The Stranger

Chapter Twenty

Lol I barely edited this.

I hope you guys don't mind time hops because those will be coming up shortly. Also AARON TVEIT IS RUINING MY LIFE!!!!!!! (main reason why I haven't updated lol)

+ Rachel +

"Our friendship is over." Josh's words ring in my head as I stumble into the backstage area.

My world feels like it's crashing down. Four words is all it takes to break me. How could he say that? After everything we've been through we are just suddenly nothing? How? How does this makes sense in his head?

"Rachel," Melissa runs up to me a concerned look on her face. I start to get lightheaded and can hardly stand up. "Rachel, are you okay?" She asks while holding me up.

"No," I shake my head before my knees give out.

"Somebody help!" She calls out while pulling me over to a nearby chair.

Before I know it I met with a rush of crew members and our stage manager who is throwing orders around at lightning speed.

"Melissa you're going on as Katherine, there is no way Rachel is going to be able to perform," I hear her say but everything is still disoriented. "Hurry you have five minutes before you need to be onstage." I think I see Melissa run off but I'm not sure since my vision is still all out of whack. Our stage manager kneels down next to me. "Rachel, can you hear me?" She asks and I nod, my body is unintentionally swaying because I can't control it. That's when I black out.

----

I wake up in the bed and my hotel room and groggily sit up. I have a major headache and the light that's coming into the room doesn't make it any better. The door opens and closes and I turn to see Joey walking into the room.

"Morgan gave me a key," he says answering my question before I even had the chance to ask it.

"What happened? I mean after I blacked out," I clarify.

"You only blacked out for a couple of seconds," he says while sitting next to me and handing me a water bottle. "You need to drink," he instructs. I take off the cap and take a few sips. "When you snapped out of it a crew member helped you get changed and brought you back here," he explains.

"Where's Morgan?" I ask seeing that she isn't here.

"Pretty much everyone is still at the theatre," he says. "The show ended about half an hour ago."

"Did you stage door?"

"No, I wanted to check on you," he says. "And I saw what happened with Josh," he adds. "I don't know what was said but it didn't seem okay. I thought you'd need a friend."

"Thank you," I smile. "That's really sweet."

"Yeah, and obviously you don't have to talk about it but if you want to I'm always here to listen," he says.

I look at my lap and blink away tears. Joey sees this and wraps an arm around me and pulls me close.

"I'm here," he quietly says.

The first tear rolls down my cheek and I throw my arms around Joey. "He told me our friendship is over," I sob, burying my head into his chest. He wraps both arms around me, resting his head on mine.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it," he assures me while rubbing circles in my back.

"He did," I cry. "If you heard how and what he said you'd understand."

"Rachel, you're great," he says while tilting my chin up so I'm looking at him. "If Josh doesn't realize how amazing you'd be in his life then he isn't worth your time," he says as tears continue to roll down my cheeks, at a slower rate now. "And he definitely doesn't deserve your tears," he says while wiping my tears away with his thumb. "Don't let any boy's stupid decisions make you cry, you're too good for that."