I’m picking up a replacement lamp from the Cave the next day when I hear Summer’s voice.
“You can’t pretend not to know me anymore,” she says.
She’s standing in the doorway in her costume. Not the fairy costume but Helena’s costume, a short skirt with a black tank top. Summer is taller than Miranda, which makes her legs seem longer beneath the skirt.
She pokes her head through the door.
“Is this the secret lair?” she says.
“I wouldn’t cross that threshold if I were you.”
“What’s going to happen?”
She lifts a foot and holds it in the air like she’s going to step inside the Cave.
“We’ve never had an actor in here before…. Wait a minute. We did have one.”
“You did?” she says.
“He’s buried in the floor over there.”
“You’re funny, Ziggy.”
She steps into the Cave.
“I’m not kidding. You shouldn’t be in here.”
She walks up to me and pinches my arm.
“It’s exciting to break the rules, isn’t it?” she says.
“Bend,” I say. “Remember?”
“Right, right,” she says. “By the way, I think your mom is cool.”
“Are you sure you’re talking about my mom?”
“Did she interrogate you on the way home?”
“A little water boarding. You know. The usual.”
“She cares about you. That’s more than I can say about my parents.”
“Your parents don’t care?” I say.
“They care. It’s just that they’re sort of … self-involved.”
“I know what you mean.”
She says, “I was thinking about a lot of stuff after you dropped me off last night.”
I take a deep breath. I was thinking about a lot of stuff, too.
Romantic stuff.
Is it possible she was feeling the same way? Maybe this is my Josh moment. Summer is going to get nervous, twirl her hair, and declare her love.
“What were you thinking?” I say, getting ready for the big moment.
“What if I work and work for the next two days—and I’m still no good?” Summer says.
I look away from her. I stare at the pictures on the Wall of Fame.
“What if I don’t have what it takes to be an actor, Ziggy? And I’ve been kidding myself all these years.”
I feel like an idiot. I’m thinking about romance, and she’s thinking about her acting career.
Techies and actors. Maybe we’re supposed to be separate. Maybe it’s better that way.
Maybe Reach is right.
“Do you think that’s possible?” Summer says.
I still can’t look at her.
“You’ve got nothing to worry about,” I say. “You’re going to be great.”
Summer puts her hand on my upper arm. I turn towards her. Her eyes look green in the darkness of the Cave.
“Do you know what I like about you?” she says. “You totally get me. It’s pretty rare that someone gets you so well.”
“I get him,” Reach says.
His voice is loud in the empty room. He’s standing in the door of the Cave, his face tight and angry.
“I also get that we’re starting tech in five minutes and Mr. Ziegler has work to do. Real, non-acting work. The kind that gets your hands dirty.”
“Sorry,” Summer says. She rolls her eyes at me. “Talk to you later, Ziggy.”
Reach steps aside so she can go out, then blocks the door behind her.
“Who the hell is Ziggy?” he says.
“That’s what she calls me.”
“Pet names? Son of a bitch. You’ve crossed over to the dark side and I had no idea.”
He storms into the room, flipping the black curtain hard across the doorway behind him.
“You promised you’d tell me everything,” he says. “So let’s hear it.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” I say.
“You said there was a woman. You said she was in the theater.”
“I also said she didn’t go to this school.”
“Two truths, one lie. I know that game.”
“There’s only one truth,” I say. “She’s interesting, but she’s an actor. End of story.”
“Okay. This is where the malfunction is occurring. We do not find actors interesting, because they are not interesting. They are boring. They are good to look at, yes. I cannot deny that. They have been genetically selected to be good looking. Like a butterfly. A butterfly is a lovely thing, but when it comes time for brain surgery, you do not want a butterfly scrubbing in. You want a doctor. You want skill set.”
“What are you talking about, Reach?”
“It’s the same with a girlfriend.”
“You want a girlfriend who’s good with a scalpel?” I say.
“No. You want a girl with a brain. And there’s nothing wrong with looks. But not an actor. For God’s sake. I can’t believe you would screw us up like that.”
“How could that screw us up?”
“You’ll start a war with the actors.”
“We’re already at war,” I say.
“Right, but it’s a cold war. There’s a difference,” Reach says.
“What about you?” I say. “You bought Grace a slice.”
Reach’s face turns red.
“That’s different,” he says.
“How is it different? You said she was on our Do Not Call List.”
“She’s a fallen techie, not an actor. It’s a different rule.”
“That’s the problem with the rules. They’re your rules. You can change them whenever you want.”
“Places, please,” Ignacio calls as he passes by the door. “Places!”
That’s our cue to get into position.
“Drop it with this actor,” Reach says. “Before it gets out of hand.”
The lights flicker, signaling the run-through is about to begin.
Reach looks into my eyes.
“Promise me,” he says. “For all our sakes.”
“I promise.”
I think about the pact Reach and I made when we were ten. No secrets, no matter what.
We’ve had our ups and downs over the years. I’ve avoided him, changed the subject, made fun of him, even argued with him.
But I never lied to his face. Not until now.