GOOSEBUMPS RAN UP AND down her arms as she waited outside of Zion Auditorium with the rest of the cast and crew. She leaned against the wall, reminiscent of audition day. She rubbed her hands over her skin to calm the reaction, but it didn't work.
Sierra waited a few feet away, shifting her weight to one side of her body. She said nothing, but the air around her was comfortable. A script peeked from under her arm, the one she used to make sure she hauled and pushed the right props onto the stage.
Most of the cast and crew held the same script, flipping through it to remind themselves of what they were meant to do or rehearse lines they tended to forget. Scarlet had hers in her bag, but she barely consulted it as she was more arms deep with making sure everything flowed behind the curtains.
Mr. Williams and Ms. Stanford walked up together, speaking in hushed voices so as not to attract an audience. She raised an eyebrow at the two before Mr. Williams greeted the students with a wave as he took his keys out of his pocket.
A shiver ran down her spine and she looked away, deep into the parking lot. Nothing but rows of cars stared back at her. She frowned. The soft hair at the back of her neck stood on end, and her back shifted as another tremor spread across it.
"Scarlet," Jake whined. She caught her breath when he plopped his face on her shoulder. The tension in her body diminished as she wrapped her arms around him. "I'm done for."
She managed a weak chuckle. "That's what you get for doing a stupid bet."
He grumbled, burying his forehead into the crook of her neck. She rolled her eyes and rubbed lazy circles over his back.
"Don't worry, Jake. You'll be fine." Scarlet pulled him back to find that blue gaze she loved. It danced around her face as if searching for reassurance and security. She kissed him. "You'll be the best Romeo in all of town."
"Gosh, I'm going to be sick," he confessed, pressing an arm over his stomach. "I think I'm gonna puke all over the front row."
"You won't," she said, cupping both his cheeks. "You are going to be amazing."
"You're going to make fun of me for the rest of my life."
"You are correct, but it'll be out of love." She winked at him. He scoffed, pretending to be mad, but a flush flared up the skin right under her fingertips.
The entrance to the auditorium emptied as everyone went inside. Sierra sent one last look over her shoulder and pretended to gag. Scarlet flipped her off.
"I don't want to go in there," Jake mumbled, staring off at the big double doors as Sierra went in. He whisked his head back to her. "Why don't we flee Hales Bay?"
Scarlet raised an eyebrow. "And then not have me graduate?"
He groaned. "Did you have to be late so much?"
She scrunched up her nose at him. "If I hadn't been late, I wouldn't be here, and you would have never met me. So think about that." She lightly smacked the side of his arm with the back of her hand. He pretended the soft graze hurt, then grinned.
"I love that your troublemaker history led you to me," he said, then pulled her in for a deep kiss. "How about we continue causing trouble and leave town?"
Scarlet rolled her eyes. "Jake, get your Romeo ass together and let's put on a show."
He grumbled under his breath, but allowed her to pull him inside the auditorium.
Inside, everyone was in a frenzy. Mr. Williams shouted over the stage, asking actors to rehearse stage positions and practice voice projection. Ms. Stanford hurried around the audience seats, speaking a mile a minute to anyone from the crew that happened to walk past her.
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...
