I force myself to drop the smile, pressing my lips tightly together. It doesn’t do much to help. The corners of my mouth itch to turn up, even as my cheeks burn. I’m sure that his friends will hear about this later, since I’ve made a complete fool out of myself. If I’m lucky, they’ll be the only other people laughing at me.

“Yeah, I just, uh…” There’s nothing to lose now, so I plow forward. “Do you, like, um, like, you know—go out?”

His face goes blank. He might actually look concerned for me.

Oh God. I have no idea how normal people ask each other out, but I’m sure it’s not supposed to be this humiliating. In my defense, I’ve never had to do it before. At this rate, I’ll never be doing it again.

“All right,” Ms. Klein says, clapping her hands. “We’re starting!”

Thank God. I jump off the stage and bolt for the seats. I already know that there’s no coming back from this.

CHAPTER 4

It’s been thirty minutes and I still can’t believe I did that. I could’ve just apologized for making assumptions about his sexuality. I could’ve just walked away and said bye, removing myself from the situation like a normal person. Hell, if I was going to make a fool of myself, I could’ve done it another time. Now I have to stay at rehearsal until five and try to avoid him at the same time. It’s pretty hard to focus on literally anything else, because the scene keeps playing out in my memory.

Mr. Palumbo, now back from the choir room, claps his hands together, snapping me out of my embarrassing instant-replay loop. “That was amazing, guys. I think Simone’s suggestions are really helping you bring the scene to life.”

“Are you sure she doesn’t have any more notes?” Eric asks, fixing me with a pointed stare. “She always does.”

A few members of the ensemble turn to watch us. I bite back a groan. He couldn’t have picked any other day to do this?

“Come on, Eric. It’s Simone’s job to provide notes. They aren’t personal, remember?” Mr. Palumbo turns to me. “Do you have any notes?”

“Uh, no.” I’m trying not to flush, but I doubt it’s working. Thanks, Eric, for calling me out in front of everyone. “Not this time.”

Rocco shuffles off the stage, Eric following behind. I’m not very close, but I still see Eric roll his eyes. Part of me can’t blame him. I’m sure he can tell I wasn’t paying attention. God, now I’m letting a boy distract me from the musical. Normal people get crushes without letting it go to their heads, or at least they’re able to act like things are normal.

I’ve never been good at acting.