Page 38 of Level Up

I was really happy to have him as my best friend. Seeing the bond forming between all four of us felt like I was beginning to find a new family.

I smiled all through the rest of the show, riding a high that was unmatched.

Chapter Fifteen

Jay

He had made it.

Normally the stage lights were bright enough to wash out the audience, but Ryan shone right on through. I spotted him the second I stepped out onto the stage. He sat front row, sandwiched between my best friend and his. I rarely found myself getting nervous when I performed, but for some reason, seeing Ryan in the crowd gave me a flurry of butterflies that threatened to wipe out all the lines I’d worked to memorize.

Thankfully, I made it through the play without any major mistakes. We reached the end and earned ourselves a standing ovation from the packed house. I took a bow with my cast mates, soaking it in, locking eyes with a very proud-looking Ryan.

This was what I’d been so scared of losing ever since I had to leave my old school. I didn’t know if I’d find the same kind of appreciation for theater in another college. Franklin U didn’t disappoint. The cheering went on for so long that we decided to take another bow before we walked off backstage.

“That was so tits,” my cast mate Jerricka said as she held the curtain back for me. She wore a military-esque outfit with a black-and-white hat that matched mine. “Opening night! We did it!”

“We did,” I said, giving her a side hug. The thrill of finishing a show never got old, especially when it went as flawlessly as tonight’s had.

It made me want to celebrate for the rest of the night.

We walked through the dark hall that led to the large green room. It was loud in there, with the cast celebrating and hyping up our director. It was her first show and surely wouldn’t be her last.

I was about to go congratulate her when a hand landed on my shoulder. I whipped around and got hit with a full-body hug from Maddy. She smelled like vanilla and strawberries, her excited squeals rising in pitch with every hop she did.

“That. Was. Incredible.” She smiled from ear to ear. “You killed it.”

“Thank you, thank you,” I said.

She then stepped aside, and I realized someone else was behind her.

Ryan. He held out a big bouquet of deep red roses. They looked so perfect I was sure they were fake until I got a whiff of the sweet scent drifting off them. “For you,” he said, and for the first time since I met him, he seemed kind of shy. “I was going to have Maddy bring them backstage, but she insisted I come with her.”

“Insisted,” Maddy said with a wink. “All I did was casually mention coming backstage to see you, and Ryan over here nearly tripped on himself trying to follow me.”

He looked down at his white sneakers. “Guilty,” he said. He glanced around. The rest of the cast was busy doing their own thing. I realized he was being conscious of who saw us together.

Fuck. I really didn’t like that. It didn’t make me feel good, seeing him nervous like that. I grabbed the roses from him, and without giving it a second thought, I leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Maybe it was leftover adrenaline from the show, but I really wanted to do it. His eyes lit up as bright as the stage lights from earlier. No one around us batted an eye.

Hmm. Maybe all this worry I had about people judging us was unfounded?

“Whoaaa, what’s going on here?” The shrill voice came from Timothy, one of the other leads in the show and a huge shit-talker.

Gah damn it.

I had been telling him yesterday about wanting to organize an event to protest the offshore drilling project. We had an hours-long conversation about my activism and how he could help get involved. He was also a snarky and very nosy guy. He knew everyone’s secrets on the cast.

“Mr. Jay is fraternizing with the environment’s worst enemy?” He looked Ryan up and down with the most cutting glare imaginable. “I can see why, at least.”

Ryan tensed, a muscle in his jaw twitching. I swallowed.

“Why are you always in everyone’s business?” Maddy answered with her arms crossed. She chewed her gum with an attitude that couldn’t be hidden.

“I’m observative, that’s all.”

“Go be observative somewhere else.” Maddy pointed over his shoulder. “Like over there, where your ex-girlfriend is chatting up your ex-boyfriend.”

Timothy narrowed his eyes. He looked at Ryan and me one more time before he turned on his heel and walked over to interrupt whatever was happening with his exes.