"That thing's fast, isn't it?"
I turned to find Jared, a guy from my band, standing behind me wearing a huge smile as he pointed at the slide. I was anxious to talk to Gray and hear more about the show, but my manners overrode my need for an explanation, and I smiled at Jared with wide eyes.
"So fast!" I said. "Jared, this is my friend Gray," I continued.
"I think we met a few weeks ago at Natalie's," Jared said.
Gray nodded as the two men shook hands. "We did," Gray said. "It's nice to see you again. You guys sounded great tonight."
"Thanks," Jared said. "I didn't know whether we were going to play or not with miss thing getting sick." He winked at me. "She pulled through, though."
"Y'all sounded good, Jane," a lady said walking by.
Jared and I both turned and thanked her.
"Did you do the corncob toss yet?" Jared asked.
I shook my head.
"Did you?" Jared asked, looking at Gray.
Gray wore an expression that said he didn't know there was such a thing, and I smiled at him. He was so irresistible that I wanted to just lean in and hug him—just bury my face in his chest.
"I hate to toot my own horn or whatever, but I am the reigning, defending, undisputed, corncob toss champion."
"What did you do to earn that title?" Gray asked.
"I set the record."
"What's the record?" Gray asked.
"Six out of ten."
"Six outta ten's pretty good," I said sounding impressed.
"Six out of ten is the record?" Gray asked, teasing Jared the way guys do.
"It's harder than you think," Jared said. "The bucket's tilted, and they pop right out if you don't hug the side of it just right. I'll bet you couldn't hit two out of ten," he added, challenging Gray.
Jared was a clown and loved to put people on the spot, so this was totally normal behavior for him. I knew Gray could handle it, so I didn't feel the need to step in.
Gray glanced at me but pointed at Jared. "Is he challenging me right now?" he asked in a perplexed tone, teasing Jared back. "Doesn't he know I was born and bred in the cornfields of Illinois?"
I bit my lip at his statement since I had been to his house and there wasn't a single cornfield in sight.
"Aww, son!" Jared exclaimed. He reached out and turned us both by the shoulders, patting us over and over as a way of herding us to the game. "This is going to be so good! Let's see what this corn fed boy is capable of!"
Gray glanced at me as we continued to walk. He made a regretful expression that I thought might be about the show at first, but then I realized wasn't. "I'm sorry that I have to come over here and embarrass your friend on my first try," Gray said, causing Jared and me both to crack up.
It took us a minute to stand in line and get situated for the challenge. The boys had exchanged several hilarious rounds of smack talking while we were waiting, and Jared had caused enough of a scene that a few of his friends came to watch the action.
"Tell them I have the record," Jared said once we had the attention of the game attendant, a guy from our church named Carl.
Carl shrugged. "You lost that a long time ago when Sherry Thompson got seven."
"Sherry Thompson?" Jared said with a dumbfounded look on his face. "You mean a girl?"
"Do you think a girl can't toss a corncob into a bucket?" I said.
"Not with the kind of finesse it takes to hug the edge of it like that," Jared said.
"I got a lot more finesse than you, son," I said to Jared in the same way he would say it to someone else.
"Sherry Thompson sure did do it seven times out of ten," Carl said, handing us a sack full of corncobs. "I stood right here and watched her myself."
He pointed at the chalkboard that was leaning against a bale of hay nearby. Someone had written her name, Sherry Thompson, and under it was a huge number 7.
"You probably put some extra corncobs in her bag," Jared said.
"Nu-uh," Carl said. "I check every bag myself. Ten corncobs for each contestant—no more, no less."
"She probably stood up there where the kids stand," Jared said.
We all knew he was only kidding around, so we just smiled and rolled our eyes at him.
Gray got up to the line with his bag, which contained ten corncobs—no more, no less.
He missed the first two.
He was close, but he missed.
And then, as if by magic, he started to find his rhythm, and the next five found their home at the bottom of the bucket. I cheered triumphantly for each one, pointing at Jared and teasing him relentlessly as we watched Gray land shot after shot.
Gray miraculously roped a sixth shot—tying Jared.
He had made six in a row and still head two left in the bag. Sherry Thompson was going down, and we all knew it. Jared was dramatic and amazed each time as if he couldn't believe his eyes.
Number eight was a failure. It wasn't that it bounced in and out like numbers one and two had, it just straight up missed the bucket completely like Gray had thrown it with his eyes closed.
Gray shook his head, looking disappointed with himself, and then took a deep breath, aiming with all his might before letting the last one fly. It hit the rim of the bucket but landed on the ground nearby.
I threw my hands up, letting out a long, "Awwwww!" at how very close it was.
I took a turn, landing three out of ten, but still talking myself up, like I could've done better if I hadn't had a cold. I was actually proud of myself for getting that many because it was extremely difficult to make them stay in the bucket.
Jared and his friends took off to go get something to eat, and the first thing I said to Gray was, "You missed those on purpose."
He smiled. "Not the first two."
"But the last two," I said.
He smiled and bumped me with his shoulder in a way that let me know it was probably true. I didn't know if he did it for Jared's sake or for the sake of Sherry Thompson, but either way it made me proud of him.
"What'd they say?" I asked, still feeling so curious about his meeting with the producers. "Are they switching up the characters?"
We had begun walking towards the goldfish game where I knew I would find Shelby and my parents. Gray didn't answer me right away so I turned and glanced at him as we walked.
He shook his head. "No, they're not," he said.
He didn't seem disappointed at all when he said those words, so I stopped walking and stared at him, wondering if I could have possibly heard him correctly. After the way Bill was so friendly and focused on having me on the show, I was almost certain they were going to make it work.
"Did you say they're not?" I asked.
Gray nodded. "Bill was into it, and so was my brother really, but the network wasn't onboard with making changes like that at the last minute. It would set them back quite a bit, and they couldn't justify doing that when they had other people lined up to play the parts."
My heart dropped. I felt terrible, like I had ruined some kind of opportunity for Gray. It was embarrassing, honestly.
"Are you kidding me right now?" I asked, smiling.
He shook his head. "No. They would've had to make some major script changes to do the girlfriend swap, so they just chose to keep it like it is."
"I got one! Mama look, I got one!"
I felt like I was moving in slow motion as I turned and saw Shelby coming toward me. She was carrying a little plastic bag that was full of water. Inside was a little black goldfish, being tossed about as she jogged. I almost wished I could hop in that bag with him.
I glanced behind her and saw that Mom and Dad were talking to Max and Betty. Mom waved at me once she saw that I had charge of Shelby.
I focused again on my daughter who thrust the bag into the air proudly so I could inspect her winnings.
"Hold it careful," I said, stooping to look at her prize.
Gray stooped down next to me. "Rainbow Bright won a fish?" he asked. He glanced at me with a stunned expression like he doubted himself and wondered if he named the right character, but I smiled, letting him know he was correct, and he went back to grinning at Shelby.
"Hey mistew Gway, it's me, Shelby."
"Oh hey, Shelby!"
"I'm just dwessed up."
"I see that. I thought you were Rainbow Bright."
"And my mom's a cat."
"I know, I barely recognized either of you."
"When did you come ovew? I got a goldfish, see? We had to twy to make the ball in the cup like fifty-hundwed times befowe we won it. His name is Midnight. See his fins?"
Gray put his hand on the bag to steady it and inspected the goldfish. "This is a really nice fish," Gray said. "I think you got the best one. Do you have an aquarium for him?"
Shelby nodded. "Uncle Max and Aunt Betty have a bowl with wocks and even a castle fow him. They said they used to have a fish in it, but it died, so all they have is a bowl. Then Midnight can live in my woom once I get that bowl fow him." Shelby paused and blinked at me. "Wemembew that book, Fish Out of Watew, whewe a boy fed his fish to much, and it had to go live in a swimming pool?" she asked, looking a little reluctant.
I nodded since I had read her that book at least twenty times and clearly remembered it.
"I don't want to feed Midnight that much," Shelby said. "Whewe we have to call the fiweman."
"We won't," I assured her.
I was acting calm like everything was normal, but inside there was a storm raging with my emotions. I honestly thought that the directors would make the changes and I would be making plans to move to Chicago and be a big television star. I felt so thrown-off and rejected that that the changes weren't going to happen, and yet Gray was still standing there acting like everything was fine. I couldn't wait to finish our conversation, but I would have to because Mom and Dad had finished with Max and Betty and were now on their way to join us.
"She finally got a goldfish!" my dad announced as they walked up.
"Mr. and Mrs. Bishop," Gray said, shaking Dad's hand with a smile.
"Michael and Ivy," my mom said, skipping the handshake and coming straight in for the hug. "It's great to see you, Gray. I thought you weren't going to be able to make it tonight."
Mom knew how fond I was of Gray and how much we had been in touch, so it didn't surprise me that she grinned and greeted him as if he was an old friend.
"I didn't think I'd be a able to be here, but I made it," Gray said. He looked down at Shelby, who had been inspecting her goldfish. She glanced at him and he stretched out his hands, asking her if she wanted to be held. She smiled and raised her arms, and Gray reached down and picked her up, adjusting her on his side. I couldn't help but notice that my mom and dad watched this maneuver with great interest. I was preoccupied with my own thoughts, but I still noticed.
"Did you hear anything about the television show?" Mom asked.
"He hasn't even gotten to talk to me about it yet," I said, quickly. "Jared made him go over there and play the corncob toss. He said he would tell me about it later when there wasn't so much going on. Can you believe you finally got a new pet?" I added with a bright smile aimed at Shelby. "What'd you say his name was?"
"Midnight," she said confidently.
"Max and Betty are headed home now," Mom said. "They said you could stop by anytime and pick up that fishbowl. They'll be home."
"And it comes with wainbow wocks and a castle!"
"Rainbow rocks and a castle?" Gray said, sounding amazed. "Sounds like Midnight's gonna have a fishy mansion compared to this house he's in now."
Shelby giggled, staring at the fish who was just sitting motionless in the small plastic bag.
"I guess we'll go ahead and head out," I said. "Since Midnight needs to get his new house and everything."
"Aw, are you sure? Gray just got here. He might want to eat some chili or something."
I shook my head and hugged her goodbye. "Nah, we'll grab a bowl for the road if he's hungry, but I'm ready to head home—especially if we have to stop by Max and Betty's."
Mom looked at me as if trying to gauge something. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked.
I nodded and put on my best smile even though I was anxious to get home. "I was gonna head home soon, anyway."
"Yeah, we better get this little guy into his new house," Gray said, staring into the bag.
We spent the next ten minutes telling my parents goodbye and making our way to the car.
Gray followed us to Max & Betty's house to get the fishbowl. Sure enough, they had a small aquarium, complete with rainbow rocks and a castle. There was even a bottle of some sort of chemical that we were supposed to use treat the water.
Gray didn't even bother going to his apartment when we got home; he just came straight inside with Shelby and me, saying that he could help us get Midnight situated.
We had just put the goldfish in his new tank when I excused myself to go to the restroom. I had been so preoccupied with everything that was going on that I completely forgot I was dressed like a cat. Sure, it was just a headband with a painted-on nose and whiskers, but it was too playful for my mood. I took off my tail and ears before using a warm washcloth to wipe away the eyeliner that was on my nose and cheeks.
I stared at myself in the mirror feeling like I wanted to cry. I knew Gray and I would save the conversation about the show until after Shelby had gone to bed, but I was dreading it already. I took a deep breath, and tried on a smile before heading out there to join them again.