Bee’s eyes met mine across the auditorium, and her smile faded. This was ridiculous, not talking to her in the middle of everything that was going on, but I... couldn’t. I still didn’t know what to say. I had no right to be jealous, not of Bee for being with Ryan, and not of Ryan for taking Bee away from me. Abi was right; just because I was alone, that didn’t mean everyone else had to be, too.

Turning away, Bee headed for the little stairway that led to the backstage area, undoubtedly to change, and I breathed a little sigh of relief.

One that, unfortunately, Abi saw. “So y’all are fighting?” she asked. “That’s what Amanda thinks. Is it about Ryan? Amanda said she saw Bee getting a ride home with Ryan after school yesterday, and—”

“Oh, shut up, Abigail,” I heard myself say. “I try to do nice things for you, like save you from a dude who will ruin your life, and all I got for my time was a ruined pair of shoes and a dress that still smells like beer, and now you’re with him anyway, and you’re giving me crap, so honestly, why do I bother? Why do I bother with anything?”

I hadn’t realized that my voice was getting so loud, but from the way Abi blinked at me, I thought maybe I’d gotten close to shouty on that last bit. But I felt shouty. All I ever did was try to help, try to make things better, and it seemed like I was failing all over the place. Sure, I’d gotten through the first trials, but I was wearing a leotard in the rec center, I had no boyfriend, things with me and my best friend were intensely weird, and I’d been insulted by a munchkin wearing fake teeth.

There was only so much a girl could take.

Except apparently the universe wasn’t through screwing with me, because when Abi glanced toward the back of the auditorium, I saw someone standing in the doorway.

David.

“I... I’m sorry for the yelling,” I told Abi, ignoring her when she asked, “What did you mean about Spencer?” and moved up the aisle toward where David still hovered.

It was stupid to feel embarrassed, but David seeing me in my leotard left me feeling weirdly exposed, and not because of all the skin on display. The old David would have watched me with twitching lips before making some kind of annoying joke about how I clearly had a future in leading parades. But now, it was like he wasn’t seeing the costume. He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt in a shockingly nonoffensive shade of blue that brought out the color of his eyes.

Holy crap. His eyes.

When I looked closely, I could see light glowing there. Not brightly, but still there and not a reflection.