"This is all your fault, director's pet. This is a play. I'm not falling in love with you, and I would never ever go out with you, Jack Garrison."
Jack and Shayna can't get through a rehearsal without fighting.
Cheerleader Shayna loathes perfect Ja...
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Jack hadn't moved from his seat since I returned with the donuts. He hadn't even changed into the gym shorts and sweatshirt I'd procured from Parker's gym bag. He gripped his cup of coffee, staring into the brown depths as if the answers to the universe were at the bottom.
Anton was with his sister in her hospital room. Lilly had just finished with the police, but she and Maddy were too young to drive. The lady from Child Protective Services had taken them anyhow, reassuring them that their brother would be joining them later.
All of our phones were ringing off the hook. Jack suggested we turn them off before he went back with the officers to give a more formal statement. As much as I didn't want to blow off the confusion my friends were facing with the mess we'd left at the theater and having no idea where their director and two leads were, I knew that talking to the police with Jack was the only way we were getting out of this.
I felt like I'd told the police what I'd seen when I arrived with my mother at the theater for the umpteenth time when they finally decided that I could go. I was more than an hour late to rehearsal, and since Anton and Jack were still speaking to doctors, police, and social workers, I decided a hot cup of coffee and a donut could put enough pep in my step to head back to the theater.
Choosing to text Jules since they were the least likely to freak out, I let them know I was coming. Then I drove Jack's jeep to the theater, and I called my brother Parker on the way. He picked up on the third ring.
"Hey, Peanut," Parker said, panting. "Off to rehearsal?"
"Sure," I said. "You out for a run?"
"Um, yeah," Parker said. "A tradition as old as time. Like you calling me when you're driving and have something on your mind."
"I just left the hospital," I said.
Parker paused. "Mom not come home for movies last night?"
"There was an accident," I said. "Anton called Mom, and she insisted we take Mary to a hospital."
"Wait, Mary?" Parker sounded like he had stopped in his tracks. "Mary Garrison, Jack's little sister?"
"Yeah," I said. "We've been there since three in the morning. I was just about to tell the cast."
Parker cursed. "Peanut, are you okay?"
"Been better," I admitted. "Please don't freak out."
"I'm coming home right now," he said.
"Parker, you'll miss practice," I said.
My brother grunted. "This qualifies as a family emergency. Besides, I got the coach's permission to have dinner with Dad tonight. I'll just head in your direction. Give me two hours, peanut. I'll drive straight to the hospital, or do you have a rehearsal?"
