Just Like the Movies by Kelly Fiore Page A

want.”
    â€œFine. Just don’t forget I’m here when you start groping each other.”
    I wave a hand, signaling for her to go ahead and start the music. I fiddle with the spotlight and it flashes on just as the first loud notes of Peter Gabriel’s song burst from the speakers.
    I look back up at Marijke, who is standing there with total confidence—shoulders back, head held high, speaker dock far above her head. I feel an overwhelming sense of pride—she’s really rocking this.
    I have a little trouble getting the spotlight on her andshe glares back at me, only to have me practically blind her. But once I’ve got it steady, I take a deep breath and watch the upstairs windows, waiting for some sign of life. Honestly, it’s kind of hard to see with the spotlight’s aura glowing around me. All I can really see is Marijke, sort of swaying now, as the song moves into the iconic chorus.
    I can’t believe he hasn’t heard the music yet. I drop my arms and try to regain some feeling in them. In the air, Peter Gabriel’s voice croons about light and heat and being complete. Peering up at the house, I force myself not to give up. Instead, I shove my arms back in the air.
    After another minute passes, though, I’m beginning to feel doubtful. That is, until two pale figures emerge from the darkness. I don’t have any trouble seeing who they are. Or who they
aren’t
, really.
    They
aren’t
Tommy.
    I hear her talking to them, and she signals for me to come closer. I kill the lights and stumble out of the wooded area, my eyes adjusting to the darkness around me.
    â€œThis is Lily,” she says as I approach. I can hear her voice quavering a bit. “She’s a friend of mine from school. Lily, this is Mr. and Mrs. Lawson. Tommy’s parents.”

Seriously, I have never been more horrified in my entire life.
    Seeing Tommy’s parents last night and then trying to explain how I was doing a project for school? For
film study
, no less—a class I don’t even take? I know they must have seen right through my excuses. At least they were nice enough to let me leave without too much fuss. Because, of course, Tommy wasn’t home.
    Apparently,
someone
had come to pick him up.
    And that
someone
had been female.
    Mrs. Lawson said she was the girlfriend of one of his bandmates and that she’d been taking Tommy to Jimmy’s house for practice. But now, in the light of day, all I can think about are the facts. I knew this last night, but I wasn’t about to face it: none of Tommy’s bandmates
have
girlfriends.They’re all completely, totally single—and apparently he’s acting like he is too.
    I feel like I haven’t slept, which frankly I haven’t, and I look like crap. I don’t even bother attempting to spruce up the disaster that is my appearance. I throw on jeans and a sweatshirt and head out for school while my hair is still wet and my makeup is lying unused on the bathroom counter.
    I didn’t say much to Lily when she took me home last night, but I did ask her to come back this morning to pick me up. She comes about fifteen minutes earlier than Tommy usually does. I did that on purpose, obviously, so we wouldn’t cross his path. She’s sitting in the driveway when I come outside, and I don’t look her in the eye as I slide into the passenger seat.
    She doesn’t say anything for the first few minutes. Finally, out of the blue, she asks me, “Why don’t you drive?”
    I shrug. “I could—I took driver’s ed. I just never took the test.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    I look out the window before answering her. “Because Tommy always drove me everywhere.”
    â€œOh.”
    Lily stays quiet after that. Even when we get to school she doesn’t say a word, but when we get to the front door, she turns to me with a worried look.
    â€œAre you sure you don’t want to