Stealing for Keeps (Frost Lake High Book 1)
Stealing for Keeps: Chapter 22

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into another activity,” Claire says as we step into the theater. The lights are on above the stage, but the rest of the theater is shrouded in darkness. “If you leave me alone in here, I’m never speaking to you again.”

“I’m sorry,” I say in a whisper, fighting a smile. Yesterday, she practiced with the chess team, and she’s still grumpy about it. “Most of the other groups around school meet at the same time as soccer practice, and I didn’t want you to miss out just because I couldn’t go.”

Onstage, the theater group is rehearsing. Two actors hold scripts, facing each other. They speak in tense, passionate voices. We walk over to the side where an open door leads up and around the stage.

“I was so bad, they all stopped what they were doing to help,” Claire says in a soft, low voice.

“That sounds nice.”

Her beautiful eyes narrow into slits. “Does it?”

Well, now I’m not so sure.

“Apparently I am an exceptionally slow learner when it comes to chess,” she adds and gives me the same puppy dog face that Wyatt does when he gets in trouble.

“Aww.” I reach out and take her hand, squeezing her fingers, then running my thumb along her knuckles.

“They were really great, but it was mortifying.”

“We all start somewhere,” I tell her.

“If someone would have shown up to an advanced figure skating class and didn’t know how to skate, everyone would have ignored them.” She looks like that bothers her the more she considers it.

“José is very passionate about passing on his love of chess.”

“It shows. I almost agreed to join.”

“Really?” There’s something endearing about it. I like that she went along with letting them teach her even if she was embarrassed.

“No, but I did tell José I would help him come up with fundraising ideas, and I promised to ask Lacey and Andie about having cheerleaders at home chess tournaments.”

That has me laughing. “José was working it.”

“He’s very convincing.”

The scene onstage comes to an end, and suddenly there’s movement from everywhere. People moving set pieces, actors coming and going from the stage, light changing overhead.

“Claire!” Andie bounds toward us with a huge smile on her face.

“Hey,” Claire replies. “Thanks for letting us drop in.”

“Are you kidding? We can always use extra hands, especially backstage. Let me show you.”

Within five minutes, Andie has Claire painting a backdrop onto a large wooden sign on wheels and me moving heavy props and nailing together a frame for another bulky set piece.

I’m facing her, a dozen or so people between us, but we make eye contact so often I replace I’m blushing. I don’t know what it is about this girl. She has me building theater sets when I should be doing homework or resting. We have another tough game coming up, and practices have been brutal. Coach Collins never yells, but when he cranks up the intensity, I know he’s displeased with how we’re performing. And he’s been less than thrilled a lot lately.

When I nearly staple my finger, I decide to take a break. Claire has a brush loaded up with blue paint, and she pauses with her hand midair when she spots me.

A knowing smirk tugs at her lips. “Done already?”

“Just taking a break.”

“We’ve been here for, like, thirty minutes.”

“You’re just painting. Andie has me moving stuff all around and building.”

“It was your idea.”

“Did you ever do theater?” I ask, opening my stance to watch the action onstage.

“No.” She shakes her head. “Well, outside the plays Andie used to make us put on when we were in junior high, but our audience was mostly our stuffed animals, and they let me be in charge of costumes.”

“Makes sense.”

She continues painting, and I just watch her unabashedly. I don’t get to do that a lot at school.

“Better pick up a paintbrush,” she says, breaking me from my trance. “Andie’s coming.”

No sooner than I’ve picked up a brush, I hear her friend.

“Is the balcony piece done?” Andie asks.

“Almost. Just giving Claire a hand.”

Andie smiles like she knows exactly why I’m over here. No use in trying to hide it. I like Claire, and I’ll take any opportunity I can to spend more time with her.

As soon as Andie leaves again, I take Claire’s free hand. She drops the brush into the paint tray, and I drag her with me off the stage to the side and behind a curtain.

“Where are we going?”

I don’t even know. I just want her alone and all to myself. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a pile of costumes, and an idea forms.

“You were in charge of costumes, huh?” I head for them, still pulling her behind me. I pick up a wool jacket that looks like something my grandpa might have worn in the seventies. “Were they as good as this?”

The smile that breaks out on her face is magnetic.

“I think that’s actually from her dad’s closet,” she says, then reaches for a cowboy hat and sets it on top of my head.

I toss the jacket, then adjust the hat, pulling it low over my eyes and winking.

For her, I grab a gaudy necklace that is heavy and has big, fake jewels. Draping it around her neck, my fingers brush her collarbone.

She turns and lets me clasp it, then she swivels around. “How do I look?”

“Stunning,” I say without a second thought. My heart is beating faster than it did running field sprints at practice. We’re standing close. Her sweet cotton candy scent wraps around me.

Stepping forward, I lace my fingers through hers. Every notion I’ve had about this being a bad idea is pushed away. It can’t be. This feels too good.

“Austin.” My name is barely a whisper.

“That’s a wrap!” The booming voice onstage jolts us apart.

“We should get back,” Claire says, turning away from me and taking off the necklace.

I drop the hat back on top of the pile, then we go to the front where we help them clear the stage, putting sets and props in the wings and tools where they belong.

“I guess this didn’t end up being much different than art class,” I say as I help her rinse out paintbrushes.

Claire lifts one shoulder and shrugs. Smiling, she says, “I still had fun.”

“Me too.”

We’re locked in, grinning at each other, when Andie bounds to Claire’s side and wraps an arm around her shoulder.

“Thank you both. It was so fun having you here. Did you see my scene?”

Claire’s mouth opens, and then she nods. “Yeah. You were great.”

She definitely didn’t see it. Neither did I.

“I gotta go home and get ready. Are you two coming to the hockey game?” Andie asks, walking backward away from us.

“Oh, I completely forgot,” Claire says.

“I’ll be there,” I tell Andie. “Wish Brandon good luck for me.”

“I will.” She smiles at me. “You should come, Claire.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Talk her into it, Austin. I’m counting on you!” With that, she jogs away.

“What do you say, want to check out hockey tonight?”

She laughs. “That’s your idea of talking me into it?”

“It’s worked so far.”

“True. Promise me you won’t secretly ask the coach if I can sit on the bench to observe them.”

“Of course,” I promise. “I wouldn’t want you to lose any of your teeth. I like your smile.”

She blushes, and it makes my pulse race. We walk together out to the parking lot to our cars. I bump her shoulder with mine, then let it linger. The backs of our fingers brush, and I link my pinkie with hers. “Want me to pick you up?”

“That’s okay. I can meet you there.”

“Are you sure?” The more time I spend with her like this, the more of it I want.

“It’s probably not a good idea. What if Vaughn saw us together?”

Fuck good ideas. That’s what I think, but dammit, I know she’s right.

“All right. See you there.” I will be counting down the minutes.

* * *

“Do you want to sit with me and my friends?” I ask Torrance when we walk into the arena for the hockey game. I was surprised when she said she was going to the game and even more surprised when she asked if she could have a ride.

She hasn’t said a lot to me in the past couple of weeks. I overheard her talking to Mom, begging to fly back to Arizona to go to homecoming with her friends. Mom told her it wasn’t a great time and assured her we’d go back for Thanksgiving, but since then, she mostly stays in her room blasting her music.

My sister scoffs. “No way. Please pretend like you don’t know me.” Then she veers off like she’s afraid someone might see us together.

Well, all right then. I head down the stairs, scanning the bleachers for Claire. I don’t see her, but Rowan lifts a hand and moves over to make room for me to sit between him and Vaughn.

“I didn’t know you were coming tonight,” Rowan says.

“Andie talked me into it.”

My buddy grins, then tips his head to where Andie is sitting two rows ahead of us. Or standing. She’s up out of her seat, yelling, “Let’s go, number forty-seven!” and holding a sign over her head.

“She definitely has team spirit.”

“Oh yeah. She’s been this hyped since warm-ups.” Vaughn is holding a bucket of popcorn and extends it toward Rowan and me.

“No thanks.” I shake my head.

Rowan takes it and proceeds to toss big handfuls in his mouth.

“I can’t believe Brandon doesn’t say something to her about it.” Vaughn gives his head a shake. “I think I’d have to break up with a girl if she screamed at me the entire game. I get enough of that from my dad.”

“I don’t think he minds.” Rowan juts his chin to the ice. Brandon skates by and waves at Andie, and even through the cage of his helmet, I can tell he’s grinning.

“Ah, she’s not hurting anybody. Let her cheer on her boyfriend.” Maybe it’s not my personal preference to have my girlfriend screaming nonstop from the sideline, but there’s no question she’s here to support him.

“When did you become such a romantic?” Rowan elbows me.

It’s then that I spot Claire and Lacey making their way over to us. Lacey leads the charge. I’m initially too distracted by Claire and her short black skirt, long blond hair—down and curled—and those full, shiny lips to notice anything else. But as the world comes back into focus, I realize Vaughn has gone tense beside me.

Have he and Claire talked? She hasn’t mentioned it if so.

“Hello, ladies,” Rowan says, smiling at them both.

“You want to sit here?” Lacey points to the row in front of us as she turns to Claire.

I’ve gone back to staring, so when Claire looks to me, I’m sure I have a goofy grin on my face.

“Sure,” she says. Her gaze briefly drifts to Vaughn, but she doesn’t smile or say anything to him. He remains stiff next to me.

The girls settle in, not directly in front of us but to the right, where if I turn my head to look at Rowan, I can’t miss her. They’re taking off their coats and watching the ice.

“Yo, Lacey.” Rowan tosses a single piece of popcorn at her. “Are you gonna join the one-woman hockey cheer team with your friend?”

Lacey picks the popcorn off her sleeve and tosses it into her mouth before saying, “I never cheer without my uniform. It’s like Superman without his cape.” Her lips curve up into a pleased smile. “Besides, they have their own cheerleading squad.”

Just then, the hockey cheerleaders skate onto the ice. I spot Jenn among the small group and smile at her. Then I glance down at Claire, wondering what she looked like on the ice. I bet she was incredible.

There are only a handful of cheerleaders, but they yell and get the crowd fired up. They’re no competition for Andie though.

Lacey claps as they exit the ice. Then we all fall quiet, watching the game for a few intense moments as the Frost Lake team gets the puck and takes a lot of shots on goal. Their goalie isn’t letting anything through, and eventually, the puck heads in the opposite direction.

At some point, I must start staring at Claire again instead of the game, because it catches me by surprise when Rowan nudges me with his knee.

“Yeah,” I say, blinking a few times and giving him my attention. “What’s up?”

He laughs quietly. “Nothing, Disco. Nothing at all.”