“They want me to go in for a reading with the female lead.”
“Oh my god, Luca! That’s amazing! When did they call, andwhy didn’t you open with that? Friends are supposed to tell each other stuffimmediately.” She gave me a “duh” look and lightly swatted my leg. “When’s the reading?”
Friends.
My mouth felt like sandpaper as I spoke. “That’s the problem. It’s this Friday evening.”
Her brows knitted for a moment before realization dawned. Disappointment flashed in her eyes, but she exhaled, a soft smile gracing her face.
“You have to go.” Her eyes sparkled with warmth and excitement forme.
“But I want to go to the press event together,” I said, even though I knew I couldn’t.
“I know you do, Luca. But you need to go to the reading.” Her words wrapped around me like a suffocating embrace, shouting at me that I was making the wrong decision. “This is why you joined the show in the first place. You can’t miss it for a press event.”
“I spoke to the producers, but they won’t moveit.”
“And that is absolutely fine.” She placed a hand on my leg. I ignored the way my skin prickled underneath her touch. “We’ve still got this win in the bag. We will postloadsof stuff on social media in the run-up to the final to make up forit.”
I still felt like a dickhead; I couldn’t believe I was bailingagain.
“It’s different from last time,” she added, as if reading my thoughts. “You’re not avoiding it because you don’t want to go. You’re getting the part you deserve.”
The conviction in her voice eased the knots in my stomach slightly, but it still didn’t feel right.
Ever since we’d talked about staying just friends, nothing had felt quite right.
Matilda: Knock it out of the park tonight, Luca. You’re going to smash it!
Luca: Thanks, Stevens. Hold the fort for us.
Matilda: You know it! See you tomorrow. X
Luca: Xx
I decided to visit mymom before the audition.
Other than talking to Matilda, my mother was the only other person that could soothe the unsettled feeling in my stomach.
It was weird—I wasnevernervous about auditioning. Even as a child, I’d been unusually confident. So why the fuck did I feel so jittery?
I scribbled my name on the sign-in form and flashed my ID at the receptionist. It was five o’clock, so I had about an hour before I had to leave for the audition.
I found my mom in her usual evening position: sitting in bed, reading on her Kindle. Her gaze flicked up when I walked in, and she beamed.
“Luca, what are you doing here?” She placed her Kindle on the bed and opened her arms in greeting. I kissed her cheek before giving her a hug, taking a moment longer than usual to bask in her embrace.
“I wanted to see you.” I sank into the armchair across from her bed but studied the painting on the wall instead of meeting her gaze.
“You saw me this morning.”
I ignored her knowing smirk. “I have an audition in a few hours.”
Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Oh, that’s exciting, sweetie! What for?”
“I might have told a white lie about the real reason I decided to go onStars on Ice.” I cringed at her narrowed eyes.Go on,they said.
So I told her everything.
