A Bittersweet Mystreet

{Chapter 24}

"I worked so hard" she sobbed, wiping her tears on the heart of her sleeve. "Why did this have to happen?"

===

"Garroth, Laurance, are you two finished fixing the curtains?" Katelyn questioned as she made her way up on the stage. The boys looked at her with sewing needles in hand.

"We're about halfway done with this side, so we should be done in around thirty minutes," Laurance responded, wanting to reassure their semi-stressed director. It did not assure her.

"Thirty minutes?" Katelyn asked exasperated, her eyes widening. "We don't have all day, we only have two hours left before people start to arrive, and I still want us to go through the play one more time before it's showtime. Why is it taking you guys so long to sew? It's one fluid motion-"

Katelyn had been in a mood since yesterday. Her nerves were constantly teetering over the edge but the only way people would know was due to her constant rambling whenever things didn't go exactly as planned. A perfect example would be when two boys who had little to no experience sewing were tasked to fix the length of a curtain in under thirty minutes and failed.

Usually, someone would go get Travis, Jeffory, or Nicole to calm her down, but they were too busy trying not to mess up their own tasks that Katelyn gave them.

Thankfully, someone else was able to change her mood.

The auditorium door swung open, and the sound of clicking heels quickly followed suit. Ginger hair swung smoothly along with the steps of the mischievous witch.

"Katelyn, don't tell me you're scaring people away from your play? The audience hasn't even arrived yet," Lucinda teased with a smirk as she carried a box underneath her arm. Flustered at her sudden appearance, Katelyn could only blush in anger.

"You're late!" Katelyn scolded, crossing her arms as she watched Lucinda make her way onto the stage.

Garroth and Laurance shared a look with one another, their jaws dropping.

"Lucinda!" the boys exclaimed, forgetting about the curtain as they stood up to meet her.

"What are you doing here?" Garroth asked.

Lucinda turned to them with a smile.

"Well, I came back from my trip a couple of days ago, and Katelyn asked me to help with some last-minute preparations," she explained before her eyes narrowed deviously. "Anyways, I heard the news about the cast list. I hope you guys aren't too devastated that Aaron is going to get that kiss from Aphmau instead of you two. I can't imagine how you guys must feel." The synthetic sympathy rolled off her tongue with ease.

Garroth rolled his eyes at her blatant jab.

"I'm not sure where you're getting your news from, but Laurance and I—"

"—Still have plenty of time before that kiss happens!" Laurance quickly interrupted his partner with a nervous laugh.

As the words left his mouth, time slowed to a halt. Cold air seeped into Laurance's body and drained the color on his face. Turning his head slowly to meet eyes with his partner. The partner whose annoyed expression at an old friend shifted when Laurance insinuated that they were still two cats chasing the same mouse. While Laurance didn't hesitate to finish Garroth's sentence, the idea of correcting himself wedged in his throat along with all the curses he was going to say for making such a stupid mistake. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! If he had actually decided to think before he spoke, maybe he would have finished Garroth's sentence the way it was supposed to. Instead, old habits die hard, so hard that maybe something else might die along with it.