The Perfect Guy (Books We Love Young Adult Romance)

by Ann Herrick

  "And steps two and three?"

  "I haven’t gotten that far yet. But don’t worry. I’m not going to let a flirt like Alicia get her claws on Pres. I’ll bet she figures she can get him to take her to the graduation party. Speaking of which, have you lined up any prospects? You can’t wait forever, you know."

  "I—uh—I have enough to think about right now with the play. I really don’t want to go anyway, unless it’s with someone special."

  "I can’t believe my ears. Celeste Sullivan not interested in the graduation party? The same Celeste Sullivan who’s been dating constantly ever since her parents gave her permission? The same Celeste who hasn’t been without a boyfriend for more than a week at most?"

  "I’m tired of dating just for the sake of dating." Celeste picked at her fingernails. "I mean, I still like guys, but I’m looking for more than just fun. I want to wait for something meaningful." She paused, then said, "I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings—"

  "Hold it." I put my fingers to my lips. "Someone’s coming."

  A car pulled up to the edge of the park. Josh got out.

  "Josh. What are you doing here?" I demanded.

  "Mom told me you were here at my favorite thinking place, so I came to rescue my two favorite damsels from potential distress."

  "What do you mean?" I asked.

  Josh pointed up to the sky. "Those huge black clouds mean that any second now this occasional sprinkle will turn into a vicious downpour. But I, your knight in shining chrome," he said, thumbing toward the car, "can save you. In other words, how about a ride?"

  "The mist is getting a little heavy," Celeste pointed out.

  "You’re right," I said. "Let’s go."

  We hurried back to the car and dove inside just before a cloudburst struck.

  "Brrr." I scrunched down on the seat between Josh and Celeste. "Who’d have thought we’d have such a cold day this late in the spring?"

  "I’ll get the heat going." Josh leaned across me and fiddled with some buttons on the panel.

  "We’ll freeze if we have to wait for that thing to warm up," Celeste said. "How about taking me to the library? They have heat, and I’ve got some heavy-duty research to do on an English term paper."

  "Maybe I’ll tag along," I said. "I can always find something interesting at the library."

  "Rebecca," Josh said, "if you don’t have anything special planned this morning, why don’t you come with me? I’m going over to Mrs. Griswold’s. She has a barn full of old furniture and tools and stuff. She said we could borrow whatever we could use for the play."

  "All right," I said. Though props weren’t my responsibility, I felt that Josh had done so much to help me it was only fair that I help him, even though it meant losing time with Celeste. "There’s nothing I have to do at the library. Sounds like fun."

  "Great." Josh stopped in front of the library. "Here you are, Celeste. Want a ride later?"

  "I don’t know when I’ll be ready to leave," she said. "Don’t worry about me. I’ll find my way home."

  Just as I waved goodbye to Celeste, I caught a glimpse of someone sprinting in the side door. I said, "That looks like Pres."

  "Who? Where?" Josh craned his neck to see.

  "He’s inside already." I sighed. "Well, it really doesn’t matter," I said, though, of course, it did to me. I would have liked to go in and see if Pres was meeting Alicia. But I’d already said I’d go with Josh. At least Celeste would be around to keep an eye on Pres, if it was him. I shivered. "Hey, doesn’t it ever get warm in here?"

  "Once in a while this heater lets loose with a molecule or two of heat," Josh said, pounding the thing with his fist. "This doesn’t seem to be one of those days." He put his arm around me. "How’s this? Any improvement?"

  "Better." I snuggled against Josh for a moment and enjoyed the warmth and coziness. "Maybe you ought to use both hands to drive."

  "Whatever you say," Josh said. "You know, your wish is always my command."

  Chapter Thirteen

  As the night of the play drew closer, I began to panic. I’d been so busy tailing Alicia at rehearsals and making sure she had no time to spend alone with Pres that I hadn’t contributed much in my role as assistant director. I had made a few more suggestions, some of which Bill accepted without comment, while he rejected the others with a lengthy explanation of why they were impractical. At least I was there at every rehearsal, watching how things were going and taking notes for future reference, in case I ever got the nerve to write another play.

  I’d begun to worry about the production being a flop. It would be all my fault. It’d been my idea and I was the author. If the play bombed, I’d have to hide in my locker for the rest of the school year.

  One bright spot in what I felt was impending doom was the cast party. Mom had suggested it one night at dinner. Bill and Pres and I all thought it was a great idea. It really surprised and pleased me when Pres suggested Mom organize it, since, as he said, it was her idea. She said she would if he’d help plan a menu. After that they had their heads together in a cookbook every night after supper. Pres even started accepting her offers to help cook dinner.

  I wished my relationship with Bill, and Pres for that matter, was moving along as smoothly. I envisioned the cast party, however, as the setting for my night of triumph, at least with Pres.

  I explained my plan to Celeste one day as we munched apples in my room. I stopped eating and stood for added dramatic effect. "Caught up in the success of the play, applause still ringing in his ears, Pres will turn to me, realize I was the cause of his success and happiness, and kiss me in front of everyone, most particularly Alicia. Then, after the party is over and everyone else goes home, I’ll take Pres’s hand and tell him how much I care for him. I’ll tell him how I’ll miss him after he graduates and goes off to school in the fall. At the mention of graduation he’ll gasp and promptly ask me to be his date for the graduation party, and forever after." I clasped my hands to my chest and took a small bow.

  "Are you sure this isn’t just your writer’s imagination working overtime?" Celeste crunched an apple.

  "Oh, no," I said. "Pres’s feelings for me are simmering just below the surface. He may not realize it yet, but by the time of the cast party it will occur to him that those feelings for me are more than just brotherly. He’s been suppressing his true emotions."

  "Why would he do that?"

  "Celeste." I stuck my hands on my hips. "Don’t get technical about it. Who can explain how people deal with their subconscious?"

  "I guess you believe what you want to believe," Celeste said. "Just promise me you won’t get all twisted if it turns out that Pres merely thinks you’re just the best sister anyone could ever have. You know, in one way having Pres’s brotherly love is probably stronger, and longer lasting, than his love as a boyfriend would ever be."

  "Don’t worry. If that should possibly, remotely, turn out to be the way that Pres feels, I’d just figure it was a good place to start."

  "Hopeless optimist." Celeste shook her head.

  "Permanent pessimist," I said with a little smile of defiance.

  ***

  The night of the play I stood in front of the mirror, pinning my hair up, letting it down, and then pulling it back off my face.

  I screamed as I threw my comb across the room.

  "Hi." Mom knocked at the door and stuck her head in. "Anything I can do to help?"

  "Not unless you have a wig with you." I pulled at my hair with both hands.

  "Sorry." Mom shrugged. "Maybe I could act as a sounding board instead."

  "I don’t know what to do with my hair. I want to look really nice tonight, but nothing looks right."

  "Here." Mom picked up a brush from my dresser and smoothed my hair into place. "It always looks nice when you wear it down. That shows off the color and shine best. Plus, I think most boys like to see long hair hanging loose. At least, I remember Pres commented once that he does. Not that you have to wear your hair
to impress the boys."

  "Hmm." I checked my reflection. My hair did look shiny, so why not show it off? No one had to know that Pres was the one I wanted to impress. I shook my head and admired the way my hair swung. "I guess it does look nice this way."

  "Must be kind of a nerve-racking night for you," Mom said.

  "Oh, not really," I said, pretending to be calm.

  "Well, I can tell Bill is nervous. He’s even quieter than usual."

  "Bill? Nervous? But he always seems so ... composed."

  "You’d learn to have a cool exterior, too, if you had to face a class of twenty or thirty students six times a day. Bill hides his feelings, sometimes even when he shouldn’t, but believe me, the feelings are there."

  Mom picked up a comb and smoothed my hair in back. "You know, when Bill and I got married I assumed our families would just blend together automatically. But Bill and I have been talking about some of our habits, and now I realize we should have discussed our life-styles ahead of time."

  "You know, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about TV."

  "We’d better go now," Bill called through the door.

  "Translation: Hurry, or we’ll be late." Mom grinned.

  On the way to school I tried to relax in the back seat of the car, as I was happily sandwiched between Gramma and Pres. Pres didn’t say much. He stared at his script. I was sure he was as much aware of our bodies touching as I was. He was no doubt hiding his feelings, just like Bill.

  At school, just as we got out of the car, Pres pulled me aside and said, "There’s something I want to tell you, but things are pretty hectic now. After the play I know it will be crazy, but meet me backstage, okay?"

  "Sure." My heart jangled with excitement. He was going to tell me that he loved me!

  Pres waved and ran off to his dressing room. My heart pounded as I hurried backstage to check on the props and sets.

  I spotted Celeste dashing up the stairs to the girls’ dressing room. Later I would tell her all about what Pres was going to tell me after the play, but now I just had time to wish her luck. "Break a leg," I called to her.

  "Thanks." She smiled

  I found Josh supervising what looked like controlled chaos as he scurried around doing a last minute check of the props.

  "Hi, Josh."

  "What?" Josh barked. When he saw it was me, his voice softened. "Oh, hi. You startled me. I don’t know who’s more nervous, Celeste, our folks, or me. My father kept saying, ‘Now just stay calm,’ and my mother must have wished us luck fifty times, even though Celeste kept telling her that saying ‘good luck’ was considered back luck in the theater. What about you and Pres? Are you guys nervous?"

  "I am," I admitted. "Happy nervous, though. It’s hard to tell with Pres. He keeps his feelings to himself." I tried not to look as though I knew something Josh didn’t.

  "I know what you mean about Pres," Josh said. "He does tend to hide his feelings." Josh grinned. "But then, he is a guy."

  "Well, hi there." Alicia greeted us with a smile.

  "I see you’re wearing your hair pulled back in a knot, just the way Celeste wore hers for dress rehearsal," I said.

  "Yes. Do you like it?" Alicia patted her hair and batted her eyelashes at Josh. "I want to be ready in case I have to step in."

  "Step in what?" Josh asked.

  I swallowed a laugh.

  "Silly." Alicia placed her hand on Josh’s shoulder and stepped close to him. "I meant I have to be ready to take over for Celeste in case she can’t go on tonight."

  Though I knew Josh could defend himself, I felt an urge to protect him from Alicia’s advances. I pried her fingers loose from Josh on the pretext of shaking her hand.

  "I’m sure the only way Celeste won’t go on is if she gets injured, and I doubt that will happen," I said. "But in any event, Alicia, I do want to wish you good luck."

  "Oh, thank you!" Alicia gushed. "This play is so exciting. I’m enjoying being a part of it any way I can. I’d better run. I need to get in makeup, just in case. See you." She fluttered her fingers and pranced away.

  "Whew." Josh wiped his brow. "I get worn out just listening to her."

  I nodded. A tiny spark of guilt flickered in me. I’d been sarcastic to Alicia, but she hadn’t seemed to notice. Unless she was a better actress than I realized, she was genuinely happy to be connected with the play, no matter what the capacity. Of course, that might be because she wanted to be close to Pres.

  "Okay, everybody." Bill strode backstage and clapped his hands for attention. "Looks as though it’s going to be standing room only out there. Two minutes to curtain. Places, everyone."

  Bill left and everyone else scattered. Josh and I made ourselves comfortable on two barrels that would be used in a later scene. I waved to Celeste and blew a kiss to Pres as they took their places on stage.

  "Hey," Josh whispered. "Not that I want you to leave, but shouldn’t you be with Bill?"

  "No," I whispered back. "We decided that he’d worry about one side of the stage and I the other. He’ll oversee the lights and curtain, and I’ll chaperone you and the props."

  "Sounds fair to me."

  "Shh." I held my finger to my lips as the lights dimmed. "The show’s about to start."

  "You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?" Josh rubbed his hands together.

  I shook my head.

  "Too bad."

  ***

  In what seemed like less time than the snap of fingers the play was almost over. Josh and I had watched the play from the edge of the stage, moving only to dart around backstage between scenes to rearrange props and change scenery.

  A few minutes before the last scene, as Josh and I sat cross-legged on the floor since our barrels were now on stage, Josh leaned close and whispered, "Let’s sneak out front and watch the rest with the audience. We don’t have any more work to do back here."

  "I guess that would be all right," I said. "I’d like to see some of the play from there."

  We tiptoed our way to a side door, passing Alicia, who was stationed just offstage, happily mouthing the role of Alta. I almost felt sorry for Alicia now that I knew for sure she’d never step in for Celeste, and confident that her crush on Pres was hopeless. I was glad I’d succeeded in keeping them apart.

  Josh and I slipped out front and stood in the shadows near an outer aisle to watch the rest of the play. Everything looked so different from that position, almost as if the scene was real. A touch of regret tugged at my heart, seeing what I’d worked on for so long drawing to a close.

  Then, in the space of a heartbeat, the play was over. The curtain closed. Whistles competed with clapping from the audience. The curtain opened and the actors started their bows. There was a mild roar when Pres and Celeste took their final bows, and I was leading the cheers.

  "I think it was a hit!" Josh shouted over the pandemonium.

  I nodded, too excited now to speak. The play was a success and soon I’d have another, more personal success, with Pres.

  The curtain closed and I turned to go backstage. A burst of laughter from the audience made me stop and look up at the stage again. The curtain had opened for another bow, but the cast wasn’t prepared for it. Already they’d started scuttling away, except for one couple, half hidden by the crowd, embracing and kissing in the center of the stage.

  Then the couple was in full view, and suddenly I felt as if I’d been clobbered with a block of ice. It was Pres up there, and the girl he was so fervently kissing was Celeste.

  "Let’s get going." Josh grabbed my hand. "We don’t want to be late for the cast party."

  I yanked my hand free. My mind swayed and swirled. I couldn’t think. I just knew I had to get out of there.

  I pushed my way through a knot of people and plowed my way out the side door. The cool night air was like a slap in the face. I paused for a second. I didn’t know where I wanted to go, only that I had to get away. Away from the school, away from Pres, away from Celeste... Away from the image of thei
r kiss burning in my mind.

  I started to run. I stumbled and a sharp stone stabbed my knee. I got up and ran again.

  I heard shouting behind me.

  Was someone calling me? With blood pounding through my brain and my feet hammering the sidewalk, I couldn’t tell for sure. I kept running.

  I ran until I could hardly breathe. My chest ached. Pain stung my knees. I had to stop. I ducked behind a tree.

  I heard footsteps.

  "Rebecca."

  It was Josh.

  "Rebecca?" His voice was full of tenderness and something else. Pity? Yes, of course, it must be pity. Did he know? Did he know all along how I felt about Pres? Had Celeste told him? I didn’t want to believe that. But even if it were so, I would not let on. I would pretend that Josh knew nothing. That there was nothing for him to know. It was the only way. Otherwise I would die from the humiliation.

  Josh called my name again, a worried tone creeping into his voice.

  "I’m here, Josh," I said as calmly as possible, as I stepped out from behind the tree.

  Josh touched my sleeve. "What’s wrong? Why did you run out of the theater?"

  "I couldn’t stand it," I wailed. It just came out. I hadn’t expected it to.

  "What?" He brushed his fingers against my cheek. "What couldn’t you stand?"

  "Um, to look up on that stage and see ... see that it was all over." I closed my eyes and tried to blot out the memory of that kiss. It was all over between me and Pres. Between me and Celeste. I would never speak to her again. But Josh was waiting for me to explain. If he didn’t already know about my feelings for Pres, I wasn’t going to tell him. On top of the pain, I didn’t need to look like a fool too. "The play," I explained. "I worked on the play for so long, and now it’s all over."

  "It’s not all over," Josh said. "There’s still the cast party."

  "Oh, no." I moaned. "I forgot about the party. I can’t go to that. I just can’t."

  "Come on," Josh said. "It’s a celebration for all our hard work. You heard the applause. The play was a success. It’s not over completely. There’ll be a write-up in the school paper, then in the yearbook. People will always remember it. I know I’ll never forget it. Come on." He put his hand on my shoulder. "Let’s go. You can’t stay here all night."