Chapter 6

 

A few days later, Aleda was starting to think that maybe she should have just tried out for a role in the stupid musical. She imagined herself under the spotlight, strutting across the stage and belting out one of the overwritten ballads of the show. How incredible it would be to play Marian opposite his Harold. Of course, that would also require Nate to play Harold Hill, but that was a mere technicality. They would dance around each other in front of the entire school, singing terribly romantic songs to each other and even kissing for everyone to see. Only it wouldn’t be a stage kiss. It would be real, and it would be perfect, and he wouldn’t even care that everybody was watching.

And it would certainly get Mara off her back.

Of course, it would never happen. Nate was playing the Mayor, not Harold. And she was just a little stage rat, scurrying across the stage only to move pieces of the set. The only advantage Aleda could see was that she could hide in the wings when she needed to. Like when Mom dropped by the school to ‘bring dinner’. Right. As if she wasn’t just coming to keep an eye on her sweet little angel.

Mom was a talented violinist. Gifted. But she still hadn’t convinced the DSO to let her audition. She had found a position at the Wilmington Music School, however; after all, a few students were better than nothing. Still, Aleda wished for her sake that she could find an orchestra soon. Not all kids were the perfect, model students that she had been for her mother. On occasion.

Just a few weeks. That’s how much time they had until the musical started. Then it would be over in a matter of days. Seemed strange, that they should be spending so much time to prepare for such a short event.

She didn’t really mind, though. Having the musical and the concert to worry about, she didn’t have as much time to worry about anything else. Mom, uncharacteristically, never mentioned it. Papá didn’t either. As far as he was concerned, everything would work itself out eventually and there was no sense worrying.

She was still preoccupied, of course. Mara and Val noticed. Unlike her parents, they wouldn’t leave her alone about it. Mara had caught her more than once staring off into the—

“Chica! Aleda! Earth to the angsty girl!”

Oh, hell.

“What’s up, Mara?”

“I should ask you that! Something interesting about that wall? I prefer the one with the door in it, but…”

“Just thinking about the play,” Aleda said quickly. “Only a couple of weeks until opening night.”

“Right. We’re stage rats, Leda. I really hope you’re not stressing out over your part. Or,” Mara said with a smirk, “is it somebody in the play that you’re thinking about?”

“Hush, Mara.”

“Hey, you know, now that I think about it, isn’t today Monday?”

“Mara…”

“And I think I remember something we were talking about last week? Something you were going to do today?”

“Ay-yi-yi, enough! I know! I’m… working on it, okay?”

“Sure, okay. You’re working on it. I assume hiding over here like you do every other day is part of your grand plan?”

“I haven’t had the chance to do anything yet. I’m going to talk to him after school, when there’s actually time to talk.”

“If you say so. Hey, is that essay due today?”

“Wednesday.”

Poe was a very good writer, there was no doubt about that. But did he really have to be so morbid about everything? All that crap about wrong for wrong’s sake and a more than unhealthy fixation with death. The man must have had issues. Aleda made a mental note to ask Mike about him the next time she saw him. Or had he been in London that decade?

Unfortunately, she probably wasn’t going to see him in the next day and a half. Have to do the essay alone, then. At least it gave her something to worry about other than Nate. If only he’d look over in her direction a little more often.

Frankly, she was a bit baffled by him. Not that she’d had much direct experience with the boys in Spain, but at least it was easier to tell when they were interested in a girl. Maybe she was just more accustomed to their habits. Nate, on the other hand, was completely indecipherable. It wasn’t the language. She had been worried about that at first, but everybody here spoke exactly like Mom. Even the slang was easy. Maybe it was an American thing.

Aleda sighed and glanced at the other side of the room.

He was laughing with his friends, not paying much attention to Mrs. Van. They had their own little knot in the back corner, the two in front turned completely around to face the others. She had asked him, once, about his friends. Apparently they had been good friends since middle school, when Nate had moved to Keeney from Michigan.

What would it be like to be that close with people? Immediate family excluded, of course. She didn’t think she had ever been that close with other girls. Especially not enough for them to put up with any of the kind of antics Nate was performing.

She was startled from her thoughts be a sharp pain in her leg. She looked up to see Mara grinning at her like an idiot.

“Hey, Chica, want me to get his attention for you?”

“Pardon?”

“Here, you can thank me later,” Mara said, pulling back her arm as if to throw something.

“Hey, what—Stop!” Aleda blurted, grabbing her arm. Mrs. Van glanced up from her lecture notes and glared at them. Aleda dropped to a harsh whisper. “What are you doing?”

“Just a little message-delivery.”

“What message?”

Mara turned back in her seat and said nothing.

“Mara, what message?”

Still nothing.

Aleda grumbled and turned her attention back to the lecture. At least Poe wouldn’t bother her about her would-be paramour.

English class, Chemistry, History… Drawing was the worst. No lecture to occupy her, nor friends to distract her from her sinking mood. In English she could shut off her mind and just copy notes, no matter that Nate sat right there in that corner, reminding her of what she was too afraid to do. In Chemistry she could devote her entire attention to controlling the little chemical reactions in front of her – and usually in front of Mara, for that matter. In history, Ms. Tyler had decided to show yet another movie with the old man talking on and on about the Civil War so she could just take a nap.

She would never be a hunter. How could she? The memory of that night still haunted her. And the nightmares...

She couldn’t even handle such a simple thing as a relationship with another person!  Talia was right. She was too sheltered. For the last seventeen years of her life, she had lived in a protected haven, spared the harsh realities of life by her well-meaning family. For all the relatives that had died to end the war before she was born, she had never lost someone she cared about, never had to face the prospect of someone she held dear growing old and dying. Her Aunt Firi would still be the lovely young brunette she had known since infancy when Aleda herself was old and wrinkled.

Perhaps it would be better. She would still have her family, but she could spend her life in a nice, safe office building. Better to die of boredom than a torn throat.

By Chorus, she had made up her mind. It would be hard to tell her parents. She didn’t want to imagine the look on Mom’s face when she told them. But it was her decision. That was the first thing she had ever learned about hunting. It was always the person’s choice. After all, whenever her parents had needed a babysitter for her they had always called friends of the family. She remembered the first time another family had mentioned their own friends. Mom had been forced to hurry her away before she had asked why they hadn’t become hunters. She explained that when other people said ‘friends of the family’ they just meant friends, not hunters’ children.  That was the first time Aleda really understood the difference between her family and other people.

Besides, she could never hope to stay with Nate if she wasn’t mortal. So it was decided. She would win over Nate, break the news to her parents, and have a nice peaceful life for the next sixty years or so.

Satisfied with her decision, she resolved to talk to Nate as soon as possible. Maybe as soon as they were both backstage after school. She glanced over at the tenor section. He saw her and winked. Yes, she could do this.

Unfortunately, she had to wait longer than she had hoped before she could get Nate alone. Mrs. Dodges called the actors together before rehearsal. Aleda didn’t know what it was for, unless it was to reprimand them again for forgetting so many lines. She just sat in the wings with Mara and Val, trying to ignore their nudges and knowing looks. It was no secret that she liked Nate. In retrospect, she probably shouldn’t have admitted it to Mara so freely. Since she knew, Val knew, and since Val knew, nearly all the stage rats knew too. She wondered idly how many of the actors knew, since the two groups didn’t interact very often, then realized with a sickening dread that Nate might very well have heard what was going on.

Well, if he knew, he knew. She was just going to have to do this. If nothing else, she knew she would regret it if she didn’t at least try.

She peeked at him from behind the heavy curtains. If things didn’t go well, she wanted to remember this, remember when she still had hope. It was a dark thought, and she wondered if maybe Poe hadn’t rubbed off on her more than she knew. There were still a few lines he couldn’t remember, and she silently mimicked Mrs. Dodges as she had to give him the lines yet again. At this rate she could probably play his part for him, with some makeup and a fake beard. She was glad she had decided not to audition, though. She kind of liked lurking in the background, hidden in the shadows and curtains. She got to watch and wait, just as important as anybody else in the production, without the pressure of being in the spotlight.

Besides, it was a great time to get her homework done.

Finally Mrs. Dodges called for a different scene, and Nate was free to leave the stage. She saw him walking out of the theater – must be going to the restroom. She vanished from behind the curtains; sped silently through a shortcut so that she would get there first. Fortunately for her, there was a water fountain across the hall from his destination. She got there a few seconds before he did, just enough to bend down for a quick drink.

“Hey, Leda!”

She smiled to herself. She paused just a moment before turning around as gracefully as she could, biting back a curse when she hit her hand on the side of the fountain.

“Hi Nate,” she said, rubbing her bruised hand behind her back. “They finally gave you a break?”

“Yeah, finally. I guess she got tired of me screwing up that line.”

“It could be that she thought somebody else needed more practice,” she pointed out. “You already look great out there.”

Nate grinned at her and Aleda blushed a little, wondering if she’d said too much. To her relief and immediate panic, he moved closer to her. She looked into his eyes, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

“You know, Leda, Homecoming is next weekend,” he said. She nodded dumbly. “I know you don’t know anybody here. Would you like to go with me?”

“I—okay,” she said. What just happened? What happened to the awkward confrontation she had expected? She stared at him in silence. Her brain, set to plead for his attention, couldn’t shift gears fast enough.

“See you later, then,” he said. With one last smile he disappeared into the restroom.

Aleda couldn’t get backstage fast enough. She found Mara and sat down next to her, breathless and grinning like an idiot.

“You look happy,” Mara said. “I take it things went well?”

Aleda giggled. “I didn’t even have to say hardly anything—he just asked me to the dance!”

“Congrats!”

 “What’s going on now?” Val asked.

“Leda’s going to Homecoming with Nate!” Mara said.

“Yay! I knew it!” Val exclaimed, squeezing Aleda. “It’s about time! Tell me everything.”

For the rest of rehearsal, Aleda watched Nate dreamily. Every so often he would glance over at her and smile. So much of a difference, with so few words! What were the guidelines for this sort of situation, anyway?  Her dating experience had so far been limited to having coffee or lunch with a guy once or twice before one of them moved on.

Maybe Mom would have some advice. At least she had lived in this confusing country before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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Now Aleda had a dilemma. On the one hand, she desperately needed to talk to Mom about Nate. On the other hand, any discussion about a long-term relationship with a mortal could only end in one place. Aleda wasn’t ready to go there yet. By the following Thursday she knew she had a problem – she would have to say something before Nate took her to the dance on Saturday. Besides, it was Mom. She couldn’t stop giving Aleda a hard time without even knowing about their date.

At least she had gotten their status figured out, Aleda mused. The gossip chain might be juvenile, but it did have its uses. One of Nate’s friends had mentioned to Val that he had told him he was dating Aleda Solana. She supposed that in high school it wasn’t official until everybody else acknowledged it. She was just glad to have one less thing to worry about.

Mara was baffled.

“You’re going out with the hottest guy at school!” she protested at rehearsal. “And you’re still angsting around! What gives?”

Val cleared her throat.

“Oh, beg pardon,” Mara said, “One of the hottest guys at school, of which Mr. Harold Hill is also one.”

Val nodded and turned back to her math homework.

“My point is, what’s going on?”

Aleda shrugged nervously. “I don’t know… I guess I’m nervous about Saturday night?”

Mara sighed dramatically. “You have absolutely nothing to worry about. You’ll be great. You’ll look fantastic, as always, and you’ll have a great time. What are you wearing, anyway?”

Aleda looked at her in silence for a moment, and then buried her face in her hands. “I don’t know,” she mumbled.

The two girls were dumbstruck. It was a full minute before either one of them was able to speak again. Aleda looked at them helplessly. She had put off telling Mom about the dance, let alone going to it with Nate. If she had, Mom could have taken her out to buy a dress. Alone, Aleda had no money, no car… and no dress. In retrospect, it might have been better to tell Mom.

Val took a deep breath, her eyes wide. She set her notebook off to the side.

“Well,” she finally offered, “this is a problem.”

“Thanks,” Aleda muttered ruefully, “I realize that.”

Val and Mara looked at each other.

“I’m wearing the same thing I wore last year,” Mara said.

“I’ve still got last year’s dress,” Val replied, “But somehow I doubt Aleda would like it.”

“It’s better than nothing, isn’t it?” Mara asked.

“…Have you seen my wardrobe?”

“Point taken.”

They looked back at Aleda.

“Do you have any nice dresses at home?” Val asked hopefully. Aleda raised an eyebrow at her. “Right. Nothing at home.”

Mara gnawed on her lip. “I do have one old dress from a few years ago. You could try it on, anyway. I had it back when I was a bit chubby, so it might fit you.”

Aleda’s mouth fell open. “Say that again?” she demanded. Mara backed up, her hands raised in supplication.

“You’re larger than me! Er, I mean… More filled out? I’m a skinny brat! Yes, that’s it,” Mara blurted, desperately trying to backpedal. It worked. Sort of. Aleda shook her head, muttering a colorful old Spanish oath.

“Fine,” she finally said. “You’ve got a dress that might fit me. I guess it’s better than nothing.”

Mara was visibly relieved. “Great. Come over to my house after rehearsal, I’ll give you the dress and the shoes I wore with it.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Val turned back to her abandoned homework and Mara busied herself with her sketchbook. Aleda watched the rehearsing actors. Nate was on stage at the moment, looking as wonderful as always. He didn’t actually get that much time on stage compared to the leads, who were rehearsing constantly. Val’s eye candy, the boy playing Harold Hill, was talented, but the girl playing Marian had been cast for popularity. As Aleda understood it, the same girl had played the female lead in all but two productions since she had come to Keeney High School. All the better, then, that Aleda did not try out for the part. Nate could go on thinking that she would have landed the role, and Aleda didn’t feel the need to disillusion him. Whatever it was he saw in her, she wouldn’t argue. Ever since he had asked her to the Homecoming dance, he had started speaking to her more in homeroom. He still sat with his friends in English, though he would occasionally say something before and after class. Mostly, Aleda was amused by all of the people saying that she and Nate were ‘going out’. They were not ‘going out’. They hadn’t gone anywhere together since she had met him.

Still, though, the girls who said it seemed to assume that Aleda had some territorial claim over him. Even Mara had noted that a lot fewer girls flirted with him once the word had gotten around. It helped diminish Aleda’s insecurities a small amount, that she had less competition for his attention. Homework, rehearsal, soccer, and his friends took enough of his time away from her. She didn’t like the idea of other girls trying to win his affections, especially after that comment Mara had made about his dating habits. Well, it looked like she would be the one to snatch him up from nonattachment. Fine by her. He was easily one of the cutest guys at school.