“Oh good, there’s Carter. Carter!” Hannah shouted towards where he was visiting the water fountain. “Come here! You and Nick need a pic.”

“Shades,” I said. Since we were modeling together, Carter and I both brought sunglasses. A bro needs his accessories!

Carter slid his on and positioned himself with his elbow casually on my shoulder. Iconic.

“You guys should model dress shirts,” said Hannah. “Seriously. You could do it.”

“I don’t know if the magazines are ready for our good looks,” Carter replied. “They could cause a lot of issues.”

I bumped his fist.

“Carter and Nick!” Ms. O’Connor called from the stage entrance. She organized most of the show, which involved waving at us like we were about to miss the last flight home while telling someone’s grandma to enjoy the show.

“You guys are up!”

“If we’re not out in ten minutes,” I said to Eliza, “you know what to do.”

“Bring the camera for evidence.” Carter tapped Hannah’s shoulder.

Ms. O’Connor led us to the searing stage lights.

Cassidy High’s stage wasn’t anything fancy: a classroom-sized wooden rectangle, like most high schools had. All Carter and I had to do was escort each other to the middle, strut to opposite sides, turn around, and strut back. The auditorium was about three-quarters full, and my parents hadn’t come. No pressure at all.

Then why were my hands clammy?

Hannah and Eliza waited in the wings on the opposite side of the stage. They both clapped when we walked, as the lights began to blaze like uncomfortable July heat. The crowd whistled as Carter and I made our entrance and their applause doubled when we donned our shades. At the middle of the stage, we removed our sunglasses, making confused gestures to have it look like they were malfunctioning. We swapped them, nodding satisfactorily when they worked. If Austin were there, he would have yelled out from the audience for us to kiss already (and he would have had to buy us some pizza later), but apparently, he had better things to do, leaving our routine to be pretty straightforward.

Next, Eliza was escorted by some freshman I didn’t recognize. Since we’d already gone, Carter and I got to sit in the front row, still in our tuxes, and enjoy seeing our classmates be fancy. I loved that she was the center of everyone’s attention, so I had an excuse to take her in. Her shoulder was in line with the curves of her hips and seemed much less swollen than it had been yesterday. I wasn’t really looking at her shoulder anyway. Her face lit up the entire auditorium. Her curled hair perfectly framed her dark eyes, with her glossy smile the highlight of her ensemble.

“Work it, girl!” I cheered when she walked in front of us, knowing she would’ve hated a whistle, no matter how much I wanted to give her one.

An hour later, Hannah and Eliza joined us in the front row while Ms. O’Connor presented a speech on what the Parent Teacher Association meant to the students and the world, or something. It was hard to concentrate with Eliza sitting on my left and Carter on my right. I scrutinized every single movement Eliza made—every shift of her legs, every tap of her finger—I couldn’t help it. That made me hyperaware of Carter’s shifts and overall presence. And how his movements restricted mine.