TLC the Musical

Stressed Out

It had been three days since anyone had seen Scarlet, and people were beginning to lose it. Especially Wolf, which was odd to Cress. He was usually emotionless and stiff. But now that Scarlet was no where to be seen, it was like he was a machine on the fritz. He couldn't control himself at all, even around his friends.

Sure, Cress was worried. Scarlet was one of her best friends. And it wasn't like her at all to go a-wall without telling anyone where she's be.

Worst of all, Levana was trying to use Scarlet's absence to become Little Red Riding hood in the play, and tried to convince the director to make Kai her Good Wolf.

"I bet she's ditching," Levana accused. "She's going to ruin the play before it even starts! The best option would be to find her a replacement ... preferably someone with acting talents and a strong vocal range."

Kai puffed and mumbled to himself, "You mean like Cinder?"

To bad everyone heard him and turned to stare. Cinder only gave him a quizzical look while Levana glared at him, aghast. The "Prince of Theater" however was blushing and rubbing the back of his neck. Clearly, he hadn't meant for anyone to hear him.

"No one is replacing Scarlet," the director finished. "And Kaito is staying the role of Cinderella's prince. Just like you, Ms. Blackburn, will continue to be The Evil Queen in Snow White's story. Now ... back to rehearsal!"

So, that was the end of that group meeting. Just a second after it ended, Cinder started walking over to Cress, and Kai tried to catch her. Clearly, he wanted to clarify what he meant, and Cinder didn't care about it and had already forgotten the comment. Soon, he just stopped in his tracks and walked away.

How obvious can you be with your crush and they still have no clue?

"Cress, have you heard from Scarlet?" Cinder asked, concerned. Cress shook her head. It was getting a little odd that she wasn't here. "I'm gonna call her grandmother and ask if she's sick."

That was already wrong. Somehow, Scarlet never got sick. Not once in her life did she have to call into the school and take an absence day. No matter how much she hated it, she came to school everyday it was there. It was unlikely that she'd start getting sick now.

Cress sat in her seat and read over her script. She still thought it was kind of sexist – how Rapunzel was weak, needy, and very dependent on the prince that comes to save her. It's not till the end that she realizes she's not a lost puppy and can do things for herself.

From behind her, something tapped on her shoulder. Her frame tensed and she looked around to see who it was.

"Hey Damsel," Thorne smiled with his signature grin. Her wore blacked out sunglasses right now. But before he liked to joke around with a bandanna around his head. That was until one of the school staff called him out for dress code violation. He held his cane in one hand and his backpack by one of the straps. He dropped it on one of the seats and walked into the aisle to sit next to her.

How he was so adjusted to being blind already confused her. Sure, he was getting out of more than half of his classes and just about all of his homework because "his vision was compromised and prevented him from functioning at a more capacity" as he put it.

"I forgot my script again, can I look on with you?"

Her brows scrunched. "Ummmm ... how can you look on with me?" she asked in her now usual quiet voice.

He groaned. "You know what I mean." She couldn't help but hum a little laugh. "Don't laugh. This is a very serious matter," he had to say in a Mr. Monopoly voice. Which only poked her to laugh a bit louder.