"Wow! The set is looking awesome, you guys!"
"Thanks! We've been working on it since last Tuesday."
The students of Lakewood High School were busy decorating their school's stage in the auditorium for where the upcoming school play Macbeth would be performed that coming weekend. It was late in the afternoon, a couple hours since the last bell had rang to dismiss the students. Since the stage was almost done being set up, most participants of the scene building team and lighting crew had gone home. Now only a few students and a teacher overseeing the accomplishment of the setting remained. The teacher, Mrs. Arte, tapped her finger on her chin.
"The backdrop looks fine, but I think it could use a little more of an…artistic touch to it, so to speak. I can handle that…" At that moment, her phone began to ring, the caller being a teacher at her child's elementary school. Her eyes widened in shock. "Oh no, I forgot to pick up Joey. Students, I'll leave you to finish the background. And check the lighting one more time before you go. I think there's a bulb that's short circuiting. See you tomorrow in art class!"
After receiving nods from the students, Mrs. Arte quickly smiled at them and answered her cell phone, dashing hurriedly out of the auditorium. The teens just stared at each other for a moment before going back to their previous activities in silence. Suddenly, the silent atmosphere was interrupted with the distinct sound of glass shattering on the ground with someone shouting in an angry voice almost immediately after:
"DAMMIT, WRIGHT! WHY DO YOU MESS UP EVERYTHING?!"
"I…I didn't mean to…"
The students dropped what they were doing as they watched the scene unfold. Apparently, Trucy had went to go retrieve a new bulb for the one that was going out, and as she was carrying it over, she tripped over a cord in the stage that was covered by tarp. The bulb fell from her hands and shattered onto the floor, and now Dustin, a senior who was in charge of the group, was chewing her out vociferously for her mistake.
"But nothing! Ever since I agreed to let you on this team, you've just been screwing everything up. First, you spill paint everywhere, then you tear a hole in the backdrop which took Mrs. Arte hours to patch up, then you go and…and…break the last bulb we had, which we needed for the stage! What the hell is wrong with you?! How are you even a magician when all you ever do is a mistake? I sure feel bad for the people at your father's agency when you're running around carelessly all over the place. You're useless!"
The whole time he was yelling and screaming profanities at her, Trucy was glancing guiltily down at the ground, trying to blink away her tears. But when Dustin brought up that last statement, something snapped inside of her, and she felt herself curling her hand into a fist as she glared at him with pure anger in her eyes.
"Shut up!" She shouted equally as loud. "You don't know anything! I said I was sorry!"
"Sorry doesn't fix the bulb that you just dropped. Now we have to go buy another one from our own pocket since all of our budget was used to fix your other mistakes!"
Before the argument could become anymore heated than it already was, one of the students, a senior named Felicia, decided to intervene.
"Hey, Dustbin, give your breasts a rest." She said in an annoyed voice, which clearly offended the boy. "She obviously didn't mean it. Now, why don't we all just take a deep breath, and I'll send Deacon and Eric to go buy another bulb from the hardware store."
Dustin rolled his eyes. "I swear, this is why I hate underclassmen on the stage committee. They always find some way to break everything!"
"It was one light bulb, for crying out loud!"
Trucy scowled at the ground as she muttered. "I'm a junior."
Felicia just patted Trucy on the back and turned around to face the two boys who were working on the finishing touches of the backdrop. "Deacon, you've got your license right? You and Eric go to the hardware store and buy another bulb. Nothing fancy, just something that'll last the next couple weekends." She directed her attention to another kid, who was her little brother. "Felix, come with me to the storage room so we can get a broom and more paint. And you two," She gestured over to Dustin and Trucy. "Kiss and make up. Play starts Friday and we don't have time for you guys to waste whatever preparation time we have left by arguing."
Dustin just stared at her with his jaw dropped as a sense of powerlessness came over him, seeing how Felicia took all of the authority away from him. Trucy just smiled triumphantly, happy that Felicia stood up for her, but she quickly dropped it when she noticed Dustin glowering at her.
"Um, I'm…" She started to apologize, but Dustin cut her off.
"Save it. I'll forgive you once we finish this damn stage." He grumbled incoherently to himself as he went to retrieve a stepladder from the floor and set it up below the lighting.
"Here, the least you can do without screwing up is hold the ladder as I take this bulb out."
Trucy wanted to point out that it was a stepladder, but seeing as how Dustin wasn't in the mood right now, decided to just keep her mouth shut and do as told. As she held it for him while he climbed up, she couldn't help but recall the heated banter that just went on between them. She dwelled over all of the hurtful insults he harshly threw at her, and that made her heartbeat speed up and her face turn red with fury. Just the thought of him calling her useless was enough to make her blood boil, and she found herself gripping the sides of the stepladder ever so tightly. She briefly considered lightly shaking it just to spite him. Maybe the chill feeling of fear running down his spine as he hobbled on top of an unstable ladder will teach him a lesson not to mess with her. The idea felt ever so tempting…
*CRASH!*
A huge crash followed by a shriek resonated throughout the corridors leading up to the auditorium. Felicia and Felix were walking back from the storage room when they heard those sounds, and they quickly broke out into a sprint to go see what had happened. When they happened upon the scene, what they saw made them drop the paint cans that were in their arms. There, on the stage, was an overturned ladder and an immobile Dustin lying face first on the floor. A huge bowl of dust floated over the scene, clouding their vision, but when it cleared they could see the heavy sets of lights that had fallen from their support cords and were now pressing down on Dustin's crumpled body. The backdrop had collapsed, and debris littered the floor. And there, in front of the whole mess, was Trucy, hovering above the fallen Dustin with a look of pure terror on her face. She flinched in horror when Felicia called out to her, extreme panic evident in her voice,
"Trucy…what did…WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!"
