December 10th, 2018 [Monday]
•19 weeks left•
I woke up earlier than usual for rehearsal. It became normal for me to be up hours before I needed to be. But it was nice because I spent that time taking care of myself and being both physically and mentally prepared for the day. And all the drama that was coming for me.
It had been six days since Katie went to Alex's house and I hadn't talked to either of them since. Not that I really wanted to speak with Katie because she was only being bitchier by the days. My face cringed on its own when I thought about how she talked to me that day. A few times, I had to text Rory just to make sure what Katie did actually happened. He'd respond with the same amount of shock.
I was just waiting for Alex to say something first because I didn't want to tempt him to lie to me. If he came to me and told me what he and Katie did, I knew I could believe him. But not once have we talked. That alone left me suspicious. It just made me feel worse about the situation. And we even talked about hanging out last weekend, but I didn't get one message from him, so I knew something was wrong.
Katie didn't attempt to speak to me at all or assure me on what she did at his house. I just knew she did something that I couldn't know about.
Overall, if they wanted to act sneaky, so be it. I wasn't going to let either of them ruin my day. I had rehearsals that day, and I was going to do what I loved the most.
Rory had left and told me to just keep him updated. He didn't want to leave on that weird note, but work was important, and I assured him it was fine.
While I was getting dressed, I got a text from Kerry that her, Rob, and Leslie were meeting up that morning to grab some breakfast before they headed to the theater.
KerryBerry
KerryBerry: morning sarah
Sarah: morning kerry
KerryBerry: I was wondering
if you'd be up to go get some
breakfast with me, Rob,
and Leslie?
Sarah: oh of course
Sarah: I'm starving
anyways hahaha
KerryBerry: oh perfect
KerryBerry: We'll be at the
Applejack Diner in about
twenty minutes. Whoever
gets there first will get the
table and text us all
Sarah: Okay then.
See you in a bit
KerryBerry: See ya
I decided against makeup, knowing I'd sweat it all off anyways. I also have very light freckles on my cheeks and on the tip of my nose that I usually cover with makeup, so it was nice to show them off again.
I finished up getting ready in record time and while I was tying my hair into a neat bun, Katie opened my door ajar. I turned towards that direction, but when I realized it was her, I immediately went back to the mirror. I hadn't seen her all weekend, and neither of us made any effort to talk to each other.
"You're up early," she commented, standing at my door. I was trying to detect from her tone where she was thinking the conversation was heading. She may have been in the mood for an argument, but I wasn't.
"Surprise," I exclaimed sarcastically, not making eye contact with her.
"And cranky," She chuckled. I sucked in a sharp breath, keeping my remarks to myself.
"Ok, anything else?" I asked, walking over to my nightstand and grabbing my phone off the charger.
"I was gonna ask if you'd want to head down to the coffee shop before you go to the theater? We can get some breakfast," she suggested. When I actually looked down at her outfit for the first time, I noticed she was already dressed.
Only a scoff escaped my lips, along with a disbelieved laugh. Not only did she avoid what happened Tuesday, but she finally spoke to me for the first time and offered breakfast. It was pathetic. "I can't, I'm going out with some of my other cast members," I told her, pushing past her out of my room. She still followed me on my tail.
"Oh ok, that's cool," she nodded with an awkward laugh. Even if Kerry didn't ask me to breakfast, I would have still said no. The whole situation was being avoided and I wasn't going to let her get away with it.
"Yup," I popped the 'p', heading into the mud room. "You could ask Alex, he likes to go there in the morning," I smirked to myself.
Katie was quiet for a few seconds, caught off guard by my statement. As I glanced over my shoulder, she crossed her arms at me. "That's a great idea, actually. I'll do that," She smiled innocently at me. I knew she was trying to get a rise out of me and I was tired of it. I didn't know why she changed so suddenly, but I wasn't having it.
"Great, I'm leaving, then," I dismissed myself, slipping my sweater on, along with plain grey shoes.
"I'll tell Brighty Boy you said 'hi' when I see him," Katie snickered.
I rolled my eyes and said, "You do that." After a few more awkward seconds, I figured Katie had gone somewhere. But she still stood behind me with her presence making my morning more dreadful.
"Have fun, shortcake," she murmured softly enough that I almost missed it. My gaze was drawn to her, and she immediately had a testy grin on her lips.
With a twist of my head, I took a step towards her. "What did you say?"
"Have fun," She repeated herself with a shrug.
I stopped to let out a snort. If only Rory stayed for another week, I'd have a witness to prove I wasn't speaking gibberish. And also that Katie was acting like a complete ass.
"After that," I lifted a brow. "What did you say?"
Katie broke eye contact with me, glancing away. "Nothing," she shrugged again. I walked right up to her, our chest almost touching, so she had to look at me. Her brown eyes were darker than usual, and I always claimed it was because of her mood.
I took a long slow breath to compose myself, before simply smiling. I stepped back so we had space and interlocked my hands in front of me. Her eyes examined my expression, but I couldn't even tell myself what I was feeling.
"Thank you. Just wanted to make sure," I nodded once. With that, I left her in the hallway with a shut of the door. I knew it was best to leave her before I said something I'd regret. But did I want to scream at her? Of course I did.
And with that, there went my good morning.
~It's Showtime~
"Sarah Holland, get over here!" I heard as soon as I walked into the cute little diner Kerry sent me to. I found Rob standing at his seat with Leslie and Kerry sitting across from him in a booth. I jogged over and slid in the spot next to Rob.
"I have arrived, no fear, Sarah is here," I giggled at my own rhyme. I set my bag down, before accepting Rob's hug. It had been a good minute since I'd seen my good friend, so being around him again was the relief I needed.
"You are too proud of that joke," Leslie snorted. I shrugged one of my shoulders, smiling brightly. "And very happy this morning." You could say that Leslie.
"I just feel in the mood for some acting today, you know?" It had been almost a week since I'd been to the theater and I missed it. I also didn't want to spend any more time in that apartment with Katie.
Leslie nodded in agreement, reaching her hand out to rub my forearm. "Exactly how I felt last weekend. I haven't been called in for days," she explained.
"Well, I haven't had a break," Rob sighed, shaking his head. "I guess it's just the life of being Rob McClure, ya know?"
"And Kerry Butler," Kerry added, slightly raising her hand that was set lazily on the table. Kerry and Rob had been having more scheduled rehearsals because the set of the Maitland house was built and they wanted their opening scene of the house practiced a lot. That's also why Alex had rehearsals last week when I didn't.
Finally, they moved onto the next numbers like 'Ready Set (Reprise)' and 'No Reason', along with Charles' proposal scene. Now, they needed me there for those scenes, and also because Eddie wanted me to perform 'Home' more. I had done it maybe three times, but they wanted me to start doing it frequently. It was a solo song, along with 'Dead Mom', but it didn't get practiced as much because of the lack of ensembles.
"So, is it possible to order the whole menu?" Rob asked as he looked at all the breakfast options. I laughed loudly, agreeing with his statement.
"If they can give me one of every pancake, then I'll be settled for the day," I added.
Leslie looked around for the waiter, realizing it had been a while since he came over since giving us our drinks. "Well he needs to hurry over before these two rampage the kitchen," she joked with Kerry.
"But with good reasoning," I smiled.
And I assumed that it was just my mind playing tricks on me. But it wasn't until my pancakes were placed in front of me that I realized how hungry I was. I didn't care who was looking because as soon as I took the first bite; I devoured them. I knew I'd have to go back to that diner only for those pancakes.
As I was eating, I looked over at Rob who was drenching his eggs in ketchup. "Jeez Robert, I thought eggs were yellow," I teased as he continued to pour ketchup all over his scrambled eggs.
He glanced an eye at me, then down to my pancakes. "I'm not criticizing you on your drowning pancakes, Sarah. But, now that you brought it up, who needs that much syrup?" He pointed to my plate.
"I do, Rob," I argued. "What's wrong with syrup?"
"Nothing, but can you even taste the pancake? Or is it all syrup?"
"Can you taste the eggs or is it all ketchup?" I mimicked his question with a tilt of my head.
"Do you know how thick syrup is? And how sticky it is too? How do you even taste the pancake when you chew it all together? It makes no sense," Rob laughed.
I gasped offendedly, completely turning my body to face him. "Rob, I see a pile of ketchup on your plate. I thought you ordered eggs," I shot.
Right before Rob could speak his remark, Kerry snapped her finger at us. "Break it up you two." Leslie covered her mouth to laugh.
"She started it," Rob shrugged, grabbing his fork to eat.
"I did no such thing," I shook my head, using my knife to cut another slice of my pancake.
"Well, stop arguing and eat. My two kids don't even complain about each other's food," Kerry demanded, hiding a smile.
"Again, she started it," Rob muttered under his breath.
My eyes widened as I turned back to him. "Why are you still outing me, Rob?"
"Maybe if you just left me and my eggs with ketchup alone, we wouldn't be in this situation."
For the first time since we started that argument, Leslie spoke up. "Let's just come to an agreement. Rob you eat your red eggs and Sarah you eat your drowned pancakes," she suggested, pointing at our plates. Rob and I had a quick stare down, before he huffed and went back to eating.
"Thank you," Kerry sighed. Rob and I sniffled some snickers, but I nudged his leg before Kerry heard us. "And we gotta go soon," She reminded us as she checked her phone.
"Yes, Ms. Butler," Rob nodded, quickly trying to finish his food. I kept a sneaky eye on Kerry because she had a puzzled expression on her face as she continued to skim whatever she was reading on her phone. I watched her mumble some words under her breath like she was reading a message. When she finished, she looked right at me with furrowed eyebrows, but immediately smiled when she realized I was already staring at her.
"Everything okay?" I asked her cautiously. She only hummed a yes with a quick nod. I was going to ask her what that was about, but she quickly went into a conversation with Leslie.
What was going on?
•