˚* ੈ✩‧₊ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒕 ⋆ 𝒇𝒊𝒏

twenty-six

the christmas musical was now in full swing. the cast list was up, and everyone was ready to rehearse. everyone who auditioned was lined up to see who they were cast as. autumn was in the back of the line, but could hear the squeals of girls ahead. billy had been the first one there, secretly being the most eager. the group disperses, allowing autumn and cole to move forwards. "i'm hoping you get a good part, autumn." cole says hopefully, a smile on his face. he was happy, as he already knew what his position was. autumn closes her eyes and sighs, walking towards the board hung on the wall. she opened her eyes and read.

josie pye- the boy
billy andrews- winter owl, set
diana barry- the fairy queen

autumn swallows hard but continued to read.

mr. philips- prince
mr. lynde- devil lobster
anne shirley cuthbert- tree
ruby gillis- fairy one
jane andrews- fairy two
tillie boulter- fairy three
autumn winters- tree, set
charlie sloane- tree
moody spurgeon macpherson- tree
cole mackenzie- set
gilbert blythe- set
kyle baker- set
jeffrey miles- set

her heart sinks. of course she didn't get the part. autumn turns around to face her friend, embarrassed. "what is it?" cole asks, pulling together his brows in confusion. she shakes her head and walks away, the boy following. "autumn, come one. at least you get to work with me! i think they just know you're talents and what your strong at. i'm sure you'll be helping me paint the set." he frowns, showing sympathy for his friend. autumn shakes her head, closing her eyes and sighing. "what's diana's talent other than piano, cole? being beautiful? you know damn well why i wasn't cast as the fairy queen." she says, sitting on the stage. cole shrugs sadly before following her actions. they look around the room. everyone was socializing in their own groups, laughing and smiling. "cole, why do you think i wasn't chosen?" autumn asks, breaking their silence. the boy thinks for a while, clearing his throat. "perhaps you were just too good for the show, and they knew that and didn't want you to outshine everyone else." he shrugs, looking at the girl with a goofy look. she giggles, rolling her eyes.

billy missed the sound of her laugh. he hadn't heard it in such a long time and the feeling it gave her calmed him. he was happy with his role, and worked away happily on a piece of wood. "come on," he hears cole say, "let's get to work." the two get up from their seats and walk towards one end of the wall. cole climbed up a ladder to work on the top have of the art piece, leaving autumn to work on the bottom. she hummed as she dipped her paintbrush into the blue on her palette before coloring in a bird. she was crouched on the ground, filling in each and every detail of the little bird. "hey there, freak." a voice says from behind her. autumn recognized the voice. "what do you want, kyle baker." she says, washing off her paintbrush before dipping it into a new color. she can feel him and jeff shift behind her. "i'm just waiting for the treatment jeffrey here got the other day." he chuckles, folding his arms. autumn rolls her eyes as she paints in a yellow flower, "what do you mean, baker?" she can hear and feel the boys shift and look at each other. she stands up to face them, her paint palette and paintbrush in each hand. kyle's eyes meet autumn's. "y-you know..." he stutters. "give it up." he moves closer slowly. now autumn knew what he meant. "kyle baker!" mrs. lynde yells for the boy. he turns around quickly to see her pointing him and jeff back to their work station with billy.

autumn sighs as she takes a look at the hardworking boy, who was too focused to notice her. she turns back around to continue her work. not long after, she hears the boys snickering from their station. she turns her head slightly, just enough for her to see them looking and pointing at her and cole from the corner of her eye. suddenly, billy turns to whisper to his friends before walking towards them with one of the planks he had been working on resting on his shoulder. the boy stands just below the stage, swinging the wooden plank around with every move he made. it was long enough to reach cole's ladder. suddenly he jerks to the left, hitting the ladder and causing it to wobble. all eyes are on both billy and the unsteady ladder cole was standing at the top of.

it crashes down with cole, landing inches away from autumn.

cole screams and holds his wrist in agony.

all eyes go to billy.

people are shouting, crowding around they boy and asking if he's alright. gilbert says that his wrist is broken.

"it was an accident, i swear!"

(if you couldn't tell i got tired of adding photos oof)
-sof