Page 99 of Loving Lies (Granton University 3)

“Shh.” Tess tapped her knee as the lights dimmed and the curtains opened.

All three of them gasped when they saw the castle prop background Audrey had been raving about. It took up the entire width of the stage, and the turrets rose until they disappeared into the valance curtain.

Heaps of tulle fabric had been used at the base of the castle to give it a foggy—or maybe cloudy—dreamlike look. And obviously-fake but artistically-designed tree props made a little forest on the right side, which Aubrey would call stage left.

Ugh, after listening to so much of the kid’s babbling, Jonah was actually beginning to learn theater terms.

“It looks like a fairy tale,” Tess breathed next to him.

“Or like a medieval wedding threw up on stage,” Bailey said.

Both Jonah and Tess hushed her just as a girl appeared in the open tower window of the castle.

And the play began.

Two hours later, Tess nudged Bailey, who’d fallen asleep, and the three of them stood to applaud with the crowd.

Jonah shook his head, wondering how the hell he was supposed to tease Aubrey and pretend he’d hated every minute of this damn play. It had actually made him smile and laugh and ache in places because of all the freaking singing, dancing actors.

And Aubrey…who knew his own roommate would be such a sensation?

“He stole the entire show,” Tess leaned up to tell him.

He nodded and grinned as Aubrey stepped forward next in the line of actors and actresses on stage to take his bow. Jonah could honestly admit he was happy for his friend. The roar of the clapping and whistling rose throughout the auditorium, and pride swelled in his chest as a beaming Aubrey straightened and waved giddily to his adoring fans.

“Yeah,” Jonah agreed. “He did great.”

If only Sean had been able to see it.

After the last person took a bow, Aubrey stepped forward again.

“And now to honor our fallen friends and classmates who were taken so tragically from us only a few short months ago, we’d like to have a candlelight vigil in memory of the eleven souls who lost their li

ves on this very campus. Eleven very important people who were adored by so many of us…” He paused when he got a little choked up. “Tonight I burn my candle for Sean Thompson, who taught me how to love and be loved. His life was cut short too soon, but he’ll always live on in my heart.”

With a watery smile, he turned to an assistant who approached him with a basket full of candles. As he picked one out and lit it, he turned to light the candle of the next actress who’d taken one from the basket. They went down the line, spreading light and hope across the stage. Once every person on stage had a lit candle in their hand, they began to sing.

The music was more gripping than anything they’d played all night. It held every member in the audience enthralled. Jonah glanced at Tess just as she turned to look at him. When she mouthed the words, I love you, he followed suit, whispering it right back. Then he turned his attention back to the stage as the melody came to a crescendo.

But just as the last note of the song rang through the auditorium, a handful of people stood up in the front row of the audience and began to shout, “Hypocrites. Frauds. Phonies.” Then they began to throw—

“Holy shit. Are those tomatoes?” Bailey turned to gape at Tess and Jonah. “They’re actually throwing tomatoes. People really do that?”

Jonah shook his head, confounded, and turned back to stare up at the protestors as they kept slinging vegetables at the actors. This certainly hadn’t been part of the plan.

When one girl on stage was hit and bright red juice exploded in her face, she screamed and retreated further back into the stage. The rest of the performers scrambled backward to safety with her, shielding their faces with their arms.

Jonah stood up, as did half the audience. He wanted to rush forward and help Aubrey, somehow stop the tomato-slingers. But then one of the actors dropped his candle—right into a fluffy ball of tulle at the base of the homemade castle, constructed of wood, cardboard, and at least twenty layers of paint.

Chapter Thirty

IT HAPPENED SO FAST.

One second, the actors were screaming in fright, and protestors were shouting insults while audience members bellowed at them to stop. In the next, the stage ignited, and fire sprinted up the tower of Aubrey’s beautiful castle.

A pregnant pause followed as everyone seemed to freeze, held horrifyingly captivated by the sight. But then reality kicked in, and pandemonium reigned.

“We’re getting out of here. Now!” Jonah grasped Tess’s hand and yanked her to the aisle.

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