Vendetta

CHAPTER TWELVE

LAURALAI

I hadn't forgotten about the auditions. I knew very well that I had a conflicting schedule, but I thought I could just audition and go and make it to our little meeting. Apparently, I had to sit and watch for the entire 40 minutes to preach correct theater etiquette.

Vendetta called me asking where I was. I told her the truth... kind of. I only told her that I forgot about the auditions (lie) and that I didn't find anything online (half-truth).

The only real thing I found was that Principal Frankson and a few other teachers from her time had been friends on Facebook since her Junior year, which is technically a breach of contract. I also found that she would sometimes post herself kissing the neck of a mysterious guy or vice versa, but didn't look too deep into it. It didn't look like any of her boyfriends, but I assumed that it was either a sneaky link or her boyfriends' dyed their hair or something. It was very clear that her type was older guys with curly hair and muscles.

I knew I was going to tell the group about this at some point, but right now I had to focus on nailing my audition. It's miraculous how many thoughts appear when I try to focus, but it made me terribly nervous and dazed.

I was hoping to be cast as Elle, obviously, but I'd be okay with Vivian, too. My song was So Much Better, which is a pretty easy but impressive song, so I wasn't too scared about messing it up. I had my staging notes, my voice was warmed up -- I was just itching for my name to be called up to the stage. I was number 11, so I counted and counted, and everything went by so fast. Before I knew it, I was onstage and my track was playing.

It's crazy how different you can feel in forty seconds. As soon as my music started playing, all of my nerves were channeled into just singing. Forty seconds is an awfully short amount of time, but I managed not to melt into the freshly-waxed stage by the end of it. Of course, the rest of the crowd clapped and cheered because what else are they supposed to do, but I still merely walked off like it meant nothing.

As I was walking off, however, my thoughts drifted back to my family, specifically my father. And it was then that I realized that we wouldn't get solid leads without also connecting them to our father.

I know that bolting straight out of an audition isn't correct theater etiquette, but I literally could not care any less than I did.

As I was sprinting and heaving my way to the bleachers, the bell rang. I started to walk at an alarming pace, but no one stopped me. I was determined to find someone, anyone to tell, as long as their last name was Ventura.

Luckily, swimming upstream has its perks: I nearly knocked Cato out because I wasn't paying attention. We crashed into each other with a hearty oomph, and I dragged him to the side of the flow.

"Okay, so, I was walking off the stage after my audition and I was thinking about you guys and Dad. Then, I realized that if we're trying to find Sandra's killer, we're also finding Dad's keeper. Then, I thought we needed to find suspects on Dad's side, as well. Any grudges, which I'm sure there were many, any haters, anything or anyone that could also lead us to him," I spat out at him.

"Christ, you talk a lot," he said. I rolled my eyes and told him to shut up. "Fine then I won't thank you for using your brain and helping the case," he snootily added.

"Then, I won't thank you for colliding into me and giving me someone to talk to before I exploded," I snapped back.

"Did they give you an award for longest sentences in kindergarten or something because you really do have abnormally long sentences," he replied.

"Jokes on you, I was an idiot and almost failed kindergarten," I crossed my arms.

"What do you mean 'was'? You still are," he uttered. I sarcastically and dramatically gasped and shoved him into the lockers. He whined about it, and I told him to suck it up because he's half a foot taller than me.

I was very happy to find this little family I had. It was a billion times better than the crappy ones I'd dealt with in the past, Lord knows the West isn't known for its incredible hospitality. These people were my home away from home, and I was overjoyed to spend the rest of my time with them.