Page 16 of Script Swap
“A shadow on the glass,” they muttered.“Give me a break.The only shadow on the glass is the one she’s casting.”
“Uh, right,” I said.
“What do we do now?”Fox said.“How do we prove it was her?”
“Huh?”
“Thatleechattached to my father.How do we prove she did it?”
“Did what?”
“Swapped the script.Good God, Dash, have you even been paying attention?”
I shot my eyebrows.
With a slow exhalation, Fox put their hands on their hips.“I’m sorry.”They took a pace one way.Then back.Today they were wearing some sort of leather jerkin that made me think of an elf with pretty hair, and they tugged at one armhole now.“Iamsorry, Dash.”In a tighter voice, they added, “I hate this.”
“Is there a reason you think Tinny is involved?”I asked.“Did she do something?Say something?”I hesitated and then said, “She wasn’t in her seat when the lights went out.”
Fox made a sound of disgust and shook their head.“My father insists she was in the restroom.”
“So… youdothink she’s involved somehow?”
“Of course she is.She has to be.”
“Uh—” I tried to think of a politic way to say it, but the best I could come up with was “Why?”
“Because my father is a fool,” Fox said.“And this is all part of her plan.”
I almost asked,What plan?But the adrenaline was draining out of me, and my brain was coming back online, and—most importantly—it was clear that Fox had already made up their mind about what was happening here.
I, on the other hand, hadnoidea what was happening.
Which honestly shouldn’t sound so bad.I mean, I’d literally just gotten here.And I’d almost died.And it’s not like I even knew what everyone was so worked up about.I mean, the money—
Yeah, what about the money?
“Fox,” I said.
They were still glaring in the direction Tinny and Terrence had gone.
“Fox!”
They glanced over.
“What’s going on here?”
“She’s trying to steal—”
“No, what’sgoing on?Someone altering Kyson’s script, the lights going out, the stolen money—it’s too much.Or not enough.Or something.”
Fox stared at me.And then finally they said, “He’s struggling.Financially, I mean.”I opened my mouth to explain that this was exactly why I was so confused—why did anyone care so much about the script?—but before I could, Fox went on, “The theater has always struggled, and it’s worse now than it used to be.People don’t want to take their families to see a play on a rainy day.They take them to play laser tag or drive go-karts.He’s turning the storage room upstairs into an event space, and renting that out will help—there aren’t enough venues for large groups in Hastings Rock—but it’s…difficult right now.”After a deep breath, Fox added, “I’m sorry he spoke to you the way he did.”
Raised voices came from farther back in the building.Women’s voices.
Fox turned their eyes skyward and sighed.
“Who’s—” I began.
