The Perfect Guy (Books We Love Young Adult Romance) (9 page)

"Rebecca," Celeste said. "All work and no play makes for a dull girl."

"Don’t worry," Josh said. "I’m helping her
.…"

"... And things are never dull when you’re around," Celeste said.

Josh grinned.

"I can leave then, knowing you’re in such good hands, Rebecca."
Celeste laughed.

"Wait," Pres said. "I’m headed in that direction. Want a lift, Celeste?"

"Sure. Thanks."

Why couldn’t Pres have said something sooner? I would have gone if I’d known he was going
to give us a ride.

After they took off, Josh and I started working on the script. I had trouble concentrating. I kept thinking how
great it had been to be in Pres’s arms, and how happy I was that he’d be going to Yale. I could see us going for long walks around campus on crisp autumn days, holding hands and kicking leaves on the sidewalk.

"I said, ‘aren’t you ready for a break?’" Josh’s voice jolted me out of my daydream.

"Sorry. Uh, I guess I was lost in Sandy Cove’s past." I felt the heat of a blush creeping up my cheeks and I wondered if Josh knew what I’d really been thinking about.

Ordinarily I could share my feelings with him, but his friendship with Pres ruled out confiding in him now. He might let something slip, and I didn’t want Pres to know how much I liked him until it was obvious that he felt exactly the same way about me.

"Well, Sandy Cove’s past is an interesting place to be," Josh said, "until it’s time to eat."

"Oh?"

"I’d rather raid the refrigerator than have to go out and shoot my lunch."

"I get it," I said, finally noticing the sparkle in Josh’s eyes. "You’re hungry."

We had a quick lunch, then worked on the script again. At one point Bill came in to check on our progress.

"Hmmm. This looks interesting so far.
" He rubbed his chin. "Of course, you have a lot of work ahead of you, a lot of rewrites. You’ll want this play to be the best it can be."

"I-I’ll try." I gulped.

"I know you will," Bill said. "Well, I’ll get out of your way now."

After Bill left, I said, "I think he’s worried I’m going to destroy his reputation as a director."

"Relax." Josh patted my hand. "I think he meant just what he said. He wants you to do your best, for the sake of the play
and for you
."

"Think so?"

"Absolutely."

That reassured me enough to get back to work, though I still had some doubts.

I didn’t notice until my butt started to hurt just how long we’d been at it. It was almost five o’clock. I stood up. "No wonder my, uh, posterior aches. We’ve been sitting here for hours."

"Hmmm?" Josh stared at me, a dreamy look on his face.

"Wake up." I snapped my fingers and he blinked. "I think we’ve worked on this long enough for one day."

"I enjoyed it."

"Me too," I said. "But enough is enough."

"You’re right. We need to relax. Why don’t we—"

Just then Pres came in.

"Where have you been all day?" Josh asked.

"I met Celeste for lunch after her haircut, and then we had banana splits at the new ice cream shop. After that we went to the Pet Palace and Celeste practically had to drag me out. There were these kittens, and one kept coming up to me, trying to catch my finger."

"Sounds like you painted the town red," Josh joked.

I’d missed out on a fun afternoon with Pres, I thought, biting my lip. At least he’d been with Celeste and not some predatory female eager to get her hooks into him. I was glad he could be friends with a girl, and that he didn’t feel he had to flirt with every girl in school the way it sometimes seemed that Josh did. Pres was a gentleman, not a player.

"I’m not sure Sandy Cove has the qualifications for being painted red." Pres grinned. "But I was in the mood to celebrate, so I made do with what was available. I’ve got an idea. Why don’t you stay for supper, Josh? We can celebrate our acceptances to the colleges of our choice. I’ll make pizza."

Josh hesitated. He looked from Pres to me and back to Pres again. "Thanks, but no. Three’s a crowd. Besides, I’m kind of worn out. Guess I’m not used to so much paperwork."

A twinge of guilt pricked at me
—I was glad Josh turned down Pres’s invitation. I wanted to be alone with Pres. Josh looked tired, anyway, the way he was slumped in his chair.

After Josh left I hung around in the kitchen while Pres made pizza. Finally I sort of sidled up to him as he sifted flour
, and I squeezed his arm. The tips of my fingers tingled from touching him. "Congratulations again on getting into Yale."

Pres turned to look at me with those hypnotic blue-green eyes of his. "Thanks," he said. "I’m really happy about it.
And Dad is proud."

I wondered if I dared congratulate Pres with a kiss, or if that would be overdoing it. I should’ve done it when we first heard the good news, then it would have been more spontaneous. Whatever else I did, I was at least going to keep the conversation going with him. "Yale has a great law school, too, doesn’t it?"

"Oh, yeah," Pres said as he kneaded the dough. "They also have a good drama department and the Yale Repertory Theater."

"Drama?"

Pres laughed. "You don’t have to look so shocked. I was merely stating a fact."

"I’m not shocked."

Pres must have been joking. His jokes just weren’t obvious like Josh’s were, that was all. Pres was too serious to consider acting as a
career
. Everyone knew Pres was going to be a lawyer. A dedicated, compassionate lawyer. Everyone knew that ….

He must have been joking.

Chapter
Ten

I sat at the end of the front row in the school theater and read along in my script as Pres and Celeste rehearsed their parts as James and Alta Peck. They were perfect in the roles, just as I’d intended.

What I couldn’t understand was how Bill could have chosen Alicia Johnson as Celeste’s understudy. She was more than a bit scatterbrained for the part. He must have been influenced by the fact that her build and long black hair were similar to Celeste’s. I’d written a specific description of Alta into the script, hoping that would clinch the role for Celeste.

"Where do you suppose I’ll ever find a Revolutionary War cannon?" Josh whispered as he slipped into the seat next to me.

"You’re resourceful, you’ll think of something," I said. "Besides, you didn’t have to volunteer to do the props."

"I wanted to have something to do with the play after investing all that time on the script. You’re assistant director, so that was out. I’ll bet you have an in with the director."

"Shhh!" I elbowed Josh to be quiet.

I wasn’t really sure why Bill wanted me as his assistant, but I knew it wasn’t to disturb rehearsals by talking. Celeste would never say "I told you so," but she’d been right about how long it might take for me to form a close relationship with Bill.

I wasn’t getting very far with Pres either. He was nice enough, but in such a brotherly way that he might as well be an actual sibling. I’d seen more of Josh than Pres in the past few weeks, since Josh had spent almost every free moment he had helping me with the script. He’d been great at bolstering me whenever I needed it, especially whenever Bill suggested cuts in the script. Josh accepted them better than I did, and was able to point out that the cuts helped the pace. I, unfortunately, had a tendency to think that my words were carved in stone.

I had to remind myself that Bill probably had my best interests at heart. Just this morning he’d given me what seemed remotely like a compliment. Mom had come in with the mail, waving a post card.

"This is for you, Rebecca!"

I wondered why she was so excited until I saw the return address. "It’s from the magazine where I submitted my play for fourth graders. They’re holding it for further consideration."

"Terrific." Mom squealed as she gave me a quick hug.

"Sounds promising." Bill paused. Then, "It should be interesting having you in class next year."

***

"Okay," Bill said. "Take five, everybody."

I jumped back to the present.

Josh grabbed my hand.

"Josh, what are you doing?"

"He said to ‘take five.’ I figured he meant fingers."

"You know he meant to take a break. Come on, I want to catch up with the others." I spotted Celeste and Pres out by the drinking fountain. They were the only "others" I was interested in.

"Pres, you’re perfect in the part of James Peck." Alicia appeared out of nowhere. She batted her big gray eyes at him. "I’m thrilled to be understudy for the role of Alta. I hope we at least get to rehearse some scenes together."

I’d thought maybe Alicia was interested in Josh, but now it looked as if she was setting her sights on Pres.

"Great rehearsal." I grabbed Pres by the arm and led him toward a bench and away from Alicia.

Celeste plopped down on the bench next to me. "Whew, this is more work than I thought."

"If all the rehearsals are going to be this intense," Pres said, "I’m going to be wiped out by the night of the play."

"Me too." Celeste leaned across me to agree with Pres. "Your dad said we’d have to work hard to be ready in time. At least he’s scheduling rehearsals for evenings and Saturdays so people on the baseball and softball teams don’t have any conflicts."

"I wonder why he thought to do that?" Josh clapped a hand on Pres’s shoulder. "Hey, move over, Celeste, so there’s room for me." He gave his sister a gentle shove and squeezed between her and me.

I caught Alicia eyeing the situation. I was in a prime seat, situated between two of the cutest guys in the school. Alicia would die to trade places. Well, fat chance.

I turned on what I hoped was my most charming smile and said to Pres in a voice loud enough for Alicia to hear, "You’re just as perfect in the role of Captain Peck as I thought you’d be."

"It helps that
the playwright had me in mind for the part." Pres reached up and mussed my hair.

Before I could return the playful gesture Bill was in the doorway, clapping his hands to signal that the break was over. Instead of lovingly running my fingers through Pres’s hair I was running down the aisle trying to catch up with Pres and Celeste who were halfway to the stage, their heads almost touching as they read their lines to each other to warm up. For once I found myself wishing I had the nerve to perform in front of an audience.

"Wait up." Josh hooked his arm through mine. "No hurry. We don’t have any scenes to worry about."

"I have to be ready when the director is," I said, although I wasn’t sure why. So far all I’d done was sit and listen and wonder what Bill had in mind for me to do.

When things got started I tried to follow along with the script, but my thoughts kept wandering to the scene in the hallway when Pres had mussed my hair. I’d always watched with envy the couples at school who held hands and whispered in each other’s ears.

Suddenly I realized I’d lost my place in the play. "Psst, Josh," I whispered. "Where are we?"

"In the front row of Sandy Cove High Theater," Josh said.

I let out an irritated sigh.

He added, "Right here, top of page nineteen."

Pres and Celeste were doing the scene where Alta, who has mixed feelings about the Revolution, tries to talk James out of fighting for the American side. Celeste was not giving it the proper reading. There was fear in her voice, and confusion, but a touch of indignation was needed too.

I wondered how Bill would react if I interrupted the scene to offer my criticism. After all, he
had
made me assistant director, and surely he expected me to do something besides sit and follow the script.

I took a deep breath, tiptoed over to stand just behind him, and cleared my throat. When that didn’t get his attention I whispered his name.

Bill turned around. I felt myself shrivel under his penetrating gaze.

"Well," he said. "What is it?"

"Um, I ... that is, uh ...." I bit my lip and forced myself to calm down. I decided not to mess around. "Alta needs to sound a bit indignant in this scene."

"Indignant?" Bill raised an eyebrow.

"Yes."

"All right. We’ll try it that way once." He called Pres and Celeste over to discuss it. I sat down.

"What was the big discussion all about?" Josh asked.

"Shush," I said. "Listen and maybe you’ll find out.
"

Pres and Celeste started the scene again. Celeste had just the right tone in her voice. I thought I saw Bill nodding approvingly at the slight, but definitely important, change in her approach.

"Good work," Bill said when the scene was finished. "That’s all for tonight."