And the Winner Is...#18 Read online

  scored you a tic to the oscars!! (!!!!!!) so what are you wearing? xxoo nat

  Tori let out a squeal loud enough to be heard in space. She was going to the Academy Awards! Big, big exclam.

  “What?” Michael exclaimed, bursting in.

  “I am going to the Oscars! My dad can’t even get tickets and he’s the lawyer for practically half the nominees. And I’m going! Natalie’s dad is giving me a ticket!” Tori cried. “I need to get a haircut. And a mani-pedi. And a spray tan. I bet Dane is totally booked. I’ll have to do some serious begging.”

  “I guess this means you won’t be going to Isley’s Oscar party with me,” Michael said.

  “Oh.” Tori’s smile drooped. “I completely forgot…”

  “It’s okay,” Michael said. “I know you live for the Academy Awards.”

  “You’re the best,” Tori told him.

  “Now at least I won’t have to sit in front of the TV the whole party,” Michael continued. “And we can do lots of other stuff during vacation.”

  “Um…” Tori hesitated.

  “Um what?” Michael asked, his eyes narrowing.

  “Um, I kind of told Natalie that I’d clear my calendar for the week,” Tori answered. “It’s just that we hardly ever see each other except in the summer.”

  “I hardly ever see you, either,” Michael complained. “We only have one class together, and I have basketball practice, and you have choir. Plus we both have twelve tons of homework.”

  “It’s not like we won’t spend any time together over vacay,” Tori promised him. “Natalie’s going to be hanging with her dad a lot of the time. It’ll be all good.”

  “Okay,” Michael said. But he didn’t sound that happy about it.

  Brynn couldn’t take her eyes off her friend Rosemary as she began Brynn’s favorite part in the whole play.

  “Full fathoms five thy father lies,” Rosemary, as the spirit Ariel, sang to Vern, the boy who was playing Ferdinand in the Red Barn Players’ version of The Tempest. Rosemary, Vern, and Brynn were the only teenagers in the cast.

  The words of the song were just so beautiful. “Nothing of him that doth fade / But doth suffer a sea-change / Into something rich and strange,” Brynn sang softly under her breath along with Rosemary.

  It’s your own lines you should be practicing, Brynn told herself. This rehearsal was off book. That meant everybody was supposed to have every bit of their part memorized.

  And she thought she did. She was pretty sure. It was just that Jordan had been IMing her the whole time she was going over her lines last night. He always found the most outrageous things to send her. Like a maze where if you made a mistake, that creepy kid from The Grudge popped up on the screen and screeched at you. Or this YouTube clip of a dancing cockroach that was so gross. And cool.

  Just thinking about the cockroach made her laugh. And it really wasn’t a part in the play anybody should be laughing at. Ariel was trying to make Ferdinand believe that his father had drowned.

  Knowing she shouldn’t laugh made Brynn laugh harder. It was this awful thing that happened to her sometimes. The director, Ms. Milligan, shot her an annoyed glance. She expected everyone in the cast to be professional, and laughing at an inappropriate moment was definitely not professional behavior.

  Brynn’s cheeks flushed. She had to get control of herself. She bit down on the inside of her cheek—a good, hard chomp—until the desire to cackle passed. Then she opened her script to the scene she and Vern would be doing later. Brynn had a couple of long speeches in it, and she wasn’t as comfortable with them as she wanted to be.

  She slumped down in her seat and brought the script close to her face, trying to block out everything but the words. “I do not know / One of my sex, no woman’s face remember / Save from my glass mine own; nor have I seen / More that I may call men than you, good friend,” she murmured to herself.

  Then Brynn paused to think about what the words really meant. It helped her remember them, and it really helped her bring emotion to the scene. Ferdinand had just given Miranda a compliment, more like a paragraph of compliments, about how beautiful she was. Then Miranda explains to him that she has never seen another woman. She’s only seen her own face. And she hasn’t seen any man other than Ferdinand, except her father.

  Brynn tried to imagine what it would be like to see Vern/Ferdinand if she’d never seen another human besides her father. Vern was one of the best-looking guys Brynn had ever laid eyes on. He had wheat colored hair, and the most beautiful smoky blue eyes. Sometimes when he was in a serious mood, which he was a lot of the time, they’d look almost gray.

  But would Miranda even know how handsome Ferdinand was? Did you need to compare someone to other people to realize they were exceptional? Or would anyone, even a girl who had lived on an almost deserted island her whole life, instantly see the beauty of his eyes? And his perfectly shaped mouth? And—

  “Hey!” a voice said in her ear.

  Brynn lowered her script—and saw Jordan sliding into the seat next to hers at the back of the theater.

  “You’re not really supposed to be here,” she whispered.

  “It’s nice to see you, too,” Jordan joked.

  Brynn glanced around the theater. She figured no one would notice one extra person. Most of the cast was scattered throughout the seats. She pressed her finger against her lips to tell him they had to be quiet. “Sorry,” she answered softly. “I’m just stressed. I’m not sure I have all my lines down for the scene I have to do today. Last time we rehearsed it, I had to keep looking at my script, even though I was supposed to have my part memorized. Today the director isn’t even allowing us to hold the scripts.”

  “You’ll be great,” Jordan whispered.

  “I’ll be great if I know my lines. Just let me read over them a few times, okay?” Brynn asked.

  “Sure,” Jordan answered. “I’ll just watch the Shakespeare. You know how I do love it.”

  Brynn snorted, then brought her script up in front of her face. “I do not know / One of my sex, no woman’s face remember / Save from my glass,” she began to read.

  “I found this cool game online last night,” Jordan whispered. “I’m going to send you a link.”

  “Cool. But studying here,” Brynn answered without lowering the script.

  “I know, I know. I just wanted to tell you, so you could remind me if I forgot to send it,” Jordan said.

  Brynn focused her attention on her lines. She’d highlighted them in pink.

  “It’s called Kingdom of Loathing,” Jordan added a moment later.

  How could Brynn not ask? She lowered her script. “Kingdom of Loathing?”

  “Yeah. It’s so cool. You can play as a Pastamancer, a Turtle Tamer, a Disco Bandit—”

  “I don’t even have to hear any more. I’m going to be a Disco Bandit,” Brynn told him. How did Jordan do it? He found all the coolest stuff online.

  “Excellent choice. Here’s the deal.” Jordan laid out the game for her, giving her the strategy he’d come up with and the tips he’d read on the player forum.

  “All right, people,” Ms. Milligan called out, interrupting him. “We’re going to move on to Act three, Scene one. I hate to skip around so much, but with our Prospero home sick, it’s necessary.”

  “That’s me,” Brynn told Jordan. “Are you sure you want to hang here? I know it’s not that exciting to watch rehearsals.”

  “But eating ice cream is. And that’s what we’re going to do as soon as you get your lunch break,” Jordan said. “I still can’t believe you have to spend so much of vacation rehearsing.”

  “The play opens—” Brynn began.

  “This is you, Brynn,” Ms. Milligan reminded her.

  “Got to go,” Brynn said. She stood up, squeezed past Jordan, and hurried to the spot where she would make her entrance stage left. Vern was already in place for the opening of the scene.

  “I’ll read Prospero’s asides, since Jim isn’t with us,”
Ms. Milligan said. “It shouldn’t affect you too much since your characters aren’t supposed to realize he’s watching you.”

  Brynn and Vern nodded. Then Vern began pretending to make a pile of logs while he gave his opening lines. He didn’t miss a single word, as far as Brynn could tell. He was such a total pro. Her heart started to beat faster. Don’t let me mess up, she thought as she joined Vern onstage. She hadn’t even gotten to read through her part one time. Thanks to Jordan and all that Kingdom of Loathing talk. Why hadn’t she told him to just be quiet?

  Answer? Jordan was just too much fun.

  She got through her first speech—the one about how she hated to see Vern working so hard on her father’s orders—without a problem. The words came easily out of her mouth, like she was talking to Rosemary or Jordan.

  With each moment, she felt more and more like Miranda. When she looked at Vern/Ferdinand, she felt herself melt a little, her knees going a little gooey the way Miranda’s would. All these feelings were so new to Miranda, and Brynn’s voice got a little breathy as she spoke to the beautiful boy.

  Is it weird for Jordan to see me looking at another guy this way? The thought snaked through Brynn’s mind, distracting her as she began her “I do not know” speech. She made it to the third line, then blanked. She knew the line had something to do with looking in the mirror, but the correct phrase wouldn’t come to her. She stammered to a stop.

  “You have to keep going, Brynn,” Ms. Milligan instructed. “We go into previews this weekend. If you forget your lines in front of an audience, you can’t just stand there in silence. That is completely unacceptable. You must find a way through the scene.”

  “No woman’s face remember,” Brynn said, going back to the previous line, hoping that would make the next one come to her. It didn’t. “Except from mine mirror,” she said, knowing the words were wrong. She stumbled her way through the rest of the speech, feeling as if she was getting more of it wrong than right.

  Vern had a longish speech after that. Get a grip, Brynn ordered herself as he spoke. Get a grip, get a grip, get a grip. She wasn’t responding to Vern/Ferdinand’s words at all. She was giving him nothing as an actress. But her brain was too full of panic for her to focus on the scene.

  She managed to get out her one line of response to what Vern/Ferdinand had said. Then he had a bunch of lines. She remembered her two-line response. Then it was her/Miranda’s turn to make a speech. Ten lines. It didn’t take more than a minute to speak ten lines. But that minute felt like a solid year in hell to Brynn. Sweat actually started popping out along her hairline as she fought her way through the tongue-twisting Shakespearean phrases.

  Finally, the scene was done.

  “We have already sold out more than half the performances we’re scheduled to give,” Ms. Milligan said. “I have to say, I would be ashamed to take money for what I just saw.” She turned to look at Vern. “Not from you. I respect the way you stayed in character all the way through that charade.”

  Ms. Milligan returned her gaze to Brynn. “I hesitated to cast teenagers in this production. But I thought a young Ferdinand and Miranda added so much. And I thought a teen would be an interesting choice for Ariel.” She shook her head. “You disappoint me, Brynn. I thought you were mature enough to be professional.”

  “I’m sorry. I’ll…I’ll do better,” Brynn promised, her voice shaking. She’d never had a moment like that onstage before. And she’d been in dozens of plays.

  Ms. Milligan gave a sharp nod. “Moving on. Trinculo, Caliban, Stefano, and Ariel, next scene.”

  Brynn couldn’t wait to get off the stage. Another first. She rushed into the wings, Vern right behind her.

  “You better pull it together, Brynn,” he snapped. “You’re not in a high school play. We’re going to get reviewed in the Globe. And we’re all going to be humiliated if you lose it the way you just did. You might not care about your acting career, but I care about mine.”

  He didn’t give her time to answer, just turned and strode away.

  Brynn felt her heart sink down into her stomach. Vern was right. Ms. Milligan was right. She could ruin the show. She would ruin the entire show if she didn’t make sure she knew every single word of her part before the weekend.

  chapter

  FOUR

  “Nat! Back here,” Tori called as she opened the gate leading to the side patio of her house. “I have the most amazing news,” she cried as soon as Natalie stepped inside.

  “What?” Natalie asked as she joined her friend.

  “We’re going to the Academy Awards!” Tori squealed.

  Natalie laughed. “How extremely cool is that! I’m so excited that you’re coming with me. It’s going to be way more fun with you there.”

  “Of course it is. I rock,” Tori joked. “So, we’re going in a limo, right?”

  “Is there another way to get to the Oscars?” Natalie asked.

  Tori pretended to think about it. “That would be no.”

  “And afterward, we’re going to parties, parties, and then more parties. The Governor’s Ball first, then what do you think? Should we go to the Vanity Fair one next? Or the one Elton John gives? Or—”

  “Uh, hello. Boyfriend here.”

  Natalie turned toward the voice and saw a tall guy with curly blond hair and deep blue eyes.

  “Oops, sorry. That’s Michael. And, yes, he’s my boyfriend,” Tori said.

  “Hi,” Natalie said. “I’m—”

  “I know who you are. You’re the girl who Tori dumped me for,” Michael joked as he handed her a glass.

  “Wait. What?” Natalie asked.

  “Tori told me she has no time for me this week because her fabulous friend Natalie is in town,” Michael explained. “She allowed me to stay because she needed somebody to serve drinks. I made Arnold Palmers.” He nodded to the tray of lemonade/iced tea blends on the patio table. “Now that my work is done, I probably have to leave.”

  “That’s right. We’ll call you if we need refills,” Tori teased. She smiled at Nat. “I wanted you two to meet each other. But we’re definitely not letting Michael go out with us. You should hear him whine if he gets within ten feet of a shoe store. And I definitely need new shoes for the Oscars. I need new everything.”

  “Unfair,” Michael protested. “I only whine, as you call it, because you get sucked into every single shoe store you pass, even if we’re late for a movie or something.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Natalie answered.

  “See? That’s why I had to clear my calendar to hang with Natalie. She understands me,” Tori told Michael.

  Michael drained his glass with two long gulps. “Okay, message received. I’m out.”

  “Wait. Why can’t the three of us do something together?” Natalie suggested. It didn’t seem fair to hog Tori for the whole vacation. “There has to be something in this town we can all agree on.”

  “Something that doesn’t involve shoes?” Michael asked hopefully.

  “Something we like to do that doesn’t involve shoes. Let’s think,” Natalie said to Tori.

  Tori tilted her head to the side. “Hmmm.” She tilted her head to the other side, furrowing her brow. “Hmmm.” She winked at Natalie. “How about…the Santa Monica Pier?” she finally asked.

  “Pier. You said pier. Not promenade, right?” Michael asked.

  Natalie laughed. She had been to the Santa Monica Pier and the Santa Monica Promenade. Pier—no shoe stores. Promenade—shoe stores aplenty. “She said pier. I heard her,” she reassured Michael.

  Michael looked over at Tori. “Excellent. How about if I call Reed and see if he wants to go?”

  “Reed is one of Michael’s cooler friends,” Tori explained to Natalie.

  “He’s way cooler than me,” Michael said.

  “Then he should definitely come,” Natalie answered. “I have a car and driver for the day. We can have him pick up your friend and then take us to the pier.”

  Michael pulled ou
t his cell. “Sounds like a plan.”

  Natalie took a deep breath of ocean air as she, Tori, Michael, and Reed walked down the pier. She loved the smell of the sea. Her favorite bath bomb was called Big Blue, and it turned the tub into a mini-ocean, complete with bits of seaweed and the amazing smell.

  Reed took a deep breath, too. “Remember that Seinfeld episode where Kramer wanted to make a perfume that smelled like the ocean? I would definitely buy that.”

  Tori rolled her eyes. “Reed, no one but you watches Seinfeld.”

  “Somebody has to. It’s on about three times a day,” Reed answered.

  “Those somebodys—old people,” Michael explained.

  Reed shrugged. “I mostly like it because it’s set in New York,” he explained. “That’s where I’m from originally. I’m still kind of from there. At least the vacations when it’s my mom’s turn to have me. My parents are divorced,” he added.

  “Mine too. I’m like the opposite of you,” Natalie said. “I live with my mom in New York most of the time. But I come out here on a lot of vacations to see my dad.”

  “So what first?” Michael asked. “Although I already know what the fish head will say.”

  “Fish head?” Natalie repeated.

  “Reed,” Tori explained. “He’s really into oceanography. He always wants to go to the aquarium.”

  “I’ve been here a bunch of times, and I didn’t even know there was an aquarium,” Natalie said.

  “It’s right under the carousel,” Reed told her. “It’s insane. If you haven’t seen it, you have to go.”

  “Sounds fun,” Natalie answered.

  “Why don’t you two go?” Tori asked. “I have to ride the Plunge at least five times.”

  “Let’s meet up for lunch in an hour and a half,” Michael said. “At the place with the good french fries.”

  “You know which place that is?” Natalie asked Reed.

  “Of course. One time Michael and I did a compare and contrast of all the french fries on the pier. We found the ones that are the perfect combo of crunchy, salty, and greasy.”