In Harmony

And what about Isaac? Starting over with a new Ophelia might throw him off his game. I didn’t want to be responsible for anything disrupting his flow or whatever process he had. Talent agents were coming to see him. He already had enough to contend with. The last thing he needed was drama from my dad’s ridiculous prejudices.

As the last bell rang, I grabbed my homework out of my locker and shut it. I jumped back with a little cry to see Justin Baker standing there, leaning casually on a shoulder.

“Hey,” he said. “Missed you Saturday, but you’ll be at rehearsal tonight, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” I said.

Right after I recover from the mini-heart attack you just gave me.

“Cool.” He looked out over the hallway and the milling students going here and there. A lazy prince surveying his kingdom. “Listen, there’s a dance coming up in a few weeks. The Spring Fling?”

“Yeah,” I said slowly. “I’ve heard of it.”

“Cool.” Justin said again. “You think Martin will give us the night off from rehearsal to go?”

“I…I don’t know.”

I stepped back. My eyes took in Justin’s handsome face. Blond hair, blue eyes and an easy smile. There was nothing threatening about him, but then there’d been nothing threatening about Xavier either.

Over Justin’s shoulder I saw Tessa, Jessica and a couple the other girls watching us.

“So? You want to?”

“Do I want to what?”

He laughed, perplexed. “Go with me.”

It wasn’t even a question.

“Go to the dance…?”

A dance. Bodies writhing in the dark. Pulsating music. A hand on my hip. A voice in my ear, “Can I get you something to drink?”

I pushed the black memories away. The longing to be normal and have normal experiences was a hunger in my stomach. I wanted to go to a dance. I wanted to go shopping for a pretty dress and feel a tingle of anticipation in my stomach when my date came to the door, with a corsage in a plastic box.

But in my short-lived imagination, Mom opened the door and cooed over how devastating my date looked in a tuxedo. My father shook his hand and welcomed him inside his home. I came down the stairs, and it was Isaac who was waiting for me, and he smiled…

I blinked and came back to Justin’s expectant grin.

“Oh, I’m not really… I’m not looking to be with someone…seriously. Not that you’re asking me to be serious. I mean…”

His smile widened and he leaned deeper against the lockers, as if he were used to girls stammering over their words for him.

“Great,” he said. “We can go as friends, and just…see what happens.”

My stomach clenched at the momentary gleam in his eye, and the ceiling suddenly felt like it was an inch above my head.

“We need to ask Martin…”

“What’s up, guys?” Angie asked, sidling up beside me. She gave Justin a hard look, which he returned with his easy-going smile.

“Not much,” he said. “Just working out Spring Fling details.”

Angie’s eyes flared and her finger moved between us, pointing. “You guys are going to the dance together?”

I opened my mouth to speak.

“Yeah, we are,” Justin said. “We’ll talk more at rehearsal. I gotta go.” He jerked his chin at me in a kind of farewell. “See you tonight.”