Misfit Theater Company (Wattys Winner 2018)

16. Real Weird, Real Fast

"Patti's here," I call after taking her coat. She's still holding the box in front of her in sheer terror.

"What if he says no?" she whispers.

"We'll deal with that if it happens," I say.

The boys come to the foyer to greet us, and my mom greets Patti on her way upstairs. She winks at me as the next song comes on and as Patti forces a nervous smile.

"Yo," Moth starts, "what's in the box?" He and Thatcher are standing in the living room to our left.

Patti freezes like a deer on the road, and after a few moments of absolute silence, I'm worried that if she were to answer him right now, her words would be the semi-truck that bowls her over. I decide to step in.

"She said it's dessert for later. That means you're going to have to control yourself and not eat something immediately," I tell him.

"Oh man. What kind of dessert are we talking?" Moth asks.

Then, as if coming out of a trance, Patti blurts out, "Cupcakes."

"Mini frosted cakes," Moth says. "Cool."

"Yep," I say, ushering everyone back into the dining room. "And there's pizza in here, which we already started on—which Moth really started on, wow—so Patti, why don't you come into the kitchen with me to set down your cupcakes and get a plate?"

"Sure," she mumbles, following me into the kitchen after the boys have both resumed their stations at the table. I can't be sure if it's just that Thatcher isn't super comfortable or if he knows something is up with Patti, but the expression on his face sort of pinches off to one side like he's trying to think through something... or like he's experiencing some pain. I make the same assumption that he's just suspicious of us and continue into the kitchen.

She sets the box of cupcakes down on the farthest counter where my mom had been leaning before, and I decide it's the perfect corner of the house for secret whispering. "What's the plan?" I ask as quietly as I can.

She looks like she's caught in the headlights again. "Plan?"

"Yeah, for asking someone to the thing?" I do my best to speak in code.

"I guess I was just going to have him eat the cupcakes."

"Well... okay, but, like, when? Like, right now? Or at the end of the night? What can I do to help?"

She shrugs. "I hadn't thought that far ahead."

"You plan every single scene and play you do, but you hadn't thought about how you would present these cupcakes to him?"

She cracks a smile. "Very out of character for me, I know. That's what crushes do to you, I guess."

She may be on to something with that one. I've barely spoken to Thatcher all night. Very out of character for me. I know why, though: It's because I'm terrified. I'm terrified he'll figure me out and not like me back. Or, even worse, that no matter what happens between Thatcher and I romantically, our friendship will implode because of it.

But Patti's out of character behavior seems to be coming from a different place, a place of blind courage I could never even come close to actualizing.

"Yo, are you guys lost in there?" Moth calls from the dining room.

"Coming," I say. "Just trying to find some silverware." I open and close a couple of the drawers to go along with my story as I come up with a plan for Patti.