Chapter 6

Sarah warily entered the theatre and looked around the slightly unfamiliar atmosphere. A small group of students were talking and laughing amongst themselves on the stage. But what caught her attention was a young boy setting up a ladder beside a couple of stage lights. Before she knew what she was doing, Sarah had climbed up the stairs to where the young boy was. "Oh my gosh, Billy?"

"Oh hey Tess." The boy finished setting up the ladder before he laid eyes on Sarah. He looked exactly like the fourteen year old she remembered, but yet somehow he was different.

"Billy, what are you doing here?" Sarah couldn't help but ask.

The boy clipped a wrench to his belt. "You've only seen me for the past year." Billy half laughed. "I've spent half a year training to be on the technical crew."

"The what crew?"

"The tech crew. You know, lights, sound. Though I prefer working with the lights."

Sarah wrinkled her brow in confusion. "I thought you were afraid of heights."

"Perhaps." Billy admitted, looking up the ladder. "But now I consider it just as another adrenaline rush."

Smith and Alicia appeared. "This could be the fun part." Smith whispered to Alicia.

"What if Sarah gets scared and accidentally makes Billy fall of the ladder?"

But Sarah had already noticed the couple. "What the hell is Billy doing in the Drama Club?!?"

"He joined it last year, he told you himself." Smith pointed out.

"Are you talking to yourself again?" Billy called down from the top of the ladder. "Going over your lines?"

"I'm talking to these people right here." Sarah pointed to where Smith and Alicia were standing.

Billy looked down and shot Sarah a weird look. "There's nobody there Tess."

"Uh, in these outfits, only you can see or hear me and Alicia." Smith explained. "So you might want to not acknowledge our existence or people will start to think you are a little crazy."

"And yes, Billy was always part of the Drama Club." Alicia added with a hint of bitterness in her voice. "Though he's always been backstage and you've never taken the effort to find out."

Sarah didn't even notice that Billy had scaled down the ladder. "Hey, are you alright? You look like you've got something on your mind."

"Well," Sarah looked again, but Smith and Alicia had already disappeared. "I've just seen you here all along, and I never see you hanging out with the popular kids."

Billy laughed. "Popular kids? I'm not one of them."

"But you could be." Sarah persisted. "Join a few sports clubs, talk to some of the guys and then you're one of them."

Billy sat down on the stairs and started adjusting one of the lights. "You sound as if it is my life goal to become part of the in crowd."

"Isn't everybody's?"

"Minus me then."

"Why?' Sarah sat down beside him.

Billy stopped fiddling and thought for a few moments. "It seems so tough for popular people. I mean, once you get up on top, it takes a lot of work to stay on top you know? All that work to keep that image, to keep that act up, put other people down. I can't live my life pretending to be someone that I don't feel like I truly am. I'm pretty content with my life right now. I have a group of good friends. I mean, it could always be better, but it could be worse. A lot worse."

"Hey Tess! Come on! Stop hitting on my brother!" Bobby laughed as he waved Sarah over. "It's time to start rehearsals!"