The Dress Rehearsal

Beck entered the Black Box Theatre together with Jade. She was still sulky because yesterday she had to wait an hour for him to get back from Tori's house. He managed to appease her with promise for two thickets to a horror movie for this weekend. As they got to the dressing room's area Beck saw some sort of a commotion. Tori and the director were loudly discussing something surrounded by half a dozen students.

"What's going on?" Beck asked loudly. At the sound of his voice Tori turned to face him. "Oh my, what the…" Beck couldn't do anything but stare in shock at her. Her face was covered in something hideous and grayish. It was a very convincing, scary zombie mask.

"Vega did you forget to moisturize this morning?" Beck heard Jade's sarcastic amused voice beside him. Tori rolled her eyes at the sardonic pale brunette.

"Cat happened." Her answer addressed to Beck. She then explained, evidently for the umpteenth time today, how she ended up with the mask stuck to her face. Beck was torn between laughing at the hilarity of Cat's goof, and cringing when thinking about the discomfort Tori must be feeling. He remembered having to wear special effect's make-up once and it hadn't been a pleasant experience. Jade on the other hand, as evident by her laughter, didn't feel conflicted at all.

"That's why I don't do favors to people." She said after she stopped laughing.

"So what are you going to do?" Beck asked Tori.

"Trina and Cat are already on their way to get the solvent." She explained, more for the benefit of their fretting director, than to Beck. "All we can do is to wait for them to come back with it from Bakersfield." The director just whimpered in frustration, popped another of his 'nerves' pills and walked off to see if the stage crew was ready.

"Are you feeling alright?" Beck asked pointing at the mask with concern.

"As good as I can be under the circumstances." Tori shrugged and sighed in frustration. Just as he was about to ask her something else the director's voice interrupted him.

"Okay students, it's time for the last rehearsal. Places everyone!" They all took their places in waiting of the signal to begin. Despite the distraction of the zombie mask the dress rehearsal went perfect. Everyone hit their queue on time, the music was synced and with the right volume. Beck could see André up there with the rest of the musicians exited and settling the last details of the songs.

"That was dynamite!" The director exclaimed enthusiastically after they were done. "Now go hydrate and rest before the show!" He went off after brief discussion with Tori. Beck could see that she was pacing nervously the stage, impatiently looking at her phone. He approached her and stopped her.

"Tori calm down. You need to sit down, relax and rest for the show." Her eyes behind the mask were shining in tears. He handed her a bottle of water and made her sit down.

"How am I to calm down? Look at my face!" She said pointing at the hideous make-up covering at the moment her face. "How am I going to play the beautiful Penny, a girl all boys fall in love with, when I look like this?" Tori let go of the water bottle and buried her face in her hands. Beck sat next to her, put his arm around her shoulders in a protective, consoling hug.

"Relax there is still time. May be Trina and Cat will return in time." He tried to reassure her. Although his words sounded convinced, he wasn't so sure. These two were not the most reliable persons to send to do something. Frankly it would be good if they returned by tomorrow. Despite his effort he could feel that Tori's tension was not subsiding.

"And if they don't? What if I ruin the play?" She said, facing him again. "Everyone worked so hard and was so excited to show what they can do the Broadway playwright. Now instead of possibly noticing someone, maybe you, she will just remember the stupid lead with the hideous face. It's all going to be my fault!" He could see the anguish that this thought was causing her. She was good friends with many participating in this play. The thought of them all wasting an opportunity like this because of her was obviously weighing heavy on Tori. Beck felt his heart fill with warm tenderness for the slim girl next to him. Even now, when the make-up was probably causing her discomfort, she was still worrying about the others.

"Don't worry. Even with the mask you can still play Penny just fine." He said with conviction in his voice. He looked straight into her warm chocolate eyes, smiled and continued. "You've build her character extremely well. The way you sing these songs is perfect. You even make me sound good in our duet." She cracked a smile at his last words.

"You sounded just fine from the beginning. You just don't like to sing on stage because your singing is not as perfect as your acting." Beck found himself smiling at her compliment. For some reason it felt nice to know that Tori thought that his acting was 'perfect'. But most importantly, she seemed to be getting over her anxiety.

"Okay, well whatever the case, my point still stands - with or without this scary make-up you will be the best Penny Sophia Michele's ever seen." He said that with such a sincere seriousness that Tori couldn't help but to giggle. While it wasn't exactly the reaction he was aiming for, it was getting the job done. Tori seemed to be back in a good mood.

"You are terrific actor! You sounded like you really believe it." She said after she stopped giggling.

"I really do believe it Tori." Beck told her, his eyes never leaving hers'. Tori enveloped him in a tight embrace. He returned it, enjoying the warmth of her slender hands.

"Thank you. I think I needed that." She whispered in his ear. Then she reluctantly let go of him and they both headed to the dressing room.