Page 46 of Bump and Run

Mr. Young calls us out and my heart stops.

Grant grips my hand. “Let’s go kick some ass, Pierce. You with me?”

I nod quickly, forcing every butterfly to wither and die in my stomach before standing up. “Let’s do this.”

* * *

I stepinto Talon Hall and the butterflies return.

Mr. Young said the cast list would be posted outside of his office at eight o’clock this morning. It’s seven-thirty now but I’ve been up since five.

I’ve spent the last several hours replaying the audition in my head, picking it apart into little pieces, wondering if I said this word wrong or didn’t put enough emotion into that phrase. Every little piece of it has been dissected and studied at least a dozen times but I’m not anywhere closer to being as confident as Grant seems to be.

He told me not to worry about it; we have it in the bag. Mr. Young didn’t say a word after our scene. He just nodded with that hard expression of his and waved us off. Grants insists that’s a good thing. I have my doubts.

I round the corner towards Young’s office and halt in my tracks so fast, my shoes screech like tires.

“Hey, Ellie.”

I blink, convinced it’s just a mirage but no, Junior Morgan is standing there, leaning against the wall outside of Young’s office with two cups of coffee in his hands.

“Hey.” I step forward with suspicion. “What are you doing here?”

He holds out one of the coffees. “Black, as you like it.”

“What are you doing here?”I ask again. “You shouldn’t keep coming back here. If someone sees you and tells my father—”

“Relax,” he says. “This is the theatre department. No jocks would be caught dead in here. We’re safe.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I figured you could use some moral support.” He holds the coffee out a little further, forcing me to take it from him. “Cast list gets posted at eight, right?”

“Who told you that?”

“The Internet.”

“Why are you looking up audition schedules on the Internet?”

“So I could surprise you with coffee.”

“Why?”

He chuckles. “You’re very cranky in the morning. I’ll have to remember that—”

“Junior.”

“I just wanted to see your face when you got the role,” he says, pushing off the wall. “I saw part one yesterday and I didn’t want to miss part two.”

I furrow my brow. “What do you mean you saw part one yesterday?”

He grins. “How did you guys make that slap look so real? Did you actually slap him?”

All of my blood drains from my face. “You watched the audition?”

“I was on the balcony. You had no idea?”

“No…” I blink. “Why were you there?”

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