Page 145 of Pride High 3: Yellow

Diego reached for the photo, intending to turn it face down again. Then he hesitated and sighed before leaning back, deciding to leave it where it was. But only for today.

CHAPTER 24

May 12th, 1993

Cameron had a wooden cutout of a fire hydrant pinned beneath one arm so his hands were free to carry a two-dimensional mailbox. He was walking through the backstage area of the school auditorium when he spotted Ricky, who was peeking around a brick load-bearing column. He was focusing so hard on whatever he was watching that Cameron walked right up to him before being noticed.

“Yaargh!” Ricky exclaimed, his eyes bugging out. “Don’t do that!”

“I’ll make sure to stomp next time,” Cameron said with a chuckle. “What are you doing?”

“See for yourself!” Ricky said, peeking around the column again.

Cameron leaned to the left to get a better view. Deeper in the auditorium, next to the racks of wardrobe clothes, Mindy sat in a chair while reading a book aloud. Diego was perched on the table next to her with a scowl of concentration.

“Can you believe that?” Ricky demanded.

“No,” Cameron admitted. “I’m surprised the table can hold his weight.”

“Seriously!” Ricky hissed. “It looks like she’s reading to him.”

Cameron nodded. “Yeah. They’ve been doing that ever since he got out of suspension.” He blinked and laughed. “Hey, that makes it sound like Diego was cryogenically frozen, doesn’t it? Could you imagine if that was a real punishment? Like when Han Solo got sealed inside that weird stuff.”

“Carbonite,” Ricky said absentmindedly, before turning a panicked expression on him. “So she’s been reading to him for weeks now? Does he actuallylikeit? Is that what he’s getting from her that he’s not getting from me?”

Cameron took in his drawn face. Then he looked at the wardrobe area again. Mindy had stood and was putting the book away. Diego was heading toward the stage.

“Now where are they going?” Ricky demanded. “And how long have you known about this?”

“Tell you what,” Cameron said, angling his torso so the wooden fire hydrant stuck out more. “Why don’t you help me put these away and then we’ll go for a walk. I need some sun.”

“Yeah but—” Ricky’s attention was still locked on Diego.

“Seriously,” Cameron said. “These things aren’t heavy, but they’re unwieldy. Here.”

Ricky finally complied. Cameron’s workshop corner wasn’t far. They stashed the props there, where they’d remain, since people kept tripping over them on stage or knocking them over. They were leftovers from some other production and hadn’t been built by him anyway.

Ricky was quiet as they navigated their way outside, a crinkle of worry on his brow. Across a mowed lawn was a plot of forested land that Cameron had always been curious about, so he walked in that direction.

“Have you ever seen them kiss?” Ricky asked. “Or hold hands? Or sneak off to be alone somewhere?”

Cameron shook his head in confusion. “Maybe you should start from the beginning.”

Ricky sighed, as if all hope was lost. “Diego has been spending a lot of time with Mindy lately.”

“And you suspect that he’s having an affair?”

Ricky thought about it. “No, because he hates fake people, so he would just tell me upfront.”

“Okay. Crisis averted?”

“Maybe,” Ricky said with another sigh. “My therapist wants me to look ahead more often and try to see the bad stuff before it happens. I know you’re friends with Mindy. Maybe she’s told you about secret feelings that she has for him or something?”

Cameron hesitated. Mindyhadbeen mentioning Diego more often lately, but considering how they’d been working on the play together, that was to be expected. “I think they just got closer when she was helping him rehearse.”

“But that’s whatIused to do for him,” Ricky said. “Do you think she’s trying to replace me?”

“That’s not her style,” Cameron assured him. “Mindy has too kind a heart to be a homewrecker.” He let his fingers brush against bark as they entered the first line of trees, wondering what sort of furniture it would make. Not that he planned on cutting it down, but as much as he knew about wood, his knowledge of living trees was limited.