*dead*

Chapter. Read it. Please and thanks. I'm so sorry that I haven't been updating more often. Things got crazy with school, and I went through a few depressing weeks, and that really affected my writing. Thankfully though, I now have a good idea where this story is going.

The chapter title for this is weird...

Thank you to everyone who's been reading! The "blooper" from here will show up in Seussical Bloopers eventually. Enjoy!

The first thing Anthony saw when he walked onto the set of Seussical the next morning, was a reporter. Strange, but not abundantly so. The deadline for the movie was slowly creeping nearer and nearer, and the lack of progress plus the subject matter was drawing an awful lot of media attention. He could see Rachel answering the young reporter's questions with debate like seriousness, as if the fate of the world depended on her answering the questions right. Anthony smiled, and walked farther on, making his way to the dressing rooms.

"Yo JoJo!" someone called. Anthony turned, recognizing his character name. He saw one of the crew people, Elena the head techie, running up to him. "We're doing Havin a Hunch first, so get in your uniform. We're taking it from you being thrown from the blow. Rachel wanted me to ask what the best way to do that would be. Or, the way you're most comfortable with." She stopped talking long enough to breath, then finished with, "Oh, and the Cat says he has a plan and needed to talk to you. So…" she paused, looking him over. "Good luck."

Anthony's shoulders sagged slightly. He was rather hoping that the Cat would have forgotten about the whole thing. He nodded though, thanking Elena as he searched for his costume.

"Third hanger on the left!" she called out as she walked away. Sure enough, it was right there. Anthony looked over his shoulder at the techie. How does she always know that? Grabbing the hanger, he quickly changed, making his way out of the room and back to the main set. As he passed, looking for the Cat, he heard someone call out. "Hey you!"

Anthony turned, looking behind him to see the reporter from earlier racing towards him. Now that he got a closer look, he could see she must have just been starting off. She couldn't have been more than 22, and seemed a little more frazzled than most reporters that run around Hollywood. He said nothing as she approached him, questioning her with silence. She started explaining, "You're Anthony, right? The kid who plays JoJo?" he nodded, and she continued. "Can I get a quick interview with you?" she gestured to the cameras, whose lens were aimed at him. Anthony hesitated for a moment, and she seemed to catch that. "Or-or not! It's only going up on the Internet, not the big news channels or anything like that." The reporter shook her head, muttering under her breath, "No, just because I'm an intern, slap it up on the internet, no one goes to the site anyway. Those stupid execs, one day they'll be kissing my-"

"Miss?" Anthony interjected. "I'll do it."

"You will?" the reporter asked, pushing a few strands of hair out of her eyes. He nodded, and she lit up. "Awesome! Thank you!" she turned to the camera operator, telling him to start. Soon enough, Anthony could see the red light on, signaling both him and the reporter to snap into performance mode.

"Hello everyone!" the reporter started in a bright tone of voice. "Rebecca Maus here on the set of Hollywood's newest motion picture in the making, Seussical: The Musical, with one of the stars of the movie, Anthony Blair Hall!" she turned to him. "Anthony, thanks for doing this!"

"No problem." He replied with a smile. Anything to delay meeting the Cat…

"So, can you tell us a little bit about your character?"

Anthony nodded. "Well, my character's name is JoJo. He's sort of the one who creates the world of the movie, when he picks up the Hat. When he picks it up, his imagination starts to flow, and eventually, he Thinks up the Cat in the Hat… which later proves to be both a blessing and a curse." The reporter laughed, and Anthony smiled. "But, yeah, he's the one who starts it all. He Thinks up Horton, and Gertrude, and all of the characters, and they take him on this… magical and… well, quite frankly, kind of awesome story. By the end, he's more confident about what he thinks and what he has to say."

Rebecca, smiling. "That sounds very interesting! Now, how did you first find this audition? What were you doing before it?"

Anthony shook his head with a smile. "Before this… God, before this, I was a normal kid in Springfield Massachusetts! I did some plays there, but nothing of this epic proportion. Acting was just… fun. Then…" he hesitated slightly, wondering if he should mention names. "Well, my best friend was looking up auditions on the Internet, because she thought I was pretty good, and she comes across this." Anthony smiled. "She basically shoved it in my face and told me that I was auditioning for it, and that she would help."

"So, this friend of yours," Rebecca started. "You can kind of say that she's the reason you're here?"

"Yes ma'am." Anthony said with a nod of his head. "There's no way I would have ever, A. found out about this, or B. been prepared enough to audition without her help."

She nodded, taking down a note on a notebook. "Interesting… now, back to the movie. What do you think about the cast of the play?"

"We're one big family!" Anthony exclaimed. "Everyone here is like brother and sister, aunt and uncle, cousins. We're all seemingly related in some way, brought together by… as incredibly cheesy as it sounds, the power of the movies, and the power of acting. Everyone stays… surprisingly in character for all of rehearsal. It's as if us actors are…" he trailed off, shaking his head. "Nah, it's stupid."

"No, what?" Rebecca asked with enthusiasm. "I think everyone here would like to know!"

Anthony glanced to the camera for a moment, then back to the reporter. "It's as if we were the embodiment of the characters we act." After he said it, it felt incredibly awkward to think about. That wasn't something that people thought about. It just didn't make sense! But… everyone here was a lot like the characters. Heck, the Cat could even disappear! "It's strange to think about, but if you stick around, you'll understand in time." He chuckled, thinking out loud. "We're so in character we call each other by our character names." Rebecca laughed, and he smiled. She doesn't believe me...

"Well, that will certainly be interesting to see." Rebecca said, still laughing slightly. "Any plans for after the movie? More movies, or return to normal… err, as normal as you can be."

Anthony had to think about that for a while. "I think…" he bit his lip. "Honestly, I'm not sure. On the one hand, making more movies would be fun, especially if every cast was like this. But on the other… well, I've been away from my home for almost a year. I'm starting to miss some of my friends." Anthony looked to the reporter. "We didn't expect everything to take this long, but our director wants to be sure this is perfect… and we've had a couple of interruptions…" he trailed off for a moment, looking down. "But, at this point, I think everyone is in the "just want to get it over with" stage, and the "I don't know what I'll do if I leave" stage." Anthony shook his head. "It's really complicated, I'm sorry I'm not being clearer."

"It's alright, really." Rebecca said with a smile. "Now, what scene are you dressed for?"

Anthony had to look down to remember. "Oh! The start of Havin a Hunch, when JoJo is first seen again after his "death"." The reporter raised an eyebrow, and Anthony sighed. "Yeah, that's most people's reaction. You'll see what I mean later."

"Alright…" Rebecca said cautiously. "Well, we're about out of time, so is there anything that you want to say to anyone."

Anthony paused for a moment. "Well…"

"Say hi to Sadie."

Both Anthony and Rebecca turned at the sound of the Cat's voice. Anthony turned a bright red, and looked to the ground. "Cat… go away."

"Sadie? Who's Sadie?"

"His best friend that he has a crush on." The Cat provided. "She's probably the one he was talking about earlier. What with the whole audition thing and all." Anthony glared at the Cat, which he seemed to notice even without looking at him. "You're the one who brought it up kid, not me."

Anthony glanced from the Cat to Rebecca, trying to defend himself. "Well I… and he… I mean…" Nope. Nothing. There were no words that were formed. The only thing that he could think of was murder, and how he could get away with it.

"See, I told ya." The Cat said, smirking in pride. "He's stumbling, which is a sure sign that-"

"Cat!" Anthony yelled, jumping for him. He didn't care how short he was, he was going to shut him up. But of course, the Cat disappeared in a fit of laughter, leaving him to hit the ground with a thud. Rebecca, who was a little shocked with what just happened, turned to the camera man, who shrugged and kept filming. "Uh… well! Anthony, that was…"

"Interesting." He provided. "I know. Everything's interesting here." He got himself up, and brushed himself off. "I'm sorry, but I have to go kill someone. It was really nice meeting you… and I hope this gets severally edited." Anthony paused, then quickly added with a smile. "Hey Sadie. Your best friend making a fool out of himself… again. Told ya life was interesting here." Nodding to the camera, and Rebecca, he ran in the direction that he assumed the Cat to be, following the laughter that had cursed him since he stepped onto set.

"Young lady, I want answers!"

Sadie sat in the chair of the principal's office, looking down at the floor, her mind elsewhere. Not talking was harder than she'd thought, but she had to admit, it was kinda fun to see people's reactions to her not speaking. This reaction… not so fun.

"You haven't been talking in any of your classes, and you punch an innocent boy?" the principal exclaimed furiously. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

Ha. Innocent, that's a good one. Sadie thought to herself, a smirk spreading across her face. She hadn't meant to look proud of herself, but she must of, because a yardstick came down upon the desk of the principal, who was now red in the face with fury. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Should I…?

"That being mute is a lot harder than I thought." Sadie replied sarcastically. "And furthermore, that boy wasn't innocent, as you claim. He'd been pushing me around, questioning me, calling names. I didn't like it, and no one else was stepping in, so I punched him. I'm pretty sure he won't be bothering me anymore… and finally, I don't understand what I've done wrong, aside from punching people. You usually bring me here to talk about why I don't shut up, and now you're telling me that, when I finally have, that I'm in trouble for it?" Sadie scoffed. "What kind of system is this?"

"A working one." The principal growled in a low, mean tone of voice. "Now, when you come back here tomorrow, you're going to be your normal self, is that clear? We don't want this school to be a school of conformity. We want everyone to think they are individuals."

"Think, they're individuals?" Sadie repeated. "That implies that you think that they are not. Do you view us as individuals, or just as test taking machines that gives the school more money? Huh, Madame Principal?"

The Principal fell back into her chair, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I don't know why we didn't recruit you for debate…"

"Because you knew that you needed me on the speech team."

"Right." She sighed, waving away a hand. "Go, Sadie. No detention, this time. But don't do anything like this again, alright?" There was a pause, and then the principal silently added, "Please Sadie."

Sadie had gotten up, and was moving toward the door when she said that. She froze, her hand a few inches away from the doorknob. She rested her hand on it, silent. "I'll try." Sadie whispered.

The principal smoothed out her hair, which had gone all out of place during the scream fest. "Good. I'll see you at home… I love you Sadie."

Sadie turned the doorknob, ready to escape the office. "Love you too… mom."

Anthony had finally caught up to the Cat, and pounced on him, pinning him down. "Why the heck did you do that?" he exclaimed, furious and embarrassed. The Cat just shrugged, easily standing back up.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"At the…" Anthony couldn't speak. There was nothing that he could think of to follow that explanation. He sighed, standing up. "She's going to think I'm an idiot now…" Anthony said with a shake of his head.

The Cat looked at him curiously. "You think one bad interview is gonna change the way she thinks about you?" Anthony just shrugged, while the Cat shook his head. "You've got it all wrong! If anything, I'd think she'd be glad that you mentioned her!"

"Yeah, but-"

"Kid, look." The Cat interrupted. "You obviously like her. I didn't even have to do anything; you were stumbling over your words every time you talked about her. You might be a great actor, but you are really bad at hiding your feelings!" There was a slight pause before the Cat started speaking again. "Now… as for the plan…"

"PLACES PEOPLE!" the Director yelled. Anthony never thought he would be so grateful to hear that yell in his life. He rushed over to the set, ready to get the scene done as quickly as possible. The director looked to him, eyebrows raised. "Now, are you sure you want to do this?"

Anthony nodded. "Don't worry. I've done it long before this. I'll be fine."

The Director didn't look so sure, but nodded anyway. "Just… be careful. Are you sure you don't need a mat?"

"I'm fine."

Glancing to the stunt crew, who gave her a reassuring nod, the director sighed, calling out, "We're starting at the reenactment! Lights ready?"

"Ready!" the lights crew answered back.

"Cameras?"

"Ready!"

"Elena?"

"Sound is ready!" Elena called back.

The Director shrugged with a smile. "ACTION!"

"A REENACTMENT!" The Cat exclaimed. A light went up behind him, showing Anthony and General Schmitz as they were 2 scenes before, right after JoJo is blown up.

"It's a mine field out there!" Schmitz exclaimed in his superior, strict tone. "This is no time for play!"

"Sir!" JoJo responded. "I Think what I Think! So… get out of my way!" JoJo pushed past him, running to get into place.

"JOJO!" Schmitz exclaimed again. "You will halt! You will obey!" there was a pause. "No! Wait! SON!"

There was an explosion… and then JoJo leapt, landing with a sickly thump on the stage. He didn't move, waiting for the music cue. When there was none, he looked up. "Um… hello?"

At least 10 people were rushing towards him, all asking the same thing. "Oh my God, are you ok?" Some others said, "Are you INSANE?" Others added on, "You could have killed yourself!"

"This just in! This just in!" Rebecca the reporter shouted to her camera. "One of the lead actors of Seussical: The Musical has attempted a dangerous stunt, and isn't moving! Cast and crew expect the worst." She continued reporting, while JoJo just stared at her. He looked to the director, to see that she was completely white in the face, nearly paralyzed with fear.

"Guys! Guys!" Anthony said, propping himself up easily. "I'm fine, I'm fine! See?" He stood up, turning around for inspection. "Come on guys, I told you not to worry! I've been doing that for at least 8 years now! It's just something I've always been able to do!"

Gertrude was the first to reach him, scooping him up in a tight hug. "Oh thank GOODNESS you're alright!"

"Gertrude…." He gasped. "Can't…. breathe…."

"You scared us half to death!" Mr. and Mrs. Mayor exclaimed, pulling him from Gertrude. "Don't you ever do that again!"

Anthony looked to the Director, who was still not moving. "But… but…"

"Anthony." The Director said in a calm tone of voice. "Are you hurt?"

"No ma'am." He replied, shaking his head.

"Can you do that again without getting hurt?"

"Yes ma'am."

The Director sighed. "Places for top of scene…"

"The actor still isn't moving." Rebecca stated, completely oblivious to what was going on around her. "Gosh, I don't know what they're going to do." Anthony walked over to Rebecca, standing behind her as she reported for a few moments, before asking, "What are you doing?"

Rebecca looked behind her, and her face turned bright red. "Uh….. CUT FEED!"

Sadie looked over at her clock. 10:30. He should be texting any minute-

Hey Sadie.

Sadie smiled. There was nothing quite as satisfying as talking to a friend after a horrible day at school. Even if you had to wait until 11:30 to do it.

Hey Anthony. How's life?

*shrug* Same old, same old.

Can you get into the chat room?

Yeah, I think.

Meet ya there.

Sadie put down her phone, and looked across the room to make sure her door was locked. There wasn't going to be another night of barging in from mom. She opened up her laptop, signing in to Windows Live Messenger. Seeing Anthony's screen name pop up, she clicked on it, bringing up a window.

Sadie Ze Actress: Hey Ant.
Anthony Hall: Hey Sadie.
Sadie Ze Actress: I see you still have your screen name.
Anthony Hall: And I see you changed yours.
Sadie Ze Actress: I don't want to give away my full name!
Anthony Hall: You worry too much.
Sadie Ze Actress: …
Sadie Ze Actress: Ant… think about what you just said.
Anthony Hall: … yeah, that's not true.
Anthony Hall: So how was your day?
Sadie Ze Actress: …
Sadie Ze Actress: Hey, let's talk about something else!
Sadie Ze Actress: Did you see the Red Sox game this weekend?
Anthony Hall: Sadie.
Sadie Ze Actress: What?
Anthony Hall: What did you do?
Sadie Ze Actress: … *sigh* I mighta, maybe punchedaguy….
Anthony Hall: …
Sadie Ze Actress: In my defense, he totally had it coming!
Sadie Ze Actress: He was making fun of me, and mute people in general, and he started it!
Anthony Hall: Was it Bullman?

Sadie shuttered at the name. Morris "Bullman" Mouse was a kid that had pushed Sadie and Anthony around since the beginning of their school days. Neither of them knew why, but Bullman hated them with a passion. Ever since Anthony left, Bullman had been upping his attacks on Sadie. It confused her, honestly. For some reason, never explained by him or anyone else, Bullman didn't like her. For a while, she suspected it was because he liked her as more than a friend, but when confronted, he quickly shot that theory down.

Sadie Ze Actress: Ding ding ding, we've got a winner.
Anthony Hall: *sigh* You're going to get yourself killed one day. What are you going to do when you get to school tomorrow?
Sadie Ze Actress: Pray that I make it through without another trip to my mom's office?
Anthony Hall: … good answer. :P

There was a lull in conversation after that. Sadie bit her lip, looking to the drawer in the dresser. All of her plans lie in there. The secret to her escape. But… would they work in real life? And would Anthony be willing?

Sadie Ze Actress: Ant…?
Anthony Hall: Yeah?
Sadie Ze Actress: I've got something really important to ask you, and I need you to be completely honest with me. Okay?
Anthony Hall: Sure… is something wrong?
Sadie Ze Actress: I… If I were to come to Cali, would you let me stay with you?
Anthony Hall: Of course I would! You and your mom are always welcome here!
Sadie Ze Actress: Really?
Anthony Hall: Of course! Why wouldn't I let your family stay?

Sadie bit her lip, and looked to the drawers again. She felt bad partly lying to him, but it was necessary for her. She couldn't take this life anymore. The silence at home, the bullying at school, the yelling at in between. It was all too much for her.

Anthony Hall: Why are you asking?
Sadie Ze Actress: Oh! My mom was thinking about flying out there for Thanksgiving or something. She knew that we wanted to spend time together, so she figured it would just be easier if we stuck together, instead of spending the money to get a hotel room.
Sadie Ze Actress: Principals don't make that much money, you know.
Anthony Hall: Oh yeah. That'd be awesome! If you get any more details, tell me, alright?
Sadie Ze Actress: Of course! :D
Sadie Ze Actress: *yawns*
Anthony Hall: Sorry for being so boring. :P
Sadie Ze Actress: Sorry for living 4 hours ahead of you. :P
Anthony Hall: Oh yeah, it's really late there, isn't it?
Sadie Ze Actress: Eh, only quarter to 11. And I've only got 2 tests tomorrow
Anthony Hall: Sadie.
Anthony Hall: Get off.
Anthony Hall: Go to bed.
Sadie Ze Actress: What's the magic word?
Anthony Hall: Please?
Sadie Ze Actress: *sigh* Fine… Talk to you later.
Anthony Hall: Good night Sadie.
Sadie Ze Actress: Good night Anthony…

Sadie watched as the chat box exited out, then closed her computer silently. She let out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding. Alright… if tomorrow is horrible, I'll act. If it isn't, I'll wait… God, please let tomorrow be fine…

Dun dun dun!

Well, I'm sorry this is all I could offer you. The original chapter, like I said before, got really dark. So, I've revamped it for you. Things may get a little… iffy in the next chapter, but I promise there will be a happy ending. This story is coming together in my mind, and I can see the end of it already!

Thanks again to everyone who's reading this. You're the best!

Peace, Love, and Seuss forever!
Em Cabot