Double Dare // Sky Flaherty

Chapter Two

When my alarm wakes me, I find Olivia already up and ready to go. "We're leaving in twenty minutes," she tells me, typing out a text to someone. I get up, take a quick shower, and finish getting ready just in time. Olivia and I go back to the car and she begins the drive to the Pantages Theater.

"What's the cast like?" I ask curiously. If they're anything like the touring cast, this is going to be an insane few weeks.

Olivia lets out a laugh. "Crazy. There are tons of them, but they're all really fun. Who are you most excited to meet?"

Jeremy Jordan is my first thought. I've been a fan of Newsies since before Olivia became the stage manager for the tour, and Jack Kelly was always my favorite newsie. We share a name. "I don't really know," I answer cooly, shrugging. "I'm excited to meet them all."

My sister sees right through my attempt at staying nonchalant. "Right," she says slowly, grinning. "I know some of the boys from the tour are excited to meet you."

"I'm excited to meet them, too," I say, smiling happily. Before long, we arrive at the theater. My excitement grows as I step inside.

"I have to go take care of some things for rehearsal, but if you want to, you can go watch from the audience. I'll introduce you during a break or something." Olivia smiles, gives me a wave, and hurries off to do her job.

I wander around the lobby for a few minutes before finally going to take a seat in the audience. A large group of boys are on stage, running through their dance routine for Seize the Day. I watch them run through the dance, recognizing almost every single cast member. It's crazy to see members of both the original cast and the touring cast on stage at the same time. It's definitely a different dynamic. Whoever is directing them stops the dance to give the boys some pointers. By now, a few of them have noticed me sitting in the audience. The person in charge tells them to take a break. As most of them grab their water bottles, one of the boys heads in my direction.

"Hi!" He calls, smiling as he approaches me. "You're Olivia's sister, right? I'm Josh."

"I know," I answer, smiling. "I mean, it's nice to meet you. I'm Jaqueline, but everyone just calls me Jack."

"It's nice to finally meet you, too," Josh says, shaking my hand. He glances back on stage, waving two more people over. I don't recognize one of them: a redheaded girl. She gives him a gesture for him to wait a moment, but the other person walks over to us.

As he gets closer, I recognize him as Sky Flaherty, another toursie. "Who's this?" Sky asks curiously as he joins our little group.

"I'm Jack Townsend," I introduce myself. "Olivia's sister."

Sky grins. "Jack?" He questions curiously.

"Short for Jacqueline," I explain quickly. "And you're Sky Flaherty. Nice to meet you."

Sky turns to Josh. "She knows who I am," he says, impressed. "Jacqueline is a really pretty name. It suits you."

I raise an eyebrow. "Are you flirting with me?"

Sky shrugs, smiling. "Maybe." I roll my eyes, glancing at Josh, who suddenly looks uncomfortable.

"Right," Josh says slowly, turning as the redhead girl joins us. "Jack, this is Indiana. She runs the social media accounts for our show."

"Nice to meet you." Indiana nods, shaking my hand. "You look almost exactly like Olivia," she points out.

"So I've heard," I say with a light laugh. It doesn't seem real that I'm meeting cast and crew members. I've dreamed about this day for years, since I first got into Newsies.

Josh glances back at the stage as the boys begin to regroup. "We need to get back to rehearsal." They say goodbye and walk back to the stage.

Sky turns around once he's about ten feet away. "Oh, Jack, we're planning on getting pizza after rehearsal. We'd love for you to join us."

I smile and nod. "I think I can make it."

He grins. "Great. I can't wait."

At that moment, Olivia finds me. "Hey, Jack, let me introduce you to some of the cast and crew." She steers me backstage, intent on introducing me to every single person working on this production.

~~~~~
I'm really excited for this book :) how are you liking it so far (even though it just started)?
thanks for reading!