Miss Jefferson

Chapter 13

Two or Three Weeks Later

Time sped by, and Daveed's vacation grew ever closer.

Anthony was let out of the hospital, and Andrew was relieved of understudy duty, though Anthony had to perform the part in a boot.

After Christmas, things escalated between Oak and I.

In public, he took my hand and touched me with a little more ease. He spoke to me often, whether through text messages or in person.

Steadily growing, I wondered if our relationship would spiral into a legitimate dating relationship.

It seemed that way for a long time. It seemed so close and so probable. It made so much sense.

Until I got that text message.

Oak

«I don't think we should see each other anymore.»

I blinked and shut my phone off, positive that I'd misread something.

When I checked the message again, I saw that I hadn't.

«What? What do you mean?»

«I mean I think we shouldn't go out anymore.»

«This is crazy out of the blue. Do you want to talk about it?»

«No.»

«Oak?»
«Okieriete.»

No answer.

I checked the time, seeing that I had to go to rehearsal, forcing me to give up the conversation.

Beyond confused, I slipped my phone into my pocket and grabbed my backpack.

Glancing out the window and seeing rain, I looked around for a jacket.

The first one my eyes landed on was his.

I took a deep breath and left it sitting there, grabbing a Hamilton sweatshirt instead.

The sweatshirt had been a Christmas gift from Daveed. It was gray, and said 'Miss Jefferson' on the front, and 'What'd I Miss?' on the back. He'd had to have someone custom make it, and I would forever love it.

I caught the bus to the theater, praying I'd get there early enough to search the place for Oak.

I did.

I walked in through the back door and down to the ensemble dressing room to drop my backpack off. I then walked through the hallways to get to the stage.

When I entered upstage right, Oak was the first face I saw.

He and a bunch of the cast were gathered in upstage center, around a girl.

She was tall, which I soon noticed was because of the high heels. She had bleach blonde hair and bright pink lipstick, complimenting a flowery blouse and jeans.

I tilted my head in confusion, finding Oak's gaze. But he refused to hold eye contact with me. His eyes grew cold and he looked away.

"I see you like the sweatshirt!" Daveed's voice said from behind me.

I glanced at him. "Yeah, yeah I love it."

"Great!" His smile faded. "You okay?"

"Yeah, sorry, um—" I gestured to the crowd. "Who's she?"

He looked over at the rest of them, before his eyes grew wide. "Oh, no. I should've called you."

"What?"

"She came early-ish this morning, about thirty minutes after I got here, and everyone else was starting to get here."

"Who is she?"

He met my eyes, and I saw genuine pain behind them. "Oak introduced her as his girlfriend."