The Comeback Read Online Free

just, for once, think before you open your mouth?” Dev said.
    At least he only thought I was an idiot. I realized what it looked like to everyone else. That I’d deliberately tromped on the feelings of a girl everyone liked. Even worse, I’d outed her in front of a teacher.
    Finally, Angie and Kaitlin came back in and rehearsals continued. I prayed Fanelli would forget about the whole thing, but I doubted I’d be that lucky.
    Dev and Monet were the only people who would talk to me the rest of rehearsal. Even Connor, my own boyfriend, avoided me like I had a communicable disease.
    That’s when it really sank in that I would be spending a lot of time with Dev. We were playing romantic leads. I tried to remember if I had to kiss him onstage.
    I was flipping through the script, looking for the dreaded love scene, when Mr. Fanelli said the words that struck fear into my heart. “Angie dear, Connor, where are you? I want my stars to spend time together and get intimately acquainted.”
    I swear there was a special emphasis on the way he said intimately . I started forward but felt Monet’shand on my arm. “He doesn’t mean what you think he means, Sophie. Calm down. You know everyone is just waiting for some drama in the drama department.”
    I took a deep breath and looked around. It was true. All eyes were on me, waiting for a reaction. I wouldn’t give them a show. At least not yet.
    I watched as Mr. Fanelli led Connor and Angie offstage.
    â€œDon’t trust your boy alone with the lovely Angie?” Dev’s voice said in my ear. How had he gotten so close? And how did he know what I was thinking?
    I stuck an elbow in his rib and moved away from him. “Of course I do,” I growled at him. But I wasn’t telling the truth. I didn’t trust Connor, not completely. We’d been together for two years, but I knew that he wasn’t the sweet guy from the pool anymore. At least a little of his loyalty and affection was because I was considered the hottest girl in the class.
    Most of the girls hated me; most of the guys wanted me. And Connor liked that. But from the looks in the eyes of the male student body, there was someone else who was piquing their interest. And she was new—as Dev would probably put it, “fresh meat,” a challenge. The x factor, the unknown.
    And me? If they bothered to burn a few brain cells or (shudder) look through our middle-school yearbook, they’d see me, complete with brace face. Peoplehad short memories, and we all had our secret middle-school shames. Unfortunate haircuts, awful orthodontia, or embarrassing bodily functions. We’d left those secrets behind, but it wouldn’t take much to dredge up the memories of the old me. And then where would I be?
    Not a challenge. Not a popular, gorgeous girl. Just another girl who’d managed to lose the fat and gain a good hairdresser. No mystery there. And then Connor would dump me.
    Dev’s pesky voice broke me out of my reverie. “Come on, Donnelly, time to get cracking.”
    Wimpy role or not, I did need the rehearsal time. How else was I going to steal the show?
    â€œComing,” I said, giving him a tight smile.
    We started to run our lines, reading from the playbook. I was surprised that Mr. Fanelli had chosen not to have a table read at the first rehearsal, but more time one-on-one with Dev meant that I could coach him.
    Turned out that he didn’t need any coaching. He was good, better than Connor. Dev had a deep, rich reading voice with actual feeling behind it. I’d always known there was more to him than a good-looking superjock, but I didn’t realize he was into drama.
    â€œWhy didn’t you audition for the lead?” I asked him.
    â€œI’m a lead,” he said mildly. “Lucentio is a plum part.”
    â€œI mean Petruchio,” I said. “He’s the one who gets Katharina.”
    â€œThat role didn’t