𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈 𝐃𝐎 ─── 𝘩. 𝘥. 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴

12. birds

act one chapter twelve
﹝BIRDS﹞
season one episode two - three
❝ let's get me that role. ❞

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marie sits on one of the barstools in granny's diner, absentmindedly dipping her teaspoon in and out of her small bowl of ice cream while listening to taylor swift on her ipod. she remains unaware of the person taking a seat next to her until they tap her on the shoulder.

the girl snaps out of her thoughts and turns her head to the right while removing her earphones and smiles at paige. "what are you doing here?" she questions, earning a playful scoff from her friend.

"what are you doing here?" the blonde responds. "it's saturday. i'm going to help you rehearse before auditions later, remember?"

"actually, i don't think i should audition. i was thinking i'd wait until the spring recital." paige looks at her as if she suddenly grew another head.

"are you kidding? this is your moment! you've always wanted to play odette, and getting to play odile as well is the cherry on top of your resumé sundae!"

"it's not even the full recital, paige. i think i should just be one of the swans again this year. once i reach advanced two, i promise i'll audition for lead roles for the full productions." noticing her friend staring at her untouched bowl of ice cream, marie slides it over to paige who immediately grabs it and picks up the spoon.

after taking a bite of the cool treat, paige points the spoon at marie and swallows. "this isn't about how big the productions are or the size of the role," she accuses. marie casts her gaze down at the table.

"aha!" paige exclaims. "something's bothering you. come on, m. what's wrong?"

marie eventually huffs and looks back at paige. "i'm going to take a break from ballet."

"what? why? you love ballet."

marie sighs again. sorry, henry, but she needed to talk about this to the one person who wouldn't fall for or play along with the fairytale nonsense. "it's henry. he thinks i'm clara and somehow got william to play along with him."

paige takes another bite of ice cream and raises an eyebrow. "clara?" she inquires.

"from the nutcracker," marie explains. "they both believe i'm clara from the nutcracker because i 'look like her, act like her, and do ballet', just to name a few. i mean, it's complete nonsense! it's a story, and i'm real! and don't get me started on will thinking he's a nutcracker."

"didn't he dress up as one for several years in a row for halloween?"

"that's what henry said! why is everyone fixating on that... look, paige, i can't let my brother go along with this. i love henry to death; he's one of my best friends. i just..." marie doesn't finish her sentence. instead, she sighs once again and props her elbows up on the table before hiding her face in her hands.

paige places a hand on her shoulder and rubs her thumb against the fabric of her shirt. "you care about will. of course you do; he's your brother, but giving up one of the things you love most isn't going to make either of you feel better, even if it is just for a little while."