SCARLET BUZZED FOR THE rest of the week. A Jake Miller high settled over her, fogging her mind's eye with nothing but the boy in question. Her friends teased her endlessly, but she found that she didn't care. Even her mother sent knowing looks her way, and she waved them off, ignoring the obvious flush on her cheeks.
When Friday rolled around again, she sped to Zion Auditorium as fast as she could without breaking the law. She needed to see him again, especially after their evening the previous week. She hoped to find him as soon as she entered through the double doors, but instead she came face to face with Elliot.
Scarlet froze. Those amber eyes studied hers, waiting for the right moment to pounce, but Sierra broke the spell when she called out her name. She turned her head at her best friend, who was getting disapproving looks all around for interrupting the current scene being rehearsed. She shrugged it off and waved Scarlet over.
"What did he want?" she whispered.
"Beats me," Scarlet replied. "He just...stood there. I don't get what his problem is."
They made it backstage, where everyone huddled around last minute touches for the props. Ms. Stanford kept repeating how they would be rehearsing with the full set, so everyone had to stay in position, awaiting for their signal. A stack of scripts rested on her arms as she handed one to everyone she bumped into.
"You two!" Ms. Stanford pointed at them. Scarlet stepped forward. "Scarlet, you're gonna be in charge of wardrobe changes with Gina, Brooklyn, Caitlyn, Rory, and Melinda. Sierra, do you mind moving props?" She didn't wait for a response before dropping a script on each of their hands and scurrying away.
"Well, someone's stressed out," Sierra snorted, flipping through the script. "So, how are you feeling about seeing your lover boy dying on stage?"
Scarlet scoffed. "It's just a play. A stupid one at that. I'll survive."
She stared out onto the stage where Jake delivered his lines with passion. He crossed the stage to Lindsey and wrapped his arms around her waist. Her chest burned, so she looked away. Everything would have been more than fine if Lindsey didn't take advantage of the situation and pressed her body impossibly close to him.
It was a high school play with teenagers, not a steamy production.
She opted to find the costume group to distract herself from their rehearsals. She plopped right next to Rory, who hunched over the last of the Juliet dresses, sewing pink sequins to the skirt to make it pop under the lights. The others busied themselves by organizing all the costumes by group of actors and actresses, or even by scene.
"Hey, Scar," Rory greeted with a smile. "Stanford put you with us?" Her eyes widened with hope, and Scarlet nodded.
"You're all stuck with me again," she replied cheekily. "Now what do I do?"
Scarlet spent the next hour sorting through costumes, placing them on racks with their specific tags. Her hand complained by the time she finished writing down who were meant to wear the Montague costumes. Ink plastered her other hand. Her back complained whenever she straightened up. She grew lightheaded the more she stared at the list of names that blurred together into a mess of letters.
"Hey." Scarlet jumped up to see Jake making her way towards her. "You look ready to quit this whole thing."
She groaned. "You try labeling every single costume. I didn't even think there were that many people to begin with."
Jake gathered her into her arms, and she fought her instincts to push herself on her toes and press her lips over his. But they were in public, and she had a feeling Ms. Stanford wouldn't be too keen on any kind of PDA. Scarlet would have to wait for later.
YOU ARE READING
Forever Crimson
Teen Fiction"The vultures are disguised as humans." Scarlet Turner has her last semester of high school planned out: graduate as best as she can and take care of her sick mother. But when she's told she won't graduate because of the pile of tardies she's collec...
