“What does that mean?” I ask him, and he shrugs.

“She’ll surprise you every time.” He smiles. “Did you know she wrote that in one single weekend? Just went into our study and typed it up.” He shakes his head. “Nobody even knew she was working on a play.”

“That’s incredible,” I tell him, even though I’d heard that before. It’s part of the fabric of theatre lore. The stuff of myths and legends. “Does that talent run in the family?” I’m teasing him now. Flirting, maybe. Or at least trying to.

“The talent for keeping secrets?” he asks. “Yeah. As a matter of fact, it does.” He pushes himself up off the steps. Looks down at my script again. “Let me know how it ends.”

“Sure,” I say. But I still can’t tell if he’s messing with me.

“And break a leg tonight.” He tilts his head to one side and grins. “Or do you not believe in luck, either?”

“I’ve never needed luck before.” I figure two can play that cocky game of his.

“Yeah, well,” he tells me, and he steps out from under the green-striped awning and into the bright sunshine, “you’ve never been to Whisper Cove before, Avril Vincent.”

And only one of us knows that isn’t true.

ACT I: SCENE 5

My second encounter with Cole Culver leaves me almost as off-balance as the first one. And there’s no fog to blame it on this time. So I chalk it up to his dark hair. The beads of water on his eyelashes.

That laugh of his.

And I warn myself to be careful.

I gather back up with Lex, Jude, and Val at lunch. We’re all talking about our favorite shows. The best roles we ever played.

Val was the witch in Into the Woods this past spring, and Jude was Sky in Guys and Dolls. “It was incredible,” he says. “Man, there’s nothing like that feeling when you know the audience is just right there with you. In the palm of your hand.” He shakes his head. Sticks a few french fries in his mouth. “Pure fuckin’ magic.”

Goose bumps break out across my arms, because that magic Jude’s talking about has always run so deep for me.

I tell them about playing Madge in Picnic, and Lex says his favorite role ever was Tom in The Glass Menagerie. “God,” he says. “I just felt it so much, you know?” And I do know, because it’s like emotions get amplified onstage. There’s so much feeling in everything. Lex turns those bright blue eyes in my direction. “What is it you love about theatre, Av?”

“Freedom,” I tell them without hesitation. “I can be furious. Or heartbroken. Or head over heels in love. Whatever. I can take it all to the extreme. And there’s no danger in it. Because it’s not me.”