Chapter 23
Callie
After Theo asked Callie to prom, she fell into a dreamy state, singing sweetly to herself almost constantly.
She sang while she drew. She sang while she and Juliet walked along the cove.
She sang as she helped her mother with the dishes and cleaned her room.
All she could think about was that magical night at the end of the month, a night during which she’d wear the prettiest dress she’d ever seen up close and dance with that remarkable, funny, handsome, and talented Theo Maddox.
It was beyond anything she could have hoped for.
For years, Callie had known that Theo was in love with Juliet.
As a trio, they’d gone everywhere together, and Callie had had to get used to Theo, always directing his words to Juliet, always taking photographs of Juliet, always tagging along behind Juliet, hoping that she’d pay attention to him.
That was partially why Callie had gotten a boyfriend a couple of years ago.
Jeremy had told her she was pretty, that he’d always had a crush on her.
It had felt delicious to know that someone could feel for Callie what Theo had so obviously felt for her since they were kids.
Eventually, Jeremy had broken things off, but Callie had come to terms with it. She’d realized that they weren’t meant to be.
Besides, throughout those years of “friendship” with Theo, years of watching Theo pine for Juliet, Callie had harbored a secret of her own: she was in love with Theo.
The only way she’d ever expressed this was in her diary, of course.
She hadn’t wanted Juliet to know the innermost secrets of her heart.
Had Callie told Juliet about her crush before now, Juliet probably would have said, Oh, great, you can date Theo so that he’ll stop obsessing over me.
You can distract him! That would be amazing! You’re such a good friend!
But now, things were very different, because apparently, Theo had fallen for Callie, too. He’d fallen for her so hard that he’d already begun talking about marriage, about him owning a restaurant in Bluebell, about Callie working as the art teacher at the high school.
That mural painting had been a godsend, proof to Theo that he and Callie were meant to be. And now, they were in a secret sort of relationship, one that they snuck around to fulfill. They stole kisses behind lockers. They met up in secret after school, telling Juliet they had different plans.
“You and Theo are so busy lately,” Juliet had grumbled over the phone numerous times. Sometimes Theo had been sitting beside Callie during the call, quiet so that Juliet didn’t know they were sneaking around.
With all their efforts at play, Juliet still didn’t know about their budding and unbreakable love, and Callie sensed that was a good thing.
Juliet hadn’t yet nabbed a modeling contract in New York or Los Angeles.
She hadn’t made a deal with any managers or agents.
Her excitement for her big, starry life in the city was slowly melting into a frantic state.
“What if it doesn’t work out?” Juliet had asked Callie the other night, her eyes glinting with tears.
Callie had never heard Juliet talk like that. It frightened her.
Callie had told her it would definitely work out, that Juliet would absolutely reach every goal she’d ever set for herself. But Callie had never been sure if that was true. The big world outside Bluebell Cove seemed terrifying and cruel. Why did Juliet want to leap into it?
About five hours before Theo planned to pick Callie up for prom, as Callie sat in front of her mother’s makeup mirror and tried and failed to find the perfect lipstick shade, Juliet called.
“Callie!” her mother called from the landline in the kitchen. “Come get it!”
Callie raced to the phone, her mess of blond curls flailing out behind her. She half expected Theo to be on the line, telling her that he wanted to call the whole thing off. But it was Juliet, asking if she wanted to come over and watch DVDs that night.
“I can’t,” Callie said, scrambling through her mind for the excuses she’d come up with.
“Why? Are you going to prom?” Juliet asked, joking.
Callie was silent for a split second too long. She’d never been good at lying to anyone, least of all her best friend. “I mean, no,” she said.
Juliet sounded harsh. “You are! You’re going to prom! I can’t believe this.”
“I’m not!” But it was too late. She could feel Juliet’s confusion and anger.
“Who are you going with?” Juliet demanded. “Don’t tell me you’re going with Jeremy? He was so mean to you, Callie. He doesn’t deserve…”
“I’m not going with Jeremy,” Callie shot back, her tone dark.
Juliet was quiet for a long time. “Whatever,” she said. “I’m coming over to see your dress.”
Juliet hung up, leaving Callie in a state of shock. Walking by the kitchen, her mother caught her. Folding a blanket across her body, she asked, “Is she coming over?”
Callie nodded. Her heart thudded in her stomach. Her mother hadn’t asked specifics, but she did know that Callie hadn’t told Juliet about her relationship with Theo.
In a small voice, her mother asked, “Do you think it’s possible that Juliet does like Theo after all?”
Callie glared at her mother. “All Juliet has ever said is how much she doesn’t like him!”
Her mother was delicate. “Sometimes women say that when they like someone the most.”
“That’s stupid!” Callie cried, though she had a strange, awful sense that her mother was right. Juliet had always thought that Theo was a given for her. She’d always had him as her sort of backup boyfriend, if the whole modeling thing didn’t work out.
What would Juliet do if she learned that Callie had taken Theo for herself?
What if she never spoke to Callie again?
Callie’s palms were sweating. She went to the living room, lay down on the sofa, and pressed her face into the pillows.
She prayed that Juliet would get caught back at home, that Ivy would force her to work at the Bluebell Cove Inn, that her father would hold her back.
But all too soon, Juliet trounced through the front door, calling out, “Where’s the prom queen?”
It was much worse than Callie had planned for.
Juliet had come to her place wearing a prom dress, maybe one of Ivy’s or Celia’s, and it made her look like an absolute knockout.
The black dress curved over her breasts and highlighted the model cinch of her waist. She’d put on bright red lipstick, and her hair was messy and curly and gorgeous, like bedhead in a rom-com.
Callie gaped at her best friend, willing herself not to burst into tears.
“Well?” Juliet asked, twirling in the living room. “How do I look?”
Callie could hardly whisper. “You look beautiful.”
“I know, right? I never tried on one of these fancy dresses, but now? I think I was missing out.” Juliet sat on the sofa next to Callie and beamed. “Do you think your date will mind taking me too?”
Callie’s mouth went dry with alarm. She stuttered.
Juliet rolled her eyes. “Come on, Callie. I caught you. I know you’re back together with Jeremy. But he needs to know he can’t treat you like he did last year. I’ll give him a talking-to when he picks you up.”
“It’s just that, um. You need tickets to go to prom?” Callie said meekly.
Juliet burst out laughing. “Do you honestly not want me to go?”
“No, I do! I mean, it’s senior prom. Of course I want my best friend to go,” Callie insisted.
“Obviously!” Juliet laughed. “And looking like this, I can’t imagine they won’t let me in. Right?”
“Right,” Callie said. She wiped the sheen of sweat from her brow and got off the sofa. “I need to get dressed, I guess.”
“I’ll help you! It’ll be great,” Juliet said, following her into her bedroom.
Right before she entered, Callie was careful to hide the pictures of herself and Theo, which she’d arranged on her bedside table.
She left the photograph of Callie, Juliet, and Theo, but seeing it now made her sick.
Juliet didn’t comment on it. She sat on the bed and bounced, ordering Callie to get dressed.
For prom, Callie and her mother had selected a buttery-yellow dress that brought out the blond light in her hair.
It was sort of like Belle’s in The Beauty and the Beast, which Callie had loved as a little girl, but she never would have admitted to Juliet that now.
Juliet helped her button up the back, then did her makeup, talking in monologues about another upcoming audition and interview with potential agents and managers and on and on.
Callie thought she was going to faint. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten, as she’d wanted to be light and happy and beautiful in Theo’s eyes, before their necessary post-prom burgers.
They’d been planning for weeks. She told herself to think, to find a way to get Juliet out of her house before Theo arrived.
But seven o’clock got closer and closer, and Juliet got more and more frantic, more and more excited about their big night out as “best friends at prom.”
Callie felt as though she were in a nightmare. Over and over again, she told herself to wake up. “What’s up with you tonight?” Juliet asked her three times. “You look really nervous. And pale?”
“I am nervous,” Callie admitted.
“Because of Jeremy? Come on, Callie. You’re too good for him.” Juliet grinned.
When the doorbell rang at exactly seven o’clock that night, Juliet shot out of Callie’s bedroom and down the stairs, hollering, “I want to answer it! That will mess with his head.”
Callie hung back, walking down the stairs slowly as though she were walking a plank. She wanted to throw herself back on her bed and cower beneath the sheets. But she knew she needed to face the music. Tonight was the night Juliet would learn the truth.
The door opened, and Juliet cried, “Theo, what are you wearing?”
Silence was all that Callie could hear after that.
She counted to five, then walked the rest of the way down the stairs to find Juliet and Theo in the foyer in a sort of stand-off.
Theo had dropped the corsage he’d bought to match Callie’s dress, and it had landed between Juliet and Theo, its ribbons glinting in the light.
When Juliet turned to look at Callie, she gave her a look of resentment, one that chilled Callie to the bone.
“Oh,” Juliet said finally, taking a step back. “Oh.”
All the puzzle pieces were currently clicking in Juliet’s mind. Callie could feel them. She could hardly bring herself to look at Theo, but when she did, she saw that he was just as pale as she felt. Why had they thought this was a good idea? Juliet was always going to find out!
Juliet bent down to pick up the corsage, then handed it to Theo.
Her face was difficult to read. Rather than look at Callie again, she walked out the door and past Theo, calling back, “See you at prom!” She walked perfectly in her heels, because she’d spent her entire childhood practicing.
Callie bit her tongue to keep from crying.
She knew in her heart that her friend hated her.
Once Theo and Callie were in Theo’s car and driving to prom, Callie managed to explain the story to Theo. He took it in, looking grim. “I know how she gets,” he said. “There was no fighting her when she came in wearing that dress.”
Callie let her shoulders sag. “My mom thinks…” She stopped herself from telling Theo that Juliet was probably in love with him after all.
“Does she think she walks all over both of us?” Theo asked angrily, his fingers flecking over the steering wheel. “I’m starting to wonder that, myself.”
“She’s my best friend. I love her,” Callie said.
“She wants to get rid of us,” Theo said. His cheeks were inflamed.
They didn’t say anything till they entered the prom. The first person Callie saw was Juliet, slow-dancing with one of the hottest jocks in their year, Nathan Stillson. He held her close and whispered in her ear as she stared daggers at Theo and Callie.
Theo tried to take Callie’s hand, but Callie felt that it was half-hearted.
She felt foolish, falling for the boy who’d only ever had eyes for her best friend.
She began to wonder if she had only fallen for Theo because she’d wanted to be Juliet.
Because she’d been jealous of her their entire childhood? Oh, her heart ached at the thought.
Suddenly, she thought of her NYU admission. She thought about how she’d been ignoring their calls, so sure that she wanted to stay in and around Bluebell Cove so that she could fall deeper in love with Theo and become his Bluebell Cove bride.
Now, she felt that that was crazy. She had a way out of this mess, a route away from Juliet and away from Theo and away from all the fear she’d always had as a girl.
She was going to be someone! She had to be.
Theo approached her with a glass of punch. His eyes were wounded. “Can we forget about her for tonight?” he asked under his breath. A hip-hop song bounced from the speakers. “I came here with you. I want to dance with you.”
But Callie was too in her head to enjoy herself.
She was too lost in her sorrows and fears.
She shook her head, drank the rest of the punch, and excused herself to go to the bathroom.
It was on the way there that she ran into her ex-boyfriend, Jeremy.
Jeremy looked just as handsome as ever, but he’d probably grown five inches since he’d broken up with her.
He swayed slightly as she approached and grinned at her.
It was only afterward that anyone figured out he was drunk, that he’d been sneaking shots of vodka from his older brother’s flask.
“Callie, darling,” he said, grinning. “You look pretty as a picture.”
At that strange kindness from her ex-boyfriend, the first boy who’d ever broken her heart, Callie burst into tears.
Jeremy panicked, then brought her into his arms and told her everything would be all right.
Callie sobbed and sobbed, thinking about Juliet, about how Juliet was never going to talk to her ever again.
She knew Theo had never loved her! Theo had been using her, maybe to make Juliet jealous. Oh, she was a fool.
When she started to hyperventilate, Jeremy pulled back and gazed down at her. “Do you want to go home?” he asked tenderly.
Callie nodded furiously. All she wanted in the world was her bed, her mother’s embrace, her mother’s popcorn, and her father’s kind words. All she wanted in the world was to go back in time, far away from this day. But she couldn’t.
“I want to go home,” she said.
Jeremy laced his fingers through hers. “I’ll take you there.”