Virtually in Love Read online

  He lifted a hand without turning around, disappearing back into Jon’s car a moment later. I stood in the dim, bug-shadowed light and watched until the car’s taillights disappeared into the night.

  Chapter Twelve

  When I walked into the gym the next morning, Maya was already there barking orders like a drill sergeant. She spotted me right away.

  “Chloe,” she said, hurrying over. “Kaz the spaz dropped the sheet music all over the place just now when he was supposed to be taking it to make copies. Can you go help him get organized?”

  “On it,” I agreed.

  I looked around, pausing for just a moment to admire the work we’d done the day before. The gym looked amazing. Kaz’s idea had been to decorate it in the style of a shabby old hotel ballroom, like the one in the old movie he’d seen about a dance marathon during the Great Depression. But the Depression wasn’t exactly the most cheerful thing in the world, so some of the other organizers had favored more of a sock hop vibe, since Kaz had also told us there was a dance marathon on an episode of Happy Days. We’d ended up with sort of a fusion—Kaz had donated his disco ball to the cause and begged several local antique shops to loan us some stuffy old upholstered chairs and stuff. One of the cheerleaders had liberated a bunch of vinyl albums from her dad’s stash, which were taped to the walls, along with homemade posters that said DANCE! in bright colors. There were streamers and balloons, and someone had even brought in a couple of big fake potted palm trees that stood on either side of the sign-in table. Basically the place looked wacky and a little confusing—but fun.

  At least a dozen of the other volunteers were already there, and they looked wacky but fun, too. Kaz had told us that dance marathons were popular from the 1920s through the 1960s or so, and most people had dressed up in costumes from one of those eras. Vanessa had reused her flapper dress from last Halloween, several of the guys were wearing Al Capone–style gangster costumes or zoot suits, and Maya looked adorable in a puffy pink poodle skirt.

  As for me? I’d opted for a combination of costume and cute. My flapper dress had a big rip in it from an impromptu game of tag and a spiky shrub in Vanessa’s front yard, and I wasn’t sure Trevor would be impressed with the look anyway. So I’d borrowed a full black skirt from my mom, pairing it with a sparkly silver top and my favorite ballet flats.

  Speaking of Trevor, I hadn’t heard from him yet that morning. I pulled out my phone and sent him a quick text to let him know I was at the marathon. Then I continued on my way.

  Vanessa was over by the refreshment table, helping some of the others arrange cookies and brownies on trays. I gave her a quick wave as I passed, and then I headed to the bandstand. That was what we were calling the circle of chairs we’d set up for the musicians under one of the basketball hoops.

  When I arrived, Kaz was bent over a huge mess of sheet music lying on the floor, digging through it with Cody, a senior saxophone player. My favorite sax player, actually, since he was the one who’d convinced Mr. Graves to let us perform a hip-hop medley at the spring concert last year, which had been absolutely hilarious. Normally Cody was pretty laid back, but at the moment his dark brown eyes were anxious. Kaz just looked disgruntled.

  “Hi,” I said. “Maya sent me over to help.”

  Kaz glanced up. He was wearing a snazzy vintage suit I hadn’t seen before, his black hair slicked back. “Great,” he said. “Grab the playlist and read it out to us so we can put the music back in the right order.”

  I picked up the stapled sheaf of papers he’d indicated. We’d all come up with the playlist at one of the earlier meetings, creating a fun list of songs we thought would entertain people who came to watch or participate in the dancing.

  “We already found the first four pieces,” Cody said. “We’re looking for ‘Sing, Sing, Sing’ right now.”

  “Okay. Watch for the disco medley while you’re at it,” I said. “That’s next.”

  Cody shuffled through the loose pages on the floor. “We have to hurry,” he said. “We still need to make copies of everything for the whole band.”

  “We can do it,” Kaz said. “If we’re still working on it when this thing starts, the band can always play ‘The Stars and Stripes Forever.’ We all know that one by heart, right?”

  I laughed. That particular Sousa march had to be Mr. Graves’s favorite song ever. The marching band had played it every single year for as long as anyone could remember.

  “Let’s hope we don’t have to resort to that,” I joked. “It’s not much of a dance tune.” I scanned down the list as I waited for them to find the music they were looking for. “Speaking of which, are we sure we really want to play the Rossini? That could be hard to dance to too.”

  “You mean the ‘William Tell Overture’?” Cody shrugged. “That was actually the cheerleaders’ idea—they thought it could be fun for the kids.”

  Kaz laughed. “Yeah. I think the term Maya used was up-tempo.”

  “Hmm.” I could just imagine what Trevor would say when he got a load of our playlist, with its weird mix of modern songs, show tunes, kiddie pop, and classic concert band arrangements. “With the whole 1950s thing going on, maybe we should add, like, the theme from Happy Days, or maybe some old rock songs or whatever. I’m sure I could find sheet music on the Internet.”

  Kaz looked surprised. “You want to add some vintage rock?” he said. “No argument here. We could use it to replace ‘True Cliché.’”

  “We are not ditching ‘True Romance,’” I informed him, sticking out my tongue. I’d lobbied hard to get that song included, and I wasn’t about to back down on it now—especially with Trevor coming. “But I think a little more of a rock ’n’ roll vibe could be fun, right? Maybe Trevor could even do a guitar solo.”

  I threw the last part in casually, not sure how Kaz would react. He didn’t—at least, not really. His eyes stayed on the mess of paper as he let out sort of a humph.

  “Who’s Trevor?” Cody asked.

  “My, um . . .” I shot a look at Kaz. “A friend of mine who’s visiting from out of town. He’s a really amazing guitarist, so I asked Maya if he could sit in with us.”

  That was true. I’d texted her the night before after my date. She’d texted back right away, saying it was fine.

  “Whatever,” Kaz said. “Let’s worry about it after we get this music in order. Hey, here’s the disco medley.”

  “Give it here. I’ll add it to the stack.” I held out my hand. Kaz jumped to his feet and handed it to me. At least that was probably what he meant to do. What he actually did was lunge to a semistanding position, immediately slip on some loose sheets of music, and come flying straight toward me.

  “Look out!” Cody cried, diving out of the way.

  My reflexes weren’t as fast as his. “Oof!” I grunted as Kaz hit me square in the midsection, sending us both flying.

  The pile of music broke my fall, at least a little. Kaz landed right on top of me, knocking all the air out of my lungs.

  “Ouch!” I yelped as his elbow banged me in the hip.

  “Sorry!” he cried at the same time, trying to roll aside.

  “Wait!” Cody said. “Stop. Your cuff link is caught in her skirt. If you yank your arm away . . .” He shrugged, not bothering to go into detail.

  “Hold still,” I ordered Kaz, trying to remember which underpants I’d put on that day. Reaching down carefully past his torso, I scrabbled for the cuff link.

  “Don’t break it,” Kaz said. “I borrowed it from my uncle.”

  I rolled my eyes at him. At least I started to—his face was so close to mine, it was a little unnerving.

  Not that it should have been. I mean, it was Kaz, and we were totally over that whole awkward let’s-go-out phase, right? I was with Trevor, he was with Vanessa, all was right with the world . . . .

  Still, I was way too aware of his heart beating against mine, and the scent of his shampoo filling my nostrils. I felt my face starting to go red and I muttered at h
im for a second time to hold still as I reached again for the cuff link.

  At that moment a couple of guys from the brass section wandered past. “Get a room, you two!” one of them yelled.

  The other let out a wolf whistle. “Way to go, Kaz-man!” he exclaimed.

  “Shut up!” I told them through gritted teeth. Kaz didn’t say anything, but when I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, his face was looking decidedly lobsterlike.

  The two brass players laughed and moved on.

  “Need help?” Cody asked, leaning closer.

  “I’ve got it.” Luckily, my fingers are pretty nimble from years of playing the clarinet, and I soon had the cuff link loose. “There,” I said, hoping my—er, Mom’s—skirt didn’t have a hole in it now. “Got it.”

  “Thanks.” Kaz stayed where he was for a second, looking down at me. “Sorry about that, Chloe.”

  “It’s okay. But you can get off me now, all right?” I gave him a little shove.

  Soon we were on our feet again. I smoothed down my skirt, and Kaz fiddled with his cuff link while Cody surveyed the mess we’d made. “If you two wanted to cuddle, you could’ve chosen a more convenient place,” he said.

  “If that’s what you consider cuddling, you have a problem,” I informed him, trying not to let myself start blushing even harder. Seriously, when were people going to get that Kaz and I were just friends? Maybe seeing him and Vanessa at the school dance together would help.

  “Come on.” Kaz didn’t bother to respond to Cody’s comment. He was already crouching down by the messed-up pile. “Let’s get back to it before Maya strangles us all.”

  That seemed like a good plan. Working together, the three of us finally got the music sorted and organized. Then Cody rushed off to the school office to make copies, while Kaz and I headed over to ask Maya what else needed to be done.

  “Sorry again about, you know, tackling you before,” he said with a sidelong glance at me. “Guess it’s a good thing your boyfriend isn’t here yet, or he might get the wrong idea. You know, like those guys obviously did.”

  “Those guys are idiots,” I muttered. “You could’ve killed me.”

  “So, speaking of the amazing Trevor, is he really showing up today?” Kaz’s voice was light and casual. “Guess I’ll have to eat my words about him not being real.”

  “Yep. He should be here anytime now.” I pulled out my phone, but he hadn’t returned my text yet. Checking my watch, I realized it was almost eleven thirty. “Actually, I should make sure he didn’t sneak in and get put to work by your crazy cousin when I wasn’t looking.”

  As Kaz continued toward Maya, I rushed off in search of Trevor. But two rounds of the gym later, he was nowhere to be found. Vanessa came up behind me while I was peeking out into the hallway.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, tucking a loose strand of blond hair back under her flapper hat.

  “Looking for Trevor.” I took out my phone again. Still no response. I texted him again.

  Getting close to go time! U getting here soon? Can’t wait to see u!

  “I’m sure he’ll be here soon,” Vanessa said. “In the meantime, I’m supposed to open up another box of napkins and put them out. Want to help?”

  “Sure.” Casting one more glance up and down the deserted hallway, I followed her back inside.

  The next half hour passed quickly. There were a million little last-minute things to do, from testing the lemonade dispenser to sweeping the dance floor to setting out the copied sheet music on the stands. Maya was like a whirling dervish as she raced around, supervising everything.

  But by the time the bus had arrived with the S&D kids, we were ready. Well, almost. Trevor still hadn’t arrived.

  “Yo, Chloe!” Carlos was bright-eyed and snazzy looking as he danced over to me in his pinstripe suit and fedora. “You gonna dance with me today?”

  “Only if you cough up some dough, buddy,” I told him with a grin.

  “No way,” he retorted. “People pay to dance with me, not the other way around!” He did a spin and tipped his hat.

  I laughed. “How can I resist your moves?” I said. “I’d pay anything to dance with you, C-man! I’ll have to see if I can sneak away from the band long enough to boogie with you.”

  “That’s more like it.” He grinned and then rushed off to say hi to some of the others.

  A few minutes later more people started to arrive. Before long at least a couple dozen of them had already signed up for dances, and lots of others—parents, friends, siblings—were mobbing the refreshments table or hanging out on the sidelines, talking to the kids or watching the musicians put together their instruments. Which reminded me—I needed to get warmed up myself. But first I had to figure out what had happened to Trevor.

  As I pulled out my phone again to check for new texts, Maya grabbed a microphone, her voice ringing out over the gym as she ordered the band to take their seats and the cheerleaders to hit the dance floor. Cheers and whistles rang out from all corners as everyone obeyed. A girl from the orchestra sat down at the harp and strummed a few strings, and one of the percussionists crashed his cymbals together, making several people jump. The familiar random sounds of a band warming up rang out through the gym.

  There were no texts from Trevor. I swung past the door to check the hallway, then sat down and quickly fitted my clarinet together.

  “Where’s Mr. Wonderful?” Kaz asked, pausing by my chair on his way back to join the other brass players.

  I tootled a few warm-up notes on my clarinet before answering. “I’m sure he’ll be here,” I said. “He has to get his cousin to drive him, so maybe they got delayed.”

  “That’s probably it,” Vanessa said from her seat across the way with the other flutes. “I bet he’ll be here any second.”

  “Hmm.” Kaz pursed his lips. “I was only kidding before about thinking this Trevor guy doesn’t actually exist. Now I’m not so sure.”

  “Go sit down already.” I frowned at him. “We’re getting ready to start.”

  As he grinned and loped off, I checked my phone again. Nothing.

  “Text me something, would you?” I called to Vanessa.

  She looked up from her instrument. “Huh?”

  “Text me something—doesn’t matter what. I want to see if my phone’s working.”

  She blinked, then nodded and dug her phone out of the bag under her chair. Seconds later my phone vibrated, and I saw her text pop up.

  Testing blah blah

  “Did it work?” she called.

  I just nodded, chewing my lower lip as I tried to decide whether to text Trevor again. Where could he be? I hoped nothing bad had happened. What if he’d been in an accident on his way here or something? Come to think of it, Jon hadn’t struck me as the best driver in the world . . . .

  The phone vibrated in my hand, startling me so my clarinet almost rolled off my lap. It was Trevor!

  “About time,” I muttered, touching the screen to bring up the text.

  Hey, C, looks like I won’t be able to make your fundraising thing after all. Sorry, family stuff, blah! Lol. Have fun tho, okay?

  I stared at the words, disappointment washing over me. Followed by annoyance.

  “You couldn’t have told me this sooner?” I muttered.

  One of the percussionists stepped to the front of the band. We were all supposed to take turns conducting, and he’d drawn the first turn.

  “Everyone ready?” he said.

  “Hold up a sec.” I jumped out of my seat and stepped toward the conductor. “Listen, uh, I’d stuck in notes on a couple of the songs about my friend doing a guitar solo, but it turns out he can’t make it. So, um, ignore them, okay?”

  The conductor looked a little confused, but he nodded. “Okay, whatever. Go sit down, Chloe—we’re already late getting started.”

  I dashed back to my seat and raised my clarinet to my lips. Across the way, I saw Vanessa shooting me a curious look. I lowered my instru
ment and mouthed the words He’s not coming, though I wasn’t sure she got it. Meanwhile, out in the middle of the gym, Maya still had the microphone.

  “Without further ado,” she said loudly, “let the dance marathon begin!”

  The kids all let out a cheer, and several of the other cheerleaders whooped and did little cheerleadery leaps and kicks. The conductor raised his hands and we started to play, our first few notes all but drowned out by applause and shouts from the crowd. I watched the dance floor out of the corner of my eye. Within seconds every cheerleader seemed to be out there twirling around with someone. All the kids were dancing too. Most of them had paying customers, though a few were dancing with one another. I smiled as I spotted Aidan smiling shyly up at his partner, who happened to be Vanessa’s mom. I was glad to see him—I’d been so distracted looking for Trevor that I hadn’t had a chance to greet most of the S&D kids.

  But now I looked around as I played, loving how much fun everyone was having. The other dance floor was crowded with people of all ages shaking and shimmying and laughing as they moved to the rhythm we were laying down. It looked like fun, and for a second I wished I could be out there with them.

  But as much as I loved dancing, I loved playing music even more. My fingers flew over the keys of my clarinet as we finished the first song and launched into the second.

  For the next half hour or so I forgot everything except wringing every last note I could out of my instrument. Each time I glanced out toward the dance floor, it looked more crowded with people dancing and laughing and having a blast. About forty minutes in we finally paused for a break.

  “Take five, everyone!” the conductor called out. “Next conductor’s up when we get back.”

  “That’s me!” Cody called out.

  I set down my clarinet and hurried over to the small table by the bandstand where we’d set up water bottles and lemonade. Grabbing some water, I downed half the bottle in one gulp.