Virtually in Love (23 page)

“Stupid song,” I muttered as a snippet of “True Romance” danced unbidden through my brain. Now the familiar lyrics seemed to taunt me, remind me of everything I couldn't have.

I wandered into the living room, flopping down on the couch without bothering to turn on the lights. Staring into space, I wondered if I'd been stupid to ever believe in true romance. Maybe there was no such thing. At least not the version from that song.

And because I'd believed in some hokey version of true romance, Kaz was with Vanessa now. What if they did fall in love tonight? Stranger things had happened. They were probably the two most amazing people in the world—kind, funny, creative, tons of fun to be around. If they became a couple, I'd have to settle for a front-seat view of their happiness.

I played with a loose thread on the couch cover, trying to banish “True Romance” from my head, but it refused to go. Every line seemed to remind me of how badly I'd messed up.

When you know it's right, it's time to declare.

Make it a memory you two will always share . . . .

I'd been waiting for Trevor to make some kind of big declaration of love. While I'd been waiting, Kaz had been the one who'd pretty much come out and told me he wanted to be more than friends. Only I hadn't really been listening.

I knew my dreams of true romance would all come true someday.

Like dinner and a movie out with my most special bae . . . .

Okay, so Trevor and I had had fun that night at the movies. But how had I missed that I had even more fun every time I hung out with Kaz, no matter what we were doing? And that it had been that way for as long as I'd known him?

And then there was the biggie:

You'll know it's true on a magical night,

Whether sailing at sea or dancing in the moonlight.

That's when you'll share a first kiss if you dare.

Remember it always: true romance is rare.

Why had I pinned all my hopes on one magical night? That was stupid. Romance wasn't about a single night, moonlit or otherwise. It wasn't even about a special first kiss. No, now I could see it was much bigger than that gooey movie stuff. It was about being comfortable together, being able to count on each other, being happier when you were together than when you were apart. Like friends, but even a tiny bit better than that.

“Like me and Kaz,” I whispered.

As the thoughts and memories tumbled through my head, the song's insanely catchy chorus kept dancing along behind all the rest:

True romance. It's the air that we breathe. Just us two together. Yeah, just you and me.

True romance. It's the air that we breathe. Just us two

together. Yeah, just you and me.

True romance. It's the air that we breathe. Just us two

together. Yeah, just you and me . . . .

“Stop it!” I exclaimed aloud, pressing both hands over my ears.

That didn't help, so I turned on the TV, punching in one of the satellite music channels. As I surfed around, looking for a song that might be catchy enough to overcome the racket in my head, I heard something outside.

Was that the sound of a car stopping in front of the house? I switched the TV off again, listening. It was too early for my family to be back already, wasn't it? Then again, Timothy sometimes got carsick, especially when he was excited . . . .

I dropped the remote and bolted for the stairs, not ready to face my family—or anyone else—just yet. When I was safely in my room, I shut the door and collapsed against it. Whew! With any luck, they wouldn't even notice I was home.

Holding my breath, I listened for the sound of the door opening downstairs. Instead I heard something else from the direction of the front yard.

I blinked, tilting my head and focusing that way. It sounded like someone was out there under my windows. Was that a giggle?

Yes, definitely a giggle. Followed by . . . the soft toot of a trumpet warming up?

Letting out the breath I'd been holding, I headed for the window to see what was going on out there.

Chapter
Twenty

I
t was Kaz. Of course.

When I opened the window, he grinned up at me. “Oh man,” he told the people gathered around him. “We're busted.”

“I told you to be quieter,” Vanessa chided Dave, the talkative percussionist, who was holding an acoustic guitar under his arm.

I leaned out, not sure what to think. “What are you guys doing down there?”

“Serenading you—duh,” a guy from the band—a trombone player named Adam—said loudly. He looked spiffy in his fancy clothes. So did all the others. Dave the percussionist. Cody the sax player. Sophie the French horn player. A couple of others I couldn't see clearly in the dark. And of course, Kaz and Vanessa in their Gatsby getups.

“Ready, guys?” Kaz lifted his trumpet to his lips. “One, two, three . . .”

They all started to play. It was a little raggedy and off tempo at first. But after a few bars, I recognized the tune.

I should. It was the one that had been running through my head for the past half hour.

“‘True Romance,'” I blurted out in amazement. But Kaz didn't even like that song! Still, there he was, tootling away at the familiar melody.

Okay, this was too weird. I had to figure out what they were up to, what was going on. How had they even known I was here? For all Vanessa could guess from that text I'd sent, I might have run off somewhere with Trevor.

“Be right down!” I called out the window.

I wasn't sure whether they could hear me over their own playing. But it didn't matter. I raced for the stairs.

Moments later I burst out through the front door. They were just wrapping up the first chorus by then. When he saw me, Kaz stopped playing and grinned.

“Hey,” he said.

The others trailed off too, though Cody continued with enthusiasm through the end of the next verse until Dave finally stopped him by yanking the saxophone away from his mouth.

But I wasn't paying attention to that. I was watching Kaz and Vanessa as they came toward me.

“Are you okay?” Vanessa asked. “When I got your text, I was kind of worried.”

Kaz nodded. “But just then Maya came by talking about how Jon Whatsisface's girlfriend was all freaking out about him blowing her off and leaving town or something.”

“And we kind of figured things out from there,” Vanessa finished. She grabbed both my hands and squeezed them. “Are you okay, Chloe?”

“I'm fine.” I forced a smile. “He's not worth getting upset about. I can see that now.”

“Really?” Kaz stepped forward, looking interested. “Because my offer still stands. You know—if you still want to go to the dance with me? I know I'm not any kind of rock god, but . . .”

“I couldn't,” I said quickly. “You and Vanessa—”

“Are just friends,” Vanessa finished for me with a smile. “We both knew that all along. We just didn't have the heart to tell you.”

“Yeah,” Dave put in from a few yards away, where the others were all standing around, pretending not to listen. “Plus Kaz was probably hoping you'd get jealous if you saw him with another woman, Chloe.”

“Shut up, Dave,” Kaz said quickly.

“Even if that other woman was just, you know, Vanessa,” Dave continued.

“Shut up, Dave,” Vanessa said with a laugh. She turned to me. “Seriously, Chloe. You were obviously feeling so guilty about turning Kaz down, I might have exaggerated things a little. So you wouldn't worry about him and ruin your big date with Trevor.”

I stared at her, taking that in. Then I turned to stare at Kaz. What was that expression on his face? I'd only seen it once before. But if he was embarrassed by what Dave had said, did that mean . . . Could it mean it was true?

“Go to the dance with Kaz, Chloe,” Vanessa urged, sincerity and hope shining out of her wide blue eyes. “Seriously. I don't mind at all.” She giggled. “Actually, I might be kind of mad at you if you
don't
go.”

“Chloe and Kaz sittin' in a tree,” Cody sang softly.

“Would you guys please shut up?” Kaz said to Cody and Dave, who grinned at each other and high-fived. Then he turned back to me. “So what do you say, Chloe? Want to give this another try?”

I hesitated. Part of me wanted to say yes. A big part. Especially now that I realized I should have said yes from the start.

But I wasn't sure I could do it. How could I face the whole school after making such a fool of myself over Trevor? After practically forcing my two best friends to go out together? After being so generally clueless about anything having to do with romance, true or otherwise?

Kaz watched my face carefully. After a second he held out his hand.

“Or maybe we don't have to go back,” he said. “Maybe we could have our own dance right here.” He snapped his fingers. “Maestro?”

Sophie started to play “True Romance” again, and after a few notes the others joined in. Kaz smiled at me, his hand still outstretched.

“May I have this dance?” he said.

I laughed. I couldn't help it. He was so sweet, so adorable, so . . . Kaz. What did I care what anyone else thought?

“No, sorry,” I said. As his face started to fall, I quickly added, “But I'd be happy to dance with you to a
different
song.”

His face cleared instantly. “In that case,” he said, snapping his fingers again. “Maestro! Let's have something a little more interesting, shall we?”

Cody stopped playing. “Like what?”

“We could do ‘The Stars and Stripes Forever,'” Adam suggested. “We all know that one.”

Dave blew a raspberry in his direction, and Vanessa laughed. “How about something a little more romantic?” She lifted her flute to her lips and started to play.

I recognized the song almost immediately. It was a pretty little Strauss waltz we'd performed at the spring concert last year.

The other musicians nodded and joined in. Soon the old-fashioned music was pouring out over the darkened yard.

I could only imagine what the neighbors were thinking. But I didn't really care. I was focused on Kaz smiling at me, holding out his hand.

“Well?” he said. “May I have this dance?”

“Absolutely.” I took his hand in mine, he swung me around, and just like that . . . we were dancing.

And this time there was none of the silliness. None of the crazy spastic moves that had earned Kaz his reputation. No significant risk of concussion, even. He just held me in his arms, swirling me gracefully around the front yard.

“Who knew you could actually dance?” I said softly.

He smiled down at me. “There's a lot you don't know about me,” he said with a wink.

That was sort of true, and sort of not. I'd thought I'd known absolutely everything there was to know about Kazuo Aratani. We'd been friends since before we could walk, after all.

But maybe he'd kept a few secrets. Like how he really felt about me. Then again maybe it hadn't been such a secret. Maya had seemed to be clued in. So had Vanessa. Even Trevor hadn't exactly died of shock when he'd figured it out. I was going to have to think about what that meant, but not right now. Right now I just wanted to dance.

Anyway, being in Kaz's arms felt nice. Right. Dare I say—meant to be?

But no. I wasn't going to think that way anymore.

When the song ended, Kaz stepped back and bowed. “Thank you, milady,” he said with a hint of his usual goofiness.

I laughed. “So, are we going to the dance or what?” I said loudly enough for everyone to hear.

The others cheered, but Kaz just smiled. “Excellent,” he said. “But first there's one quick thing I was hoping we could do to seal the deal.”

“What?” I asked.

He stepped forward, taking my hands again. Before I quite knew what was happening, his lips were on mine.

I was so surprised, it took me a second to react. But when he started to pull away, I grabbed him and kept him close, kissing him back.

And it was amazing.

Who knows?
I thought, vaguely aware Vanessa and the others were cheering somewhere in the background. Maybe true romance is real after all . . . .

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