Page 54
Story: A Disaster in Three Acts
“Yes.” No point in dancing around it now. “Two beds.”
“You could probably stay with your dad.”
“I barely know my dad.”
She worries her bottom lip. “Are you guys... friends again?”
“No.”
Her eyes search mine for a lie before she clears her throat and stands. “I think I’m going to check on Juniper.”
“Corrine,” I say, standing too. “Are you okay?”
“Would it really matter if I wasn’t?” She doesn’t snap at me. Though I feel like I deserve it. “It’s fine. You said there’s nothing going on; you’re not even friends. You’re just making a documentary and he’s just doing a contest.”
“Right.”But is she?It kind of feels like Holden and I might be friends again. Maybe. The Hershey’s Kisses certainly felt like a peace offering, a chocolaty one I have resisted digging into so far because it’ll feel slightly more real if I let it.
She points to the bathroom Juniper disappeared into, making her escape, but at that moment, right when the band is loading their stuff off the stage to make way for the next band, Turtlenecks, Juniper storms out, determination on her face, and marches up to Devon Miles Smith. She pokes him in the chest.
“You’re a dick,” she says. The rest of her speech fades as she lowers her voice so only he, and a wide-eyed Kayla, can hear.
Kayla slowly backs away until she’s standing next to me. We watch as Juniper gestures wildly and Devon Miles Smith standsthere with his mouth open wide, catching flies because he’s trash.
“Tell him, Juniper!” Kayla calls across the room.
Juniper stops scolding him to give Kayla a thumbs-up.
“Yeah!” I lean into Kayla and whisper, “I have no clue what she’s saying, but I support her.” Out of the corner of my eye, I see Corrine put her phone against her ear and walk outside. My gut clenches. “Do you supportme?”
Kayla raises an eyebrow. “I mean, I don’t support you no matterwhat. Like, don’t suddenly become a racist or something. What do you need support for?”
I sigh. “I’m going to New York with Holden this weekend. We have to stay overnight. We’re going to be in the same hotel room—but separate beds—and, I don’t know, is it wrong?”
She looks at the door Corrine slipped through. “I don’t really think there’s winning with this. It’s probably just best to finish it and move on.”
“I don’t want to hurt her, butshebroke up withhim. Why does it feel like she still has feelings? Even with the whole Logan thing.”
She shrugs. “I think it’s complicated. You were friends with him, she dated him, he’s not supposed to be in either of your lives right now, but he is. It’s messy. Feelings are messy.” She watches Juniper take a big breath and start in on Devon Miles Smith again.
“I’m so in love,” she says under her breath.
“What?” Devon Miles Smith asks Juniper, his eyes wide and jaw dropped.
“You heard me,” she says louder. She jumps onto the stage and grabs the microphone from the singer of Turtlenecks, a late-twenties guy with thick-rimmed glasses and dyed-gray hair. “You treat me badly and I deserve better. We’re done.”
She hops off the stage and walks out, the only evidence she was there the stunned faces of everyone and the round of applause Kayla and I break into in her absence. In time to catch the last second of Juniper’s show, Corrine waltzes inside with Logan’s hand wrapped around hers and a huge smile on her face.
It doesn’t reach her eyes, though. Not that anyone besides me could tell.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54 (Reading here)
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116