Behind the Scenes

Chapter 10

Ryan

When I return to the Valdez house the next morning, Caleb is crossing the driveway from the studio to the house. He flags me down.

"You're gonna have to get her out of there. I don't know what happened last night, but I think she's worse off than she was before." He nods toward the studio. I feel my face go white. I glance over at the studio, then back at Caleb.

"I'll—"

"What did you do, Ryan?" He closes his eyes and rubs his forehead.

"I," I point to my chest adamantly, frustrated and unwilling to let this be my fault, "didn't do anything, okay? She kissed me. Then she told me to leave and decided radio silence was the best thing for us both. Trust me. It is not how I would have chosen for things to go down."

He sighs, deeply, and looks around.

"It's not even seven-thirty in the morning." He says, and he walks back into the house, leaving me standing in the middle of the driveway. I look up to the sky and shake my head, then walk into the studio.

"Hey." Rosa looks up from a painting, her brush held up in the air and almost dripping electric blue paint. She's wearing an outrageously blue hoodie almost the same color as the paint, and black leggings. Her hair is pulled back in a ponytail, and she's not wearing makeup. It kind of gives me whiplash, compared to how I last saw her.

"You still coming?" I nod toward the door, and she nods.

"I said I would." She touches the brush to the canvas.

"Can we, uh, can we talk? About what happened last night?" I ask. She stops moving the brush, but doesn't look at me.

"I..." she looks up now. She puts her brush in a jar of water and gives me her full attention. "I'm really sorry about it, Ryan. I was lonely and sad and I really don't need to be kissing anyone right now."

That is also not how I would have chosen for things to go.

"Okay." Is all I say, even though it feels like everything inside of me wants to tear it's way out. I don't know what else to say. I'm sure as hell not going to try to force her into anything.

Mr. Valdez is in the kitchen cooking breakfast with Caleb's help. Victor and Matt are sitting at the island when we come in. Caleb takes one look at both of us and clears his throat.

"It's about time, Button." Mr. Valdez calls out happily. "And good morning, Ryan."

"Button?" Matt turns to Rosa and grins. He grabs her arm and pulls her into a big bear hug. "That's ridiculous."

"I agree." Rosa laughs, pushing Matt off of her.

"Everyone in the family calls her Button. We have since the day she was born. Cute as a button. Nothin's changed."

I hang back and watch everything from a distance. I need to get a hold of myself. I spot the coffee maker, full and steaming on the other side of the room and make my way over.

"You okay?" Caleb slides up next to me and speaks quietly so that only I can hear him over the cacophony of noise around us. I shrug. He slaps my shoulder and gives it a good squeeze before turning around.

"Aww," Matt says loudly, "You are still cute as a button!"

I pour myself a cup of coffee and turn around, too. When I do, Rosa's looking at me. I smile at her and raise my coffee mug to her, just like I did last night. She grins, but catches herself and looks away. As weird as it might sound, this gives me hope. Hope that she's not giving me mixed signals, but that she's actually just a really bad liar.