Vanessa (Nessie)

It takes one day to fly from New York to Australia.

It takes one day for paint to dry.

It takes one day for the rain to be dried.

It takes one day to get through the zoo.

It takes one day to get sunburnt so bad it starts peeling right there on the spot.

The quote hung on my wall on a long strip of paper so I could add more if needed. I smiled at it, most of it was from when I was young before any of the worst occurred. I opened my laptop and sat back in my desk, I had been waiting for a casting email for ages it seemed like! I was going for Eponine and I even knew the part like the back of my hand. The computer started up and I logged in to my email. My body was shaking I was so excited. I stared into the screen and screamed.

Vanessa Jones ~ Eponine

I didn't even look at the rest of the names I just jumped up and began to scream and then I heard Rosalie's running footsteps down the hall. I immediately stopped screaming and she came in with crowbar in hand.

"Oh my God Nessie! You had me scared to death!" I pointed to the computer and covered my mouth. She looked at it and hugged me tight, "See we will be very happy here! I just know it!"

"I've been here three years Rose." I said matter-of-factly.

"I know." She laughed playing with her blonde hair, "But we will be even happier." She whispered and went back out into the living room.

I sighed and sat on my window seat.

Rosalie was my best friend, I met her in New York at some Cabaret showcase and we were instant friends. She was wise and took care of me and when everything came crashing down on me she brought me here to stay until it was all over. So basically I lived under her roof and her rules. She was like my mom except we had more of a friend relationship than anything.

I looked out my window. We lived on a lake on private property by Rosalie's request. It was a pretty lake, it sparkled in the sun and the waves moved to a beat unless a boat came which hardly happened. We had our own beach but I didn't like that one much. Usually I would go over to a little area where it's too shallow for boats and covered in trees. I had to run a little ways from the house to a small cliff, six feet below was my beach. It was in the shallow area, I had called it a cove since I discovered it, the only problem with it was the fact it wasn't on private property because of the hiking trails that came by it. Rosalie didn't know about it of course considering I only went there when she was gone and sometimes at night after she's gone to bed.

It was easy hiding stuff from her because my bed was up in a separate loft above the room. I always had the ladder pulled up when I was asleep so if she came to check on me she would be too short. I have it worked out where I can move my desk chair over and still manage to get the ladder down at night.

"Nessie?" Her head peeked into the room.

"Yeah?" I said getting up from the window.

"Dinners ready." She smiled. I grabbed my iPad off my desk and followed her into the kitchen. She had made burgers which were my favorite. I made mine up quickly and sat down at the table.

"When do you start rehearsals?" She said.

"Well all the New Yorkers arrived today or tomorrow and meet and greet is the day after that, Friday and rehearsals begin Saturday." I had received this in an email before the official cast list.

"Do you know any of them?"

"I didn't recognize any of the names." I said and realized I hadn't read any of the other names.

"Alrighty! Well go on back to your room, I have to work now—"

"Rosalie I'm never out here!" I whined as if I were thirteen and hormonal.

"For good reasons! Go on to your room!"

"Please Rosalie I'll do whatever—"

"Go." She said through clenched teeth. I swallowed my hamburger. All the way back I kept remembering her words when we first moved here.

"We are moving here. I'm living here."

"Yes, only to keep you safe!" She smiled.

"Yeah only." I smirked and went strait into this room.

I didn't talk about the past nor think about it. Rosalie's the only one who knows anything considering she watched my entire life unfold before me. I sat on the window seat again. It was still light out but lightning bugs were taking over.

I'm like Rapunzel locked in a tower waiting for her prince to come. I'm like Cinderella who did everything she could to go one place but she couldn't and sometimes I wondered if I was an adult and like this why don't I stand up—but no. I'm scared and shy of my past following me. This show I'm about to do could result in it finding me and eating me whole or me fighting it off. I knew Rosalie didn't realize what I was thinking on what doing Les Miserables meant to me.

I think to me, it meant the end.

The end of the past or the end of the future.

Jack

When you get your dream role there's a part inside that is excited and one that is fearful. It's a role you have to nail otherwise your basically living the rest of your life thinking of how you could change that one mistake. I had just arrived in Jamestown, we just crossed the lake actually. It truly was a gorgeous lake. I was one to go hiking, it was on my to-dos for the little town. I was the first to arrive in from the cast. I pulled onto the town square where James Theatre was. It was a quiet spot, kids were coming in and out of the studio for dance classes. It seemed like a typical Wednesday night. I unloaded my car and moved into the apartments above the studio. It was two trips for everything. My big suitcase, my show stuff, and my smaller suitcase with my bathroom stuff. I walked into the door that said 2A on the from with golden lettering. I guess we were assigned apartments in the most recent email. Lucky I guessed right, my Marius script and a rehearsal schedule for me sat on the dresser. The bed was made and it was dark. I found a light switch and began unpacking and somewhat organizing. I would only be here for one month but it was destined to be a long one.

Then I heard someone shut the door at the bottom. I got up and opened my door. My friend Melissa stood at the bottom, she looked up and smiled wide.

"JACK!" She screamed. I went down and grabbed her big suitcase.

"Hey Melissa!" I hugged her. She sighed as I began to take it up.

"You didn't have to do that for me!" She said.

"I'm a nice guy what can I say." I kept on up the stairs, "Which one were you assigned to?"

"3A!" She said and came up the stairs. I opened the door and set the suitcase inside, "Which one are you?" She smiled.

"2A, right next to you."

"Good at least I know somebody." She put her hands on her hips and closed her door. We walked into the large kitchen area.

"Have you eaten?" I said looking into the cupboards while she tied up her long dark hair.

"No, not since this morning when I left." She said. Her pale face must've gave me a for sure answer.

"How about Mac'N'Cheese?" I said knowing that was her favorite. I then grabbed the box from the top shelf.

"That works, I'll get the pot ready." She went to work and got ingredients out while I read them off to her. I watched her closely, I guess I missed my friend a lot. She's been in California for three months so the apartment we shared was quite empty for a while.

"How's Nick?" Nick was her boyfriend. He had gone to Cali with her. He was a pretty cool guy too, I had gone to a bar with him once. We had fun, he was nice. I told her I approved and she was ecstatic. I had never seen her so in love with a man before him.

"Nicks good. He's back in NYC now."

"Good." I said and got two bowls out.

"It feels like I haven't cooked in ages!" She said as we worked on the simple meal together.

"It has cause I haven't eaten any home cooked meals! I've only eaten microwaveable stuff!" I laughed and she did too, blushing.

"Oh Jack." She touched me and pulled away.

"What?" I turned to her. She grinned and motioned her hand as if to seat the last moment away.

"Nothing." She shook her hand and poorer the noodles in. The hot water splashed up towards our faces and I laughed.

"You trying to burn me?" I said. She shoved me a little.

"Who said I had to try?" She laughed so loud. This was the Melissa I knew. The witty, slap happy smart ass who cooked everything and anything.

"I'll get you one day Melissa!" I said reassuming my place by the stove.

"So you know that show in Cali I did?"

"Yeah. The one you just did?"

"Yeah! Well I got you something. Stir the pasta while I go grab it." She handed me the spoon and scurried off into her apartment. I smiled down at the pasta and chuckled about our friendship. We had known each other since we were fourteen and went to Fulton Art School in New York. We were fast friends considering we had the same exact schedule and that I had saved her from falling into the fountain one day. Although she never talks about that day we all knew it was the day we truly considered one another friends. After that we walked home together since we only lived two apartment buildings apart in NYC. She is one of my greatest friends.

She came back in jogging. She stood in front of me and smiled handing me the little gift.

"Melissa—"

"Open it!" She said her fingertips touching my hand she stared at the gift with a smile and I began to unwrap it.

It was two beach necklaces. One had tan and white beads on it and the other had different shades of blues. She took the tan one and put it around my neck.

"There." She smiled, "That ones my favorite."

"These are amazing Melissa." I spun my hands around the blue one.

"Look." She said pulling up her pant leg, two anklets that looked exactly like my necklaces were hooked around her ankles, "We are friends." She smiled and returned to the stove.

"Yeah." I said, "Best friends." She finished the meal in silence but as I watched her, she had a smile that stretched from ear to ear. She was one hell of a girl.

After dinner I went into my room and played on my Mac. I looked up cool trails around the lake I could take on Google Earth. I also took a peek around town as well. It had one grocery store, one bar, two restaurants, two pizzerias, a small marina, a beach, and lots of nature activities.

I figured out my plans for the next day. Melissa was going to meet her friends Alice, Sarah, and Kristina at the airport with the box office manager who I had yet to meet.

Then I laid down in my bed with a booklet about Jamestown in hand. I looked at the maps and saw that many of the areas around the lake were private. I also saw the marina and more details about it. I laid in m bed and contemplated between a boat ride or hiking.

Then there was a knock at the door, "Jack." The voice was quiet. I sat up and saw Melissa.

"What?" I said and got up and brought her inside.

"Nick broke up with me. Yesterday." She looked at me.

"Why didn't you—"

"I don't know." She said and I hugged her. She shook and cried in my arms, "I don't think it's true still I guess. I don't know and that's why I'm here today and not tomorrow."

"Melly." I smiled and kissed her head, "You'll be okay. You'll be alright." I smoothed her head down her back. After a while Melissa was still I slowly lifted her onto my bed and tiptoed out to the couch where I spent my first night in Jamestown.

Jennifer

It was moving. This box I was in was moving. I opened my eyes to see black, and little holes that had been made so I could breathe. I began to rip open the box, I used all my strength and ripped the holes in lines like a dot to dot. Soon I had made a big enough hole that I could slip through. I fell onto the dirty, hard floor of a train car. The door was open of course. I got up and looked out over the tracks. We were coming up to a bridge not far over a lake. I wiped my hands and up my arms and felt the scabs and bruises that had formed since my last beating. My father had sent me away to die in that box.

Except I didn't die.

I watched as the train sped up closer to the bridge. I went to the door and held onto the door, the wind went though my hair. I licked my lips and tasted the humid air.

I stared over the water. I debated the train and the lake. Soon I was flying through the air. The train was already out of sight. My whole body turned numb all of the sudden then I hit what felt like a rock.

I swam up and my head bobbed above the surface. I took deep breaths and laughed.

I was alive.

I didn't know how it was possible. I turned towards the shore and began to swim. I swam fast and hard, my arms began to hurt from paddling so hard. I went under water and began to glide. Then I went up for air and fell onto the sand. I coughed and spat across the sand. I laid there for a few moments before getting up. I had to figure out where I was.

I ran into the woods with no fear it seemed. After the past year of my life, the woods were nothing. I began to run, my clothes soaked and heavy on my body. I found a trail and followed it. The moon lit the water and I watched the shoreline as well. Everything was delicately placed in nature. As for me, I was delicately placed in hell. My father was an alcoholic who abused me. He was never abusive until my mother died. After that he began to drink and after that he began to hit. One time he even cut me with glass across my back, I have a large grey scar as proof. Today he was hitting me outside in our backyard. We lived in front of some railroad tracks. Once he had heard the train whistle today he fetched a box outta the closet and knocked me out. I didn't know how, then I found myself in that box on that train with a new amount of bruises and scrapes. The scrapes didn't hurt me when I hit the water because I was used to it. I had it happen so much that I ignored it now.

The trail was getting harder to see and the woods were denser, so I moved off to the shore and followed it to the nearest town. My whole body had a new ache, hunger. I hadn't eaten in at least fourteen hours.

I stumbled up to a sign.

PRIVATE PROPERTY it read in large red letters. I stared away from it to see a large house. It was completely dark, and it looked abandoned. I looked right to left and scanned for cameras, once I considered it clear I took off running. I ran hard across the field. I looked into each window of the house, nothing moved. I then looked for windows that were opened. None that I had wiggled were, finally I came up to a larger window that opened out towards a little beach. I wiggled the window and it popped open.

I slipped into the room making little noise. I fell onto the floor and got up. The room was nicely furnished, it had a loft with a ladder (which I believe is where the bed is). It had a sitting area with a TV, and a walk-in closet. I turned to my left and saw the bathroom, the light was on.

The house wasn't abandoned, and I obviously wasn't alone.

I looked left to right for a hiding spot. Then I turned back to the bathroom. The girl gripped the door with her hand over her mouth.

"I'm not here to rob you! See I made a mistake I thought the house was abandoned so I could stay until I figured everything out. My father he abused me-"

"What?" Her guard had let down a little.

"My father abused me." I said shakey.

"Whats your name?" She said taking the towel off of her head.

"Jennifer. Some people call me Jen."

"Where are you from, Jennifer?" She stepped toward me and turned the bedroom light on.

"I lived in Kentucky but my father he..." I explained my entire day to her. She shook her head and smiled.

"I'm shocked your even alive first of all. Now go into the bathroom and start yourself a shower. I'll get you some dry clothes and make you some food. How does that sound?" She smiled and went to her dresser, "Oh gosh! I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Vanessa. Also known as Nessie." She smiled and I went into the bathroom.

The shower was warm and comforting. I put on the clean pajamas she set on the bathroom counter for me and went out to the kitchen. She had a plate set out on the counter, she stood at the sink and was washing dishes.

"How was that?" She asked smiling.

"Good." I whispered.

"Great." She looked out the window and bit her lip.

"What?" I turned around.

"Nothing." She shook her head and looked at me, "Can you sing?"

"What?"

"Can you sing?" I pondered the question for a moment and stared up at her.

"Yeah I guess so."

"Good. I'll make you a deal. You can stay here but you'll have to leave with me during the day or stay up in the loft. Then one day I'll take you to New York. I'll explain it all later." She grabbed my plate and hurried me up into the loft, "Stay quiet until the woman that comes leaves. I'll explain her later its just that she can't know your here. Not yet anyway."

I shook my head and took my plate back. She smiled and patted my shoulder and left.

I had so many questions for Nessie except I didn't know where to start.