“Here,” Melissa said, gesturing for me to sit at a vanity chair in the corner of her closet. “Try these on,” she said, and handed me a pair of simple black, closed-toe, ankle-strap stilettos.
I shoved them on and stood, walking to the mirror. The effect was a little dramatic. I almost didn’t recognize myself. Rosie took the bulk of my hair and pinned it all to the side. Melissa pretended to lick her finger then placed it on my shoulder. “Tsst!” she teased.
I laughed and smiled at her. “You’re very kind to lend this to me.”
“Think nothing of it, Jupiter. Thanks for doing it justice.”
I looked back at my reflection again and noticed I no longer just felt like an adult woman, I looked like one too.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Since we’d all eaten like pigs at breakfast, none of us felt like lunch before the twelve o’clock showing of Othello. The show had been sold out for weeks, but somehow Kai’s dad pulled some strings and got five tickets in the gallery. When we’d found our seats, I felt slightly dizzy. Heights + Jupiter = nervous, hyperventilating Jupiter, carry the difference and you get giggly Jupiter.
“You okay?” Ezra asked, placing his hand on my lower back.
His touch calmed me. “Fine,” I told him.
Bear walked to the fifth seat in our row, then Milo, myself, Ezra, then Kai. We all sat at once.
I leaned into Ezra’s side and whispered, “We’re smack dab in the middle. Guess there’ll be no making out for us,” I joked.
Ezra stared hard at me and I felt my stomach plummet. He brought his mouth up to my ear. “Maybe nothing obvious,” he said, shocking me as his tongue found the side of my neck to taste my skin.
He sat back as if he hadn’t just licked my neck, and laughed at something Kai said. I blew out a shaky breath and wiped the palms of my hands down my Elvis Presley miniskirt.
“Do you like Shakespeare?” Milo asked at my side.
I turned to him and smiled briefly.
“My love is as a fever, longing still
For that which longer nurseth the disease,
Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,
Th' uncertain sickly appetite to please.
My reason, the physician to my love,
Angry that his prescriptions are not kept,
Hath left me, and I desp'rate now approve
Desire is death, which physic did except.
Past cure I am, now reason is past care,
And frantic mad with evermore unrest,
My thoughts and my discourse as madmen’s are,
At random from the truth vainly expressed;
For I have sworn thee fair and thought thee bright,
Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.”
“Bloody hell,” Kai said with an awful fake British accent, making Bear laugh.
Milo swallowed. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
I smiled at him. “You would be correct.”
“That sonnet is rather dark,” Ezra said, pulling me away from Milo’s ridiculous expression.
“It is,” I confirmed, “and yet it’s still my favorite.”
He looked at me. “And why is that?”
Kai and his brothers listened in.
“Because it proves that love is blind. If it was in 1609, it always was. It always will be.”
“Is that a good thing?” Ezra asked me.
“It is neither good nor evil. It just is.”
Ezra bit his bottom lip thoughtfully. “That’s sort of a profound observation,” he finally said, leaning closer to me.
The entire theater, including Kai and his brothers, seemed to dissipate into nothing around Ezra and me. It was us and only us.
“I’m sure I can’t be the only one to have made that connection. There’s no such thing as an original thought,” I told him.
“It doesn’t matter, though, does it? Because it’s original to you. Right now. To us.”
I smiled at him. “Is it?” I asked.
“It is.” His gaze dipped to my lips and he swallowed, idly meeting my eyes once more. “Are you? Blinded?”
The house lights dimmed all around, plunging us into sudden and deep darkness. I leaned into him, the dim bolstering me, pressing lips to his ear.
“Are you?” I quieted.
I felt him smile against my cheek, his hand going to my knee. “I’m blinded, all right, but not deceived.”
My words stuck in my throat at his surprising compliment, so I pulled at his collar and kissed him so softly at the base of his throat I was afraid it might not have registered, that is until his hand squeezed my knee.
I sat up when his hand left my leg and faced the front, thankful the black hid my secret smile, and waited for the stage lights to come on and the actors to do their thing. I felt his burning stare on the side of my face for several seconds before he turned and did as I did. I shifted in my seat, placing my forearm on the armrest, and crossed my legs. His left hand found my right and he dragged it over into his lap, turning my palm up for him to study at his leisure.
The tip of his thumb traced the outline of my hand when Roderigo and Iago took the stage and the scaffolding lights turned on, bathing us both in a dull light. It was just enough for me to watch his face as he memorized my hand twice then moved his investigation to my wrist, bringing it to his mouth to kiss once.
His fingers traveled the length of my forearm to the inside of my elbow and pressed there. I thought he’d keep going but instead he lifted his arm and brought it around the back of my seat. To the casual observer nothing would seem suspicious, but under closer scrutiny, they would have seen his thumb making lazy circles at the back of my neck, distracting me from the extraordinary performance on the stage.
Two can play at this game, I thought.
I let my arm fall from the chair rest. Excruciatingly slowly, I ran my fingers across the outside seam of his jeans then slid my hand onto his thigh and let it lie there. I felt the muscle tense for several minutes and almost burst out laughing. My thumb followed every movement against the top of his leg that he made at the top of my neck.
He caught on soon enough and squeezed my neck so I squeezed his thigh in turn. Both our bodies shook as we tried not to laugh. Milo and Kai stared at us, baffled as to why we would be losing our shit during Iago’s monologue to Roderigo professing his hate for Othello. We both started to double over, but neither took our hands off our prospective game pieces, which only made it worse. Neither of us would let go. It was the world’s worst yet best game of chicken.
Milo cleared his throat, warning us. We both sat back and moved our hands from one another. When my hand was finally free, I swiped at my eyes to clear the evidence of my teary laughter. I sighed once then coughed, silently both agreeing to shape up or risk getting shipped out.
During intermission, we all spilled out into the lobby. We huddled in a circle at first, then decided to walk so we could stretch our legs.
“Uh, what the hell happened in there?” Kai asked us.
My cheeks burned and I ducked my head, peering out of the huge glass windows that circled the entire theater onto the pier.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ezra said, shrugging off Kai.
“What was so funny anyway?” Milo asked.
I snorted but saved it with a cough. “Coming down with something?” Milo asked in a concerned tone.
“No, no,” I answered, “just clearing my throat.”
His brows furrowed. He suspected something was up. And he was right, but Ezra and I needed to have a little discussion before we went blabbing to the whole world what that something was.
“Ezra? Ezra Brandon!” we heard over our shoulders. We all turned toward the voice. “Oh my God! I knew it was you. How crazy is this?” a tall, leggy brunette squealed.
She sprinted our direction and threw her whole body on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and hugging him around the neck. Ezra grunted and settled his hands
at her waist.
“Cameron,” he choked out.
She slid down his body bit by bit, drawing out the contact. I was hit by a wall of jealousy. It was such a heady sensation, I felt myself falling back a bit. Milo caught me by the elbow and smiled down at me.
“Clumsy?” he asked, poking me with a finger in the ribs.
I tried to play it off with a casual smile. I only hoped it translated. “A little,” I told him.
“How long’s it been?” she asked. “A year?”
Ezra had the decency to look a little shell shocked. His cheeks pinkened as he pushed her body away from his. “Yeah, about a year,” he confirmed.
“How long have you been in town?” she asked. “Why haven’t you called?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Just got into town last night,” he told her in explanation.
Cameron turned to Milo and winked at him. I watched him duck his head after a quick wave of his hand.
“What’s up, Cameron?” he asked.
“Nothing much,” she answered. “You ready for school to start? You here for that Othello paper too?” She laughed.
“Something like that,” he offered.
Cameron turned to Kai and Bear. “Hello, boys! What’s shakin’?”
“Not much,” Bear said.
Kai didn’t answer but offered a smile devoid of teeth and a raised brow. He didn’t like her. If Kai didn’t like this Aphrodite reincarnate there must be something going on.
She threaded her arm through Ezra’s and dragged him down the hall. Kai and his brothers kept up with them as they all talked. The walkway was only so wide so I was forced to follow them like a Justin Bieber Insta account, with shame and humiliation.
Milo fell back with me, which I was grateful for.
“That’s Cameron,” Milo offered without question, thank God.
“Oh?” I asked, trying not to sound too curious.
“I’ll introduce you when she comes down from her Ezra high,” he teased, not realizing how badly that hurt me.
“Okay, cool,” I somehow regurgitated, despite the frog in my throat.
“They hooked up last year at Kai’s graduation party.”
Oh my God. I do not want to hear this. “Oh, that right?”
“Pissed me off too. I mean, at the time it pissed me off. I’d had a crush on Cameron since freshman year. Of course, Ezra didn’t know this then, but it still hurt. After that, she wouldn’t even talk to me unless it was to inquire after lughead there.”
Yup, didn’t want to hear this. “That really sucks, Milo. If it’s any consolation, she’s a fool not to see you.” He got that dreamy-eyed look on his face again. “Don’t worry,” I said, patting his arm, “whoever she is, she’ll come along soon enough,” I reassured him, while also trying to draw that line in the sand.
It didn’t work.
“At the fundraiser tonight, will you save me a dance?” he asked.
What was I supposed to say? Uh, can’t, Milo. Sorry, I dig Ezra. You know, the one who distracted Cameron?
“Sure,” I told him. “I’ve got the perfect song.”
“What song’s that?” he asked, trying to flirt.
Lock it up, Jupiter. Lock it up! I tried to think of the most unromantic song ever written. “Uh, R. Kelly’s ‘Ignition Remix’?” I immediately regretted that suggestion.
Milo’s eyes blew wide. Shiiieeeeet! I done messed up! Should have gone with “I Believe I Can Fly.”
Needless to say, intermission threw ice on the friction Ezra and I’d created.
Toot, toot! Beep, beep!
Chapter Twenty-Four
After the play, we all congregated outside the front of the theater in a giant circle. Somehow I got stuck beside Cameron, the Amazonian. Next to her, I felt like an Oompa Loompa. Doom-pa-dee-do!
“Jupiter, this is Cameron,” Milo introduced. “Cameron, Jupiter.”
“Hi,” I said, waving at her.
“Hi, nice to meet you,” she said.
She had friendly eyes and a nice smile. I wanted to dislike her, but I couldn’t. She didn’t know. Ezra doesn’t even owe me any kind of explanation, not really. It was last year.
“Nice to meet you as well,” I told her.
“Ezra says he’s giving you a ride to Seattle?” she asked. “How lucky you’re both going to the same school.”
All the boys watched our exchange with rapt attention. I looked over at Ezra. His face seemed a little stricken.
“Yes,” I answered her, yet eyed Ezra, feeling a little sick to my stomach. “He’s my ride.” I turned back toward her. “Fortunate indeed.”
“Are you going to the party tonight?” she asked.
“I am,” I told her.
“Cool,” she said, glancing over at Ezra. “Where are you staying?”
I felt confused. “With the Brandons,” I explained.
She looked taken aback but quickly recovered. “Oh! Oh, cool.”
I nodded my head and folded my arms around my waist. “Yup.”
I felt myself checking out.
“It should be a pretty fun party.” She laughed at some private joke. “You’d think they’d be a bore, being a fundraiser for the library, but Rosie knows how to throw ’em, right, Ezra?”
We both looked at him. He forced a smile. “Uh, yeah.”
“Have you decided what you’re wearing?” she asked, trying to keep the conversation going. “I have no clue. Guess I’ll be raiding my closet. Or maybe I’ll do a little shopping, scare myself up a little black number or something.”
“Shopping is never a bad idea,” I told her, trying to sound lighthearted.
“Isn’t that the truth!” She grabbed my arm, startling me. “Oh my God! I have the best idea! You can come with me.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” I said, but she interrupted me.
“Come on,” she urged. “It’ll be fun, I promise.”
“Actually, Cameron,” Ezra spoke up, “we’re headed for a late lunch right now. We’ll catch you later?”
Her face fell in obvious disappointment. “Okay, that’s cool. Yeah, see you tonight.”
“Come on, guys,” Ezra said, leading us down the pier.
“See you tonight, Cameron,” I said, waving goodbye.
“Bye, Jupiter!”
When we were a few yards away from Cameron, Ezra turned to the group. “Where do you guys want to eat?” He glanced at his watch. “We’ve got an hour to kill before five.”
Milo looked at my face, at the heartsick I knew I was probably wearing like a bright yellow afghan. “Naw, man, count me out. I’m beat. Just want to get a few winks in before we have to get ready,” Milo said. “What say you, Jupiter? Want to walk with me?”
Milo was my human life preserver.
“Yes!” I said too enthusiastically, then checked my tone. “That sounds perfect, actually.” Milo started walking in the direction of his house so I followed. “See you guys in an hour?”
“Jupiter! Are you sure you aren’t hungry?” Ezra asked.
I turned and gave him a watery smile, hoping he didn’t see how sick I felt. “No, really. Still kind of full from earlier. I’ll see you back at Kai’s.”
I sprinted ahead a little to catch up with Milo. I glanced over my shoulder. Ezra stared my direction, his brows pinched.
“You’re in love with him,” Milo said matter-of-factly.
“No!” I insisted.
Milo smiled and rolled his eyes, reminding me so much of Rosie. “Yes, you are.”
I shook my head emphatically, but it lost steam and petered out into me bawling into my hands.
“Oh my God, I think I am.”
Milo wrapped an arm around me as we walked. “Why’d you let me carry on like that about Cameron?”
I took a deep breath and wiped away the tears. “We’re not exactly talking about it yet,” I explained. “If I’d stopped you, you would have known something was up.”
“How long have you been se
eing Ezra,” he asked with an intense edge I chose to ignore.
“I’ve seen him for as long as I’ve known him, but we only started hanging,” I said, using finger quotes, “last night.”
“Last night!” Milo shouted, making me laugh a little.
“Yeah, he came into your guest room around three in the morning and just sort of declared that he was into me, like, really into me, and we spent most of the morning kissing our faces off.”
Milo made a disgusted pout. “Okay, okay. No more needs to be said.”
I laughed for real. “Listen, I’m not crazy. I know Cameron showing up probably doesn’t mean anything to Ezra, but the way he handled her, the situation, made me feel a little queasy. It just felt wrong for him to let her jump on him and then, instead of explaining to her who I was, he just mentioned that he was giving me a ride? It makes me feel like he’s trying to keep his options open, and that doesn’t settle well.”
Milo looked pensive. “When you put it like that,” he said.
“Oh my God! You agree with me? Now I feel full-on sick.”
He laughed. “I’m just saying I can see your side to things. Let’s get back to the house, take a little nap, and get ready. You can have a heart-to-heart with Ezra, and it will probably get all straightened out.”
I sniffed back tears. “Okay,” I told him.
He squeezed my shoulders. “Feel better?”
I smiled. “I do. Thanks, Milo.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Cameron’s an idiot,” I told him.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” he said.
Milo and I went up to his apartment. Rosie looked surprised to see us without the others, but we explained that we were more tired than hungry and she waved us off, content to return to her party preparations. As soon as I reached my room, I laid down with the intention of only sleeping for twenty minutes at the most.
A knock at the door woke me. I turned over to look at the clock by the bed. It read six o’clock. Damn it!
I tried to clear the sleep from my throat. “Yeah?” I croaked out.