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Back As If on Cue Save as PDF
Chapters (45)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. CHAPTER ONE
  5. CHAPTER TWO
  6. CHAPTER THREE
  7. Happy Birthday in Jazz Clarinet
  8. CHAPTER FOUR
  9. CHAPTER FIVE
  10. CHAPTER SIX
  11. Natalie vs. Reid
  12. CHAPTER SEVEN
  13. CHAPTER EIGHT
  14. The First Chair Wars
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. Outplayed
  19. CHAPTER TWELVE
  20. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  22. The Prank War
  23. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  24. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  25. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  26. The Setup
  27. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  28. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY
  30. Aaron Jacobson’s Protégé
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  34. Anything But Music
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  37. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  38. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  39. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  40. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY
  42. Acknowledgments
  43. More from the Author
  44. About the Author
  45. Also by Marisa Kanter

Instead, I can’t stop replaying the Toby scene in my head.

And how Reid backed me up when it mattered.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Reid in a well-fitting suit is a personal attack.

“Reid. Come on. You know the drill. Move closer to Natalie,” Aunt Jenn says, posing us for yet another photo. Aunt Jenn—a travel photographer and Mom’s best friend since the beginning of time—flew in from London for Delia’s bat mitzvah and jet lag is definitely real. The service begins in an hour, at nine-thirty sharp. Mom demanded that family arrive early for photos, because what is an event without professional photos to commemorate it?

Reid moves a half step closer to me on the bima step that we are being posed on. In my heels, Reid and I are the same height and the tallest, so we are supposed to split center in this photo with our sisters on each side of us.

I smooth down my dress for the morning service—a simple deep purple maxi dress with long sleeves and an empire waist—and focus on the lens of Aunt Jenn’s camera, pasting a plastic smile on my face. If I look at Reid, I will fixate on his deep blue suit, on the paisley print bow tie around his neck that the sisters insisted he wear, on the suspenders. I didn’t know I could have feelings about suspenders until today—much less, Reid in suspenders.

This is mortifying.

You hate him.

The truce is temporary.

These two sentences loop in my brain—as if they will stop it from short-circuiting. That is clearly what’s happening. Reid shutting down antisemitism in such a badass way less than twenty-four hours before a full day of Jewish feelings broke me. It’s the only explanation.

“You are wasting my talent!” Aunt Jenn groans, pressing her lips together.

“People are going to start arriving soon,” Delia says. “I need to get in the zone.”

“I mean, can we just wrap this?” I ask. “There has to be one decent photo.”

Aunt Jenn must’ve already taken at least a million photos in every variation and combination. Delia alone. Delia with my parents. Delia with me. The four of us. Photos with cousins and grandparents and all the extended family in town to celebrate Delia’s day. Reid’s family. Do we really need to dwell on this?

“It’s a miracle you got them this close,” Dad jokes.

“Oh my God.” Hannah pushes Reid closer to me. If anyone wants to be here less than Reid right now, it’s Hannah. Which sucks because Delia needs Hannah in full best friend mode today. “Can you just put your arm around Natalie so we can make this stop?”