Chapter 24 – Annabeth

He loves her!

Annabeth wanted to howl it.

He loves her!

She hurried across the Holymount campus, heading for the Logan Quinnis Theater and the opening night of The Fantasticks.

There was not much doubt in her mind.

Luke had fallen in love with Josie Robertson, just the way he had fallen in love with Charlotte Davison.

Okay, she told herself, so maybe it isn't love.

At least it was not the kind of love she felt for Luke. Real love. Maybe it was just infatuation.

He's infatuated with her!

No, it was more than that.

It wasn't just that he'd been ignoring her all this time. She knew he was busy with rehearsals and panicked about the way they were going.

She did not mind that she had not seen him last night or today. She understood how he did not want to be distracted when he was getting ready for a performance. He wanted to concentrate all his energy on getting up for it. Like a fighter getting ready for a fight or a runner getting ready for a race. She understood that.

She did not mind his breaking their date, last Saturday night, so he could rehearse with Josie, either. At least, not as much as she minded his not calling her, like he always did, Sunday, during his lunch break, and telling her how it had gone.

At first, when he didn't call, she had told herself he was probably rehearsing straight through lunch.

But she didn't buy it.

She knew Luke had not called because he was feeling guilty about what happened between him and Josie the night before. He was afraid, if he called, she'd hear the guilt in his voice. But that wasn't what she heard in his voice when he finally did call, late Sunday night.

He said he had rehearsed straight through lunch. Otherwise, he said, he would have called her.

He said he and Josie had rehearsed "Round and Round" from eight o'clock until almost midnight, when Josie's mother, who had been home the whole time, said they were driving her crazy.

Luke said he had given Josie her suggestion – that she should try to get angry about how cruel the world was, instead of just whining about it, like she had been doing. He said Josie had tried it and it made all the difference. Done Annabeth's way, "Round and Round" was a knockout and Josie was fantastic.

Luke thanked Annabeth.

For himself and Josie.

He said, "I love you, Annabeth."

She said, "I love you, too."

And he said "Good night, beautiful."

He did not sound guilty.

But he did sound something just short of it.

There was something in his voice that made Annabeth think he might be telling her the truth, as far as he went, but he wasn't quite looking her straight in the eye.

It was nothing she could put her finger on. But once she heard it, she started listening for it whenever they talked and it was always there.

He's in love with her!

She wanted to howl it.

Cut it out! she told herself, as she entered the lobby of the Logan Quinnis Theater and joined the crowd filing into the auditorium.

You're just making it up, she told herself as she took her seat in the auditorium and exchanged smiles with the woman sitting next to her.

Luke's in love with you and nobody else. Didn't he tell you, just last night?

It was the last time they had spoken.

Luke told her he was scared.

Annabeth said she could understand how he would be. But she also reminded him how much he loves pushing through the fear and walking out on a stage and performing in front of an audience.

"Yeah," he said. "I do kind of like that, don't I?"

"You love it," she told him.

"And you," he said.

"You sure?" she asked him.

"Cross my heart and hope to die," he said.

And she wanted to believe him.

More than anything.

If only she could.

As the houselights dimmed, she closed her eyes and made a wish. Let him be wonderful, she wished. And not in love with Josie.

Annabeth opened her eyes to the sound of music – a piano and a harp, playing the actors onto the stage.

He cut his hair! That was the first thing she thought when she saw Luke strut out onto the stage, dressed all in black and playing the dashing El Gallo. Although all he had actually done was trim away the curls that slashed down over his forehead and even out the rest of his hair so that it looked short and neat all the way around, Annabeth barely recognized him.

The instant he hit the stage, he was the Dark Stranger that every girl dreams of, the Romantic Adventurer who will one day come for her and carry her away.

He was El Gallo!

And Josie was Luisa.

God, is she ever! thought Annabeth.

If Luisa was supposed to be the picture of girlish innocence, captured at the moment before it exploded into ripe and womanly sensuality – which she was – then Josie was Luisa to a T.

With her dark brown hair cascading down her creamy white shoulders, her deep chocolate brown eyes, her prominent cheekbones, her full and luscious mouth, her perfect breast, her narrow waist, and impossibly long legs, Josie was breathtakingly beautiful.

The moment she saw her, Annabeth knew she was sunk.

When Josie joined Luke in singing the opening song, when she added her angel-sweet voice to Luke's smoky baritone, Annabeth knew she hit rock bottom. When the song ended and the play began and Josie began flirting with her innocent young beau, Annabeth knew she had hit bottom and fallen right through.

There was no room for doubt. Josie was the girl every girl dreamed of being and every boy dreamed of having. She was simply irresistible.

Annabeth hated her!

But she could not take her eyes off her.

She could not even make herself pay attention to Luke.

She did not see the other actors on the stage.

She could not even follow the progress of the play.

She watched the whole first act, hypnotized, as if she were in a dream, and only when the act was over – when the houselights came up and the audience broke into applause – did she finally awaken.

Like a bat emerging from a pitch-black cave and flying into bright sunlight, Annabeth rose from her seat and began groping her way up the aisle to the lobby.

Even though she was awake, she was still in a daze. She could not think of anything except how impossibly beautiful Josie was.

Compared to Josie, Charlotte Davison was plain-looking!

Compared to Josie, Annabeth was –

Screwed!

As the lights flickered to signal the end of the intermission, Annabeth hurried back to her seat and waited for the second act to begin.

It was in the second act that the roguish El Gallo stole Luisa away from her innocent beau and took her off to see the world.

It was when El Gallo and Luisa sang "Round and Round."

But most importantly to Annabeth, it was in the second act that El Gallo fell a little bit in love with Luisa and kissed her – on the eyes.

That was the moment Annabeth was waiting for and dreading. She knew, right after they finished singing "Round and Round," Josie would close her eyes and lift her face to Luke and Luke would lean down and kiss her on the eyes.

In that moment, Annabeth believed she would be able to see through Luke's acting to his real emotions and know, beyond a doubt, if Luke was really in love with Josie.

So, as Act Two began, Annabeth crossed her fingers and waited for the moment of truth to arrive.

She did not have to wait long.

Before she knew it, Luke and Josie were cavorting about the stage, singing "Round and Round."

Then the audience was applauding.

Then El Gallo turned to Luisa and said, "Now hurry. You must pack so we may run away."

And Luisa answered, "Kiss me first."

"All right," said El Gallo.

Annabeth held her breath.

Luke reached out to Josie and placed his fingertips ever so lightly on Josie's cheeks.

Josie closed her eyes and lifted her face to him.

Luke leaned down to Josie and, ever so tenderly, kissed her eyes – first one eye and then the other.

But he didn't stop there!

He kissed her mouth! Even though he wasn't supposed to!

That wasn't how it was written in the play!

El Gallo wasn't supposed to kiss Luisa! Not her mouth! Just her eyes!

"At last!" said Josie. "I have been kissed upon the eyes."

God!

"No matter what happens," says Josie, "I'll never never ever forget that kiss. I'll go now."

After me! thought Annabeth.

She felt tears stinging her eyes and streaming down her cheeks – tasted her tears at the corner of her mouth.

"Excuse me," she whispered to the woman seated next to her.

"Excuse me," she mouthed the words to the man seated at the aisle.

As she hurried up the aisle and pushed through the door at the back of the auditorium, Annabeth felt a sob clawing at her throat, struggling to get out. She gasped once, fighting to hold it back, as she hurried across the lobby and down the stairs to the girls' room. As she bolted through the door of the girls' rooms, she could not hold it back any longer.

"Ohh," she sobbed. "Luke! You bastard!" Distorted and amplified, the sound of her sobbing echoed back at her from the room's white and green tiled walls.

"How could you?" she screamed.

She walked over to the sink, looked at herself in the mirror.

"How could you?" she screamed again.

She bowed her head over the sink and sobbed.

It hurt her so!

Luke hurt her so!

"Bastard!" She said it again.

And sobbed.

She took a huge gulp of air and turned on the cold water and looked in the mirror.

Her eyes were a sight. Her grey eyes were bloodshot and puffy with an endless pools of tears swimming in them.

If he saw her this way –

What?

What difference would it make, now?

"Plenty!"

Annabeth cupped her hands under the faucet, collected a handful of ice-cold water, and splashed in on her face.

She would not let him see her this way.

She would not give him the satisfaction.

From far away, above her in the auditorium, she heard Luke singing the show's final song:

Deep in December, it's nice to remember,

Although you know the snow will follow.

Deep in December, it's nice to remember:

Without a hurt the heart is hollow.

Deep in December, it's nice to remember,

The fire of September that made us mellow.

Deep in December, our hearts should remember

And follow.

Follow, follow, follow.

As the auditorium above her erupted in applause, Annabeth dried her face.

She had promised Luke she would come backstage after the show and go with him, after he'd cleaned up and changed, to the cast party at the Westport Country Club.

She took a deep breath and set off to keep the first part of her bargain.

She was not the first to arrive backstage. There was already quite a crowd. At the center of it stood Luke and Josie.

They were smiling and holding hands as they accepted congratulations from a line of well-wishers filing by.

The happy couple! thought Annabeth. To her, Luke and Josie looked exactly like a bride and groom standing in a receiving line at a wedding.

She did not join the line. Instead, she stood off to one side, watching Luke and Josie share in their triumph, exchanging smiles, jokes and laughter with their well-wishers and each other. Luke was so busy accepting his fans' congratulations, he did not notice Annabeth watching him.

She waited until the crowd around him began to thin out. Then she steeled her nerves and made her move.

"Annabeth!" Luke took her hand, drew her into him and kissed her, coolly, on the cheek. Then, turning to Josie, he said, "Josie, this it –"

"I heard!" said Josie.

She was even more beautiful offstage than on – even more beautiful close up than far away.

"Our favorite director!" she said, taking Annabeth's hand.

Our? thought Annabeth

"Thank you for saving my life," said Josie, embracing Annabeth. "And Lukie's," she said.

Lukie's?

"If it wasn't for you," said Josie, "I would have brought him down to my level."

Luke grinned and blushed.

"Well, almost," Josie said, laughing. She squeezed Luke's hand and drew him closer to her.

"So, what did you think?" she asked Annabeth. "You can't imagine how much your opinion means to me. After all Lukie has told me about you."

"I think you're terrific," said Annabeth. "I think you were terrific. In the show, I mean. Both of you. Terrific!"

"Me, too." A young priest was standing at Annabeth's left side. "Excuse me," he told Annabeth, "but I just had to tell these two people how much I enjoyed their performances."

"Sure," she told him. "I was just leaving anyway."

"Meet you in the lobby?" she asked Luke.

"Yeah," he said. "Sure. You really liked it?"

"Loved it," she said. Luke beamed as she turned and walked away.

Bastard!

It took about half an hour for him to clean up and change. Annabeth passed the time alone in the lobby, examining the posters for the Westport Players' previous productions and wondering what she'd do with herself, now that her life was over.

She did not cry. She was past tears. She was past all emotions.

She was like a wounded jet pilot, flying a damaged plane through a storm. Knowing she might crash any second, she was somehow, by God's mercy, miles above it all.

After what seemed like an eternity, Luke appeared. All dressed up and ready for the cast party, he was smiling his classic Luke smile and acting like – except for his haircut – he was the same old Luke.

"Hi, pretty girl," he said, as he crossed the lobby to Annabeth.

"Hi, Lukie."

He laughed. "She does that to bug me," he explained.

"Sweet," said Annabeth.

Luke put his arms around her and kissed her.

Annabeth told herself she felt nothing. When the kiss was over, she turned her face from him and blinked away her tears.

Luke didn't notice. He took her hand and led her to his car. He did all the talking.

The show had come off a lot better than he'd ever expected. For one thing, he'd never expected Josie to be as incredibly good as she was. She was ten times better than she'd ever been in rehearsals.

Fabulous.

Which, of course, did a lot for Luke's performance. He'd been better then he'd ever been, too. And so, he guessed, had everybody else.

They were in the car by now – on the road, heading for the Westport Country Club and the cast party.

"Did you hear that audience?" he asked.

"Are you in love with her?"

Luke kept his eyes on the road.

"Who?"

Annabeth said nothing.

"Josie, you mean?" He glanced over at Annabeth. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" She felt tears again, burning, hot and angry, in her eyes.

"I don't," he said. "I know I love you. I know that. You know that, too, don't you? I do, Annabeth. I love you. I swear."

She turned her eyes from him. She looked out her window at the houses and trees passing by.

"How long?" she asked.

"How long, what?"

"How long have you known? Did you know the night of Katie's party?"

"I don't know now!" he insisted.

She said nothing.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Have you -?" she stopped herself. She didn't want to know.

"No," he said. "Of course not!"

"Of course not?" she asked him.

"She is not that kind of girl."

Annabeth just looked at him.

When he turned to her – when his eyes met hers – she said, "Take me home."

A/N: So there you have it! Poor Annabeth, but we all know she is better off without Luke. Now that only means one thing - Percabeth is on the way.

Thank you for the amazing reviews and support, especially lately. You truly keep me going.

Until next time...

Enjoy and Happy Reading! - MFP