Page 198 of Most Valuable Players
I’m sad and mad, flipping between the two so frequently even I don’t know which one is the prominent emotion. Does he really think we can keep dating like nothing happened? Even if I could get over the idea that he doesn’t feel the same, and likely never will, I’d be a wreck waiting for the day he freaked out again or decided to move on. There’s really only two ways a relationship can go, and he took one of those options away. When you know how something is going to end, it’s harder to enjoy the moment.
As the video stops on the final frame, a drone shot overhead of campus, the kids’ faces are lit up with joy and wonder. I step to the door so I can be the first out.
Dakota and I take them to the football field and let them loose to run around in the big, open space.
“How was it?” she asks as we stand on the fifty-yard line.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever feel the same about that room, but it was okay.”
“Listen, I’ve got it from here. Take off, go see Heath, or go lay in bed and cry… whatever you need to do.”
“You’re sure?”
“Definitely. Five more minutes of them sprinting up and down the field and I can hand them back to their teacher.”
I hug her. “Thank you.”
I take off for my dorm with the intent of trying to nap. Needless to say, I spent last night tossing and turning, so I’m not only emotionally exhausted, but physically too. However, as soon as I fall into my bed and pull up the covers, I get a 911 text from Reagan.
I get back up and trudge across campus. I find her in the back of the theater in their dressing room. Her hair is in curlers and she’s wearing her green silky robe.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“Ms. Morris fell and broke her wrist. She’s out and now I don’t have anyone to do my makeup. Can you help? We have our dress rehearsal in thirty minutes.”
I’d gotten the first part from her text message and had come prepared to do her makeup, but dress rehearsal? The look on her face is pleading, though, so I suck it up. “I’ve never done stage makeup like that, but I can try.”
“Thank you!”
The dressing room in the theater is a large open room with a long counter that extends on two walls with lighted mirrors. Stools are around the room in disarray. Some tucked under the counter, others have clothes and makeup bags on them, and the rest are occupied by girls as they get ready.
Reagan sits; her cosmetics litter the space in front of her. “So, what happened with Heath? Dakota heard from Rhett that Heath was not looking great at their morning skate.”
I set down my backpack and add my makeup to the counter. “It was a very long night after you left.”
I fill her in while I add primer to her face.
“All of this happened last night? And you haven’t heard from him since?”
“Ava said he came by the dorm looking for me.”
She smiles and tries to shoo me off. “Go. I can do my own face.”
“No way. I’ve got you. Let’s just talk about something else.”
“Okay. Like what?”
“Like how nervous I am right now.”
“What? Why? You’ve done my makeup lots of times. It always looks great.”
“But the lights and the people…” My hands tremble. “I’m nervous and I’m not even the one who has to go out there.”
Her sweet laughter relaxes me. “It’s only a dress rehearsal.”
As I work, she studies the script in front of her. I’ve heard her running lines with Dakota enough that I know she’s already got it memorized, but I decide it’s best not to mess with whatever process she has.
When she finally looks up, I’m ready to add another coat of mascara.
