Clueless and In Love

Chapter 13

(Jackson)

As usual, the universe hates me.

It was the night of the play, and the auditorium was packed with students, teachers, staff, and parents.

And sitting up front, smirking and looking smug was the devil’s spawn, Mr. Martin.

I pulled away from the curtain and started yelling at people to get into position.

As manager, I was panicky and stressed out.

I started to calm down seeing everyone working together and fixing the props.

I thought nothing could go wrong.

“Jack!”

I turned and saw Chloe looking as stressed out as I am.

“What?” I asked as we walked across stage.

“Have you seen Emma?”

I looked at her, panic building up in my chest.

“Where is she?” I questioned, my chest tightening with fear.

“She didn’t show,” Chloe said dejectedly.

I slammed my head with my clipboard. “What else could go wrong?”

I looked at Chloe, who was staring at her feet, shuffling.

“Chlo, what else is wrong?” I asked, the panic visible in my voice.

She looked up, looking embarrassed. “Uh, Austin is missing, too?”

I stared at her. “Are you telling me that our lead actors are missing?!”

She nodded slightly.

Right then and there, I could have had a stroke.

Our two leads, Emma and Austin, just thought it would be fun to not show up and make me and my friends a laughing stock.

“What now?” I asked.

Before she could answer, Michael walked up to us. “Hey, Jack, you probably wouldn’t like this, but Austin called. He said he couldn’t make it to the play because of the flu, which is code for ‘I have stage fright’”

I groaned, feeling like giving up.

“Great,” I said, my hand over my face in total defeat. “That’s it. We’re done. Tell everyone and give a full refund.”

Chloe looked at me. “Don’t we have, like, understudies?”

“I thought we wouldn’t need them!” I said, flailing my arms.

“Hmmm,” Michael said, rubbing his chin, deep in thought. “All we need are two people who know the script good enough to act it out.”

Then, his eyes light up and looked at the two of us.

Chloe stared at him, slightly freaked out. “What?”

I slowly stood up as it dawned on me. “Wait, you mean….us?”

He nodded.

“We can’t do the play,” Chloe said in disbelief. “We’re directors.”

“Yes, but you’re also the only two who know that script forward and back,” Michael argued. “Besides, I can handle it on my own.”

Chloe looked at me for an answer, but I merely shrugged, amused.

She sighed, giving in to Michael’s ridiculous plan. “Fine.”