"This is all your fault, director's pet. This is a play. I'm not falling in love with you, and I would never ever go out with you, Jack Garrison."
Jack and Shayna can't get through a rehearsal without fighting.
Cheerleader Shayna loathes perfect Ja...
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Everyone was heading out of the theater to get ready for the bonfire. I was expected to be there since I was a cheerleader. I just didn't feel like cheering tonight, though.
There was something empty and cold inside me. I didn't know if it was stress or grief, but I suspected it was loneliness.
I had surrounded myself with people who liked me but never invested themselves in friendship. Here at the theater, people tried to be real friends, but the rest of the students would all just be acting at the bonfire.
Life was funny that way. I could be surrounded by people in a crowd and still be alone. Once this production was over, I'd be all alone again with my adoring fans and fake friends who couldn't be bothered to know the real me.
I stood in the middle of the stage, looking at all the empty chairs in the audience. We wouldn't be performing here. The festival would be in a larger city to the north.
I'd have to pretend that I was here. That was all acting really was. Pretending wasn't always bad, though. It could give you strength when you had none and courage when you lacked the strength to stand on your own two feet.
The production was going to be excellent. Now, all the pressure was on me, Jack, and Samantha to perform our scene well enough to be invited to perform the whole show in the second round.
I pulled out my phone to make sure there weren't any messages. Unfortunately, there was a missed call from my father and a few texts from Parker.
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Responding to Parker first was the easiest. Then, my finger hovered over the call-back button for my father. I didn't want to talk to him, but I needed to try. I was an actress and could do this.
I jammed the green call button before I could come up with another excuse. Ignoring the sinking feeling in my stomach, I waited in anticipation as the number dialed out.
"Hello," came the familiar voice on the other end of the line.
"Hi, Dad," I said.
"Shayna, peanut," he said. "I'm excited to see your play tomorrow. Parker said you are doing Shakespeare. You were always so good at acting when you were a kid."
