My Backstage Boyfriend | teen fiction

act two, scene two - pretty penny

Admittedly, I had never liked the nickname Penny all that much. Harvey couldn't stomach the entire "Penelope" when he was just a toddler, and thus Penny was born.

The nickname stuck in the way that all nicknames stick when you're little. Whatever your parents called you as a baby is how they introduce you when you enter kindergarten, and then however they introduce you in kindergarten is what people inevitably call you until the end of time. Lucilles branded as Lucys are stuck, as are Andys that were previously Andrew, and most unfortunately, Henrys that became Hanks will forever be called by that embarrassing moniker.

So, despite my multiple attempts to be Penelope, Poppy, Pippa, Lo, Pepper, and Posy, Penny always seemed to be what I was stuck with. Even when I introduced myself to people as Penelope, they would hear other people calling me Penny and immediately pick up on it.

There was always one person I could count on to call me Penelope, whether he knew how I felt about it or not.

"We're going to take it from the top so they can get that lighting cue down, okay Penelope?" Christian's familiar face bobbed up from behind the piano. I nodded wordlessly and he ducked back down to count me in.

The snow day had somehow slipped into a snow week due to our county's terrible snow emergency procedures. My friends had to wade home in the hip-deep snow that was only getting deeper. They got halfway across the lawn before coming back to make some DIY snow shoes out of cardboard.

As fun as it was to have all that time off from school - not to mention more time with Harvey before his winter break was up - that meant we had lost an entire week of rehearsal. At this stage, that time was crucial. We had a little over two weeks left until the show went up and everyone seemed to be feeling the burn.

As of yet, we had managed our way through a few tech-less runs, all of which clocked over five hours. Even though it wasn't perfect, we had to let tech start doing their thing if we wanted to have a show.

My voice felt a little tired as I warbled out the beginning of my solo. I could feel a pin pricking my side; Not enough to stab me, but enough that I could sense it scratching.

"Don't strain your voice," Christian coached. He had pretty much taken over all singing direction as Mr. Phelps and Ms. Listine were caught up in tech. "You sound wonderful, take it easy on the finish."

Exhausted, I let the last note go a little flat. He gave me a thumbs up and I exited, brushing past Nick and Jessie as fast as I could.

So far, my method of dealing with that whole situation had been to ignore it. I had dove head-over-heels, romance novel style into an infatuation of Christian. It put me in a difficult position. I couldn't identify how much I really liked him as opposed to how much I just liked the idea of someone liking me back.

I was sick and tired of being Penny. Sick and tired of being the girl who pines after the guy while someone else gets him. Sick and tired of coming in last place.

There was no reason to not like Christian. I did like him. I had feelings for him, I just wasn't sure how real they were.

I was going to rebound from a guy I never dated.

---

The next day was a fun rehearsal: The costume parade. Each and every member of the cast would come out in all of their costumes for the directors to approve. No matter if they were a lead or playing a tree, they would be combed through attentively. The directors had a reputation for being picky, so it was a long process.

Fun for the actors, hell for the costumers.

Being the first person early to rehearsal, they decided to have me suit up first. We cycled through my different outfits, each in a soft, warm-toned shade. I was a smorgasbord of beading and sequins and shimmer. One dress even got vetoed for being too blinding under the strong lights of the Sun Kingdom.