Her mouth flopped open like a fish’s. A small squeak escaped from the back of her throat, amplified by the many microphones set up around the stage. Someone in the audience snickered.
Edith whispered her lines again. Finally, Spencer opened her mouth and managed to start talking. She got through her first speech, but it took great effort to say each word. She felt like she was moving through mud, yelling from the bottom of a very deep well.
Felicity McDowell, who was playing her attendant, entered the scene. Spencer fumbled her next line, then the next. She gazed desperately at the blinking eye of the videographer, recording everything. Her nervousness was infectious; Felicity missed a line, too, then tripped over a set piece. By the time Beau strutted onto the stage, announcing that the king was coming to see them tonight, Spencer felt like she was going to cry. At the end of the scene, Spencer staggered off stage, feeling like she’d completed an Iron Man triathlon.
Pierre blocked her way, hands on hips. “What the hell was that?”
Spencer kept her head down. “I’ll get it together. I promise.”
“You promise? It was unacceptable!”
Pierre snapped his fingers, and Phi Templeton scurried over like an eager dog. She was dressed in a similar gown to Spencer’s. In her hand was the Macbeth script, Lady Macbeth’s parts underlined.
“Why is she dressed like me?” Spencer exclaimed.
“Thank God I told her to get dressed,” Pierre spat. “I was afraid something like this might happen, so I told her to get ready to take over the role.”
Spencer’s jaw dropped. “You can’t switch out actresses in the middle of a play!”
Pierre put his hands on his hips. “Watch me. You get one more chance. If you choke again, Phi’s in.”
Spencer sank dizzily against a low table as Pierre stormed away, wondering if she should give the role over to Phi now. There was no way she could send the scene she’d just performed to Princeton. She’d hear them laughing all the way from New Jersey.
“Hey.”
Spencer looked up and saw Beau standing next to her, his jaw clenched and his green eyes hard. “Don’t listen to that asshole, okay?” he whispered. “So you psyched yourself out. It happens to everyone from time to time. You can still turn it around. Go to that place you were in yesterday. Access that fire.”
“I can’t access that fire.” Tears welled in Spencer’s eyes. “It made me crazy!”
“No, it didn’t.” Beau clutched her hands and squeezed them hard. “It made you good. Whatever baggage you have, use it. Conquer it. Don’t let it stop you.”
Spencer stared at him. Beau was leaning so close, almost like he was about to kiss her.
But then Pierre swept through the backstage again, and the two of them shot apart. “Lady M, you’re on again shortly. Are you up for it, or do you want to save yourself the embarrassment now?”
Spencer glanced at Beau in desperation, wishing he’d make the decision for her. “If you get nervous, look for me offstage, okay?” he whispered.
Spencer nodded. “I can do it,” she told Pierre.
In no time, it was her cue to step on the stage again. The hot lights were punishing. The actors turned to Spencer, and Seth Cardiff, who was playing Duncan, said his first line.
It was Spencer’s turn to speak next, but the same icy freeze immobilized her. For a split second, she was afraid she was going to choke again. The actors shifted uncomfortably. The crowd covered their eyes. Pierre shook his fists in fury. And suddenly, Spencer realized. This was exactly what A—what Kelsey—wanted. For her to bomb. To make sure Princeton wouldn’t happen.
Spencer peeked backstage and found Beau’s encouraging face. And then, like a light switch snapping on, fire flooded into her veins. She’d worked too damn hard for Kelsey to bring her down. That bitch wasn’t going to win.
“All our service in every point twice done, and then done double,” she said loudly, and she was off. The words flowed easily out of her mouth and her gestures were sharp and precise. The other actors and the audience relaxed. By the time Beau entered and the two of them argued about whether or not killing the king was a good idea, Spencer felt almost like her old self again. When she exited the stage, there was even a smattering of relieved applause.
Pierre loomed in the wings, tapping his lips with a pen. “Well, I suppose that was better.”
Spencer swept past him, not really caring what he thought anymore. Then, Beau caught her arm and whirled her around. “You were amazing.” At first, she thought he was just pulling her into a hug, but then he gave her a long, passionate kiss. Spencer was so startled that she just stood there for a few seconds. Then, she kissed him back. Despite the fact that she was wearing a heavy velvet dress, she felt chills.
Someone nearby let out a gasp. Spencer turned and saw Naomi, Riley, and Kate gawking at her. Triumphant, she leaned in and kissed Beau even deeper. Deep down, she wished the curtain would open so the audience could see this, too—so Kelsey would know just how badly her plan had failed.
Chapter 28
THE TRUTH WILL OUT
After the play was over, Emily walked through the double doors of Otto, the upscale Italian restaurant where the Macbeth cast party was being held. The familiar scents of rosemary, olive oil, and warm mozzarella tickled her nostrils, and she recognized the gray-haired, no-nonsense woman behind the hostess stand. Emily had been to Otto with her family after Carolyn, Beth, and Jake had each graduated from Rosewood Day, sitting in one of the large banquettes and sharing the family-style portions of penne alla vodka and Caprese salad. For Beth’s graduation, when Emily was in sixth grade, she’d brought Her Ali along, too, and the two of them had sent silly texts to one another and then snuck off to the patio area to flirt with a bunch of graduates from the boys’ basketball team. Well, more accurately, Ali flirted with them. Emily had stood around feeling uncomfortable.
Tonight, Otto looked utterly different from how it had during those graduation dinners. The drama class had decorated the Italian-tiled rooms with happy-sad drama masks and big posters of Macbeth playbills. The room was stuffed with people, and a large buffet table had been set up on one end, bearing a zillion types of pasta, a huge bowl of salad, eight different kinds of breads, and a bevy of desserts.
“Your school is exactly like mine,” Kelsey groaned good-naturedly, squeezing into the room behind Emily and taking in the scenery. “It’s only a school play, but they treat it like it’s opening night on Broadway.”
“Seriously,” Emily giggled, turning around and giving Kelsey a shaky smile. She felt a little nervous bringing Kelsey here, but when Kelsey had asked what Emily was doing tonight and Emily told her, Kelsey had gotten so excited. “I love Macbeth!” she’d said. “Can I come?”
“Um, sure,” Emily had said tentatively, quickly adding, “You should know that Spencer is playing the lead. Will that be weird?” Kelsey said it wouldn’t, and Emily had no idea how to tell her that it might be weird for Spencer. What was she supposed to say? Spencer thinks you’re our new psychopath text-messager?
They moved past the hostess stand, and lo and behold, Emily spied Spencer across the room, smiling bashfully at Mrs. Eckles, a ninth-grade English teacher. A streak of nerves went through her, but she straightened up and took a deep breath. “I’ll be right back,” she said over her shoulder to Kelsey. She needed to explain to Spencer why she’d brought Kelsey before Spencer randomly saw them together and freaked. Maybe if she leveled with Spencer, Spencer would understand. And maybe, if they all talked rationally, Spencer would realize that Kelsey wasn’t A.