“You got it!” I grab Liam by the arm, shaking him as he stares at the cast list.
His lips make awow. It’s too loud for me to make out anything: Everyone’s crowded around, all the seniors jostling to see who else made the cast.
Cameron got Olivia, which, gross. And Orsino went to Jamilah, a junior like me. I spot her black headscarf in the crowd, surrounded by people congratulating her.
But one more name catches me by surprise.
Sebastian—Paige Turner.
I should be happy for her. That’s what a real friend should do. But I always figured, hey, she’d audition once (like me) and then not get a part (like me) and then be firmly on the tech path.
Now she’s leaving me for the dark side.
I should’ve seen this coming.
PAIGE’S BREAKUP LIST:
ABANDONED TECH
COMMITMENT ISSUES
LOST LIAM BACKSTAGE
IRRESPONSIBLE
WASTED MY TIME MENTORING HER
GOING TO TURN INTO A MONSTER
TRAITOR
DISAPPOINTED DENISE
NEED TO FIND A NEW ASM
I don’t have my notebook on me; I’ll have to write it down later.
“So is the whole show gender-swapped?” I ask.
“Somethingsomething, I think.”
“Huh?”
Liam’s fingerspelling is still a little slow on people’s names, but he’s come a long way. “Philip and Asher are Sir Toby and Sir Andrew. Oh, and Madison got Feste!” Madison’s nonbinary. They’re a senior, and mixed like me, Mexican and white. Feste is perfect for them: They’ve got killer timing and the kind of bodylanguage that makes them look like they’re in a stand-up comedy bit, all big shoulders and round stomach and cocked hips.
“Good for them.” And I mean it. Madison’s never done anything objectionable to me.
“Yeah.” Liam’s smile slips a little; some of the other actors are throwing nasty glances his way. But they have no right to treat him badly just because he discovered his talent late.
“We should go celebrate!” I say.
“What, really?”
“Yeah... unless you don’t want to?”
I can’t decide if I want him to want to or not.
But then he smiles, and I would do anything to see him smile. “All right. Let’s go.”
