echo // hemmings [completed]

thirty-three | sister

—January 21st—

Olivia Kerrington was a lover of the performing arts. Not of movies and the silver screen, but of live musicals and plays. As a child she longed of being the next Vivien Leigh or Lillian Fontaine, but her middle school drama teacher told her she lacked energy and charisma, and her high school theatre teacher said she just wasn't meant for show business, so eventually she had to give up on that dream. 

However, when her younger brother, Drew, was in high school, she tried desperately to push her ambitions onto him. Copper Mills High School was renowned for their plays and she sincerely hoped that Drew could achieve the things that she had no aptitude for. Drew was charming and outgoing and loved to catch people's eye. So she thought her brother could be the brilliant actor she couldn't be.

And Drew, being the amazing brother he was, gladly listened to his sister's request and tried out for his school's adaptation of the show Proof  by David Auburn. He had gotten the role of Hal, the male protagonist, and tried his best to meet Olivia's wishes. He practiced lines in between lacrosse practices and got Rowan to read with him on the weekends.

And on opening night of the show, Olivia was there in the fourth row to watch her brother perform.  As the curtains rose, she felt giddy and anxious, as if she was the one about to go on stage. And when her brother made his appearance under the bright lights, behind the heavy maroon curtains, she had to stop herself from squealing in excitement.

He knew every single line and the blocking seemed natural to him, however, what Olivia and the audience realized halfway through the first act was that Drew was an awful actor. His lines came out almost robotically and for some odd reason, he kept his hands tensely by his sides the whole time, but Olivia knew he was trying his absolute best.

She knew Drew wouldn't be a prodigy in the theatre field, but she had no idea her brother was such a terrible performer. She looked at Rowan, who sat next to her and asked, "Is this what he was like practicing?"

And embarrassingly Rowan replied, "No, I don't remember him being this anxious." Drew was fluent and full of emotion when he rehearsed with her. So she thought that maybe he just didn't get along with the other actors in the show, but in all honesty, it was just that Drew was the most comfortable around her.

During intermission Rowan crept back stage and approached Drew. When he saw her he grimaced.

"I am doing terribly aren't I?" He said with a laugh.

"Why are you so scared up there?" She inquired.

"I don't know. In my head, I know I have this down. But for some reason, my voice won't come out right and I'm tense as fuck."

"Well get your shit together Kerrington," Rowan said in a serious manner. Drew broke out into a grin when she said this. "You were fantastic when you read with me. What the fuck happened?"

"I'm not sure Rows. You got any tips?"

"Pretend it's me. Not that ignorant bitch, Lorena Wang, but me," she said reassuringly, though Drew could sense the bitterness in her speech.

"C'mon, Lorena's not that bad."

"Drew, I'm pretty sure she thinks my name is Grace and I have been in the same homeroom as her since the fourth grade."

"Well damn," he said with a laugh. "Who the fuck is Grace?"

"I don't care honestly," she muttered before looking him in the eye. "Just think that it's me, Rowan Evergreen, alright?"

"Yeah, I can do that," he told her with a smile. And after hearing that, Rowan ran back next to an anxious Olivia and waited for the play to resume.

When the curtains lifted again, Drew seemed like he had been rejuvenated. His charisma was back and every word he said was delivered with so much earnestness that the actress performing across from him felt a little overwhelmed.

That was the Drew Rowan loved and Olivia admired. The confident and cocky man who never stopped pursuing his goals. The boy who just wanted to do his best.

And now, Olivia missed that boy. She mourned for his brother and wished she never pressured him into to doing the show. She wished that she didn't force her dreams onto him, because what Drew didn't tell her was that on the same night of his second show, was his state lacrosse competition. She had stopped him from being scouted by college coaches and gaining possible scholarships. She had prevented him from the things that would've helped him, all for the sake of her own selfish desires.

Olivia wished she did more for him, that she never held him back. She wanted to apologize for all the things she said, for all the fights they had never really resolved. She wished she told him "I love you" more often and she prayed he knew how much she loved him.

And after stalling for weeks, she hopped onto a plane to Sydney and booked a hotel a few miles away from where he lived. She needed to confront the loss of her brother. And more importantly she needed to confront the last person who saw him, and the only person that could loved him more than she did, Rowan.

-

a/n: very overdue chapter, thank you for waiting as i overcame major major writer's block

ik things are starting to get confusing but olivia is going to be important in some character development

btw for those of you not aware of theatre lingo, blocking is where actors move on stage according to lighting and dramatic effect

xx