Page 83 of The Do-Over

“We all have special gifts.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t quotePretty Womanat me when I’m having my great-date freak-out.”

“Carry on, then.”

“Did I tell you he’s going with me to Village Pointe after school to shop for jeans?”

That made me snort. “Seriously? I mean, jeans-shopping is the worst, right?”

“Focus, Em. He wants to go.” He beamed and looked totally love-drunk when he asked, “Is it too soon for the L-word?”

I love you today, Nick. I shook my head and said, “Not at all.”

He looked at his phone and said, “I’ve got to go.”

“Hey, can I get a ride home?”

“Of course.” He started walking away and said over his shoulder, “Meet me at my locker after school.”

I made it through my first few classes by pretending not to notice that the eyes of the world were upon me. I ignored everything and replayed in my head the moments with Nick the day before, choosing to concentrate on the swoon instead of the actual dumpster fire of the day’s reality. I overheard people saying my name in the halls during passing periods, but I pretended not to as I counted down the minutes until Mr. Bong’s class.

On the way to third hour I sawthosegirls walking in my direction. Lallie was talking and the other two were walking beside her, listening to what was certain to be a riveting conversation. The halls were jam-packed with students because it was a passing period, and it felt like time was moving in slowmotion as Lauren turned her head and looked directly at me.

Oh no, they were going to destroy me.

I did what anyone would do in my situation. I turned to my right and pulled open the door to the auditorium. It was mostly dark inside, with just a couple of stage lights shining, and I crept to the right as the door closed behind me.

Would they follow me in? I heard the bell ring as I ran down the last row of theater seats and crawled behind the big box that they used for props storage. My heart was pounding as I squatted and waited, and I wondered if this was rock-bottom.

I heard a few random voices as I crouched behind the container—clearly there was a music class about to start—and my heart pounded as I literally had no idea what to do.Crap, crap, crap. This was not normal behavior, right? People didn’t just hide during the course of the school day.

“All right, all right, settle down,” I heard someone say, a woman whose voice sounded very teacher-y as it boomed through the auditorium. “I know you’re excited, so if everyone’s ready, let’s just try it from the top and see where we’re at.”

My squatting legs felt wobbly as music started playing over the sound system. The noise made me think it might be safe to come out and sneak toward the door, but as soon as I peeked around the corner, I knew I was screwed.

Because at that exact moment, fifteen or so pop choir students on the stage burst into “Summer Nights” as they began rehearsing. Every single one of those superstars would see me if I came out now.

Dammit.

Not only was I going to get in trouble for ditching the class I was supposed to be in, but now I was going to have Danny and Sandy’s meet-cute song stuck in my head all day.

I sat down behind my box and got comfortable.

As it turned out, they weren’t too bad. Their loud rendition of the songs fromGreasekind of made me forget my trainwreck of a life for a little while as I hummed along. “Hopelessly Devoted to You” was still kind of catchy—who knew? When the bell finally rang and the auditorium started emptying enough for me to be able to leave my hiding spot without being noticed, I straightened my cramped legs and hightailed it out of there.

Unfortunately, the second I opened the auditorium door I ran right into Josh.

“Gah!” I jumped back, my body feeling the collision even after the split-second bump passed.

“Emilie.” Josh’s nostrils flared and his eyes moved over my face before he said, “What were you doing in the auditorium?”

“I, um—”

“You know what? I don’t care.” He touched my arm and said “C’mere” as he led me over to the enclave of hallway trophy cases and away from passing students. He moved closer to me and asked in a quiet-but-angry voice, “What in the hellwasyesterday, Em?”

I cleared my throat. What to say?Um, I didn’t know the fifteenth would actually ever come? I saw you kissing someone but I don’t even know anymore if it was real or not?Yeah, like that wasn’t bonkers. “I thought—”

“Things were fine with us in the morning at my locker, and then you just walked away from me to go humiliate me over the intercom? And then the tattoo? Who does that?”

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