Hunted (book 1)

Chapter 8

Mandy, Sasha and Bree had bombarded me with questions about my 'date' with Liam and how I lived with myself, leading Ryan on like that, and other completely irrelevant things. Eventually, they got bored of asking questions that I refused to answer and went to sleep. I lay awake for a long time before I finally drifted off into sleep. Was I really leading Ryan on? And did I really prefer Liam? Was it possible to like both of them?

~

The play was coming along nicely. Mandy had been congratulated by almost everyone she knew, including the teachers. Everyone said they had known she would get the part.

Mandy ran lines with Sasha at lunch and I helped when they needed a third person. The guy playing Tony seemed nice enough, and luckily it wasn't Nick, but he and Mandy didn't practise together much outside of scheduled rehearsals.

Nick was playing Bernardo, Maria's older brother. I personally think he got the role because Mandy got the role of Maria, but he must have also been a good actor if he had gotten Romeo last year.

Sasha had signed up to do hair and makeup. I don't know if she wanted the extra credit or if she just wanted to be a part of the musical. She seemed very excited about it, so I decided to join too. Mandy said that most of the characters had their hair up and didn't wear much makeup, but Sasha was already planning extravagant styles and brightly coloured eyeshadows.

Mandy's understudy, a girl named Olivia, was a junior. Mandy said she was very nice and wasn't at all resentful about not getting the role. She helped Mandy run lines in rehearsals when Dylan, the actor playing Tony, was away. Olivia was also on the costumes team, so she worked closely with Sasha and I in hair and makeup.

Along with Sasha and I, the hair and makeup team consisted of Heather, a girl called Sofia, and Claire from my English class. Surprisingly, no boys had signed up to join hair and makeup. For the first week or two, we practised makeup on each other and planned the hairstyles for the different characters.

Chase was playing Riff, the leaders of the Jets. There was a rumour that he had auditioned for Tony but didn't get it. Apparently they gave Dylan the opportunity to play the lead role because he was a senior and wouldn't get another chance the following year. Chase, on the other hand, would get two.

Opening night was pencilled in for a Friday in three months and everyone involved in the production got half-price tickets for family or friends. Sasha and I had decided to go together to watch because they only needed us before the show to do the hair and makeup. A few hair and makeup people would stay backstage for the whole show, but they didn't need everyone, so Sasha and I did not have to.

The afternoon rehearsals were more for the cast than the crew, and we didn't have a lot of work to do, so we sat in the back of the auditorium and watched the cast running lines. Mandy was facing Dylan, who was on his knees. They were practising the balcony scene where Tony stands on the fire escape below Maria, and Dylan was kneeling to get a better idea of what the finished scene would look like. Mandy started singing and Sasha turned her full attention to the stage. Mandy finished the song, Dylan pretended to climb down the fire escape and the scene ended. I checked the clock on the back wall of the auditorium. It was time to leave.

Sasha ran up to the stage to congratulate Mandy on the scene. She had to wait for Mandy to finish getting feedback from Mr Ledeki and Ms Cassidy, though. I grabbed my stuff and followed her. I said goodbye to Sasha and Mandy and then I left.

~

On Tuesday, we got our biology test results back. Sasha was upset because she got a D+. Riley and I tried to comfort her, telling her that it wasn't that bad a grade, but when Hayden got his test back and had also received a D+, Sasha almost cried.