Jasper unceremoniously dumped his boxes on the table right next to where the skeleton was still leaning against the damp brick wall. The king’s costume spilled onto the ground as he did; he leaned down to get it, but I beat him to it. Jasper blinked at me when I, after a second of hesitation, gently set the crown down on top of his silver hair. I wasn’t sure why I had done it, but I was glad I had when he gave a breathy laugh and a tiny curtsy.

He looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he just grabbed the red cloak and draped it around the skeleton’s shoulders before balancing the crown on top of the skull. A chill ran down my spine as I studied it; with clothes on, it suddenly looked startlingly alive, so much so that I could have sworn it winked at me when I turned to follow Jasper.

Both of us released a relieved breath when we left the basement, but it was only once we were back in the boys’ wing that Jasper asked, “So, how’d you like it? The play, I mean?”

“It was so much better than I expected. I can’t believe no one messed up even once.”

“God, I know,” Jasper laughed, running a hand through his hair. “I didn’t expect it to go so well. Did you see Miss Pepperman?

She was crying almost the entire time.”

“I did,” I said. Then, after taking a deep breath, I said what had been burning on my tongue ever since the play had ended. “Hey, Jasper? I’m sorry for what I did with the lights in the beginning.”

Jasper came to a halt, turning to fully look at me. I hesitantly stopped in my tracks. “What are you talking about?”

“In the beginning, before the play started, I missed my cue to turn the stage lights on. Sorry about that.”

“Jesus, Seth, who cares? No one even noticed,” he chuckled.

“Still,” I reluctantly said. “That was my job and I messed up, just because I was distracted.”

“Distracted by what?”

It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to say out loud, but then again, neither was anything else I said when he was around.

“You. I was . . . looking at you.”

Jasper’s eyes widened a little in surprise. “Oh.”

I waited for him to say something else, anything that could make this less awkward, but he seemed to be just as at a loss as I was.

“Fuck,” I muttered, running a hand over my face. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. That was weird. I’m making this weird.”

“No, you’re not,” Jasper said. “Stop apologizing for everything.”

“Sorry.”

It was hard to make it out in the dimly lit hallway, but I was pretty sure that the look on Jasper’s face was somewhere between wanting to strangle me and wanting to laugh. “Seth. Stop it.”

I was just getting more and more nervous the longer he looked at me. “I can’t. I’m just really sorry for messing up the lights for such a stupid reason when we went over everything so many times–”