A/N: HAPPY LABOR DAY WEEKEND!
Will see you next week with another chapter. ENJOY!
This past rehearsal was probably the worst one yet.
Geoffrey was really giving his actors the business. One girl, Becky, was reduced to tears. In response, he just sent everyone home early.
"UGH, THIS GUY!" moaned Billy.
Jenna walked past him.
"Any plans for the rest of the afternoon now that the Prince of Hearts let us go?" he asked her.
"What?" she asked. "Oh, I was going to keep working on my part."
His ears perked up.
"Did you need a partner," he then looked pale. "I meant...someone to practice with?"
"Well..."
Jade was at the Pear Store getting her busted screen protector replaced.
"Okay," she told herself. "Now quit dropping it like a dumbass."
A new call came in.
"Who's this?" she asked.
The spam blocker wasn't sounding off, so it wasn't a scammer or a bot... probably.
Jade huffed and answered it.
"Who are you and how did you get this number?" she asked.
"I'm your dear friend Robbie Shapiro," he answered. "And I promised not to reveal my source."
She massaged the bridge of her nose.
"It was Tori, wasn't it?"
"Dang it."
"Wow, you're a real steel trap! I asked one question and that's what broke you?"
"Sorry, sorry, listen. Are you doing anything tonight?"
Jade mentally checked her planner which was just a tumbleweed rolling along.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because I would like to have you over for dinner," he replied. "I want you to meet Kate. I know she wants to meet you."
"Eww, you're not swingers, are you?"
"What? No, dummy! This is just an invitation from an old friend. What do you say?"
Jade was stuck. She really had no plans, and her mind was blanking for an excuse.
(Ah, what the hell? Free food and I am curious who this boy landed for a wife.)
"Sure, what the hell?"
"Awesome sauce!"
(Awesome sauce?)
"Dinner's at seven. I'll text you the directions."
"Okay."
"Bye, Jade!"
"Yeah, later."
She hung up the phone and walked to her car.
"I gotta be way off the social register these days when going over Robbie's is the biggest thing I have on a Friday night."
LATER...
"Hey, mom?"
"Yeah?"
Alice fidgeted a bit before asking.
"Is it okay I have a friend over tonight? Not like a sleepover but just to hang out."
Jade raised an eyebrow.
"Who?"
"Jenna," Alice replied.
"Oh, the girl who's starring in the play?"
Alice smiled and nodded.
"She's been having some trouble and asked if I could help her rehearse her lines."
Jade shrugged.
"Okay, fine. Just don't lose track of the time. I don't need Jenna's parents breaking down the door."
"Okay," she chuckled.
The mother hesitated before hugging her daughter.
"Mom!" Alice groaned. "I can't breathe!"
"Just promise me you'll keep the door locked, only open for your friend and that's all!"
"I know mom, sheesh."
Jade put on her serious face.
"Don't sheesh me, girly. I shouldn't be late but if I am, don't wait up. If you're tired, go to bed."
Alice folded her arms.
"Yes, mom!"
Jade picked up her car keys and went through the front door.
"Have fun for once!" waved Alice.
Jade pulled up to the Shapiro Residence.
She parked on the side of the street since the driveway was completely full.
"Three cars?" she mused. "Guess they do okay."
Jade knocked on the door and Rob opened it up a second later.
"Hey, Jade!" he smiled. "Glad you could make it."
He stepped aside and offered her to enter.
"Please sit down, sit down." Rob said. "I'll check on dinner."
"Jade?"
(No way!)
The pale woman turned and there sat Tori.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I'm a Jehovah's Witness, what do you think?" Jade huffed. "I was invited."
"Oh."
Jade sat in a big green chair beside a small antique table across from the sofa Tori was occupying.
"He asked you to come over too, huh?" asked Jade.
"Yeah, we've been kind of doing this every once in a while. Ever since we started teaching at Hollywood Arts. It's...nice."
The former goth leaned in.
"So, give me the lowdown. What's the wife like?"
"Kate? Oh, she's great, really. A little eager at times."
Jade made a face.
"Eager?"
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
The new guest newly fell out of her chair with the sudden scream. Tori remained stoic on the couch. She knew what was coming.
"I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!"
Jade was cornered in her chair by an excitable woman with freckles and red hair.
"JADE WEST IS IN MY HOUSE!"
"Um...hi?" she said.
"Oh, yes, how stupid of me! I'm Kate," she said, big smiles with her hand out.
Jade cautiously took it and this lady had a grip.
"I'm shaking hands with you!" Kate beamed. "SO COOL!"
A light bulb went off in her head and she darted out of the room.
"Be right back!"
Jade rubbed her hand while Tori smirked at the very aggressive introduction.
"I think she's a fan," said Tori.
"No shit!" groaned Jade.
Another shock came to her when five heavy books landed right next to her on the wee wooden table. They were first editions of her books. All of them. With the most recent one: "The Better To See You With..." on top.
"See?" smiled Kate. "I have all of your books! I actually convinced my book club to read Cold Blooded. All they kept recommending were stupid romances starring cowboys. B-O-R-I-N-G! I was like, come on girls, let's do some horror. And they really responded to it!"
Jade was a little put off by this woman at first, but she did find it flattering that her book was suggested to a stuffy book club. And they liked it.
This wasn't anything new exactly. It's just Jade wasn't prepared to experience a fan girl this evening.
"Thanks, Kate" nodded Jade. "That's really sweet."
Rob emerged from the kitchen.
"Hey, babe did you me-"
He quickly noticed the stack of literature beside Jade.
"Honey! Can you at least wait until after dinner for autographs?."
Kate made a puss and stood up.
"You're no fun!"
The doorbell rang and Alice raced over to answer.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"It's me, Jenna."
She unlocked the door and as soon as she opened it her face fell.
"Billy?"
"Oh, uh, hi," said the blond guy.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Sorry," replied Jenna. "He begged me to come with."
"It's true," he confirmed.
"Geoffrey just has all of us on edge and he's particularly insufferable with our scenes together."
Alice sighed.
"So, maybe we could rehearse these together?" he suggested.
"And maybe you could help us with what we're doing wrong?" added Jenna.
Jenna made a good point; Alice had seen it first-hand.
"Okay, fiiiiine! But you'd better be outta here on time! I promised my mom it would just be Jenna and if she saw I snuck in a guy, she will have kittens!"
Alice shut the door and locked it.
"Alright, people! Let's get started."
Kate was smiling ear to ear the whole time. She got a thrill watching Jade enjoy their company and complimenting the food.
"I still cannot believe you went to school with one of my favorite authors!"
"Yep," nodded Rob. "Isn't that crazy?"
She indicated toward their guests.
"I mean I look at the both of you and I got to marry this man over here. How lucky am I?"
Tori and Jade shared a look.
"Uh-huh," Tori said. "It probably wouldn't have worked out anyway." She turned to Kate. "You were definitely the one for him."
Kate made an "awww" face and looked lovingly back at her husband.
"You got that right about it not working out," Jade chimed in. "Really, I'm happy for both of you."
The divorce was more than three years ago, but the wounds still felt fresh to Jade.
Tori picked up on that look in her eyes when she said that. She was lamenting something.
"But hey," she chortled while she down the rest of her wine. "The past is the past. Who knows what the future holds!"
"I'll drink to that," said Rob lifting his glass.
"You don't know if you'll re-marry?" asked Kate.
She shot her husband a look. He returned it right back.
(I know you felt that kick.)
Jade shifted in her chair.
"Oh, I'm sorry," winced Kate. "I didn't mean to pry."
"It's fine," Jade said. "I don't know. Harry kind of soured me on men."
"So, that's it?" asked Rob. "You're done with love?"
Jade looked down and smirked.
"No, I didn't say I was done with love. I said I was done with men."
Tori nearly choked on her wine. She covered her mouth with her napkin and got control of the situation.
"You okay?" asked Kate.
"I'm...fine," Tori coughed. "Went down the wrong pipe."
"So..." Rob began as he stirred his potatoes. "Jade...was this your roundabout way of telling us that you're..."
"As straight as a circle, yeah."
Kate lowered her head onto the table, her whole body shaking from laughing.
"Are you out?" Tori asked.
Jade ran her fingers through her hair.
"Um, kind of...I mean...my group, at least on this coast, has shrunk down considerably."
"What do you mean?" asked Rob.
She did a circle of the people around the dinner table with her finger.
"This is pretty much my friends right here," Jade added. "So, I'm out but who gives a shit, right?"
"I care," Tori said, putting her hand on hers.
Kate covered her mouth.
"OW!"
Rob glared at his wife.
(Okay, now she's kicking me. What's going on?)
"Don't ever think your strange, Jade."
She looked over at Kate, thankful for the kind words.
"Yeah, I know. I mean, I've always been strange, not I'm just queer."
The table laughed at the pun.
"Who's there?" Jenna asked with a strain in her voice to indicate injury. "Come closer."
She laid down on the couch as Billy approached.
"It's me, Conrad."
"Please..." Jenna said.
He got to her "bedside" and went down on one knee, holding her hand.
"They said you had died," he said. "But part of me wouldn't believe it."
"CUT!"
Jenna and Billy looked over to Alice.
"What's wrong?"
"No, your lines are fine. But I'm not feeling...I don't know...I feel like something's missing."
The actors looked at each other and shrugged.
"What do you mean?" asked Billy.
Alice walked over to Billy and put her hand on his shoulder.
"What is going through your character's mind right now?" she asked him.
"Um, I'm relieved? Grateful that she's alive."
Alice snapped her fingers.
"But what about your guilt?"
"Guilt?" he asked, confused.
"Kelly just impersonated you to essentially take a bullet, or in this case a bomb, for you. And after everything that happened, after finding out who her father was and breaking up with her, Kelly still valued your life over her own. Because that was how deep her love ran."
He was speechless.
Alice went on.
"He thinks he is beyond apologies or even getting back together. Conrad believes he doesn't deserve her. He wants to know Kelly is okay but can't even look her in the eye."
She walked away from the actor.
"Let's try it again."
Billy closed his eyes for a few seconds and opened them back up, this time wet from tears.
(He can conjure up a cry, nice.)
"They said you had died," he said only this time his voice was cracking. Getting the words out was very difficult for his character. "But...part of me...wouldn't believe it."
He took Jenna's hand and pressed it to his face as we wept.
"YES!" jumped Alice from her seat.
Billy had a time trying to break character. It was like when he started crying, he couldn't turn off the tap. Jenna gave him a soft look and wiped a tear from his face.
"Okay, let's take a break!"
Rob and Kate stood at the door as they said their goodbyes.
"Give him my best," said Tori. "Chicago must be really exciting."
"I will," nodded Rob.
"Hey, don't be a stranger," Kate said, hugging Jade. "We'd love to see you again."
"Alright," Jade smiled.
Tori and Jade waved and stepped off the landing as the couple closed the door.
They began to go their separate ways.
"Hey, Jade."
She turned to face Tori.
"Yeah?"
"I know that took guts to come out to us back there."
Jade shrugged.
"Wasn't like I had anything to worry about. You were always cool like that."
Tori smiled.
"I can still appreciate it."
The Latina chortled and folded her arms.
"This is just...so nice. No animosity, no pranks, no rivalries, no bullshit. To finally be straightforward and honest with you."
Jade rubbed her arm.
"Yeah, honest. Well, I'd better go."
"Have a good night, Jade."
"You, too."
Alice felt squished when Jenna hugged her.
"Thanks so much, Alice! I feel like we nailed it."
Billy nodded, "I didn't know I could do that. For a while I felt like I was pretending but tonight I was really acting."
"It's my pleasure," Alice nodded. "Now, you'd better get going before my mom gets back."
The trio walked outside.
"You can find your way home, right?" Alice asked.
"Yeah," Jenna replied. "Got my GPS."
The froze when they saw headlights coming down the road.
"FUCK! IT'S MY MOM!"
"Quick, Billy! Get in the trunk!"
He didn't hesitate and climbed into Jenna's rear trunk, and she slammed it down shut.
They could both hear a muffled "ow!"
Jade's car came to a stop beside Jenna's, and she smiled at the girls.
"Hey, you two."
"Hi, mom!" waved Alice.
"How was your night, Ms. West?"
The woman cracked her neck.
"It was...memorable. How was the rehearsal?"
Jenna quickly looked at Alice and then back to Jade.
"Great, Alice was...great."
"Oooookay..."
"Well, I gotta run" Jenna declared as she got into her car. "See you on Monday!"
"Bye!" said Alice.
Jenna pulled out of the driveway like she was responding to a fire.
"Is your friend, okay?" asked Jade.
"Yeah, sure," said Alice.
"She looked a little nervous. What she got, a dead body in her trunk?"
"Huh?"
Jade shook her head and laughed.
"I'm just tired, I guess."
"Yeah, we should both get some sleep," Alice yawned.
Jenna pulled over to an In-And-Out Burger and popped the trunk.
"Oh, MAN!" Billy huffed. "It's hot in there!"
"Sorry about that," she said, offering her hand to help him out.
Once he got to his feet, he leaned against the car.
"Some night, huh?" he asked.
"Definitely," Jenna agreed.
"Thanks, by the way."
She looked at Billy.
"For what?"
He shrugged, "For not making fun of me when I cried back there. I know it was just acting but still..."
"No," Jenna said. "I thought it was sweet actually."
They leaned quietly for a bit, both staring at the fast food joint.
"You hungry?" she asked. "Because I could eat."
Billy thought about it and nodded.
"Yeah, I could go for some cheese fries."
Tori came through the door and saw Mia on the sofa watching TV.
"You still up?" she asked.
Mia nodded.
"There's a zombie movie marathon on, so I thought I'd watch."
Normally Tori would object but tomorrow was Saturday.
"Okay, well I'm going to bed. Please do the same at some point."
She kissed Mia on the head and walked away.
"Alright, mom" she sighed.
Mia's plan was to sneak out again to meet up with her crew. She knew she had about an hour until Mom was really asleep. Tori had trouble sleeping for some time now, so she relied on aids like Tylenol PM to help her relax and sleep through the night. Her mom's brain had a tendency to not allow her to relax.
Her phone vibrated and she saw it was a new message.
RENEE: Change of plans. The city is doing some painting around the park.
Ethen then chimed in with a text of his own.
ETHAN: It's closed to everyone! Tonight's a no-go. We'll see about next week.
The teen girl took off her sneakers and put her feet up on the table.
"Zombies it is."