Page 16 of Roar for Me
Twenty-five pairs of eyes belonging to the other chamber choir members stared at him as he sat back down. He opened the folded tag.
“It says, ‘A secret admirer.’ Okay, whose big idea was this? Did you guys set me up?”
A chorus of no’s echoed around the room. The students gathered around Duncan’s shoulder to look at the handwriting.
“A girl definitely wrote that,” a tenor named Pete confirmed. “But there’s no way to know who.”
“Someone must know her writing.”
“Actually, if it’s someone in choir, her name would be written on her music folder!”
“But we don’t know if it’s someone in choir.”
“Let me see! Yeah, that looks pretty generic.”
“Looking at the choir girls is at least a place to start.”
Mr. Robinson cleared his throat, and the chatter halted. “Ladies and gentlemen, we do have a concert next week. So let’s put the candy away and get back to rehearsal. Duncan?”
At the mention of his name, Duncan raised his head.
“I can’t condone you going through other students’ things to find who sent it. I suspect whoever it is had her reasons to remain anonymous.”
Duncan nodded.
Mr. Robinson played a chord on the piano. “All right, everyone, let’s warm up.”
The liquid courage evaporated from Aurora’s bloodstream when everyone started stripping to their swimsuits. Katie had insisted she wear the bikini. She needed to be a good body-positive role model for her daughter. Aurora never wanted Katie to be ashamed of her body, so she had to put on her big girl panties and deal with it. So, she held her chin up and took her shorts off first. Her leopard print bottoms weren’t revealing, stopping just under her navel. The matching top gave her just the right amount of cleavage with a supportive underwire, which a girl needs when she wears a 42DD. When she looked up, everyone’s eyes were on her. Both of the other women wore bikinis as well, but Jen was still as thin as ever, and Britney did not qualify as plus size.
“Aurora!” Jen’s eyes were popping out of her head.
“Your suit is super cute,” Britney added quickly, glaring at Jen.
“Oh, thanks, I’ve had it for ages.” Aurora managed to find a few remaining drops of her whiskey at the bottom of the glass.
“Anyone need a refill before we head out back?”
“Let’s take the sangria pitcher with us,” Britney suggested.
“Great idea! Can I get anyone anything else?”
“I’ll take more whiskey.” Duncan’s voice behind her cracked, and he cleared his throat. “I can’t pack it in my luggage.”
Jen produced six stemless, silicone wine glasses. “I’ll put it in here; glass and hot tub do not mix.”
She led them out to the back patio where the hot tub sat bubbling away under its cover next to a small round picnic table. One by one, they stacked their towels on the table and stepped into the hot tub. Aurora eased herself into a seat where a jet blew directly on her lower spine, massaging her joints into delicious bliss. Jen’s backyard was small, with a white vinyl fence surrounding it. Just beyond the fence was a park of some sort; the trees kept it in the shade. She took a glass of sangria as Jen passed them around.
“Jen, if I had one of these, I’d never leave my house.”
“Does it feel good on your back?” David asked, sliding into the seat next to her.
She nodded.
“Is that because of your surgery?” Duncan had got in last. He seemed to hesitate, but as Britney and Mike claimed their seats, the only one left was on Aurora’s other side. She caught a whiff of his spicy cologne as he slid in next to her. Her heart fluttered as his thigh rubbed against hers.
“If you want to get technical, that is why my back hurts so easily. But it’s not the direct cause. Because of the surgery, I developed arthritis. It’s a common thing for scoliosis patients. And getting arthritis in your teens runs in my family anyway, so I have a double dose.”
“Can’t you take anything?” Dave had a horrified look on his face.
