Starlet

31. Extra Practice

The next day, Marcus follows me to aerial class. He glares at me the whole time. Then we end up back at my house.

"Why are you here?"

"Well, someone has to watch you."

"Nobody has watched me for 70 years. I wished for death for all of that. I still didn't die. I'll be fine."

"There are worse things than death."

My eyes fill up with tears. "Yea, living."

I run out and towards the theater.

Leo catches me then walks with me. "You're in a hurry. How was your vacation?"

"It was nice. I had a lot of fun. I even got to go down the water slides. Rome was amazing. They even filled the bottom of the coliseum up with water for a boat show. I hope I get to go back sometime."

"Do any shopping?"

"I did. I shopped a lot. I even got every fingernail polish color." I show him my nails.

"Pretty."

"I got my hair done too. It was the best vacation."

"I'm glad you had fun." He puts his hand on my lower back and opens the theater door.

"AAAAHHHHH!"

Both of us spin around.

That blonde that Jack likes is running. I grab her. "What?"

"HE'S THERE." She points. "HELP AAAAHHHHH!"

The guard rolls his eyes. I shake my head and glance around. I don't see anyone different, but people are gathering and looking at us now. She is shaking so badly. I wrap my arms around her. "You're ok now. We're right here."

Leo pushes the guard. "LOOK."

Leo takes off running in the totally opposite way she pointed. I drag her in the theater with me.

"What did he look like?"

"Dark hair. It was bushy. Then a big bushy black beard. He's probably 6 feet tall. He's normal size." She starts sobbing.

I rub her hair. "You're safe now." She is so upset.

Marcus runs in with Dipak and Mason. "What happened?"

"A man. Dark bushy hair. Big bushy black beard. 6 feet tall. Normal sized. Leo took off."

They run back out. Then Nik and Elek come in. "We're security girls."

We sit there for 5 minutes. Then Elek stands up. "They're out there. Leo saw someone and couldn't get him, but they're out there now."

I help her up. "At least he saw someone." She seems so relieved.

I rub her back and walk out with her.

Leo looks at me. "My eyes are f*****g with me. I saw him, but then he changed. He didn't have bushy hair and a beard. I chased him anyway. Then he was gone. I don't even know what the hell to call that."

"Dipak, make these people go away please."

"Everyone go. Go on now. Nothing else to see. Guards shut down each side of the path. Clear the people out. Start playing at her scream. Show everyone in color. Life size."

Everything around me changes and I see what just happened like a movie. Leo and I are at the door. He's got his hand on me. Then we hear the scream. I grab Mary and she points. Then Leo takes off. Everyone was looking where she was pointing and nobody saw where he took off to. But I was watching.

Marcus looks around. "Stop. Back up to when Leo took off and play slow."

Dipak yells, "STOP. There... Will you look, Mary? I need to know if this is the man."

I walk up to them with her. He is just as she describes. He's right there. "YES. THAT'S HIM. PLEASE HELP ME."

"We're right here. They'll be able to figure out who he is now."

"Play 1 frame at a time."

"Leo is moving."

In the next frame, the man does look different. We kind of jump back. He's clean shaven. His hair is combed. It's still black though. His clothes are different.

"Stop."

I rub her back. "Does this man look familiar?"

She shakes her head. "I've never seen him before."

The next frame, he turns away and throws a cloak over himself. The hood part goes up over his head. Then he takes off. He runs so slowly at this speed.

Then the boys start chasing this man who is moving in slow motion.

We sit outside the door with the guards.

"Do you think I'm crazy?"

"No, we all seen him. Leo chased him. He's definitely real. I'm thinking magician. Maybe he put a curse on you or something. They'll figure it out. You're definitely not crazy though."

"Thank you. Everyone thinks I'm crazy."

I shake my head. "He's very real. You're not crazy. I saw him too."

Omar walks over. "Which way?"

We point.

20 minutes later, they come back.

"He made a door out before Leo could get to him."

"Show me where you saw him, and then he shifted." We watch him change his appearance again and Omar looks around. "Shape shifter. Let's follow him back and see how long he followed her. You need to notify her parents, Dipak. She's a child."

Mason nods. "Her dad should see this part too. Let him know what we're looking at."

Dipak rubs his eyes. "Maybe we should tell him more than that."

Mason and Marcus nod.

Nik shakes his head. "Don't overwhelm him. Just do this. Let him know the man is real and we've seen him now. That'll be good. Make an appointment for another day for anything else."

"Bring Mary's father."

"Yes sir."

Mary's dad shows up after a couple of minutes, and they show him the footage. Then they follow him backwards. Mary and I sit between the guards and watch.

I can't help but laugh. "They look ridiculous following someone in slow motion backwards."

She laughs too. "Yea."

I smile. "Everyone's seen him. He's not in your head. Now, they can deal with it."

"Thank you for believing me."

"Any time. If I run by screaming, I hope someone believes me too. You can sit with me until they get done. People will be coming for theater soon."

Bayden begins the theater practice, then the boys interrupt it after 10 minutes. They take Mary and Leo sits with me. Dipak appoligizes a bunch. Then they leave.

"You ok?"

"Yea."

"Didn't scare you?"

"Maybe a little, but you were there." I plop my head on his shoulder.

"Yea, I was there." He relaxes and lays his head on mine.

20 minutes later...

"I have to go up there, baby. Wake up."

I stretch a bit. "Good morning."

"Good morning. Watch the practice."

"Ok." Did he call me baby? I scratch my head as he goes up on stage.

Another man sits beside me after a couple of minutes. I stare at him. I'm not awake.

"Tim. I'm the understudy for Zeke. Or Leo."

"Good morning, Tim."

"Did Leo put you to sleep over here?"

"Yes." 2 minutes of silence later, "People don't sit with me."

"Why is that?"

"They sit over there." I point to the front. "You sit there too."

He laughs. "I will go back. I just wanted to ask if you would practice some of the scenes with me. Bayden's not going to give us any real time to practice on stage. If 1 of them quit, I would rather at least have some practice."

"Do understudies normally practice like that?"

"No. But those aren't normal leading actors either."

"I don't know." I don't know him.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"I'm not allowed to be alone with boys." That's all I can think to say.

He smiles. "It's ok. We could practice at the park or something. Where other people are around. I can ask my girlfriend to come if it would make you more comfortable."

"Can we practice in here? It would be nice to actually use the stage. Get more used to it too."

"I need a key from the castle. I can try to get 1. I can't promise that though. But it is a good idea."

"I have a key. I practice dance in here."

"Ok, the practices are 5 to 6 for Bayden. What do you say about 7? We can go over what they did during the practice. After dinner. Probably won't take a whole hour. It'll be us and whoever we bring."

I smile big. "That's perfect. You should bring your girlfriend first though. She might get upset if you spend too much time with a girl that's not her. At least if she met me, maybe it would be ok."

"She trusts me a little more than that. But I can see why you are thinking it. I'll make sure she comes and says hello tonight."

"Thank you. I'll see you at 7."

He smiles and goes back to his spot. I smile and wiggle. I get extra practice.

Andy sits down beside me. "What the hell was that about?"

"Bayden's not going to give us any practice, so we're going to practice on our own."

He nods slowly. "Where?"

"Here."

"When?"

"7 after dinner."

"Who's going to be here?"

"He said he would bring his girlfriend to meet me tonight."

"Ok." He goes back to his spot. I watch him for a few minutes, and he walks over to a brain and talks to it. Great. He's telling on me. I roll my eyes and go back to studying the lines.

After practice, I go home. Dipak and Marcus are on the porch.

"Any plans tonight? You look tired."

"Yea, I do have plans. The understudy for Zeke wants to practice with me. Bayden's not going to give us any stage time, so we're going to practice on our own at 7."

"Every day or a 1-time thing?"

"Probably not every day. Probably on the days that they practice Zeke and Nicole's scenes. We could go in and get some practice too."

Dipak nods. "Whose is going to be there?"

"Me and Tim."

"Whose Tim?"

"Understudy for Zeke."

"Do you know anything about him other than that?"

"He has a girlfriend. He said he would bring her tonight, so I could meet her. We would be spending time together. I don't want to cause any issues."

Marcus nods. "What about you?"

"I'll be surrounded by 80 brains. If I yell for help or get hurt, you're going to be notified that second. And if you want to meet him, come with me. I don't care. You can sit at the top and watch us practice. But you have to be quiet. Unless you actually see something that looks wrong. Then you have to say something."

He laughs. "So we can come, but we have to be directors?"

"Yes. That works."

They laugh and walk off the porch.

"Can I go to Rome and have the chef cook for me?"

"No." Dipak cracks up laughing and keeps going. "See you at 7."

I have some dinner at the castle, then go back to the theater.

Dipak, Marcus, and Mason all show up. They talk to Tim about what we're doing and seem to be ok with their new job as directors. Marcus don't seem as mad anymore. I think Nadine fixed him. He's got a mark on his neck now. I meet Tim's girlfriend, and she says she's fine if we practice. Now I have a 7pm practice too. This isn't so bad, I'm actually excited to be on stage practicing.