By Tuesday of the third week of rehearsals, almost everyone has all their lines memorized. Mr. Harding's set up a big box by the door of their rehearsal room, frowning at everyone who doesn't drop their script in when they show up to rehearse.
Lara already has a huge headache forming when she walks into the theater on Wednesday morning, dropping her script into the box and then dropping herself and her cup of hot chocolate into the nearest seat. All the kids had been pardoned from school for the first half of the week, but that hadn't stopped Lara from getting Riley to drive her to school on Tuesday afternoon during their break to get all her missed work. Lara liked keeping on top of school work: it was the one thing she could waste hours on and getting it done meant she wouldn't need to worry as much about adults breathing down the back of her neck because of her grades. It also meant that she's never be forced to get her parents to go to the school to talk with her teachers and counsellor. There were many things Lara wanted in life, but taking a family trip to school would never be one of them.
Lara had been coerced into collecting the homework for the other kids at the theatre, and the work was piling up fast. The last three rehearsals had lasted all day. Lara had stayed up half the night trying to work her way through the accumulating homework and study her new lines. Lara's dad's car had broken down and he would be using her mom's car to get to a series of meeting in the city for a few weeks.
None of that really added up to a good equation for anybody.
Lara tried not to watch as everyone filed into the room: she'd almost been caught staring again the day before, and was determined not to let it happen again.
Chewing her nails between sips of her hot chocolate, Lara stared at her toes and thought about Annie. They talked on occasion, or ate lunch together with the school's theatre kids sometimes, but that had really been it for the past few years. Annie had been dragged to talk to Lara probably more due to the fact that Riley wanted to talk to everyone all the time than Annie wanting to talk to Lara herself.
And now Annie kept asking her questions. They were really random questions too (yesterday's had been What did you have for dessert? and Wait, what did you say your favorite sport was?). Annie had manage to hit two serious questions so far, and Lara had been saved both times by Riley or Flynn crashing in and interrupting them.
Lara's determined not to give Annie any more opportunities to interrogate her.
Pulling her sleeves down around her palms, Lara adjusts her bag and moves to get up when a heavy binder lands on her lap.
Lara exhales heavily, trying not to drop her drink, and looks up. Mr. Harding grins down at her. "I'm putting Riley in for you," he says. "Read your lines. You can get Flynn to help you with some of them. There's no hurry, but I'd like you to get started."
Lara sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose as she flips open her script. The day before Mr. Harding had decided to have Lara cover for the role of Nikki, after both Paige and Annie had come in sneezing on Monday's rehearsal. It was more a safety thing than a You go on whenever we want you to thing, but it still irked Lara. She was perfectly fine with playing Ella then spending the rest of the show with the ensemble. She wasn't as comfortable with the idea of playing Nikki: Nikki was more haunted than Ella. Sure, Ella was the character that killed herself, but Nikki had a more inherent darkness around her. Lara didn't think she could dredge up that kind of darkness for a full two hours without being permanently scarred afterwards.
That didn't stop Mr. Harding from calling Lara to do the opening number at the end of the rehearsal.
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On Thursday, Lara joins the other kids after school, piling into Flynn's car. It's a reasonably warm day out, but Lara is wearing one of her heavier sweaters anyway. It's not bothering her, but Annie had seen her trying to readjust it to stop it from itching her shoulder during Chemistry, and for the first time in her life, someone takes an interests in the reason behind Lara's never-ending closet of long-sleeved shirt and sweaters. Lara had narrowly avoided Annie at lunch, slipping into the orchestra room next to the theater. Annie had lost sight of her in the crowds, thinking that she'd gone into the auditorium to eat with the others, and as soon as the auditorium doors closed behind Annie, Lara was out of there, heading for the gym to find a place to eat. Annie had caught sight of Lara getting into Flynn's car, but Zachary had taken the last seat in the car and Annie had been forced into getting a ride with Riley.
Lara was back to being in the ensemble. She sings her song, does the choreography for the two number with all the teens, and then sits in a corner with the others to watch them finish going through the rest of the scenes.
She gets Riley to drive her home just before rehearsal ends. Her dad still isn't home from work, and her mom is shut in her room, watching some loud show, so Lara trudges up the stairs to her room, locking the door and dropping her school bag. Someone had left her window open, letting a warm breeze drift through the room. Lara treads to window, about to close it, when she sees Riley's car on the street, still parked outside her house.
Lara groans, glancing at the nearest clock. Panic fills her: her dad will be home any minute now, and the last thing she wants is for him to see Riley waiting outside for something or other. She leans out the window, waving frantically. Riley's on the phone, but she glances out the window and sees Lara. She waves back, ending her phone call and shouting, "Bye!". She puts her phone down, starting her car and driving off. Just in time: Lara looks down the street and sees her mom's car drive around the corner.
Lara slams her window shut, retreating to a corner of her room to finish up her homework. Her mom's TV stops its blaring as she finishes up her Geometry homework, starting on her maths. For a while there's the sound of raised voices echoing through the house. Lara finds her phone and starts playing Wicked in an attempt to drown it out. Her dad's angry footsteps pass her room and the door of his office slams.
She finishes her homework, checks her text messages: one from Mr. Harding, a reminder of tomorrow's schedule, one from Riley about homework, and one from her friend Ally, asking about rehearsals.
Her mom calls them for dinner. Lara waits by her door until her dad passes and is heading down the stairs, then follows after him. To her surprise, a whole pot of macaroni and cheese is resting on the dining table: her mom normally doesn't cook that much, meaning that between her parents Lara tends to be cheated out of second or third helpings. She finds a bowl, dishing herself enough macaroni to fill the dish, then starts eating. Her dad is searching in the fridge, probably for a can of beer, and her own mom is silent as she starts in on her food.
Dinner is always a quiet affair in the Grace household, unless they had family visiting. The only one who tends to talk is her dad, going on non-stop about the people he's being forced to work with, or some big deal that he'd scored. Lara's parents rarely ask her anything or listen to her talk: if something comes out of Lara's mouth it's almost immediately lost under the sound of her dad talking.
Today he's ranting about some artist he'd passed on the street in the city, surrounded by paintings. Lara practically buries her face in her almost finished bowl as he talks loudly about how useless artists are, how they don't contribute anything to society, and then informs her mom that they should be swept of the streets and out of their jobs. Lara feels her cheeks flaming as she tries hard not to make an angry sound.
He then goes on to rant about his secretary, a nice lady who Lara's met several times and really likes, because every time the secretary makes a work trip to New York, she brings Lara back some playbills from a show she'd seen and always finds a way to sneak them to Lara under her dad's nose. The secretary's girlfriend had visited during their lunch hour, which wasn't against the company's policy, and the second the secretary had introduced the girl, Mr. Grace made phone calls and had his secretary transferred to another department.
"They're such a waste of space," her dad complains. "They're corrupting society, every single one of them."
Lara's pretty sure that her blush has spread right to the tips of her ears. Recklessly, she loudly scrapes her chair back, grabbing her glass and heading into the kitchen. She hears the conversation pause momentarily behind before resuming.
Lara refills her glass, slumping against the kitchen counter for a moment to regain her composure. Listening to her dad rant about all sorts of innocent people always riles Lara up in the worst of ways, especially when he starts indirectly insulting her or some of her friends in the process. She takes a deep breath, and another sip of her water, before heading back out to the dining room.
Her parents are silent: Lara slips into her seat and reaches for the pot of macaroni.
"Where have you been the pass few days, Lara?"
Lara freezes, her hand almost comically suspended over the pot. She glances up at her father before flicking her gaze at her mother, who's currently busy with avoiding eye contact with her daughter.
Lara quickly considers her response: she'd been marked absent from school for a valid reason, meaning that the school hadn't sent any notes to her parents about her not being in school or the reason for it. Her parents still don't know that she's in the midst of rehearsals for a show she hasn't told them about yet. Lara has the funny feeling that they won't take well to the reason behind her absence.
"I've been out with friends."
Lara's been careful the from Monday to Wednesday, leaving the house at the same time she normally did for her bus, waiting at the closest Starbucks until it was time to be picked up. She'd hoped her mom hadn't noticed her lack of presence, but sometimes her mom picked up on a lot more than Lara gave her credit for.
"Out with friends?"
Her father's voice is dangerously cold. Lara slowly puts the spoon she's holding back into the pot.
"Well, we had a project," Lara lies. "Then I went out with them today."
"Oh," her dad says, still staring her down. "Your project is over?"
Lara nods.
"Good. I expect you home from school the second your bus drops you off."
Damn.
Lara's heart sinks. "But, dad-"
"No excuses." her dad says. "And your aunt and grandfather are coming down next week. They'd like to see you. If you have any club activities next week, I want you to cancel them."
"But, dad, I have-"
"I don't care what you have." Her dad's full out glaring now, and Lara sinks lower in her seat, wanting to be anywhere but here. "You can go to whatever stupid club you want this week, so long as you get back on the last bus. But next week I want your schedule emptied. Am I making myself clear, Lara?"
Lara nods.
"Lara?"
"Yes, father," Lara forces out.
"Up to your room."
Lara thinks about shooting an accusing glance at her mother, but that would probably make things a hundred times worse, so she leaves her unfinished meal at the table and trudges upstairs.
She needs to think of something to tell Mr. Harding.
Remember when I explicitly said I wouldn't write a chapter in Lara's POV.... well, don't ask me what happened. The writing gods were against me. And I also felt like I didn't put as much into the other Lara chapter as I wanted to.
Questions? Comments? Feedbacks? Again, taking POV requests. This story is very likely to have a sequel eventually, and I'm currently trying to decide what I can strip from this book and put in the next one. Hmmmm....
Thanks as always for the reads and votes. :) I really appreciate it, like, a lot.
Oh, and thank you so much for the 100+ views I mean what how is that possible thank you thank you thank you :):):) Virtual hugs for everyone!!!