even if the whole world was watching

8. "our parents are splitting up"

Aurora and Ricky looked frantically around the house, for Rickys script. "What you looking for?" mike asked. "Scene seven" Ricky replied, as Aurora doubled checked she had hers. "Is that a hot wing?" Aurora asked, pointing to the chicken that seemed to be on the floor. "I'm cleaning up as we speak Rory" Mike told his daughter, who was now sitting on the stairs as she waited for her brother to find his script. After deciding he would just borrow, the twins were about to leave the house. That was when their mom walked through the door. 

"Mom!" Aurora exclaimed, running over and hugging her mother. "Rory! Ricky! Oh god i've missed you" she grinned, hugging each of her children, who both looked overjoyed to see her. "is that a hot wing?" Lynne asked, looking over her sons shoulder. "I thought we were meeting at the restaurant" Mike sighed, picking it up. "Well, I caught an earlier flight" Lynne smiles. "But we agreed we would do this at the restaurant" Mike looked at her. Aurora and Ricky shared a scared and confused look. "Agreed to do what?" Ricky asked. Their parents shared a look. 

"Can we do whatever we were doing at dinner now?" Aurora asked, scared and clutching her bag strap for comfort. "We'll have dinner here, i'll order in" Mike tells his family, his two children utterly confused. "Guys, talk to us" Aurora told her parents. "are we moving to Chicago?" Ricky asked. "No" Lynne answered, Aurora letting out a breath she didnt know she was holding in, "I am, we've decided to legally separate." Aurora looked at Ricky, tears in her eyes. 

"I thought you were coming back to see some counsellor, to make things right?" Ricky was still confused, whilst Aurora was just upset. "Can we sit down?" Mike asked. "I don't wanna sit down!" Ricky exclaims. "The last thing you guys told us" Ricky starts, lynne interrupting. "We did see somebody." "While you were in different cities?" Aurora spoke up, her voice not as loud as her brothers but you could clearly hear her point. 

"Ricky, Rory, this isn't your fault, you're the only thing that kept your dad and I together these past few years" Lynne placed a hand on both of their arms. "Now we're quoting the counsellor" Mike muttered. "You don't agree? What do you wanna say?" Lynne looked over at him. "I don't know, I thought I had two more hours" mike sighs. 

"You know what, We've got a rehearsal" Aurora couldn't take it anymore, she turned on her heel and walked to the door. "Honey, Im sorry" Lynne apologised. "We'll pick this up at dinner" Mike called after them. "I'm not sure when we get out, it's a musical, lots of scenes, could be tomorrow, i'll call you" Ricky replied, aurora already out of the door. They left, each filled with emotion. 

"Sorry i'm late! My mom caught an earlier flight!" Ricky called, as he and Aurora came running through the doorway.  "Where are we?" aurora asked, taking out her script.  "Scene seven" Carlos answers, giving her a small smile. "Right" Ricky walks to his bag like his sister but remembers "I don't have it. Could I borrow?" he asks. "you need your script, and a pencil" Miss Jenn says firmly. "Could I borrow a pencil?" Ricky asks, looking over at Aurora, who was looking through her bag and couldn't find her own one. . "You can share mine?" Ash suggests, smiling supportively at the twins, who looked frazzled. When Ej noticed Aurora, he saw the tears in her eyes, something had happened. 

 "No actually, they can't. When you come to rehersal people, you come prepared." Miss Jenn told them, looking around everyone.  Natalie Bagley comes back in and changes the subject to her hamster, the Bowen twins still as frazzled as they were when they arrived. "Natalie, we feel your pain. But I was just explaining what a constructive rehearsal requires. Focus, and another day like this and I am showing up with my emotional support coyote" Miss Jenn tells them all, everyone in the room frowning. 

 "Miss Jenn, I know the scene" Ricky tries to just get the rehersal back onto what it was meant to be. "Would you two wait for me in my office?" Miss Jenn asked. "Wait, are we done?" Ashlyn asks, as Miss Jenn gathers her things and follows after Aurora and Ricky. "We are ms darbus, take a note, this is what a frustrated drama teacher looks like" Miss Jenn points to herself dramatically. "Go, scoot. Come back when youre ready to be punctual, park your distractions at the door and take the work in here seriously" and then she left after the twins. 

"The bottom line is, you both made a commitment to be here" she told the twins, as they each sat in her office, hugging a pillow. "Big roles come with big responsibilities, Ricky, you and nini set the tone for the rest of the cast" she told them firmly. "Understood" They each muttered quietly, Aurora still processing what had just gone down. "Well, unless i'ts a family emergency-" Miss Jen starts but Ricky buts it. "Our parents are splitting up."