“Hey.” Mr. Palumbo squeezes my shoulder. “You okay, champ?”

“Yeah,” I say, unfolding my arms. “It’s just an off day.”

It’s the understatement of the year, but if he thinks so, he doesn’t say it. I’ve never been so glad that Ms. Klein left early.

“Come on, guys,” I call, tucking my clipboard under my arm. Some of the kids onstage look over at me, but not all of them. “We’re going to run the whole first act, with the sets and everything. Make sure that the crew is ready. I want to get notes for you so that we have them on Saturday.”

Mr. Palumbo smiles at me. “That’s the Simone I know.”

“She didn’t exactly run away.”

Jesse comes out from behind the curtain, a pair of headphones resting around his neck. He has short, bushy brown hair and light brown skin. He has a habit of wearing all black at every rehearsal just to set an example for the other crew members. That’s our crew chief: always taking this more seriously than everyone else combined.

Miles steps out next to him and I freeze. He glances at me, our eyes locking for a moment. I can’t read his expression. I don’t need to. He’s probably telling Jesse all about what happened. I whirl around so I don’t have to see the look on his face. I actually like working with Jesse. If he heard about this, there’s no way he’d take me seriously.

Come on, Simone, think. I could tell Miles I had a mild allergic reaction to the trail mix in the vending machine. Or I could blame it on my period, but that’s, like, breaking the rules of feminism. I think.

“Hey, Simone.”

I tense, turning my head slightly. It’s just Jesse walking up behind me—thank God. Miles is nowhere in sight.

“Hey,” I say, exhaling. I’m glad he’s here, since thinking about the play is what I should be doing. “I don’t know if you heard, but we’re gonna run the whole first act. If you have your script, you might want to mark it up.”

He nods, but his eyes linger on my face.

I cross my arms. “What?”

“Oh, nothing,” he says, but there’s a little smile on his face. “You just seem a bit stressed out.”

Fuck. Miles told him. I hesitate for a moment before waving wildly toward the stage. Even though I just made an announcement, people are still lingering, like there’s nothing to do. I like to leave the yelling to Ms. Klein, but watching them drag their heels makes me understand why she does it.

“Good point.” He stares at my hands. “Are you sure there isn’t anything else—boy trouble?”