“Yeah.” He swiped an escaping tear. “Which is ridiculous. She’s so talented, and she was my friend, but I … Fuck, I was such an asshole, Archer. I think I wanted to hurt her because I was hurting. I was a mess. My parents had just died and … everything felt so wrong. The fame and attention felt wrong, I felt wrong, and … I ruined it all. She barely spoke to me after that, and I kept being a jerk. Then I got fired, and I haven’t said a word to her since.”

He slid down against the door and sat there, wiping his tears.

“Mateo.” Archer came over and sat next to him. “Being an asshole for a brief moment in your life doesn’t mean you ruined anything. It doesn’t mean you aren’t a good person, that you don’t deserve to be a star. You’re so fucking talented. I completely understand that was a hard time for you, but … you could have it again, if you wanted.”

Mateo sniffled. “I don’t think so.”

“I know so. I went to thirty-seven auditions over the last few months, and you are better than anyone I saw. You should at least try, if it’s something that you want.”

There was a beat of silence. “Thank you, Archer.”

“Of course.”

“You’ve been amazing all summer. I don’t know if I would have made it this far without you.”

“Oh.” Archer flushed, then was further distracted by Mateo putting his hand on his knee and squeezing before he stood. “I’m glad I could help.”

Archer stood too, and they faced each other in the shadows.

“Um,” Archer said at the same time Mateo pointed at the greenroom.

“I actually left my bag … but it would have slowed down my dramatic exit.”

Archer laughed. “I’ll wait if you want to grab it.”

Mateo collected his bag, then they headed out into the night together, but their paths split before long, one heading up the slope, one down.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Mateo said when they paused at the fork. “Thanks again, Archer.”

“You’re welcome.”

Archer’s steps were light on his way up to his dorm. Things suddenly felt a little bit more right. He slept like a log that night.

17 Shifting

Archer toweled his hair dry after his shower, relishing the quiet of his room. He had passed on going down to the cabin tonight—didn’t feel much like partying with the others after another Caleb-Mateo showdown at the theater. Caleb had thought it would be a good idea to break from the choreo during the Bollywood finale of Around the World to go dance through the audience. The guests loved it. Mateo, not so much.

“What the fuck, Caleb?” he had growled as soon as they were in the greenroom.

Caleb rolled his eyes. “Here we go.”