Page 6 of Dream On

“Uh-huh.” He lifts up from the locker, his expression resorting to its usual slab of stone. “Maybe I’ll surprise you.”

“You might. Guess we’ll find out.”

His head tilts sideways. “You don’t strike me as one of those drama kids.”

“Why not?”

“I dunno. You’re a little…” His head cocks farther to the side, one hand lifting and traveling over me from head to toe, an evaluation of my existence brewing in his mind. “Underwhelming.”

I can’t help the little choking sound that falls out.

His opinion of me shouldn’t hurt this much, but it does, it really does, so it’s impossible to wipe the dumbstruck look off my face as I stand there in all my underwhelming glory, gaping at him like he just jammed a dull blade through my chest.

Lex’s eyes flare slightly, almost like he regrets saying it but doesn’t know how to take it back. He doesn’t need to. It’s already out there, echoing in my ears, and I know that word is going to stick with me. Glue itself to my soft heart like an acid brand and liquify it into pulp.

He swallows, throat rolling. Silence pilfers the apology he may or may not give.

“Lex!”

We both flinch.

Natalie skips over to his side, curling her red-tipped fingers around his bicep.He flinches again, a noticeable wince. And then a sharp pullback. His attention shifts from my heartbroken expression to the beaming smile on his left.

“We have chemistry together,” she chirps. “Walk with me?”

Lex frowns down at her and takes another step back. He doesn’t respond. All he does is spin around on his polished boots and storm away in the opposite direction, leaving us both flustered and wide-eyed in the hallway.

Chapter 3

Stevie

I pinch an index card between my fingers, the ink blurring as giggles crawl up my throat.

Don’t laugh. Stay professional.

Pinning my bottom lip between my teeth, I take a moment to allow the laughter to ebb. Then I clear my throat. “Oh, Harold…”

The words trail off.

I glance back up.

My sister stares back at me in Dad’s oversize suit, donning a handlebar mustache. The faux whiskers twitch with a bitten-back smile.

And I lose it.

Doubling over, I fall apart, uncontrolled laughter pouring out of me until tears sting my eyes and my legs wobble underneath me.

“Stevie, c’mon!” Joplin adjusts her bow tie, her slicked-back hair glimmering against the window light. “You’re unraveling. Keep it together, sis.”

“I… But you…” I’m dying. I absolutely cannot do this. “You look like—”

“A dude. I know. That’s the whole point.” Her brown hair is a shade lighter than mine, but it looks almost black caked with a bottle’s worth of hair spray. “I already suck at this.”

I swipe the moisture from my eyes as I straighten. Joplin can’t contain her grin as she shakes her head and peels the mustache off her upper lip.

“This was your idea, you know. ‘It’s more authentic if we’re in character,’” she parrots, echoing my words from earlier. “Blah, blah, blah. You were wrong.”

“I was so wrong.”