Jealousy (17 page)

I smiled. “Cole, you're the best. Thank you.”

“Just telling you the truth.”

I tipped my chin in Lacey's direction. “My truth is that I don't want to spend Khloe's night talking about her.”

“So agree. Tonight's exciting for you and me, too!”

“I haven't forgotten that all day! We're actually going to see a costume
we
created and made, onstage in a real play.”

Cole's green eyes were wide. “I'm so making sure I get backstage after to get a picture with Lumière.”

“I know it's not the first time we'll see the costume on someone, but it's different because this isn't a costume fitting or a dress rehearsal. It's opening night, and students who aren't part of the play's production are going to see something you and I made!”

Cole grinned, nodding.

The lights dimmed and I swallowed. Hard. Every bit of my body felt electric. Like if I moved, I'd create static on the red seat and get shocked. I wasn't worried about Khloe, but I was still nervous. I wanted the play to run smoothly from the first line to the last. I'd watched Khloe give a flawless performance during a rehearsal, and I knew she'd do it tonight and every night the play ran.

I crossed my fingers and whispered, “Break a leg, Khlo.”

The play began, and when Khloe appeared, in Belle's first costume, I almost stood and cheered. Khloe's blond hair was in a cap, and she wore a brown wig in a ponytail tied back with a ribbon. The blue ribbon matched Belle's dress.

Cole reached over and squeezed my arm. I smiled at him in the dim light and became transfixed by the actors onstage. Khloe Kinsella disappeared and
became
Belle. I didn't see my bubbly blond roommate anymore. I watched a book-loving small-town girl fight for her father's freedom, be held captive by a beast, and soon, fall in love.

THE LIGHTS WENT UP AND THE ACTORS FILED
onto the stage. I wiped tears from my cheeks as the cast joined hands and bowed. I leaped to my feet, with Cole right beside me, and clapped as hard as I could. My hands stung, and I whistled.

The entire cast had been
parfait.
I'd laughed, cried, and even sung along in my head to the songs I knew from watching the Disney movie version of the play.

Cole and I had grabbed each other's hands when Lumière had appeared onstage. There, for everyone to see, was a candelabra costume that Cole and I had created during fashion class. Cole and I had Googled dozens of images of Lumière, both from the Disney movie and from productions put on, from a high school in California to a
college in England. We had pricked our fingers countless times with sewing needles, cut fabric the wrong size, and sketched dozens of bad ideas—but all of that disappeared when we saw our creation onstage.

Darren, the actor who played Lumière, had his face painted eggshell white to match the gauzy fabric Cole and I had used to create the tall headpiece. The “candle” parts of Lumière were made of light fabric so it wouldn't be too heavy for Darren's head or his arms. Ms. Snow had helped us stuff a portion of fabric with cotton and drape it over the front of the headpiece so it looked like melting wax.

For the wicks on Darren's head and hands, we'd twisted together black pipe cleaners and stuck them into Styrofoam that filled plastic plant pots. The pots had been green, but we'd spray-painted them gold. Inside we'd staple-gunned handles for Darren's hands that were hidden inside the pots.

For days Cole and I had been stumped on how to create realistic-looking flames. We'd tried half a dozen fabrics and hated them all, before we'd found it: red-gold satin. We'd cut the fabric into flamelike shapes, filled them with polyester toy stuffing, and sewn the flames together and onto the wicks.

We'd used satin again, gold this time, to create the
main body of the costume. Our first sketch had Darren walking in a pipe-shaped costume that would cover his legs and feet. Ms. Snow had critiqued our sketch and worried that our costume would make it difficult for Darren to move onstage. She suggested that Cole and I go to the theater and watch a rehearsal so we could see how much Darren moved when he danced and sang.

After we'd watched Darren go through his part, Cole and I gave each other The Look. The look of
I can't believe we almost made him wear that
! Darren was all over the stage, and our initial sketch would have been a huge pain to wear.

Cole and I redid the sketch with Darren in mind. This time we got the green light from Ms. Snow. We'd drawn a shirt with long gold sleeves and gold pants. As a final touch we'd added gold socks with rubber grips on the bottom. Darren would have much more freedom in pants than our original idea.

The rest of the costumes created by my class were amazing. Khloe looked stunning in every outfit. The rest of the costumes, from Chip to the Beast, were creative and interesting to look at onstage.

Now the work of my fashion class really showed while the entire cast was onstage.

Khloe, in the center of the stage, stepped forward from the rest of the cast. Her brown wig was piled and curled into an elegant half updo. Her final costume was a gleaming gold ball gown and white gloves. She looked like a princess! In Belle fashion, she curtsied and got a thunderous applause. Beaming Khloe stepped back in line, and Sam, who played the Beast, stepped forward for his moment in the spotlight. He received the same applause. Together the cast bowed, and I got teary. My best friend had nailed it.

It wasn't easy
fighting the exiting crowd to get backstage. I carried Khloe's flowers in one arm and climbed down a few stairs. The excited, cheerful vibe was almost palpable. All of the actors were high-fiving each other or the crew. It was a scene full of smiles, and I grinned when I saw the brightest one.

“Khlo!” I called.

She'd taken off Belle's wig and gloves but was still in the gown. Khloe shot a hand into the air, waving at me, and I skirted around a few furry wolves to get to her.

“Congratulations!” I said. “You
killed
it!” I offered her the bouquet of flowers.

She covered her mouth with one hand before reaching
for them. “Lauren, oh my God. You didn't have to do that! This is so sweet!”

Khloe smelled the flowers and hugged me.

“Are you kidding me? I had to get you flowers. KK, I watched you work like
crazy
for this moment. You were the star of the play, and not because of the role. You brought this . . . this energy to the stage. I am so proud of you!”

Khloe Kinsella teared up in front of me. She never cried! I'd only seen her cry when we'd made up after a huge, awful fight.

“Laur,” she said, shaking her head. “You have no idea what that means to me. I'm so happy that you think I did well. You're my best friend, and your opinion means so much.”

“You did more than well. You did
amazing.
” I smiled. “I'm so happy I got my tickets for the rest of the week. Any idiots who didn't come tonight are going to be sorry, because there's going to be a riot on campus for tickets!”

Khloe laughed, shaking her head. “Oh, please.”

“I think someone else might want to congratulate you,” I said, looking over her shoulder.

“Who?” Khloe turned.

Zack walked up to Khloe, smiling at her. He had a dozen pink and red roses in his arms.

“I'm so lucky to be dating the girl who's going to be on Broadway one day,” Zack said. He held the flowers out to Khloe, and she looked back at me, letting out a tiny squeal.

“I'll see you back at Hawthorne,” I whispered to her, winking.

I left backstage with a smile on my face. Khloe had her very own real Prince Charming.

“OMIGOD, LAUREN, OMIGOD!” KHLOE YELLED.
We were getting dressed in our room for school.

“Shhhh!” I said. Khloe was on her computer, and knowing her, it was probably a breakup of the current A-list couple or some other celeb news. “Whatever it is, everyone in Hawthorne had to have heard you. Christina's probably going to be at our door in a second.”

Khloe lowered her laptop lid shut, and I looked at her.

Uh-oh.

This wasn't about Hollywood gossip. Khloe's usually tan face was a pasty white, and she looked as if she might be sick.

“Khloe.” I got off my computer chair, taking the laptop off her lap, and settled beside her on Khloe's bed.
“I'm so sorry I said that. It's obviously much more serious. What's wrong?”

Khloe swallowed. She shook her head, seeming as if she was trying to clear her mind.

“Lauren, I'm so sorry to have to tell you this.”

Now it was my turn to pale. I held my breath.

“He's okay now, but Mr. Conner broke his leg.”

“What? How? Oh my God!”

My riding instructor seemed untouchable. Someone who could be kicked and walk away without a bruise. Someone who could handle any horse, no matter what the circumstances.

“He had taken the older advanced team—Sasha's group—on a cross-country ride this morning. Mr. Conner was riding Lexington, probably because he wanted to get him used to being in groups and unfamiliar territory.”

“I can't believe it was a
riding
accident,” I said in a whisper.

“I know. Mr. Conner, Sasha, and the other riders on her team had crossed the street to practice in a new field. I don't know all of the details—it's just an e-mail from this girl Alison Robb, who sent it out to everyone—but Lexington spooked and reared. He flipped onto his back.”

I covered my mouth with my hand.

“Mr. Conner sustained a broken leg, but things could have been so much worse. Clearly.”

“Do you know where he is now?”

“It sounded from Alison's email like she was writing from her BlackBerry in the hospital. Mr. Conner
was
okay enough to tell her to inform any riders—aka us—who have afternoon lessons that we're not to miss them. Mr. Conner won't be teaching, but Mike will be.”

“Wow.
Oh, mon Dieu.
”

I sat still, almost unable to believe what I'd heard. I'd looked at Mr. Conner as someone who was invincible.

The rest of the morning was quiet as Khloe and I got ready and headed off to classes. I participated in English class, but my brain was thinking about the get-well card that I wanted to get Mr. Conner.

In the hall, my mouth may have been forming words talking to Taylor about his placement on the swim team and congratulating him, but my mind was on Mr. Conner. If a rider like that could take such a spill, when was it going to happen to one of us next?

At lunch Khloe
and I slid into a table with Lexa and Clare. We picked at our food. Instead of forcing myself to eat, I pulled out a notebook, and with my Pilot pen I wrote
down names of people to ask to sign Mr. Conner's get-well-soon card. It was a tiny gesture, but it was the gift we all agreed upon to give Mr. C.

After lunch Khloe and I went to study hall. Ms. Snow was supervising that day. We explained our situation and asked if we could be excused to go to the campus store, get a get-well card, and start collecting signatures. Ms. Snow couldn't have been any cooler about it. She expressed her sympathies for Mr. Conner and gave Khloe and me permission to do whatever we needed during the period. Ms. Snow even said that she wanted to sign the card.

At the day's
end Khloe and I had a card full of signatures, and there wasn't a centimeter of white space left. We delivered it to the campus secretary, who promised to send it to Mr. Conner immediately.

Khloe and I left the administration building and started back to Hawthorne to change into our riding clothes.

“It's going to be so weird with Mike teaching,” I said. “I know he's totally capable, but he's not Mr. Conner.”

“It
is
going to be strange,” Khloe agreed. “But think of Mr. Conner. He'd want us to pretend that he was teaching and have a great lesson.”