Page 72 of Spark

“Everyone, give a warm,Sing Your Heart Outwelcome to the lead singer of Alexa Play Music, the man who’s personally responsible for their mega-hit song, ‘Don’t Call Me’—It’s Mr. Cooper Constantino!”

Waving and mugging for the crowd and all the cameras, Cooper joins Jon at the photo shoot spot in the front, where flashbulbs pop and people jockey for the duo’s attention. And through it all, I grip Kendrick’s hand and exchange “maybe I shouldn’t have done this” looks with him.

With the final photo shoot completed, Jon and Cooper assume the remaining chairs, at which point Sunshine launches into some over-the-top comments about the excitement that lies ahead this season. Finally, she asks forquestions from the crowd. “But only for our three returning judges, to start with, please.”

A Q&A with the judges ensues that feels very much like the appetizer to a much-anticipated main course. But finally, Sunshine opens the spigot on questions for the three guest mentors.

“Cooper! Ruby! Kendrick!” People are shouting all three of our names in a chaotic cacophony, until Sunshine selects someone with a question for Cooper.

“Cooper, does Ruby’s presence here confirm she’s Ruby Tuesday?”

“I never confirm the meaning of my lyrics,” Cooper replies.

That’s what I expected him to say, but I don’t feel relieved he’s stuck with the plan, because he’s made his comment with a wicked smirk—one that nonverbally confirms his answer to the question is a resounding yes.

“Is Kendrick the brother Ruby Tuesday wants to bleep?” someone else asks. “I mean, otherwise, it’d be quite a weird coincidence for the three of you to be cast together this season, don’t you think?”

“Well, I’m not responsible for casting this show,” Cooper says with another mischievous smirk. “And like I said, I don’t normally comment on the meaning of my lyrics.” He leans forward. “But as a general matter, and not in relation to anything in particular, I don’t believe in coincidences.” He winks at that, and the crowd explodes with laughter.

“Motherfucker,” I whisper to Laila sitting next to me.

“What was that, Ruby?” Sunshine asks sweetly. “I didn’t catch that.”

I force a smile. “I said, ‘How lovely.’ That’s a lovely way to go through life—believing that everything you do, even the hurtful things, are part of some master plan.’”

Another loud reaction rips through the large room, during which I catch Reed’s approving eye at the back of the room.Just this fast, it’s now obvious from Cooper’s body language that he’s not going to stick to the script, exactly like Reed said. Well, guess what? That warning shot let him know I’m ready for him.

A reporter shouts, “Ruby, doyoubelieve in coincidences?”

Seems like a softball. “Sometimes. Sometimes not.”

“Was it a coincidence you kissed Kendrick passionately in a video while Cooper’s song played in the background? Or did you two put that song on specifically—maybe to send Cooper a message?”

I take a deep breath. I’m not ready to go for the jugular yet, since it’s still possible Cooper will toe the line. “That video was recorded at Kendrick’s birthday party without our knowledge, and the song just so happened to be on. People on the internet assigned meaning to the whole thing, but it was just the song that happened to be playing.”

“Well, yeah, we didn’t put the song on,” Kendrick interjects. “But speaking for myself, I saw someone recording a video and figured he’d post it or send it to Cooper. So, I admit I particularly enjoyed kissing Ruby in that moment, because I knew Cooper would probably see the video and feel like I was flipping him the bird, which I totally was.”

As the room explodes, I stare at Kendrick, my mouth parted with surprise. We talked about our game plan, both between ourselves and with Eli, and clearly decided we wouldn’t say a word to confirm I’m Ruby Tuesday, even though it’s obvious I am. Also, we said we’d let our kiss speak for itself and not expressly confirm our relationship status. So, what’s he doing?

“Why on earth would you want to flip off Cooper?” Sunshine asks Kendrick with a bat of her eyelashes.

I glare at Kendrick, warning him not to go off-script again, but he’s not meeting my eyes.

“Because Cooper named the girl in his shitty song ‘Ruby Tuesday’ as clickbait.”

“Clickbait?” Sunshine gasps out, like she’s aghast at the idea. “Whatever do you mean?”

Kendrick shrugs. “Ruby’s in a high-profile band. So, Cooper obviously did whatever he had to do to market his new song.” He finally looks at me. “The truth be damned.”

I sigh with relief. That wasn’t what we planned for him to say, but it was even better.

“I was also pissed at Cooper for dragging me into the conversation about the meaning of his lyrics,” Kendrick continues. “My relationship with Ruby, whatever it might be, is nobody’s business. So, Cooper inviting the world to speculate about us wasn’t cool of him. Clickbait, once again.”

The room is atwitter.

“Sounds like there’s some bad blood between you and Cooper,” Sunshine observes with glee.

“Cooper’s not my friend,” Kendrick says evenly. “I’ll leave it at that.”

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