𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲, 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 - 𝗔 𝗥𝗶𝗻𝗶 𝗔𝗨

7 | Aᴘᴏʟᴏɢʏ

𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐢

"Thank you, Nini. That was absolutely amazing!" said a director once I had finished.

"Thank you, sir," I said as I walked off the stage and back to EJ. And my friends, of course.

"I guess that could have gone worse," I said to EJ as they called the next girl.

Her name was Emily Pratt and the second she was on stage, I knew she'd been doing this since before she was born. That girl commanded attention.

"Are you kidding? That was fantastic!" he said, standing up to meet me. He smiled proudly, then did something that surprised me. He picked me up in his arms and twirled me around. I couldn't have been happier if I'd won the lottery.

Then, he seemed to realize what he was doing and put me down. He cleared his throat and looked at the ground. "Sorry."

"No, no. It's, uh, fine," I told him. I could feel my heart pounding wildly against my rib cage.

He gestured for me to sit, so we sat. I could hear our friends whispering and giggling five seats away. So helpful.

We watched the auditions in silence, but every couple of minutes I would catch him sneaking glances at me.

When EJ was called, I could see nerves flash across his face. Quick and subtle, but still there.

Without thinking, I took his hand and squeezed it once. He smiled at me and walked up to the stage.

The guy killed the auditions. Seriously, the most amazing performer I've ever seen.

Once everyone had finished, the directors made an announcement. "Thank you very much for auditioning! You all did great. The cast list will be posted by dinner tonight. Costume fittings are tomorrow, and rehearsal schedules will be handed out then. Thank you all again!"

We all walked back to our cabins together, buzzing with excitement. Halfway there, we separated. The minute we got to our cabin, my friends cornered me.

"Still convinced you and EJ are never gonna happen?" Ellie asked me.

"I, um, I," I started. This would be a great time to change the subject. "You're one to talk. I saw you with that boy from EJ's cabin. You two are really cute."

Ellie turned bright red and muttered something I couldn't understand. We all laughed.

I started to sneak away, but Cece stopped me.

"Oh no, no, no. Don't think you're off the hook that easily!"

I winced but resigned myself to my fate of being teased by my friends for the next hour. They bombarded me endlessly with questions, most of which I didn't know the answers to.

Half an hour later, I was—quite literally—saved by the bell. The lunch bell to be exact. We headed off to the dining hall, laughing all the way.

I managed to avoid EJ at lunch and while we were swimming later that day.

It's not that I didn't want to see him. Hell, the only thing I wanted was for him to smile at me again the way he did when I finished auditioning.

I just couldn't help remembering the awkward way he put me down. It seemed like he felt almost... embarrassed. I didn't want to put him in that position again.

It didn't matter whether or not I wanted to see him anyway. I couldn't avoid him at dinner.

As we walked to the dining hall, I could tell they had posted the cast lists by the clusters of people around the notice board.