Echoes {h.s.}

one.

Scarlett

    "There are a few costumes in the closet by the studio, but you'll have a lot better luck finding something in the main costume closet above the theatre in the Performance Hall. I'm going to grab us lunch, you guys can go start finding things while I'm gone."
    Colton and I said goodbye to our dance instructor, Melina, and started bundling up to make the trek across the campus to the theatre. Texas was pretty unforgiving when it came to winter weather, and that late January morning was certainly no exception. We locked up the studio and went out the back hallway of the dance building, straight into a wall of freezing wind.
    "I just don't understand what kind of idiot would think that putting the two main art buildings on opposite sides of the campus was a good idea..." I muttered, trying to warm my hands around my steaming caramel macchiato. Colton stopped suddenly, giving me a sly look out of the corner of his eye.
    "Race you!" He yelled, and was gone before the two words had even made it out of his mouth.
    "Hey!" I laughed, racing after him through the courtyard, completely aware of all of the dirty looks we were getting from the crowds of people that we were navigating our way through. I caught up to him at the large pebble staircase that led down to the lower courtyard area and hopped up on the wooden railing, sliding all the way down and passing him along the way.
    "So not fair!" He called after me.
    "Not fair?! Your legs are ten miles long, I have to utilize my surroundings to my advantage!"
    I was barely in the lead when we reached the strangely abstract statue in the center of the lower breezeway. We turned the last corner before the performance hall and Colton took the inside, accidentally knocking my coffee out of my hands and gaining the lead, breaking through the side doors of the theatre a second before me.
    "Victory!" he shouted as we collapsed onto the floor in an unrelenting fit of giggles. Colton and I had danced for the same company at our college for three years, and over time we had become great friends. We were now veterans in the company, so we had many more responsibilities in helping shows get on stage in an orderly fashion, like costuming.
    "Whatever, you cheated. You owe me Starbucks, you dick." I said, grinning at him as we gathered ourselves and made our way into the backstage area of the theatre. As soon as we passed through the backstage doors we were overwhelmed by the smell of spray adhesive coming from the open shop behind the theatre entrance. I followed Colton's lead as he walked nonchalantly into the shop where the theatre cast was building the set for the production that they were currently working on.
    Unlike me, Colton participated heavily in our schools theatre program, so anytime we came to this part of the school he felt right at home. I was somewhat familiar with most of the faces surrounding me, since the dance and theatre departments supported each other as much as possible at productions, but I was still just a little bit out of my comfort zone.
    Colton wasted no time walking straight up to Lola, the head of the theatre department, and letting her know that we would be going through her costume closet for a little bit, per instruction from Melina. I watched as Lola nodded and gave me a small wave before continuing her work at the table saw that she was presently stationed at. She usually worked light and sound for our dance productions, and she was notorious for making magic happen on any show she worked on.
    I smiled back at her as I turned on my heel to head out of the shop and up to the costume closet. I didn't even make it to the door, however, before someone else rounded the corner, slamming straight into me and taking me to the ground with him, hot coffee spilling all over both of us. I heard Colton's booming laughter behind me as I looked around, confirming that everyone in the room had just seen me take a clumsy tumble. I chuckled along with him slightly, standing back up and brushing the sawdust from the floor off of my leggings.
    "I'm so sorry, are you okay? I should have been paying more attention..." I turned quickly toward the boy who had knocked me down, I had forgotten about him momentarily in my embarrassment. His green eyes were wide as he stumbled up from the ground, towering over me at his full height. I racked my brain trying to remember whether or not I had seen him in any productions before. Surely if I had I would remember this face. His nose was pink from the bitter cold outside, and his brown hair was pulled back into a messy knot at the crown of his head. He wore a long black pea coat with a thick scarf wrapped around his neck. Black skinny jeans covered his long legs and he wore an old pair of black Nike's on his feet. I didn't have time to answer him before Lola spoke up from behind me.
    "Harry, we're so glad that you decided to cut into your precious slumber time to join us, but the call time was thirty minutes ago." Although her words were harsh, her tone was warm as she walked over to greet him with a hug and a drill. "Go on stage and attach all of the finished set pieces where they are on the set design, then spike them with glow tape."
    "You got it, boss!" Harry replied, grabbing the drill and gathering the rest of his things that had fallen to the floor.
    "Scarlet," Lola turned to me, "I'm assuming you don't want to wear Harry's coffee all day. You can grab another shirt from the costume closet to wear, just make sure it gets put back when you're done with it." She patted me on the back twice before heading back to her table saw. That woman was all business.
    I watched as Harry loaded the drill bit and checked to make sure it was on securely. He turned to head to the stage but stopped short right before he got to the door.
    "Scarlett," he said, looking back at me, "that's a lovely name. I'm so sorry, again. I'll be sure to watch my step next time." He smiled one more crooked smile at me before finally turning to go. I stood there for a moment, looking at the empty space he had just occupied, as Colton walked up beside me again.
    "Gorgeous, isn't he? I've been trying to get a piece of that since I first saw him at auditions. Oh, you might want to pick your jaw up off the floor, we've got work to do." He shot me a wink over his shoulder and grabbed my hand, dragging me out of the shop and up to the dreaded job that awaited us.

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A/N

Hey guys!
What do you think about the first chapter? Let me know in the comments!
I'm going to try to update at least once a week, possibly more, so we'll see how it goes.

See you at the next chapter!
xo, Lo