. “1 hope you never get so popular you aren't my friend anymore.”

“Hey—no way!” Selena cried. “When I win the Academy Award, I'll get up there and say, ‘I want to thank my best friend Katy Jensen, whose willingness to climb up on the catwalk made it all possible.'”

They both laughed.

Selena finished wiping her face, then opened the closet. She pulled out jeans and a green sweater.

“Are those jeans new?” Katy asked. “What are they? A size three?”

“They're a seven,” Selena replied, laughing. “I'm not that skinny!”

“Compared to how you used to be, you are,” Katy replied. “Compared to me, you are.”

“You could lose weight too,” Selena pointed out. “It's not like I'm a diet goddess or something.”

“For sure,” Katy scoffed.

“I'm serious,” Selena insisted. “I lost weight because I wanted to do drama. I knew I couldn't get lead parts unless I stopped eating so much.”

“That's the difference between you and me,” Katy
said. “I never cared about anything as much as you care about drama.”

Selena glanced at her friend in exasperation. “Well, find something to care about,” she said. She pulled her hair back and tied it with a green hair band. “How do I look?” she asked.

“Awesome,” Katy replied. She glanced at her watch. “We'd better get going.”

“We don't want to get there too early,” Selena said. “We—”

She stopped when she heard the tapping at the bedroom window.

A soft tapping. Then louder.

A thump.

She spun around. Her eyes bulged with terror.

“Katy—” she choked out. “Someone's at the window! Someone's
watching
us!”

3
 

S
elena caught the fear on Katy's face as they both turned to the window.

And heard a clattering crash.

“You're right!” Katy cried. “There's someone outside!”

Ignoring her pounding heart, Selena hurtled to the window. She peered out into solid blackness.

“What is it? Who is it?” Katy said in a voice just above a whisper.

“No one's there,” Selena reported, staring down at the small patch of lawn at the side of the house. “I—I think I just panicked. I mean, we're on the second floor, right? How could anyone—”

“But what was that crash?” Katy demanded, arms crushed over her chest. She hadn't moved from the center of the room.

“It's really windy. Maybe the wind blew something over,” Selena told her.

Selena shuddered. The thought of someone peering
through her window while she changed was creepy. But it couldn't be true.

“There's no way anyone could see in,” she reassured Katy. “We're too high up.”

“I guess,” Katy murmured, eyes still on the window.

“Let's just go to the party.” Selena grabbed her bag and skipped down the wooden stairs. Katy followed close behind.

Selena pulled open the front door. The wind had picked up. It fluttered her blond curls as she locked the door.