by West, Shay
And singing.
This aspect petrified her. She knew Mr. Reardon planned to do this as a musical, just like on Broadway. She was not even sure she could sing. Alex did not have much faith in her abilities, although she liked to sing along to her favorite music from time to time.
Alex practiced her lines on Karen, C.C., and her mother. She had to really try to push them from her thoughts in order to even begin to get into character. There were a few times when she had to start over because she either laughed at the wrong time, stumbled over her lines, or completely lost focus. When she needed to sing her throat closed so tightly she couldn’t even speak.
“Relax, Lexi! It’s just us. Now try again,” Patricia said.
Alex managed to blurt out a few lines, shouting rather than singing. She finally decided she needed everyone in the room to leave and go listen from the kitchen. “I might be able to do it without anyone actually in here watching me.”
Alex took a deep breath when the three left. When she was sure they were out of the room, she started with the first character. She got to the part where she had to sing her lines, and she simply did it without pausing. Alex closed her eyes and tried to pretend she was on a large stage and that her voice needed to reach all the way to the back.
“Well done!” Karen said as she came back into the living room.
All three of them clapped, assuring her that she sounded fine. Alex wondered if they were just humoring her.
After a few nights of practicing, she managed to give a decent rendition of all three characters and thought she might even stand a fairly good chance of landing one of the parts. I hope I get the one with the least amount of singing.
CHAPTER 37
DRIFTER LAY IN BED on his side staring intently at the small mirror propped up on the wall. He closed his eyes and pictured the time period he wished to visit. His lips curled into a sneer when he felt the power within begin to build. It had taken him many years of practice to access this part of his brain. Before mastering this technique, he had been forced to wait on fate to change the image in the mirror.
Now he could force it to change at will.
Rage welled in him and the image in the mirror disappeared. Drifter ground his teeth as he recalled the details of those trips. Each time he was sure he had taken steps to ensure that what he was doing was undetected by the people living in that time.
And each time, something had happened to set time back on its proper course.
Master thinks he knows what’s happening.
Drifter forced his emotions to stillness, opened his eyes, and saw the image of his latest destination reflected in the mirror. The other man’s face was black as ebony and the whites of his eyes stood out against the darkness of his smooth skin. He was in the process of washing his face in a basin of water. Drifter could see the vaulted ceiling of the plantation mansion in the background.
Drifter reached out with his mind to take the place of the young man in the mirror.
CHAPTER 38
ALEX COULD BARELY make herself eat breakfast. Her stomach was in knots and she feared she might vomit. When she told her mom she did not want to eat, Patricia had told her not to be silly, that she might have to wait until late into the morning to read her lines.
“It will do no good to make yourself sick, Lexi. You’ll feel better when you have something in your stomach. Even just some toast and fruit is better than nothing.”
Alex let C.C. fix her some scrambled eggs and a piece of toast and a few slices of honey dew melon. She forced herself to eat every bite. She didn’t have much choice; C.C. watched her like a hawk.
More like a mother hen.
Patricia dropped Alex off at the college. Alex sighed in relief when she spotted Amy and Jennifer. Both girls looked as sick as she felt, which also made her feel a little better.
“I see the boys really did skip out on us,” Alex said.
Jennifer rolled her eyes. “They wouldn’t take it seriously. Simon would act like a jackass and Paul would make some wise crack.”
“You have to admit, the two of them are natural performers. They act the fool and don’t care what anyone thinks.” Alex wished she could channel some of that nonchalance. She thought perhaps her time here in Grand Junction with her new friends, not to mention her trips through time, were beginning to give her confidence in herself. She certainly would never have imagined a year ago that she would be performing on stage.
“If it isn’t the best biology partner.”
Alex felt the heat rush to her face. She turned and found herself face-to-face with Beau Johnson.
“What are you doing here?” Alex felt like she was grinning like an idiot so she tried to calm the muscles in her face. “Aren’t you playing in the game?”
“On my way there. I park here so I don’t have to fight with traffic when it’s time to leave.” Beau gave her a smile. Alex couldn’t stop staring into his blue eyes.
“You trying out for the show?” He pointed toward the theater where Mr. Reardon was trying to get everyone’s attention.
“Yeah. I better go.” Alex backed away, Jennifer and Amy tugging her arm. She smiled and gave him a quick wave.
“Hey! What are you doing after the tryouts?”
Alex stopped dead in her tracks. She turned slowly, hoping she heard correctly. “We were going to finish watching the game. After that, not quite sure.” She shrugged. Her heart thumped in her chest and her mouth was dry.
“Some of us are going for pizza after the game. You should come along. You two can come too, if you want.” Beau included Jennifer and Amy as an afterthought.
“Umm....well, yeah sure. I mean, that sounds great,” Alex stammered, feeling like the world’s clumsiest fool. I bet Catelyn never acted like this the first time a boy asked her to do something.
“Great. Find me after the game.” Beau winked at her and jogged off in the direction of the stadium.
“I think the great Beau Johnson just asked you out, Miss Alexis Davenport,” Amy said.
“I think she should write this down in her diary, post immediately to Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace,” Jennifer said.
Alex rolled her eyes. “Very funny.”
“How can you be so calm? I mean, I figured you would be either lying on the ground in a dead faint, or screaming your head off like an idiot,” Amy said.
Alex did in fact feel like screaming, fainting, and possibly vomiting all at once. As she ran into the theater after the other two girls, she wished she had worn a sexier outfit.
Alex was so distracted by Beau’s invitation that she barely noticed when called on to read lines. Her heart was so full of joy she thought it would burst. She took to the stage and her happiness radiated from her like light from the sun. She sang with wild abandon as if there were not dozens of people watching and judging.
When she finished her lines, people began clapping. Mr. Reardon had an expression of incredulity on his face and clapped along with everyone else. Jennifer and Amy’s faces were filled with stunned disbelief.
“Where the hell did that come from? Since when have you been able to sing?” Jennifer’s mouth hung open.
Alex shrugged. She felt a little embarrassed at all the attention. She had just acted and sang her heart out and had not given a single care to what anyone else thought. “I was sort of in a different place while I was up there.”
Amy gave Jennifer a jab with her elbow. “She was on her date with Beau Johnson.”
Alex wanted to deny it but realized she had in fact been a mile away from the stage at the college. Her thoughts had been filled with his eyes, his smile, and the impending pizza date.
Mr. Reardon offered Alex all of the roles she tried out for. She chose the role of Yackle the Crone. It had the least amount of singing compared to the other two, and she was looking forward to playing an old woman.
Alex frowned as her mind conjured up the image of the wrinkled old lady she had seen in the mirror. I wonder when I will see her again.
Amy was thrilled she got the role of Madam Morrible. It was the only role she had tried out for. Jennifer was given a small part as one of the munchkins, which suited her just fine. She had not even been certain that she wanted to be in the play and had agreed to come along so she wouldn’t feel left out.
The cast met briefly to discuss the best times for rehearsals. Since the college also had a production their drama department was working on, they would have to rehearse at the high school. Mr. Reardon gave the students hand-outs with important dates and times. Alex groaned when she saw the workload.
“We don’t have as long to rehearse so we have to cram in a lot of stage time,” Amy said. She tried to sound optimistic, but she, too, worried about getting through the last few months of school and the extra rehearsals.
“We’ll just have to manage our time,” Alex sighed.
“Hey, isn’t it about time to get to the game?” Jennifer elbowed Alex.
Alex giggled and the girls ran to get their things. Her stomach was full of butterflies. She worried she might take flight and simply fly over the traffic at the intersection. Jennifer sent a text to Simon, asking where he and Paul were sitting.
“There they are.” She pointed about half way up one of the furthest sets of bleachers. Alex was disappointed they weren’t closer to the players. She cheered up considerably when she reminded herself that she would be sitting with Beau in a few short hours.
They passed Catelyn and her group of bratty cheerleader friends. Alex had to fight the urge not to shout it out that she was meeting Beau after the game.
Suddenly, she sucked in a breath and nearly tripped. Oh God! What if she is there too? Alex had been so excited that she had never even considered the possibility of Catelyn tagging along. Her mood deflated. Why wouldn’t she be there? They are dating after all.
“Why so glum?” Jennifer noticed Alex’s sudden change in mood.
“I just thought of something. If Beau is going out after the game, then Catelyn will probably be with him.”
“Well…” Jennifer began. “Not necessarily. I mean, maybe Catelyn is busy or something.” She couldn’t meet Alex’s eyes.
“Yeah, I thought so,” Alex mumbled. She tried to regain the mood from earlier but it just wasn’t there. She plopped down next to Paul and tried to pretend she was having a good time. Her cheeks burned and tears were very close to falling. I should have known it would turn out like this.
The home team won and the crowd roared and cheered. Alex clapped half-heartedly.
“So what do you say we go to Pizza Hut?” Paul suggested.
Alex sighed with relief. If Catelyn came with Beau, she could always just hang out with her friends instead. The evening began to look much more promising. They waited their turn as they joined the throngs of people leaving the stadium. There were quite a few students but none of the players had left yet. Alex was glad she and her friends would get there first. She thought it would make things much less awkward if she had people to talk to while waiting for Beau to arrive.
They got a large booth and sat down. Alex refrained from ordering dinner.
“Not hungry or something?” Simon asked as he sipped a Dr. Pepper.
“She’s waiting for Beau,” Jennifer said, trying to sound nonchalant.
“Waiting for him? Why?”
“He invited Alex to hang out after the game.”
Simon opened his eyes as wide as they would go and batted his eyes at Paul who tried not to spit soda out of his nose. “It’s happened! It’s really happened!”
“Oh I do declare! This just might be the happiest day evah!” Paul said in an overly dramatic Southern accent.
Alex blushed and looked around, making sure that no other students were listening. “Shut up you two!”
“He said we could join too, if we wanted,” Amy said.
“He only said that to be half-way polite. I’m surprised he even noticed us at all,” Jennifer said.
“Well, here he comes now.” Simon made to push Alex right out of the booth.
Alex watched Beau come striding into the restaurant. He was still dressed in his baseball uniform. Several other players and their friends followed him closely. She thought he had never looked hotter. He spotted Alex and waved to her, but turned immediately to his friends as they found a table.
Alex bit her lip, more unsure than ever what to do. I can’t just mosey on over there and act like I belong. She had been hoping for him to wave her over.
“What are you waiting for?” Simon nudged her even harder and Alex nearly fell off the seat and onto the floor.
“She is waiting for some sort of invitation you idiot!” Amy hissed. She rolled her eyes at Alex as if to say See? They’re all clueless!
“Go to the restrooms. You have to walk right past him,” Jennifer suggested.
Just then the very person Alex had been hoping to avoid sauntered into the restaurant with her group following closely behind. They all had their cell phones out and were texting like mad. Catelyn was wearing tight jeans and a tank top and her blonde hair was flowing free down her back. She pushed her sunglasses up onto her head and spotted Beau and his friends. She glared his way and made for a booth on the opposite end of the restaurant. When she saw Alex and her friends sitting nearby, she rolled her eyes and whispered something to one of the girls. Another girl looked at their table, covered her mouth, and laughed.
Alex tried to ignore the snickers and giggles from Catelyn’s table. Simon and Paul pretended to talk about the girls and guffawed so loudly that everyone in the restaurant looked over at them. Alex tried to be angry but they were just so funny that she had to laugh.
“Now we know that Catelyn won’t be joining him. Make your move Alex!” Jennifer urged.
Alex took a deep breath and tried to slow her beating heart. She walked slowly toward the ladies room, keeping her eyes on Beau almost the whole time, waiting for him to notice her and call her over.
“Hey, Alex!”
Alex tried to stifle a grin when she heard him call her name. She turned and he gave her a small wave and pointed to the empty seat next to him.
“You guys know Alexis right?” He said as Alex took a seat. She smiled a little and said hi to everyone. She knew them all by name but had never actually spoken to any of them. The two girls at the table were not part of Catelyn’s group. Marney and Brooke gave her small smiles but looked a little confused. They whispered and tried to pretend they weren’t talking about Alex but it was quite obvious they were. Alex tried to play it cool and pretend this was nothing out of the ordinary.
The waitress brought her another Sprite. Marney and Brooke ordered salads. Alex was starving and wanted to get pizza but she did not want the other girls to think she was a fat slob. She sighed, ready to order a salad too when Beau spoke up and ordered for both of them.
Beau gave her a smile and a nudge with his shoulder and told her to smile and relax. Alex sat back and tried to do just that. But she could feel Catelyn’s eyes burning a hole in the back of her skull. Alex had to fight the urge to turn around.
When her bladder really did need emptying, Alex got up and excused herself. She felt as though she floated to the restroom. She glanced at the table where her friends were sitting and rolled her eyes when Paul gave her a grin and thumbs up.
As Alex was finishing up she heard the door open and prayed it wasn’t Catelyn coming to confront her. But it was only Marney and Brooke.
“I think it’s so mean that he’s using Alex to make Catelyn jealous,” Marney said.
“I’m staying out of it. But those two and their on-again, off-again crap is really getting old.” Brooke was entering the stall right next to Alex.
“The saddest thing is, this girl thinks Beau actually likes her.” Marney’s voice drifted from the handicapped stall on the far end of the restroom.
Alex felt as though someone had punched her. She couldn’t breathe. They have to know that I’m in here. With tears blurring her vision, Alex
hurriedly left the restroom, hoping to get outside before the sobs made it past her clenched teeth.
Alex ran out of the restaurant and toward the school. She would call her mom or aunt to come and get her.
“Alex, wait!” Jennifer cried. When she saw the look on Alex’s face, she knew something was wrong. “Did you see something in the mirror?”
“No. I wouldn’t be this hysterical if I had.” Alex told her what the other two girls had said, though it took her a few tries to talk over her sobs. She had never felt so hurt or betrayed.
“Oh, Alex. I’m so sorry. Let me go get the others so we can all leave.”
Alex shook her head. “I can call mom to come get me.”
“Nonsense. I can’t go back in there and pretend like nothing happened! And I might just go punch that jackass right in the nose,” Jennifer said, her face red with anger. A part of her wanted to tell Alex “I told you so” but she knew this was probably not the best time to bring that up.
“Stay right here. I’ll be back.” Jennifer ran back to Pizza Hut while Alex sat on the curb, wiping her eyes.
Alex was surprised to see all of her friends exiting the restaurant. She jumped to her feet when she saw Paul being held back by the rest of the group, lunging toward Beau and some of his friends who were standing in the doorway yelling.
Alex ran up and tried to pull Paul away. Beau gave her a dirty look. “I don’t know what lame stories you are telling your lame ass friends but you better watch it.”
Alex felt her heart break again at the anger in his voice and the look on his face. But her own anger at him for daring to make this her fault was rising to the surface. She faced him, Marney, and Brooke with her hands on her hips. “Ask them what happened. They certainly told a very interesting story in the bathroom. Isn’t that right?” Alex looked at them, her voice and body shaking with the emotions raging through her.
Marney and Brooke could not even look Alex in the eyes. They pretended to be absorbed in something on their cell phones. Alex wanted to punch them both.
She turned back to Beau. “I don’t want to ever speak to you again. They made it very clear that the only reason you were nice to me was to make Catelyn jealous. Why would you think this was okay? You want to play these immature games, do it with someone else.” Alex turned before he could see the tears falling down her cheeks again. She was humiliated, angry, and hurt. She did not know if she wanted to run, cry, or hit someone.
