Chapter 7

He stood outside the stage entrance. Dwayne would be in there. What would he say? Or worse, what would he do when he saw Shay? What would Shay do? Shay took a deep breath and walked through the door onto the stage.

Dwayne was standing with a group of his buds. They were the theater geeks, the weirdos that were always being silly and acting fruity. Dwayne turned when he saw Shay come in. He smiled and waved, but otherwise did nothing to indicate anything had transpired between them. Shay was semi-relieved.

The rehearsal went well. Dwayne’s tutorial on stage directions helped Shay a lot. He felt more confident in his ability to do what Mr. Higgins asked without being corrected or having the directives explained.

After practice, Dwayne walked out with Shay and Lilly as usual. On the ride to Lilly’s, she and Dwayne talked and laughed. When Shay walked her to her door, she asked, “You were really quiet on the way here. What’s wrong?”