Page 78 of The Wrong Costar

I wasn’t in the first scene, and the rest of the cast were all taking their place on stage when Madi pulled me aside. “Teags, where’s your basket for your first scene?”

“Why are you asking me? I thought you would have it?” I hissed.

Madi swore under her breath. “You’re right. I think I left it down in the dressing room.” She glanced over her shoulder before focusing on me once more. “I can’t leave the stage, but could you go get it? You still have time to get back here before your scene starts.”

“Fine, I’ll go.” I didn’t want to make a mad dash for the dressing room right before my opening scene, but Madi was right; I should have time. She emphasized that I needed to hurry with a wave of her hands, and I raced back to the dressing room to find the prop.

As I arrived in the dressing room, I heard a cheer erupt from the auditorium. I glanced over my shoulder wondering why the audience would be so excited. Were they just really enthusiastic about the play, or were they applauding the end of the first scene already? Either way, I really needed to hurry.

I focused on the room and had to rummage through piles of costumes and stacks of props before I finally found the basket tucked away behind an open door. It had taken me too long to find, and I cursed under my breath as I grabbed the prop and dashed back to the stage. I was barely going to make it back in time for my scene, but at least the adrenaline seemed to have replaced my nerves, and I was more focused on making my entrance on time than the fact our play was probably going to be a massive flop.

As I arrived back in the wings, the lights on stage went down, signaling the end of the first scene. I’d made it. “That’s your cue,” Madi said, waving to me toward the stage.

I barely had time to catch my breath before I walked past her to take my place. As I reached my mark on stage, I finally caught sight of Evan for the first time that evening. He was standing in the wings, and my expression dropped at the sight of him. He was wearing his Gaston outfit.

I tried to catch his attention, but he seemed to be deliberately avoiding eye contact with me. I officially felt like I was going to throw up. What on Earth was he doing? He was supposed to be playing Beast. No one else had learned the lines, and it wasn’t as if Evan could play the two characters at once. Who had played Beast in the first scene?

I wanted to sprint offstage and confront him, but the lights on stage brightened, suddenly washing over me and warming my skin as the scene began. I pushed my worries to the back of my mind as I quickly fell into part. I’d have a chance to ask Evan what was going on between scenes.

The chance to speak to Evan never came though, as he hurried off the opposite side of the stage to me at the end of our scene. My hands clenched into fists at my sides as I tried to remain calm. My best friend was actively dodging me, and I couldn’t understand why. It even felt like he had been avoiding eye contact with me during our scene together. Something wasn’t right.

“Why is Evan playing the wrong part?” I hissed to Madi as I waited in the wing for my next entrance. “Who’s playing Beast?”

She waved my question away as she focused on the stage. “It’s fine, Teagan,” she whispered, like that was all the answer I needed.

I didn’t understand. Evan was the only person who had rehearsed the part. Our play was about to go from a disappointment to an all-out catastrophe if we had anyone other than Evan play Beast. Was I really the only one that cared?

The first act of the play went by in a blur, and by the time I finally had a scene with Beast, I was a mess. No one was giving me a straight answer as to what was happening with Evan, and I had a sinking suspicion it was because he’d chickened out at the last minute. Todd had been begging Miss Appleby all week to give him a shot at Beast, and he claimed he already had all the lines memorized. Evan had told me plenty of times that if he didn’t perform well in the role that it would go to Todd. It seemed to be his main motivation during all our extra rehearsals. Would Miss Appleby really allow the boys to change their roles at last minute though?

I was completely rigid with nerves as I prepared to take the stage for the first scene with Beast. I was trying to mentally prepare myself to do damage control. Whoever I was about to act opposite was going to need all the help he could get, and I felt certain I was going to have to ad lib to cover their blunders and keep the play moving. I’d barely stepped foot on stage, when I froze.

Liam stood across from me. He was dressed in the Beast costume, and his face was pulled into an expression of anger, but his eyes were soft and seemed to caress me as he looked me over. Shock pulsed through me as I stared back at him. At first, I felt a wave of happiness, but it was quickly replaced by confusion and then frustration. What was he doing here?

I somehow managed to compose myself as he stalked across the stage toward me, but my hand had other ideas. Without thinking about it, I stepped forward and slapped him across the face.

The audience gasped, and my hand burned from the contact. I immediately regretted the action, but I was so confused and hurt that I hadn’t been able to help myself. He’d abandoned me without a word, and then this was how he decided to face me again? Risking the play that he knew meant so much to me by surprising me right in the middle of a scene.

I could see the shock in Liam’s eyes, but he kept in character, reacting just as Beast would at being slapped. “What are you doing here?” he growled.

“I could ask you the same thing,” I snapped back at him. They weren’t Belle’s words, and concern flickered through Liam’s eyes. I was off script, and I wanted nothing more than to also be offstage. I was tempted to run, but as I glanced past Liam, I saw Madi, Hayley, and Evan watching me from the wings. They all had identical looks of shock on their faces, clearly worried that I wasn’t following the script. In that moment, I knew I couldn’t give into my emotions. I couldn’t let my friends and the rest of the cast down.

I focused on Liam, easily falling back into character as I mirrored Belle’s anger. “I’m here for my father,” I demanded, delivering the correct line.

“Well, you shouldn’t have come,” Beast replied. All I could think was that I felt the same way about him. Liam shouldn’t be here either. I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind though as I focused on the scene.

My own anger and hurt bled into my character as we volleyed dialogue at each other. I felt the words more intensely than ever before, and it must have showed in my performance because the auditorium was deathly quiet as we kept the audience enthralled.

When our scene ended and we walked offstage together, I stood in the wings staring at Liam, still in shock. “What is wrong with you?” I asked. “Why on Earth did you think it was a good idea to surprise me onstage like that? You’re lucky I managed to stay in character out there”

Liam looked like he wanted to reach out to me, but he clasped his hand tightly at his side. “I couldn’t bear the thought of letting you down tonight,” he said. “I managed to speak with Miss Appleby and Evan before the start of the show, and they agreed to let me back in the play.”

“And you thought it would be a good idea to just land that on me in the middle of the performance?”

I didn’t get his answer though because Madi called my name. “Teagan, you’re due onstage in a few lines,” she hissed at me. I wasn’t ready to go back out there yet though.

“I thought I was never going to see you again,” I said to Liam.

His eyes were tender as he stepped toward me and lightly touched my cheek. “I wasn’t given a choice. My mother blackmailed me into leaving, and I knew if I contacted you she’d do something to hurt you so she could get to me.”

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