It Could Be More | ✔

14. Honest

Liah, dressed in her gym clothes and four-inch stilettos, strutted across the stage with her script in her hand. She wanted to break in the heels before opening night. I wasn't entirely sure what the winter musical was about. All I knew was a student wrote it and Liah complained about the constant rewrites. The sets were done, but I hung around to support my best friend.

I sat at the back of our school's auditorium. Liah was on stage talking to Erik Sutton, who played a jerk in the play, but was actually really sweet in real life. From the scenes I watched being rehearsed that day, I gathered a bit of the story.

Liah's character, Angelica, is going through a lot of changes--her best friend stole her boyfriend, her other friends talk about her behind her back, and she might not be graduating high school. During the party scene, Angelica sings about the skewed perception people have of her. The song ends with Angelica, wiping tears from her face and smiling for a selfie.

The director/writer was giving Liah and Erik feedback when someone took the seat next to me. It was Corey, smelling like sawdust. He looked exhausted.

"If Reese keeps changing the script, he's gonna have to make his own sets."

We were friends now, but it was still so weird to be having a casual conversation with him. "What'd you have to do today?"

"We had to build a balcony. We have one from another play, but the stairs needed to be reinforced and I told him that, but he ignored me, using them anyway. Long story short--"

"Too late for that," I muttered. Even though I didn't mind listening to him talk about his work. He was passionate about building things. Even now, as he complained about the balcony, his eyes told another story.

He gave me a look and I smiled innocently. "We had to make a new one." He pulled a small bag of pretzels from his pocket, offering me one.

I took one, then stared him in the eye. "If my friend breaks her neck on that thing, I'll kill you dead."

"Of course."

We munched on his pretzels and watched as Erik's character kept flirting with Liah's character, even after she said no multiple times. Then there was a choreographed dance and more singing, which I think represented the downward spiral of Liah's character.

"Trent and Veena are back together." Corey said after a while.

"They are?" After our "date", I hadn't had the chance to ask Trent about how it went. Liah couldn't believe I spent an entire afternoon getting my date back together with his ex. But knowing I had a hand in their love story was the best feeling.

Corey's brow quirked up. "Didn't you go on a date with him?"

I shrugged. "He wasn't meant for me. Maybe I should be a matchmaker. You know, like the whole 'if you can't do, teach' thing?"

He stared at me for so long, I wondered if I had pretzel crumbs on my face. "What?"

"One bad date and you're giving up on your 'epic love story'?"

I folded my arms, sinking lower into the theater seat. "I'm not giving up. I'm lowering my expectations to a more realistic level. Not epic. Just a love story. Or an I-guess-you're-tolerable story."

That last part was a joke, but Corey didn't find it funny.

"You shouldn't have to settle for less." His gaze was a little intense, like he wasn't just saying it to be encouraging. It was like he saw through the BS of my words. I hated it.

"I read romance. My standards are impossibly high."

"What about Mav?"

I'd almost forgotten about Maverick. My third and final date. The thought of having another date blow up in my face made my stomach churn. Technically, I only went on one date, but I was exhausted. Failure was exhausting. I didn't have it in me to go another round.