Olive's POV
Caitlin was watching me while Izzy went grocery shopping.
"You're still going to do Spelling Bee right? Don't you have your first rehearsal tomorrow?"
"I don't think so." I say quietly.
She slid a grilled cheese sandwich and some cucumber (as per the diet requested for days I was doing better) onto my plate and filled a glass with water. "Liv, I think it would be good for you. You may not like performing like me or Izzy, but it will help you break out of your shell, maybe meet some friends." She drummed her fingers on the counter and hummed.
I picked up a cucumber piece. "Okay." I sighed.
The next day, Caitlin and Beth dropped me off at the theatre. I was really grateful for the cast. They were all really supportive about my new diet, and anything else.
Caitlin had sent an email to the director saying that because of my new diet, the doctors said that I have to have a parent around for all of my activities in case something happens. Which is true, but made it more nerve racking.
Beth waved to us. "Break a leg starshine." She waved to us, then pulled out of the parking lot.
Caitlin promised to hang out in the hallway, unless I needed her.
"Mom I'm scared." I whisper.
"It's okay honey. I'll be right here if you need me." She gave me a smile and gestured to the door.
"Oh Olive! You're here!" It was Ms. Amy. "We heard about what happened, the cast made you a card."
A girl with pink, purple, and blue streaked hair smiled at me. "Hi, I'm Denise! I'm going to be Marcy." She smiled at me, showing her braces.
"I'm Olive." I said shyly.
"I know. I like how your name is your character's name." Denise said in reply.
"Hey I'm Paisley." Paisley was a year older than me, but was small. "I'm going to be Logainne." She smiled at me.
Then a girl came in with a scowl on her face. "You must the be girl who took the role I wanted." She said, crossing her arms. "I'm Melissa Jones. Your understudy." She glared at me. "And ensemble."
"Wait, Jones as in the Jones twins? The twin girls who dropped out of high school to enter the fashion business because their arts careers didn't work out, but they failed?" Paisley asked.
"Yup. They were always the disappointments." Melissa said. "Marissa and Clarissa failed at life, and now my parents think they're disgraces. And so do I."
"Mari and Clarissa? They were my sister's high school bullies." I said quietly.
"How ironic. Consider me your bully." She threw her head back and laughed, before turning on her heel and sitting down.
I ran out of the rehearsal area. "Mom." I said.
"Olive, what's wrong?"
"I have stage fright. Massive stage fright. Please don't make me do this."
"Okay Liv, let's go tell your director."
"Hahahaha looks like Olive needed her mommy!" Melissa taunted as Caitlin talked to Ms Amy.
"Okay everybody, Olive is being pulled out of the show, for medical reasons. So taking her place as Olive will be our current Marcy, Denise. Our current Logainne, Paisley will take her place as Marcy, and Melissa will become Logainne."
Melissa was outraged, and I couldn't help but bite back a laugh. I exchanged numbers with Paisley and Denise, promising to come see the show, and Caitlin and I left.
We got on the subway and went to the theatre.
"I'm sorry I couldn't do the show."
"Hey Liv, to quote Dee Dee Allen, it's not about me, except this time it's actually not. Don't worry. What do you like to do?"
"Well my friend Tessa from the hospital, was talking about this art showcase competition thing. I was wondering if I could enter one of my charcoal drawings?"
"What showcase?"
"The New York Arts Showcase for Children." I said in reply.
"Of course. I'll enter you in during intermission. Work on that drawing of yours."
I was don't worry about it.
Bianca and Angie were back. "This is Isa, my girlfriend." Bianca told me when I saw someone unfamiliar in their dressing room.
"It's nice to meet you." I said politely. "I just came to get my sketchbook. It should be in my bag."
It was Brooks' idea for me to keep a bag at the theatre, in case I left anything here, or was going home with another cast member. It was way easier.
"Oh yeah, I put it over there Olive." Angie said, pointing to the chair near the corner before turning back to her hair.
I fished around and found my pencil case and the large sketchbook with the smooth blue leather cover my aunt gave me before she died. The first few pages were her drawings, she'd left it to me in her will, but the others were mine.
There was Cat and Red's wedding present, a picture of them in the iconic pose at the end of It's Time to Dance. There was one of my Mom and Dad. In the beginning there were endless pages of unicorns and mermaids, but it was a large book, and there was still plenty of room for other drawings.
I flipped through, pausing at each drawing to admire it, hoping for inspiration for my showcase piece.
I kept coming back to Cat and Red's picture.
I flipped to an empty page, and using a regular pencil to outline two girls. One of them had a sundress on, and the other wore shorts and a tank top. For the one in the sundress, I drew tight bouncy curls. The one in the tank top had a messy bun.
They were laying in the grass, their faces turned towards each other. You couldn't see much of their legs, but I imagined the one in the tank top to wear high topper converse, and the one in the sundress to wear pretty sandals.
"Hey Livvy." I looked up.
Izzy was standing in Caitlin's dressing room.
"Hi Momma."
"It's intermission." She said. "You haven't looked up for an hour. You must be focused there."
"Did Mom tell you?" I asked, slowly wedging my pencil in between the pages.
"Yeah, she told me. We all support you no matter what okay? If you don't want to be onstage you don't have to be. Everyone here is still gonna love you." She kissed my forehead. "Did you eat something today? After rehearsal?"
"Not yet." I replied. I wasn't that hungry. "I have been drinking water, but I'm not very hungry."
"Okay hon. Beth is going to bring you a snack soon. I'd better get changed."
"Bye Momma." I gave her a hug and opened my sketchbook again.
"Hey starshine. I have some popcorn." Beth stepped in.
"Hi Auntie Beth." I said, not looking up.
"Auntie Beth?" She asked.
I looked up. "Is that okay?" I asked quietly.
"Of course starshine. I'd better get ready to go onstage, but make sure to listen in tonight okay?" She turned the thingy on the wall and I heard the quiet chatter of the audience during intermission.
"Auntie Beth, why do you call me starshine?" I asked suddenly.
"Because, you're a star and you're going to shine doing whatever it is. Plus, I thought it was cute!" She winked.
I ate a little popcorn, and then worked on the sketch some more.
I heard Izzy start singing, and smiled during Alyssa Greene. I don't think I ever actually officially saw the show, but I knew it pretty well at this point.
Something about this new chapter of my life felt oddly stable. Even if I was sitting in a dressing room waiting for the show to be over.
It sounded like It's Time to Dance was almost over, because I heard "I just wanna dance with you" multiple times, followed by a ton of cheering.
They probably bowed.
"Hi everybody!" It was Izzy. "We'd just like to say, that everybody has been really supportive during the ensemble cast change. But we have some news. The cast is changing yet again! We have an amazing group of people taking over our roles."
Caitlin added something. "Yes, starting soon, I will no longer be Emma, instead we have the lovely Maisy Rose, who's in the ensemble taking over the role of Emma. And the lovely Angel Macasaet-Pauly is taking over the role of Alyssa."
They said more, but it was all drowned out. What?
A minute later everybody came in. They started getting ready to stagedoor.
"Hey Mom?" I said, entering her dressing room.
"Yeah Livvy."
"You're leaving the show?"
"It'll be okay. Don't worry." She smiled at me, and removed her makeup.
Okay then.