Page 30 of The Wrong Prom Date

“Where’s Liam?” I hissed to Evan.

He started looking around too. “Huh, he doesn’t seem to be here.”

“Clearly. But where do you think he is? You don’t think he’s bailed on the play, do you?”

Evan laughed. “No need to sound so hopeful, I’m sure he’s just running late to class.”

Miss Appleby seemed to have noticed Liam was missing too and let out a sigh. “We can’t rehearse the first scene without Liam. We’ll have to start with the second scene.”

The kids who were already onstage let out groans as they headed back toward their seats while Evan and I went to take their places. It was only day one of rehearsals, but I wasn’t at all surprised Liam was already letting the team down. If this wasn’t evidence of how little he cared for our play, then I wasn’t sure what was.

I pushed him from my mind as we started rehearsing my first scene though. I loved that Miss Appleby gave us the freedom to do what felt natural to begin with and springboard from there. Blocking was always a slightly awkward stage of rehearsals, mostly because people were still hindered by the script in their hands. I’d memorized my lines on the weekend though, so it was nice not to feel the burden of having to check my script.

As we worked through the scene, I also realized that, as brilliant as Evan had been at auditioning for Beast, he was an absolute natural at playing Gaston. It was like the role had been written for him, and I was blown away by the performance he was giving even though it was only the first rehearsal.

Liam finally rocked up when we were already halfway through the lesson. He went straight to Miss Appleby, and whatever he said to her earned him an indulgent smile and a nod. He smiled in return before taking a seat toward the back of the audience.

I watched the whole interaction in shock. The guy was untouchable. Any one of us would have at least received a look of disappointment from our teacher for arriving so late and disrupting the class, but not Liam. All he got was a warm and understanding smile.

I had to wonder what he’d said to explain his absence. Madi was standing right next to Miss Appleby, and I lifted a questioning eyebrow at her. She caught the look and simply shrugged, which wasn’t an answer at all.

I had to wait until class was over before I could talk to her. I didn’t know what Liam had said to Miss Appleby, but we hadn’t gone back to do the first scene despite the fact our Hollywood star had finally arrived. Maybe it was because we’d be on a roll after finishing the second scene. Either way, Liam didn’t get up onstage once during class though I had barely left it.

“Why was Liam so late today?” I asked Madi, as we headed out of the auditorium. I should have been on a high from a successful first rehearsal, but instead, I was plagued by Liam’s late arrival.

“He didn’t get the email about the venue change,” Madi said. “And when he got to the drama room and realized no one was coming, he had no idea where the school auditorium was.”

My brow creased. I’d assumed the worst of the guy and didn’t like that he’d proved me wrong. “I guess that’s a reasonable enough explanation.”

Madi laughed. “Were you expecting something unreasonable?”

“Knowing Liam? Yes.”

Madi shook her head at me. “I think you need to give the guy a chance.”

Why did people keep saying that to me?

“Anyway, I’ve got math now so I’ll see you at lunch.” Madi gave me a wave before disappearing down the corridor. I stared after her, questioning myself for a moment.

Was I being too hard on Liam? Or was I the only one who saw him for who he truly was?

* * *

Liam wasn’tlate for our next rehearsal. He actually arrived early and was already sitting in the audience waiting when the bell rang for class to begin. Not even Miss Appleby was in the auditorium, and I quickly found a seat as far away from him as possible.

We still hadn’t talked since our failed interview last week, but I knew we’d have to speak today. We were rehearsing our first scene together, and I was surprised to find I was nervous.

The other students slowly drifted into the room, most of them trying to score a seat as close to Liam as possible. None of them seem to care that he’d completely disrupted our last rehearsal, and they all acted like nothing had happened. They were too busy trying to become Liam’s new best friend, it seemed.

Once everyone had arrived, Miss Appleby clapped her hands together, calling the class to order. The room hushed as we all focused on her, and she got Madi to call the cast members needed for the scene up to the stage. I was the only one who walked up there without a script, and I frowned when I saw the booklet in Liam’s hands. He was paid to be an actor. How did he not have the script memorized already?

“Don’t you know your lines yet?” I asked him, as I came to stand at his side and wait for my entrance onstage.

He folded his arms over his chest and glanced around the room. “No one else is off script yet.”

“Yeah, but you’reLiam Black. I would have thought memorizing a few lines for a school play would be easy.”

“It’s not just a few lines,” he growled in response. “I’m the star of the play, so I’d say it’s more than a few.”

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