It Had to Be You

twenty six

WITH their dance team in turmoil, Caroline was at rehearsals today. Schneider was also sure to pass along the message that she needed to be present at all times or else she'll cut her from the show.

"She can't cut me." Caroline ranted as we stretched. "I need the credential."

"I know."

I already performed my vocal warm-ups on the drive over, seeing as for once in her life, Caroline wasn't up for conversation. The only thing I got out of her was that she got into it with Ben at her locker. I'm proud of her for holding her ground rather than crawling back to him.

"All right, I need my leads up on stage." Schneider announced, resting next to Adrian at the piano. She directed him to the correct page before turning her attention to the rest of us. "Let's run over our harmonies in Brand New Day. I was watching my recording of it and it sounded a tad pitchy. We have no room for mistakes."

We ran through the first few verses until Schneider was satisfied and she sent us on our way, corralling the members of Connect 3 to run over their number, thankfully putting more distance between me and West.

"Norah." I froze in my steps at the sound of his voice. A mutual agreement has silently passed through us to end any unnecessary comments and only discuss matters in the theatre. I turned on my heel, bracing myself for whatever stupid question he's going to ask me. "What do I wear during the show?"

I raised a brow. "The show is next week, and you haven't gotten your outfit yet?"

"No because I don't know what I'm supposed to wear."

I sighed. "White dress shirt with black dress pants. And a black tie."

"I don't have any of that."

"Well, then you better go buy some."

According to Alex, he's been picking up more shifts at Jenny's Diner, so I knew that he had some extra cash laying around to buy nice clothes. I figured that must have been his only question, so I made the move to leave.

"Come with me."

I spun around. "What?"

"Come to the mall with me," he repeated, locking onto my gaze, "it doesn't close until ten."

"I'm pretty sure you can shop for your own clothes." I rushed to find an excuse. He dropped my gaze, only to flip through his book to find the correct sheet. "You're a big boy."

"I think it would be a good opportunity for us to talk."

"You've had plenty of time to talk to me—"

I'm cut off by him playing the opening notes to Play My Music. I rolled my eyes, backing away from the piano. His left hand shot out, finding mine and tugging me back. With the help of the other instruments, his few missing notes flew by unnoticed and he picked back up without missing a beat.

If I wasn't so impressed, I would've walked away.

When the tune ended, Adrian turned to me. "And you've had plenty of time to talk to me."

"I'm not the one who tried to kiss me."

"And you didn't exactly try to stop it."

I diverted my gaze. I hated how blunt he was. And I hated that he wasn't wrong.

The mall's a public place, allowing room for distractions and escapes rather than if he took me somewhere quiet to talk. It didn't seem like an awful idea, but after the revelation from West, I wasn't sure if our issues were better left unsaid.