Little White Lies Page 7

  “Everyone, take your partner’s hand,” Ms. Utz said.

  Jacob shot a triumphant look in my direction.

  I shot him a look and gave him my hand.

  “Place your second and third finger on your partner’s wrist, right below the thumb. Press lightly and you should feel a pulse. When you’ve found your partner’s pulse, then let the other person find yours.”

  Jacob turned my hand over and brushed two fingers down my palm to my wrist. I took a deep breath, but couldn’t stop goose bumps from appearing on my arms.

  He pressed his fingers lightly against my wrist and looked at me. “Your heart’s beating fast,” he said.

  I pulled my hand back. “No, it’s not. Let me do yours so we can be done.”

  Jacob offered me his arm and I pressed my fingers against his skin. Nothing. I moved my fingers around, pausing in several different places, but I couldn’t find his pulse.

  “I think you’re dead,” I said. “’Cause I can’t find anything.” I raised my hand.

  “Yes, Sasha?” Ms. Utz asked.

  “I can’t find Jacob’s pulse.”

  “Okay, this might occur for some of you,” Ms. Utz said. “If you can’t locate a person’s pulse on his or her wrist, then you’ll need to check the carotid artery at the neck.”

  “Put two fingers below the ear, right below the jaw,” Ms. Utz said. “Go ahead, Sasha.”

  The whole class turned to watch me and I felt my face begin to burn.

  I leaned forward and swallowed, putting two fingers on Jacob’s neck. His skin was warm under my fingertips. Immediately, I felt a pulse.

  “Found it,” I said, pulling my fingers away and sliding back—waaay back—into my chair.

  Paige looked over at me. You okay? she mouthed.

  “Totally,” I whispered.

  Ms. Utz helped the rest of the students find one another’s pulses and I paged through my syllabus. If there was even the slightest hint that we had to learn mouth-to-mouth on someone other than Dummy Dan, I was going to find a way out of this class.

  Later in the day, I made my way to the theater building. This was just a brief informational meeting about the drama elective, then the class would be held on Mondays and Fridays. I’d been looking forward to the meeting all week. No one I knew was going to be in it—none of my friends were into drama. I’d finally have a class to myself.

  As I walked up to the theater building, I couldn’t help but stare. It was one of the most gorgeous buildings on campus. Long steps with intricate black iron rails led up to two red doors. Above the doors, there was a peak that stretched to the sky.

  I felt a tiny shudder of nerves as I pulled open the door. Sure, I’d watched a zillion movies and had taken a film class, but that might not translate to anything on stage. I could be the worst actress ever. Like, Razzie Award bad. I rolled my eyes at myself. This was going to be fun. I needed to stop being a dork and worrying about everything.

  I tugged open the heavy door and stepped inside, noticing how chilly it was in the enormous building. I walked past the closed ticket counter and entered the auditorium. A long staircase of carpeted red stairs with a gleaming dark wooden handrail led toward the stage. A group of students were already clustered near the front of the stage, so I walked down the aisle and sat behind some of them.

  I glanced around and my gaze froze on the back of a familiar blond head.

  “You’re taking this class?” I asked.

  Heather turned around, her dangly earrings swirling. “Deal with it, Silver.”

  “But,” I said. “Do you even like theater?”

  Heather glared. “Omigod, why do you care?”

  “Forget it,” I said.

  I picked up the handbooks that had been required for the class—The Guide for Young Actors and A History of Theater. I paged through them.

  “Hey, Sash.”

  The voice almost made me drop the books. Not again.

  Jacob dropped his fave messenger bag—the one covered in Japanese art—on the floor and took the seat next to me.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  Jacob tugged down the hem of his black T-shirt. “This sounded like a cool class.”

  “Theater? But …” I lowered my voice so no one else would overhear. “Won’t going on stage make you nervous?”

  “We won’t be acting the whole time. We’ll be learning about theater—all of it. Even the behind-the-scenes stuff.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  I sat back, trying to pretend that Jacob wasn’t next to me. But Jacob in theater?! Seriously. I’d picked this class on purpose because I didn’t expect anyone I knew—least of all Jacob or Heather—to be here.

  I looked away from Jacob when a woman walked onto the stage, stopping in the center. Her dark brown hair was superstraight—I wondered if I could get a flatiron rec—and it touched down just to her collarbone. She wore giant silver hoop earrings and her red lipstick made her pale skin look Snow White gorgeous. She looked young enough to be in college.

  “Hey, guys!” she said. She smiled at us and waved. “I’m your drama teacher, Ms. Scott. Welcome to my class.”

  She walked toward the edge of the stage.

  “This is not a class for you if you intend to coast,” Ms. Scott said. “It’s a class that revolves around participation in theater games, reading assignments, and group projects.”

  Everyone nodded. I knew before I’d signed up for her class that drama would be lots of work. But I didn’t care. I was kind of looking forward to the distraction.

  Ms. Scott waved her hand at us. “C’mon. Everyone get up on stage. We’re going to play an improv icebreaker game.”

  I got up, stepping over Jacob before he could move. A group of about fifteen of us gathered on stage. The dark wooden floor was polished to a deep sheen and thick red velvet curtains hung behind us. The lights were dimmed enough so that we could see the rows and rows of seats that stretched across the theater, all the way up to the balcony section.

  Heather stood across from me and Jacob stood a couple of people away from her. I attempted to ignore both of them, sticking my hands in the back pockets of my jeans.

  Ms. Scott clapped her hands once and looked at us. “Okay, we’ll play games almost every class. The games are supposed to be fun, so don’t be nervous.”

  Jacob’s hands were jammed in his pockets and he looked like he wanted to throw up.

  “We’ll use this icebreaker to build trust and get to know one another’s names,” Ms. Scott continued. “We’re going to use our names and alliteration. So, for example, if I were to introduce myself to you with my first name, I’d say ‘Hi, I’m Cool Courtney.’”

  We all smiled.

  “So, you repeat the person’s name before you and then say your own, okay?”

  “Okay,” we said.

  “All right. Let’s go. I’ll reintroduce myself as your teacher. I’m Social Ms. Scott.” She turned to a girl next to her. “Your turn.”

  The girl grinned. “She’s Social Ms. Scott and I’m Writer Whitney.”

  My turn. “She’s Writer Whitney and I’m Sassy Sasha.”

  We kept going around the circle and then it came to Heather. “He’s Awesome Aidan and I’m Hot Heather.”

  I snorted.

  When it came to Jacob, his face was red. He’d made the biggest mistake signing up for this class. Maybe he was trying to get over being shy, but theater class was a huge leap. He could have taken a beginner speech course or something. But I felt for him the second he started blushing.

  “She’s Lovely Lexa and I’m …” his eyes met mine and I wanted to help him, to shout something so he wouldn’t be standing there with us staring at him.

  “I’m Jammin’ Jacob,” he said, spitting it out.

  The class smiled at his answer and we moved on to the next person. The relief on his face was obvious.

  Ms. Scott made the game fun and each person’s answer was silly—it definitely
did break the ice and by the end, I remembered almost everyone’s name,

  “Okay,” Ms. Scott said when everyone had said his or her name. “It’s Friday and it’s been a long week for all of you, I’m sure. You may go, but please check your syllabus for the reading assignment and be prepared for Monday.”

  I walked off stage, hurried down the stairs, and left the theater before Jammin’ Jacob could corner me again.

  11

  WHAT QUIZ?

  “I HATE ALL OF MY CLOTHES AND I LOOK HORRIBLE in everything!” Paige wailed.

  I got up and walked over to her, putting my hands on her shoulders and staring into her eyes.

  “You. Do. Not. C’mon, look.” I picked a short black shirt and clover green tank top off her bed. The tank top had lacy straps and the green made Paige’s red hair look gorgeous. I waved the outfit in front of her. “Wear it.”

  “Really?” Paige took the clothes from me and slid into them. “You like it?”

  I nodded as she checked out her reflection in the mirror. “You look gorgeous. It’s perfect for a group night out. Not too dressy or too casual.”

  I pulled on my own date clothes—a black capped-sleeve shirt, a ruffled black skirt, and pink peep-toe ballet flats.

  “I’m so nervous!” Paige said. She stood in front of our closet mirror and applied a peachy coat of lip gloss.

  “Don’t be,” I said. “I’ll be there and so will Callie. It’s just a group thing. Not even a date. We’re all just … hanging out.”

  “Hanging out.” Paige repeated my words, then smiled at me. “Thanks.”

  “Anytime.”

  I’d been hiding my own nerves all night. I didn’t want to blow this for Paige. It was her first shot at a chance with Ryan and I wasn’t going to let my worries about being around Jacob affect our night.

  But no matter how tonight played out, I knew I was hiding Jacob’s e-mails and texts from Callie, and even Paige. I couldn’t help but feel the guilt growing in my stomach. Plus, if the guys were weird to each other, the night would go on forever.

  It was twilight when Paige and I made our way across campus. Lightning bugs sparkled through the air and lit up the lawn.

  “You’ll be great,” I told Paige. “Don’t be nervous. Ryan already really likes you—it’s so obvious.”

  “Really?” Paige tucked her hair behind her ear. “I hope so. I just want to have fun.”

  “We will.”

  And I actually started to believe it myself. I’d barely seen Eric since school had begun and my excitement about seeing him was beginning to ease my tension about the night.

  When Paige and I walked up to the front of The Slice, Callie was already waiting outside. She looked perfect as always these days: black patent leather ankle boots, black tights, a purple mini, and a black ruffle top.

  “Hey,” she said, hugging us. “The boys obviously ditched us.”

  We laughed. “Totally,” Paige said. “They went out for a guys’ night instead.”

  “As long as we have pizza and soda, I think I’ll survive,” Callie said. “School was a killer this week.”

  Paige nodded her head in agreement. “This was the most intense ‘welcome back’ week ever. The work was crazy even for Canterwood.”

  “Ohhh, how was your English quiz?” Callie asked. “I forgot to ask Sasha how it went. She said she was nervous about that yesterday. It’s crazy that you guys had a quiz the first week.”

  Omigod.

  Paige looked over at me. “What English quiz? We didn’t have a quiz today.”

  I played with a lock of my hair, trying not to panic. “Ugh, I was so tired. I got the dates mixed up. I totally thought we had a quiz on The Secret Garden today and I told Callie that we did.”

  Callie laughed. “I get it. I almost went to English instead of math because I got my schedule confused yesterday.”

  We giggled and I ran my fingers through my hair, hoping they wouldn’t see how much I was sweating. I knew Paige and Callie didn’t suspect that I was lying—they honestly believed I’d made a mistake. And while I was glad they didn’t guess that I was lying to them, I realized they believed me because they trusted me, which made me feel awful.

  “Hi,” Jacob said, walking up to us. Callie slipped her fingers through his.

  I took a tiny step away from Callie and Jacob, moving closer to Paige. I did not want to do the weird small-talk thing. Jacob and I had nothing to say to each other and I didn’t want to talk to him at all in front of Callie. But I didn’t have to wait long—Eric and Ryan showed up right as I was getting ready to text Eric.

  “Hey!” I said to both of them a little too enthusiastically.

  Eric smiled at everyone—even at Jacob.

  “Hi,” Ryan said. His eyes went right to Paige. He stepped in front of her and pulled open the door, motioning her to step inside first.

  We all walked into The Slice, waited for a hostess and then followed her to a round table near the back. Eric was next to me, then Callie, Jacob, Paige, and Ryan.

  The smells of pizza, buffalo wings, and mozzarella sticks were mouthwatering. Plus, the place was adorable—all of the tablecloths had red and white checkers on them. In the center of our table, an old-fashioned lantern gave off a soft glow. The restaurant was quiet and didn’t have the same level of sugar-high chatter that the Sweet Shoppe had. It was low-key—just the kind of atmosphere I wanted for tonight.

  “I love it here,” I said.

  “Me too,” Ryan said.

  We asked for sodas and told the waiter we needed a couple of minutes to decide what to order.

  “How about we get three different pizzas to share,” Ryan suggested. “That way we all get a ton of options.”

  “Yes! I love that idea, Ryan!” Paige blurted out. Even the low lighting couldn’t hide the pinkness that spread over her face.

  “Me too,” I said, jumping in. “Cool with you guys?” I looked at Eric, Jacob, and Callie.

  “Let’s do it,” Callie said.

  Eric slid a menu into the middle of the table and we all leaned forward to decide.

  Under the table, I felt Eric reach for my hand. He squeezed it and I looked over at him. When our eyes met, I wanted to kiss him. In front of everyone—I didn’t even care. But guilt about hiding Jacob’s messages settled immediately into my stomach. Suddenly, I wasn’t so hungry anymore.

  “You know what we want, right?” Eric asked.

  “Absolutely,” I said, forcing a smile.

  “Sasha and I are going to get pepperoni and extra cheese,” he said.

  Callie, Ryan, and Paige nodded.

  Jacob laughed. “Extra cheese,” he muttered. “Perfect.”

  “What does that mean?” Eric asked. He let go of my hand, his shoulders tensing.

  “Nothing, man. Whatever.” Jacob shook his head, smiling to himself.

  Callie looked at him, her face showing her embarrassment. Our eyes met.

  Sorry, she mouthed.

  I shook my head. It’s fine, I mouthed back.

  “Um,” Callie started. “Jacob and I are ordering Hawaiian.”

  Jacob, Callie, and I looked over at Paige and Ryan. Their heads were bent together and they were talking in tones low enough that I couldn’t hear them.

  “What are you guys getting?” I asked Paige.

  She looked up as if she was confused that someone was talking to her. “What? Sorry.”

  I smiled. “I just asked what you guys want to order.”

  “Oops,” Ryan said. “We didn’t even decide yet.” He turned to Paige. “What would you like? I’ll eat any kind of pizza.”

  “Veggie okay?” Paige asked.

  “Veggie it is,” Ryan said.

  The waiter came over and pulled a notepad from his apron. “What can I get for you?”

  We all looked at one another, deciding who was going to order. Everyone’s eyes just seemed to settle on Eric.

  “Okay,” Eric said. “We’ll have the—”

&n
bsp; “I guess someone appointed himself the one in charge,” Jacob interrupted.

  Omigod. Why was Jacob being such a jerk?!

  “Jacob,” I snapped. “What’s your deal?”

  I closed my mouth, surprised that I’d just called him out like that. Callie glanced at me and shot me another I’m sorry look. She turned and glared at Jacob.

  Eric sat back in his chair, arms folded. “Jacob, this is obviously important to you, so go ahead. Please.”

  I’d known this group date idea was bad. But I’d really thought the guys would be able to at least fake coolness with each other. This was ridic! Paige and Ryan, looking up, finally seemed to catch on to the tension. They fell silent, which was the last thing I wanted for Paige’s first date. This night was supposed to be about getting Paige and Ryan together and for us to have fun as friends.

  Jacob stared at Eric for what felt like hours before looking at the waiter. He placed our orders and the table was quiet.

  “So,” Callie said, her tone too cheery, “Sasha and I were saying the other day how we’ve had zero time to hang out with friends this week. I was delusional thinking that Canterwood teachers wouldn’t drown us with homework on the first week.”

  That made everyone laugh. Phew—something everyone could agree on.

  “I know,” I said. “Paige is my roommate and we barely got to see each other this week. That’s def got to change.”

  Jacob sipped Coke from his plastic red glass and set it down. “I actually got to see Callie a lot this week, but I haven’t seen much of my other friends.” He looked at me. “Besides Sasha. We saw each other at lunch on Tuesday.”

  I nodded once, then I looked over at Ryan. “How’s your first week back?” I asked Ryan.

  He smiled. “The same as every year. Completely insane until I get used to my schedule. But I think it’ll be calmer next week.” His eyes shifted over to Paige for a second. “I’ll have more time to go out.”

  Paige smiled and I forced myself not to cheer. Ryan sooo like-liked her. I gave them five seconds alone before he asked her out. Perfect! Across the table, Callie had picked up on Ryan’s comment too. She winked at me.