9. First in Line.

Jade sat at the only empty place setting at the dinner table (which was uncomfortably enormous) after waiting in her room for five more minutes to be sure that she would be late.

"You're late," Richard said sternly.

"Yep," Jade responded casually, sipping her water.

"Aren't you going to apologize to your stepmother and me?"

"You know," Jade said with false consideration, "I think you might want to save your 'apology' cards until later in the game."

Celia's eyes widened noticeably. Jade smiled wickedly, tuning out the hired chef when he came out to introduce tonight's dish. Instead she put on her most mischievous face and looked at her father and stepmother as if she had some diabolical plan in mind. Celia looked to her husband with frustration (and maybe a little fear) burning in her eyes. There was a silent argument between them for a moment, making the young chef falter slightly in his explanations. Richard waved him away.

"So Jade," Celia said as she demurely cut into her salmon. "You still attend a performing arts school?"

"Mhm."

"And how is that going?"

"Fine," Jade replied with a roll of her eyes.

"And your…boyfriend?" Celia asked politely, though Jade could see she didn't care. "What was his name? Rick? Jack?"

"Beck," Jade corrected. "And we broke up."

"Oh," Celia actually looked sympathetic, and Jade glared daggers at her patronizing stepmother.

"I walked out on him," Jade defended, though that only seemed to be true in the daylight. Most nights she lay awake, abandoned and forgotten. But in the mornings she'd left him behind and was free. She was the one breaking out instead of grasping at the fraying remains of their relationship.

Jade saw Celia raise her eyebrows. Jade narrowed her eyes and stabbed at the food on her plate violently. The next half hour was spent, for Jade's part, in total silence. She observed the conversation between her father and his wife, noticing with disdain the tension between them. Every word had a hidden meaning, every movement an ulterior motive. The brunette date he'd taken to Nozu on the night of his assault was clearly not forgotten. So Jade used the tactic she'd mastered just before her parents' divorce — disappearing into herself. She recited every scene from the Scissoring in her head from the very beginning, ignoring the conversation at the table, and was at the seventh killing when she found she'd cleaned her plate. The chef emerged once again, asking how everyone enjoyed their meals. He watched Jade nervously, apparently aware of her reputation, and looked pleased and relieved when she gave him a quick thumbs-up, though her expression was blank.

"I'm leaving," Jade announced when the chef had returned to the kitchen, pushing back her chair and tossing her napkin onto the table.

"Wait," Richard commanded. Jade turned to face him but stayed standing. "I would like to…welcome you to your new home."

"Yeah thanks," Jade said indifferently. She turned to leave once again.

"And," Richard continued, "I would like you to know…that I don't hold the actions of your mother against you."

Jade raised her eyebrows, thoroughly surprised — if there was one thing Richard West was good at, it was misdirecting blame. She nodded her head, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"You may go," Richard said, taking his crutch from its place leaning against his chair.

Jade stomped up the stairs, slowly heading for her bedroom, her brow furrowing. She was jerked from her thoughts by the sight of a small white ball of fluff on her bed. Yapper.

"No. Absolutely not."

Jade picked up the small dog and deposited it outside her bedroom, slamming the door shut. As she unpacked the four boxes of toiletries she had brought into her sizable bathroom, she grumbled to herself about her liar of a father. First claiming to want to repair their relationship, now saying he doesn't blame her for her mother attacking him? And Celia, asking about school, asking about Beck. Jade shook her head angrily as she tried to make the shower work. There was no way these wealthy, snobby, anti-performing-arts elitists could change their ways so quickly. People don't change at the drop of a hat, or at the order of a judge. Sometimes people can't even change because they want to.

"Would you like to hear about my new plaaaaay?" Sikowitz asked the students in front of him on Monday. There was a general affirmation of yes, definitely around the room. "Well, it's very very good. It's about a young hacker working in IT who goes on the run after accidentally discovering that her boss is a cyber criminal!"

Jade perked up slightly. She could play an excellent hacker.

"There will be plenty of opportunities for the special effects crew to showcase their skills, so anyone who is interested, see Sinjin," Sikowitz suddenly brandished a stack of papers in each hand. "These"— he threw the right-hand papers into the air—"are the monologues for the boys. And these" — the left-hand papers flew—"are for the girls!"

"When are auditions?" Jade asked as she snatched a monologue from the air and started reading it over.

"Today," Sikowitz said calmly.

"Today?" Jade shouted. "What?! You can't expect us to learn a monologue in one day!"

"Sure I can!"

"Sikowitz," Tori began patiently, "we have classes today. We really don't have time to prepare audition-worthy monologues!"

"Then prepare an unworthy monologue. I will allow you to call 'line' during the auditions."

There was a round of resigned shrugs amongst the students. They would certainly try.

Tori called for her line six times during her audition monologue. Jade called once, and without breaking character. Cat only called twice, but she'd memorized the wrong monologue and definitely didn't seem to be in the running for the highly intelligent leading character. No, it seemed, once again, that the lead was between Jade and Tori.

Jade sipped the last of her water bottle after finishing her monologue. She was shoving it back into her messenger bag on one of the Black Box seats when Beck approached her.

"Hey, great job," he said. "You did really well."

"Thanks. You did too," Jade said sincerely — his audition for the role of the hacker's corrupt employer was excellent. "I think this one's gonna be a lot of fun."

"Have they ever not been fun?" Beck asked with a chuckle.

"Yes."

"Oh. Well, yeah I guess you're right. The one about the post office workers was a little…." Beck trailed off, searching for a word.

"Horrifying?"

"Yeah."

They took a moment to laugh about the mailman play from freshman year before parting ways for the day. Certain Sikowitz would cast her as the lead, Jade drove home singing along to every song that came on the radio, and greeted Richard and Celia courteously when she arrived home.

"What did you do?" Celia asked suspiciously. Jade rolled her eyes.

"I had a very successful audition today," she explained, "for a play one of my favorite teachers is directing."

"So you got the lead?" Richard asked, leaning on his crutch as he opened the fridge. The three of them were sitting in the kitchen, Jade crunching on a granola bar that didn't taste nearly as bad as it looked. Celia was sipping apricot juice delicately, examining her freshly-manicured nails.

"I haven't technically gotten the lead," Jade admitted. "But it's in the bag."

"When is the play?"

"In a couple of weeks."

"Tell me when you know the exact date."

"Why?"

"So we can see it."

"Really?" Jade was shocked. Richard had never, ever, offered to attend one of her performances without her asking. Jade's heart fluttered slightly. "Well, thanks."

"As long as you get the lead, of course," Richard clarified.

"I'm getting the lead," Jade said confidently.

She didn't get the lead.

Jade stalked assertively into Sikowitz's classroom on Friday, the cast list day, sitting in her usual chair with a smug smirk. When the Improv teacher sauntered in, carrying a coconut with a blue straw and a rather wet piece of paper, she jumped to her feet.

"Well?" she asked.

"Well what?" Sikowitz looked genuinely confused.

"The cast list!" Tori supplied anxiously.

"Oh," Sikowitz said impishly. "Do you mean…this cast list?"

He held out the folded paper that was oozing white liquid to the floor. Jade snatched it out of her hands with a roll of her eyes.

"What did you do to it?" Cat asked curiously from her spot next to Jade. The paper was dripping onto her pink and orange shoes.

"I soaked it in coconut milk."

"Why on earth would you do that?" Andre asked.

"Everything deserves to be soaked in coconut milk!" Sikowitz shouted, suddenly emotional. "I couldn't let this piece of paper live its life without experiencing the incomparable pleasure of a warm coconut milk bath."

"Okay, ew," Jade commented as she carefully unfolded the paper, grumbling that she hoped the ink would still be legible.

"What does it say what does it say what does it say?" Cat chattered, bouncing next to Jade's shoulder.

Jade took one look at the paper and threw it on the ground. Grabbing her bag harshly, and knocking over several chairs (and Robbie), she swept out of the room.

Understudy.

Honestly, she wasn't sure why she was surprised. Life was not a fairytale, or a sitcom, or a daytime soap opera. Nothing ever really changes. No, life was a game — and Tori Vega apparently held the loaded dice.

So you're picking up signs

You're scared you might be losing your mind

Happy Tuesday! I'm not gonna lie, I haven't worked on this in awhile. I'm kind of stuck. I have about fifteen chapters written, but any ideas/requests you have would be super helpful. Enjoy! :)