1 DAY REMAINING


PoV: AMANDA

Once the curtain closes over our final bow, the cast immediately erupts into congratulations. Cheers and whistles, hugs and high-fives, even pieces of people's costumes go flying across the stage.

"Bonza job out there, errybody!" Ray says delightedly, clapping Connor on the back. "Go on now, get changed. Your oldies are prolly waitin' on ya."

I beeline straight for the green room, where my chalkboard is sitting in one of the lockers. As I'm spinning the combination to open it, I feel a tap on my shoulder. Knowing exactly who it is, I turn around grinning and Leo grabs me in a proud hug. He's already gotten his chalkboard somehow, and has YOU DID GREAT! written on it. He even added stars around the words.

I finish opening the locker and pull mine out. I quickly scribble SO DID YOU! and hold it up to him. He beams, and at that moment Bee Boy approaches us, holding the prop Bible under his arm. He sets it down on a nearby counter so he can high-five us both at the same time. "That was awesome! I mean, when everyone started singing with me, it was like…" he trails off in a bewildered laugh, but his exhilaration is clear. "Nice job out there to the both of you," he finishes.

I smile. "Thanks Bee Boy. You made a very good on-stage husband."

"And you a lovely on-stage wife." We follow up our pleasantries with a goofy little bow-and-curtsy, just like the ones we used to do during rehearsals. David turns to Leo. "Oh, Leo, I meant to tell you before the play started but I did learn that there will be mini hot dogs at the bar mitzvah reception tomorrow. Does that answer your 'urgent question?'" He asks as I stifle a giggle.

Leo's eyes light up and he pumps his fist. "Sweet! Yes, it does." I've never known anyone to get excited over mini hot dogs the way he does. I literally open my mouth to say that…but close it just in time.

The closer we come to the end of this chalkboard era, the more impatient I get. As I watch everyone around me congratulate their friends on a job well done, I just want to be able to tell Leo the same thing. To tell him, with my own voice. I never realized how important speech was to a friendship until ours was taken away.

We're in the homestretch. Just one more day. And then we learn why we did this for Tara. Only…I'm not as certain as I was before. That this is all for Tara. Angelina's been in direct contact with Tara multiple times, and she even came to the play today. She's made no effort to conceal herself from Tara, so what purpose would Leo and I be serving? The more I think about it, the less sure I am that this is connected to Tara in the end. So, if not her, then who? I'm not just curious to know anymore; I'm desperate.

Leo writes something on his chalkboard. I wait to read it until he's finished. GOING TO FIND MY PARENTS. TEXT LATER?

I write back, TARA'S GIRLS ONLY BDAY THING 2NITE. He nods, then writes, TOMORROW, THEN. BEFORE THE BAR MITZVAH. I nod yes and he smiles, before pushing through the crowd of bodies in the green room towards the auditorium.

Rory comes up behind me and squeezes me tight. I nearly jump out of my skin until I recognize her. "Oh my god, you were amazing!" I tell her.

"So were you!"

"Aww, you're too nice. I didn't have any solos or anything," I remind her.

"Still. I was impressed. Your bonnet stayed on and everything." She pats the annoying thing on top of my head and laughs.

I slip it off and ask, "Where's Jake?"

Rory's smile dips at the sound of his name. She glances quickly at the door behind me that Leo just exited from. "He couldn't stay. I caught him before he left, though. He told me to tell everyone what a great job they did." She's still smiling, but her excitement has dulled considerably.

We chat a little bit more about the play, and how awesome Jake and Emily were during their number. Every time one of us says Jake's name, Rory's whole face lights up with pride and adoration—just the tiniest bit—then returns to normal when she realizes he's not here.

I may not have her talent with people, but I can tell it's hard for her to be away from him all the time. When those two first became friends they reminded me so much of me and Leo. But then Jake went back to LA, and Rory was different from then on out. She missed him. She knows as well as I do that texting isn't the same as being face to face; writing words down isn't the same as saying them out loud.

I always thought if Leo and I were ever separated like that—not because we were fighting but because one of us was far away—that I would miss him too. It's already hard enough not to speak to him when he's right next to me. What if he was hundreds of miles away?

I mean, it's obviously different for Rory and Jake, since they're involved, and Leo and I aren't. I wonder if being involved makes the distance more painful.

Somehow I feel like I already know the answer to that question.


After helping Tara set up for the impromptu outdoor bar mitzvah (which took me and everyone else by surprise), and begging Kylie to loan Tara a dress…and then stealing a dress from her closet after she said no, on top of my regular nighttime routine, I'm blasted by the time I hit my bed. Still, on high-anxiety nights like these, there's always one thing that calms me down.

In muscle memory fashion, I walk through my dark room straight to my junk drawer and pull out my CD player and my headphones. I lay back down in my bed with the headphones over my ears and the CD player humming the way it does before it plays a track.

"Hey Amanda." By now I know this recording like my own heartbeat. Eighty-five listens will do that to you. Still, I let it play because I could never get tired of it. Hearing Leo say my name simultaneously soothes me and makes my heart ache like nothing ever has. I listen to him talk about how he admires my commitment and never wants me to stop laughing. I listen to it all until he gets to my favorite part. The part that—and I'll never admit this to anyone—I've played back hundreds of times in a row because every time he says it I get this warm-fuzzy feeling that nothing's ever given me before. "I'd take you over anybody else, any day, hands down. And I'm with you all the way."

When I've played it back for the last time, I whisper to his voice in the dark: "Me too."