The Invisible Silver Lining [CURRENTLY BEING EDITED]

Chapter 15

And with the close of the curtain, our first night of performances ends successfully. The backstage crew erupts into cheers along with the rest of the cast. We really did it, and did it well. The show went off without a hitch. After the cheering dies down, Christy calls out, "Who wants to celebrate with pizza?" There's a round of applause, apparently everyone does. Mr. Rain comes backstage, "Hold on. Before any of you goes any where we have to strike the stage. So, get to it." In other words, every prop and costume has to be put away, every set piece placed in order for the next show, every piece of trash cleaned up, and the auditorium cleaned.

After an hour though, we're all done, and all of us are heading out for pizza. We head to the nearest Pizza Hut and crowd into it. Thankfully its late, around 9:30, so we're the only customers.  We split our money and order eleven extra-large pizzas because there's about forty of us, and the guys eat more than most of the girls. If there's one particular topping you want, we have it about three times. There are so many pizza slices and toppings that there is more than enough go around. We laugh, we talk, we eat. This is exactly what I pictured it would be like after a performance.

Around eleven fifteen, I'm ready to go, I just need to find a ride because I rode with Christy here. But she's not ready to go, and neither is Blake, so I go see if Xander's up to leaving. He smiles, "Sure, just let me grab another piece." He gets three more and grabs his keys. We walk out to the Mercedes Benz and get in. Between bites, he asks, "You ready to go home or just wanted to get out of there?"

"Get out of there."

"Figured. You were looking bored and full." I laugh before saying, "Thanks for the ride."

"Don't mention it. I was ready to get out anyways. Besides. The waitress was giving me creepy looks." I laugh, "Yeah, she was watching you like a piece of fresh meat or something. A lot like Bethany."  He rolls his eyes. "Yeah. She looked like that a lot."

"Why did you two go out anyways? I'm curious, because she really doesn't seem like a good match for you." He grins then gets serious. "She was one of the first girls I met here and I thought she seemed kinda nice. So I figured 'Hey, why not give it a try?'" He forces a laugh. "I found out what she was really like soon after. Sweet? As if." I smile, "I agree with you there." He smiles over at me briefly before turning his eyes back to the rode, "I've pretty much cut off all communications with her. If she wants to talk to me, she finds me at school, and even then, I only talk to her if I absolutely have to. When we broke up, I changed my number and I swapped a couple of classes that I had with her. I almost changed apartments, but I figure my guard dog will keep her away because Bethany never liked her anyways." I look over at Xander, "You didn't tell me you had a dog!" "Really? Thought I did..." I roll my eyes. "You think I'd make that kind of statement if I knew you had one?" He laughs lightly, "No I guess not."

"Well there you go. What kind of dog is she?"

"Boxer and Pit-bull mix."

"You mind showing her to me sometime? I had to leave mine at home."

"No, I don't mind. What do you have?"

"German Sheppard and Black Lab mix. She's eleven, but she acts like she's five."

"Sick. Hattie is energetic, but not in a puppy way. Over all, she's my guard dog. I mean, she's my companion too, but her guarding comes first to her." I nod, when a thought comes to my brain. "You feel like going somewhere?" "At this time?" I look at the clock, 11:25 it reads. I smile slightly, "I mean if, if you don't want to, I understand. I'm just wide awake and we're already partway there." He shrugs. "Why not? I probably couldn't sleep even if I wanted to. This is normal for me after a performance."