Page 29 of The Wrong Costar

Didn’t I know it. I was beginning to wonder if I had more in common with Beast than I first suspected.

“Don’t forget to call your mother back,” Zeke yelled over his shoulder as he went to go after Teagan.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I replied before slowly traipsing up to my room. Calling my mother wasn’t an option right now though. Talking with her was hard enough when I was in a good mood, and it was near impossible when I was in a terrible one.

I was still clasping the questions Teagan had left for me, and I started to read over them. My eyes snagged on a question toward the top of the page, and my hands clenched around the paper. She actually had the nerve to ask whether I considered it a failure that my reputation had taken such a dive over the last year. And as I kept reading through the questions, I could see they didn’t get much kinder. She really did seem to hate me and this sheet of paper was proof of that.

I stood there staring at the page for far longer than was necessary before I scrunched the paper up and threw it over my shoulder. Teagan could fail this assignment for all I cared, because there was no way I was answering any of her questions.

11

Teagan

Several days had passed since I stormed out of Liam’s house, and I was still mad with him. He’d been intrusive and rude, and the way he’d so flippantly made fun of landing the role of Beast in our play had cut deeply. Even the weekend hadn’t managed to calm me down, and when Monday rolled around, I was dreading seeing him in drama.

“You look tired, Teags,” Evan said, as we walked to drama together. Miss Appleby had sent an email over the weekend reminding us we’d be starting rehearsals in the auditorium today, so we were headed to the other side of school rather than the drama room.

“I didn’t sleep well over the weekend,” I admitted. I’d worked some pretty long hours babysitting on Saturday, and then Mom had been gone all Sunday. She hadn’t come home until the early hours of this morning and was a drunken mess when she got back. It took me hours to calm down enough to fall asleep.

“Working too hard again?” he asked.

“Probably,” I admitted.

I didn’t tell him it was mostly because of my mom. He still had no idea about her drinking problem, and I really didn’t want to worry him. Evan was so positive and fun that I sometimes forgot my issues at home even existed when I was around him. It might be selfish of me, but I didn’t want to lose those moments and have them replaced by sad talks of my home life and problems that couldn’t be fixed.

We walked into the auditorium, and most of the class were sitting in the first few rows of the audience, while Miss Appleby stood by the edge of the stage. She was waiting for everyone to arrive, and so far, it looked like only half the class was here. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was because people had forgotten drama was in the auditorium today.

I followed Evan into one of the rows, and as we sat down, Todd turned around in his seat to glare at him. “Geez, Anderson, go a little overboard with the cologne today? I can smell you a mile off.”

“Better than the pungent reek of desperation that you give off,” Evan fired right back.

Todd scoffed before turning around in his chair to face the stage again. Evan leaned in close to me. “Evan–1, Todd–0,” he whispered, making me laugh.

I couldn’t remember the exact moment the pair became rivals, but I was pretty sure it had been going since kindergarten. Todd had never been anything but nice to me, but for some reason, he and Evan couldn’t stand each other. It only seemed to intensify in drama, but I think it was because they always went for the same parts.

“You’re still keeping score with him?”

“Always.”

I shook my head. “You’re a pretty biased umpire, you know.”

“Well, I definitely won that round.”

“True,” I smiled, “and you do smell pretty amazing.”

“Thanks.” He leaned in close again to whisper in my ear. “Though I may have accidently sprayed myself a few too many times with the bottle this morning.”

“So, Todd was righ—”

Evan clamped a hand over my mouth. “Shhh! Not so loud, Teags.”

I couldn’t stop a laugh from escaping as I took in the panic in his eyes. “You take this far too seriously,” I said, once he lowered his hand.

“This is war. I don’t see any other way to take it.”

Miss Appleby clapped her hands together, quieting the many conversations in the room. “Okay, class, let’s get started. Today, we’re going to block the play out starting from scene one. Initially, I want you all to go with your gut and perform what feels natural for your character. That will give us a starting point, and we can discuss what works and what doesn’t and refine from there. Can I get everyone up onstage who’s needed in the opening scene?”

A few students stood up and headed to the stage. Evan and I weren’t required for the first scene, so we remained seated in the audience. The play opened with Beast becoming cursed by the haggard enchantress. I looked around though as I realized our Beast was nowhere to be seen.

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