MY FORBIDDEN SHOWMANCE의 모든 챕터: 챕터 21 - 챕터 30

Going back to rehearsal should have been worse. I'd prepared for worse. I'd prepared for Danny. I'd prepared for Claire. I'd prepared for the possibility that everyone somehow knew I'd been formally warned for sexually harassing my leading man.What I hadn't prepared for was how completely normal everything looked. People stretched. Someone complained about being tired. Two dancers were arguing over whose coffee was sitting on the piano. Nobody stared at me when I walked in. Nobody whispered. The theater hadn't collapsed overnight because I'd dumped Danny. Apparently the world had continued without consulting me.Rude.I dropped my bag beside my chair."Tessa."I closed my eyes. Of course. I turned. Danny was walking toward me."Morning.""Morning.""Can we talk?""About rehearsal?"He hesitated. "No.""Then no."I picked up my script."Tess."I looked at him. "What?""Can you give me two minutes?""No."His jaw tightened. "We have to work together.""I know. And I'm happy to talk to

First dress rehearsal was one of my favorite days of any production. It was also complete chaos.By the time I got to the dressing room, someone had lost a shoe, one of the dancers was arguing about whether her earrings were historically appropriate, and the costume designer was threatening bodily harm if anyone put on lipstick before getting into their white costumes. In other words, everything was perfect.I changed into my first costume and turned toward the mirror. "Oh, hell yes."Claire glanced over from two chairs away. I didn't care. The dress had looked pretty at the fitting, but with my hair done and the right shoes, I looked like the woman I'd been pretending to be for the last couple weeks. I turned sideways. Still good."Stop admiring yourself," one of the dancers said as she hurried past."Why?"She laughed. "Fair."I headed toward the stage. The theater felt different today. The set was finished. The lights were running. Everyone was in costume instead of rehearsal cloth

Sunday morning, I woke up to seven text messages asking what time we were going to the lake. This was mildly inconvenient, considering I had announced lake day without choosing a lake, a time, or any other detail normally associated with planning an event.I solved the problem by texting Jay.Me: What time are we going to the lake?Jay: You planned this.Me: I provided the vision. You're logistics.Three dots appeared.Jay: I hate this friendship.Me: What time?Jay: Noon. I'll pick you up.See? Planning.By twelve-thirty, there were nine of us spread across a patch of grass near the water with towels, coolers, chips, sunscreen, and enough food to suggest we intended to survive there for several days. Rebekah had brought fruit. Someone else had brought sandwiches. Jay had brought an actual cooler full of drinks.I brought myself."You contributed nothing," Jay said as I spread my towel beside his."I contributed the event.""You drunkenly yelled 'lake day' at a table.""And look where

I fucked up the turn again."Stop."The choreographer clapped once, and the music cut off. I closed my eyes. I knew what was coming."Tessa, you're rushing.""I know.""You're trying to get to Danny before you've finished the turn.""I know.""Then stop doing it."I opened my eyes. "Excellent advice."A couple people laughed, but I wasn't really joking.We reset. Danny held out his hand. I took it, waited for the music, stepped into the sequence, turned, and landed slightly off balance.Again. Fuck.By the time we moved on, I was irritated enough that I wanted to fight the choreography personally. The stupid thing was that I could do the turn. I'd done it correctly dozens of times. But once we put it into the full sequence, something happened between my brain and my feet.At the end of rehearsal, everyone started collecting bags and water bottles while I stood onstage staring at the floor like it might confess what I was doing wrong.Jay walked past. "Are you doing anything after rehe

By the next morning, I had decided there was absolutely nothing weird about calling Jay at ten-thirty at night. Friends called friends. That was practically the entire point of having them. The fact that Jay had been the only person I'd wanted to call was irrelevant.Probably.I arrived at rehearsal eleven minutes early, which meant I was either becoming a better person or something was deeply wrong with me.Jay was already there. He sat on the edge of the stage tying one of his dance shoes, blond hair falling over his forehead. He looked up when I came through the house doors and smiled."Morning."I got a stupid little happy feeling."Morning."I kept walking. Nothing weird. Absolutely nothing weird.By ten, we were running the second act, and I had more important things to worry about than Jay. Like remembering where I was supposed to stand, getting through a costume change that currently required three hands and divine intervention, and not rushing the partnered turn I'd spent hal