Together

Good News

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a nice day. I'm absolutely exhausted, oh my goodness. This is a fun little chapter, so I hope that you all enjoy it, and don't forget to comment/vote!
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October 3, 2025

Harper

"Alright everybody, let's just run through the vocals for 'Paris Holds The Key' one more time, and then, you can all go," William tells us. We all breath a silent sigh of relief. The first week of rehearsals for Anastasia have been amazing, but they have also been incredibly tiring. The only thing that's been getting me through today is my dinner date with Nessa and Katherine. We haven't seen each other for over a month- and I have so much to tell them.

'Paris' isn't a vocal heavy number for me, personally, so it's quite an easy run-through. I know that there's going to be a lot of dancing, and our dance captain and I are probably going to become best friends, since I'm going to need so much help on this number. That's a problem that we are going to deal with next week, though.

"That's coming along nicely," William comments. "Have a good weekend, everybody. I'll see you all on Monday, bright and early, and ready to start blocking this show. Please look over your lines and music over the weekend. You're dismissed."

"Thank you," we all chorus before we all start grabbing our belongings. I shove my binder into my backpack and throw on my coat before waving goodbye to my friends and heading out of the rehearsal studio. Before exiting the building, I slip into the restroom and change into some clothes for dinner. Katherine made reservations at some fancy restaurant, so I've got to look nicer than my jeans and long-sleeved tee shirt from rehearsal.

After pulling on a maroon-couloured dress, black tights, and ankle boots, I hop onto the tube and make it to the restaurant where I'm set to meet my friends. It seems as though I'm the first one here, so I just sit down where the waitress instructs me to and read the menu. While I'm doing so, I fiddle with the ring on my finger, symbolizing my love for Patrick. It's all so surreal. I'm actually engaged. Sure, I'm still quite young, but it just feels so right. I've never felt more sure about anything in my whole life than I do about my love for Patrick.

When I see Katherine walking in, I quickly pull my hand off of the table and place it in my lap. I want to be able to tell her and Nessa about my engagement together.

"Hey," she smiles, sitting down. "Nessa will be here in a minute. Something about getting on the wrong train."

I laugh. "And she's lived in London for how long now?"

"Just between you and me," Katherine laughs, "she's flirting with this guy, and I think that she was just busy with him. They're not an 'official thing' yet, though, and I'm sure she will make that very clear to you. I called him her boyfriend the other night, and she got so freaked out that she hid my pointe shoes."

"Ooooh," I snicker. "Well, I want to hear all of the details on that one."

"I'm sure you will, but just... act surprised when she tells you, alright?"

"Will do," I laugh. "How was your rehearsal today?"

"It was pretty good," she shrugs.

"Is the Sugar Plum Fairy everything that you ever dreamed of?"

"It's my Cosette," she tells me. "Seriously, I still can't believe it."

"Well, believe it," I reply. "You worked so hard for that role, and I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks, girl."

Katherine and I catch up for a few more minutes, until Nessa comes in. "Hey!" I exclaim as she sits down. "Where were you?"

"I told Kath to tell you. I messed up on the tube."

"Okay," I laugh.

The three of us decide on our meals quickly, then place our orders.

"So..." I begin, after all of our orders have been sent back to the kitchen, "I have some news for you guys."

"What?" Nessa squeals.

"Well, there's good news, and then, there's even better news..."

"Come on," Kath urges, "just spill it!"

"Okay, first of all, I got Anya!"

"Oh my god!" Nessa exclaims, loud enough to get some glares from people sitting around us. "Harper, I'm so proud of you."

"That's super exciting," Kath agrees. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks," I smile. "I hope that you guys will think about coming to see me... I open November 3rd."

"We will be there," Kath assures me. "I'll make sure that I get the night off from rehearsal."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Nessa nods.

"You guys are the best," I tell them.

"What's the other news?" Nessa asks.

With a giant smile creeping on my face, I silently pull my left hand out of my lap and place it on the table, wiggling my fingers a little bit.

"No!" Katherine gasps. "Harper, are you saying what I think you are?"

"We're engaged!" I exclaim, causing all three of us to let out a squeal.

"When's the wedding?" Nessa asks.

"I don't know yet. We haven't talked about it."

"It's a gorgeous ring, Harper," Katherine comments. "Congratulations."

"Thank you so much," I smile. "Now the two of you need boyfriends so that we can all go on triple dates."

"Oh, do you not know?" Nessa snickers. "There's this dude that Kath met in ballet, and they're now madly in love."

"I wouldn't quite say that," Kath rolls her eyes. "James and I have barely been dating for two weeks, Ness."

"That's all the time it takes when it's true love. Have you never seen Frozen?"

I eye Nessa suspiciously. "Have you never seen Frozen? The whole point of that entire movie is that Anna thinks she's in love, but then he's tricking her-" I cut myself off abruptly. "Not that James is doing that to you, Katherine. I'm sure that he's a wonderful guy."

"I still think we should have a squad threatening session with him," Nessa says.

"Perfect, how's Sunday?" I ask. "Y'all don't have rehearsal then, right?" I turn to Katherine.

"I mean, no, but-"

"Perfect," Nessa states. "Get this kid to the flat at 10:00 AM sharp, and Harper and I will be ready for him."

"Oh my god," Kath laughs. "What am I supposed to tell him? 'Hey, James, my friends want to threaten you, so you've got to come over?'"

"Try, 'Hey, James, I want you to meet my friends Nessa and Harper. They're really cool, and nice, and pretty, and funny, and-'"

"Okay Nessa, don't toot your own horn," I giggle.

I realize as I'm laughing just how much I missed my amazing friends. We went for way too long without seeing each other.

For the rest of the evening, we talk and laugh, catching up on every detail of each other's lives.

"We should totally have a sleepover sometime," I tell them, once we are ready to part. "I'll kick Patrick out and we can have my flat to ourselves."

"That would be so much fun!" Nessa exclaims.

"Maybe on... like, a Saturday night into Sunday, after we have both opened our shows," Kath suggests.

"That sounds perfect. I'll text you guys, okay?"

"Okay," they smile. We exchange our goodbyes and then, part our ways, as I have to get a different train than they do, in order to make it home.