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“Yes?” I prod, leaning towards her.
“It’s this play I tried out for in Burlington. It’s a production of MacBeth happening in the spring. I went to the first round of auditions, and yesterday they called me back to tell me I made it to the second round.”
“And?” I know that she has to give up a great acting opportunity over the summer because of an internship that’s important to her, but I don’t see why a spring performance should be an issue.
“My car,” she says, a mournful grumble in her voice. “It’s still shot. There’s no way I’m going to be able to make it back and forth from here and Burlington for all the auditions and rehearsals relying on the bus.”
“I’ll drive you, then,” I say. I say it like it’s an instinct, a reflex, the same way you kick your foot forward when the doctor bangs you on the knee with that rubber mallet.
She side-eyes me. There’s a trace of wariness in her eyes, an expression that says she still wants to hold me at arm’s length. “No, Tuck.”
“Why not? I don’t mind.”
“You don’t even know what the schedule would be. I don’t even know. It might interfere with your games, or your practices, or your classes.”
“I’d make it work.” Again, it’s an instinctive reply. Even though she’s right. There’s every possibility that I couldn’t make it work, as much as I’d want to. There’s no way I’d be able to rearrange my hockey schedule around driving Olivia back and forth to Burlington.
But I still can’t stop myself from offering. The prospect of having Olivia alone in my car for the half-hour drive each way is something I’m pouncing on, like spotting the puck unattended on the ice during a hockey game.
“So, what? You’re just going to pass on this opportunity?” I ask.
She shoots me a look of reproach. I feel a pinprick of guilt as I realize there was a word unspoken in what question, but which still had to ring loudly in her ears: I really asked her, You’re just going to pass on another opportunity?
“I can’t ask you to take time out of your day shuttling me back and forth between here and Burlington, not to mention how long the rehearsals there are actually going to be.”
“You didn’t ask. I offered.”
“And you don’t even know whether it’s going to conflict with your hockey schedule, which it probably will. The worst thing I could do is agree to take the role, and then end up having to miss rehearsals or even performances because you have a game or a practice you can’t get out of and leave them high and dry after I’ve already committed.”
I draw in my bottom lip and gnaw on it. She’s right.
It sucks, though. For two reasons. One, I’d really like having her in my car twice a day, multiple times a week. And two, it sucks that she has to miss out on another opportunity just because she’s not as fortunate as some people and can’t afford to have her car repaired.
Then, a thought occurs to me. A flash of inspiration that has a zap of excitement racing up my back. My lips want to carve upward in a smile, but I keep them straight—because I don’t want to give away to Olivia what I have in mind.
I want this to be a surprise.
I shrug, feigning nonchalance. “Alright.”
She tilts her head back a little, leveling me with a skeptical glare. She’s not used to me giving up this easily. But she finally nods with acceptance. “Anyway, here’s my building.”
“Enjoy your fingerpainting class,” I joke.
That gets me another huff-slash-laugh-slash-eyeroll combination. It’s quickly becoming my favorite thing. “It’s Art History,” she says.
“Uh-huh. Well, if you’re such an art historian, answer me this. Who invented fingerpainting?” I cross my arms over my chest, arching an eyebrow in challenge.
“You’re ridiculous, Tuck,” she says on a laugh that she doesn’t even try to hold back this time.
“It’s been said before, it’ll be said again,” I drawl.
“Bye,” she says, her brow bouncing in amusement.
She turns around to walk up the stairs of the art building, and I find myself wishing very badly that the hem of her jacket was higher, so I’d get a glimpse of that heart-shaped ass I love so much. No such luck, though.
But I’ve still got a grin on my face as I walk away, because Olivia’s about to find her problem of how to get back and forth to Burlington unexpectedly solved.
16
