Page 40 of Dungeons and Drama

“And maybe you’ll remember my name?”

He looks back at the school entrance for a moment and then steps so close I take a quick breath in surprise. Suddenly my entire view is taken up by Nathan. His floppy dark hair, his sparkling green eyes, his wide-rimmed glasses. My heart thumps wildly even though I tell my body not to react like that to him. His head tilts slightly and I swear he’s about to kiss me. I should step away—I should pinch him so he knowsnot to go too far—but this doesn’t feel too far. It feels like exactly what I want. The realization makes me dizzy, and I lean harder into the wall.

His palms press against the wall on either side of me and he leans a fraction closer. His lips twist in a small smile as if he’s reading my thoughts.

“Maybe I’ll remember.” His voice is a whisper. “But no promises.”

My jaw drops in shock and his eyes light with delight.

“What are you doing?” I whisper back.

“I’m following your directions. Your ex is coming.”

Oh.

Right.

Of course that’s why he’s suddenly pretending he wants to kiss me. What other reason would there be? And more importantly, why is his presence sending my body into overdrive?

I shift to look for Paul, but Nathan puts a finger under my chin and turns my face back to him. “Keep your eyes on me. Pretend I’m saying something romantic.”

His face—hislips—is still shockingly close to mine. I have to swallow before I can think of something intelligible to say. “Like how you have an unopened box of strawberry Pop-Tarts sitting in your car with my name on it?”

“The box is open and half eaten, but they’re yours if you want them.”

“I’m literally swooning.”

A honk sounds and we both turn at the same time. Dad waves his hand out the window at us. Nathan jumps away from me as if Dad had pulled a sawed-off shotgun from thebackseat. Now my heart is flying for an entirely different reason. How much of that did Dad see?

He sticks his head out the window. “Nathan, are you having car trouble?”

Nathan shakes his head. His cheeks look a lot redder than they did a few seconds ago. “No, I’m okay,” he calls.

“We’ll see you at the store, then. Riley, let’s go.”

Nathan and I share a nervous look before I walk away. Dad’s eyes are sharp and his expression knowing when I climb into the passenger seat. “So…looks like you and Nathan are friends now?”

“Yeah.” I mess with my seat belt rather than make eye contact. “I guess.”

“You guess? Hmm.” He laughs to himself, and I scoot a little farther down in the seat. Clearly, he sawsomethingand I really don’t want to talk about it with him. I can barely work it out in my own head. What was going on back there? When did I go from loathing Nathan to tolerating him to being disappointed he didn’t kiss me? There wasn’t supposed to be any kissing. There wasn’t supposed to be anythingrealat all—just enough acting to keep up the facade.

I squeeze my eyes shut and wish Dad would drop me off at Mom’s house rather than take me to the store. I need time to process everything before I’m with Nathan again. If I told Dad I wasn’t feeling well, then he’d probably agree to take me home, but he’d also call Mom.

To his credit, Dad isn’t grumbling about me and Nathan or asking pointed questions like Mom probably would. Maybe now is the time to bring up other topics before he gets any ideas.

“Dad?” My voice is quiet and a little shaky. I’m surprised how nervous I am to talk to him about something serious.

He turns off the radio. “What’s up?”

“Do you…Have you been telling people at the store about my theater performances?”

“Well, yeah. Was I not supposed to?”

“No. I mean, I don’t mind. It’s only that Nathan mentioned something, and I was surprised.” I play with the edge of my sweater.

“You’re never happier than when you’re performing,” Dad says. “And you’re so talented. Of course I’m going to shout it from the rooftops.”

My heart thumps at his words, but I’m also confused and a little bitter. If this is how he felt, why hadn’t he said those things to me before? I almost ask, but I’m scared of getting into a fight.

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