Page 28 of Fake It Till You Break It
What kind of response was that? I don’t know why it irritated me so much, but it did. We promised that we weren’t going to tell anyone except Aly and Rose about our plan so we wouldn’t get caught. Hell, I didn’t even tell Greg about italthough that was mainly because he was a blabbermouth. Still, he’s more trustworthy than some strange theater guy.
“Why are you bothering to practice lines anyway?” I asked with a scowl. “You’re not even in the musical.”
Surprised by my angry tone, Mia gave me a funny look as we left through the back door. “I just—I just wanted to try out some of the scenes in the musical. Why are you so pissed?”
“I’m not pissed. I just think that it seems like a waste of everyone’s time to stay after rehearsal to run lines. Mine. Ben’s. All for nothing.”
Her mouth silently opened and closed a few times. “Well, I couldn’t do anything during rehearsal while the stage was occupied. With the actual actors rehearsing. Duh. And Ben didn’t mind.Heoffered to helpme.”
I didn’t know why I was lashing out at her, but the words just poured out of my mouth. “I just don’t understand. You photocopy stuff and run errands for people. Why are you onstage in the first place?”
Something I said struck a nerve. The confused expression on her face melted away into anger. Mia slammed her hand against the hood of my car. Her eyes flashed at me. “I’m sorry for wanting to try something new for a change. And for your information, I photocopy and dostuffbecause that’s all Icando. I mean, let’s face it. I can’t sing. I can’t dance. I know that. I’m not delusional. But at least I’m trying.”
It was like everything that Mia had pent up inside of her was gushing out. Like a Pandora’s box. And I didn’t know how to stop it. Okay, I was the one who started this—poked the bear, stirred the hive, whatever—but I didn’t expectthis. “Okay, I’m sorry—”
But she wasn’t done. “And I know it’s pathetic. You don’t have to tell me that. All I can do is watch Lyndon practice her lines and dream that someday I’ll get to be a lead, too. But at least Itryto go for my dream. Which is more than what I can say about you.”
I held up my hands in surrender. “Hold on, what do I have to do with this?”
“Because you’re being stupid. Youcando something with your music, but you don’t. You’re just throwing it away. Ihatedumb people like you who waste away their talent.” Her finger jabbed the air with each statement, and I almost felt the force. “Which if you ask me, makes you the bigger idiot.”
Was she serious? My hands pressed against the hood of the car as I leaned toward her. “I’man idiot?”
Bracing both palms on the car, Mia mimicked my stance until she was nearly right in my face. “All I know is that if I hadhalfof the talent that you do, I wouldn’t waste it like an idiot. Maybe you should just get on with your life like he has.”
My jaw clenched. She didn’t specifically say his name, but we both knew who she was talking about. Like she had a right to talk about him. Mia was the only one who was around whenFinn left. The only one who saw how abandoned I was. Hell, she even came over to be with me so I wouldn’t be lonely. I didn’t ask her to, but she did it anyway. Just sat there watching TV with me until dinnertime. For weeks. She understood what I went through. Understood me.
Or at least Ithoughtshe did.
“Gee. So far in the past two minutes, you’ve called me stupid, dumb, and an idiot.” I counted off each point on my hand. “Anything else you want to add?”
Her chin rose a couple of inches, and she walked backward. “Yeah. I’m taking the bus.”
“Fine with me.”
We both stared at each other for a few seconds before turning away at the same time. I hopped into the car and jammed my key into the ignition. Without looking over at her, I peeled out of the parking lot.
I didn’t go far, though. As angry as I was, I wasn’t stupid. No matter what Mia said, I couldn’t just ditch her here alone at night. Then I really would be an ass. But I sure as hell wasn’t going back for her, either.
So I ended up parking on the side street for twenty minutes, waiting for the bus to pull into the bus stop. Mia just sat on the bench with her arms crossed as she scowled at everyone who drove by. Once, two dudes came by to talk to her, but before I could go over to help, she said something that sent them running.
Despite the fact that I was still pissed at her, a smile jerked to my lips, and I wished I were close enough to hear what she said to chase them off. As annoying as Mia was, she was pretty badass when she wanted to be. Her only good quality.
I followed the bus home, making sure to stay a few cars away. Luckily, there was a stop right at the corner of our street so Mia was off the bus and walking up her driveway within minutes. She dug her phone out of her pocket as she walked. Probably callingBento make plans for their nextpractice.
My left hand smacked against the steering wheel before I turned off the engine. Whatever. We only had a little over a week left of this relationship anyway. After that, Mia could do whatever she wanted with Theater Boy. It wasn’t any of my business.
When I got out of the car, I slammed the door so hard that the bang echoed down the quiet street. A startled stray cat screeched and jumped off the neighbor’s porch to run down the sidewalk. A couple of dogs down the street started barking, too.
All the noise was probably bothering the neighbors, but I didn’t care. At this point, I didn’t really care about anything. Including Mia and What’s His Name.
MIA
MRS. LACEY SCRIBBLEDa series of numbers on the board. The longer she wrote, the more squiggly her handwriting got. “Now remember to look over these problems from chapter fourteen for the test next week. Especially focus on the…”
I knew I should be copying this down, but I could barely pay attention to anything Mrs. Lacey said. The fight Jake and I had last night kept drifting in and out of my head.
For the first time in my life, I’ll admit that I actually was a brat. A Brat with a capitalB. I took it too far with Jake. I know I did.
