Chapter 9
T o say that the play was a smashing success was to put it mildly. The audience laughed
and the audience cried, which is pretty much what they were supposed to do. But because
of Jamie’s presence, it really became something special—and I think everyone in the cast
was as shocked as I was at how well the whole thing had come off. They all had that same
look I did when I first saw her, and it made the play that much more powerful when they
were performing their parts. We finished the first performance without a hitch, and the
next evening even more people showed up, if you can believe it. Even Eric came up to me
afterward and congratulated me, which after what he’d said to me before was somewhat of
a surprise.
“The two of you did good,” he said simply. “I’m proud of you, buddy.”
While he said it, Miss Garber was crying out, “Marvelous!” to anyone who would
listen to her or who just happened to be walking past, repeating it over and over so much
that I kept on hearing it long after I went to bed that night. I looked for Jamie after we’d
pulled the curtains closed for the final time, and spotted her off to the side, with her father.
He had tears in his eyes—it was the first time I’d ever seen him cry—and Jamie went into
his arms, and they held each other for a long time. He was stroking her hair and
whispering, “My angel,” to her while her eyes were closed, and even I felt myself choking
up.
The “right thing,” I realized, wasn’t so bad after all.
After they finally let go of each other, Hegbert proudly motioned for her to visit with
the rest of the cast, and she got a boatload of congratulations from everyone backstage.
She knew she’d done well, though she kept on telling people she didn’t know what all the
fuss was about. She was her normal cheerful self, but with her looking so pretty, it came
across in a totally different way. I stood in the background, letting her have her moment,
and I’ll admit there was a part of me that felt like old Hegbert. I couldn’t help but be
happy for her, and a little proud as well. When she finally saw me standing off to one side,
she excused herself from the others and walked over, finally stopping when she was close.
Looking up at me, she smiled. “Thank you, Landon, for what you did. You made my
father very happy.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, meaning it.
The strange thing was, when she said it, I realized that Hegbert would be driving her
home, and for once I wished that I would have had the opportunity to walk her there.
The following Monday was our last week of school before Christmas break, and
finals were scheduled in every class. In addition, I had to finish my application for UNC,
which I’d sort of been putting off because of all the rehearsals. I planned on hitting the