Chapter 34

    Dress rehearsal comes in all its stressful glory. It's hard having to climb into costume while simultaneously helping the other girls get dressed. My dress is a horrific neon pink and has many layers. I have to wear hip pillows for Pete's sake because such was the fashion our scene was set in. Evelyn has the nicer dress of the two of us, and though we both now tolerate each other, I still feel like she's flaunting it in my face.

    The girls' costumes range from pretty little princess dresses to shirts made of rags. The rags are the hardest to put on I'm becoming to realize because you never know which hole you're supposed to be putting your arms through.

    Throughout all this, I keep hearing ruckus from the boy's dressing room. I choose to ignore it, thinking nothing could be as bad as the last incident in that dressing room.

    Finally, everyone is dressed, hair is combed, and nerves are prepared. Instead of staying inside, I wander outside and sit on one of the picnic tables, my dress billowing around me. It's a fairly cloudy day, and the breeze is cool as it fans my face. What a relief from the stuffy dressing rooms.

    " Enjoying yourself?" I look up, happy to see Will walking towards me.

    He sits down and places one of his arms around me. " What was all that noise I kept hearing?" I question.

    Will chuckles. " One of the smaller boys wasn't aware that you aren't supposed to run around the dressing room buck-naked."

    " Lord have mercy" I laugh.

    " How are you fairing, I mean that dress...." He trails off looking sheepish.

    " It's horrible I know, this color! And these freaking hip pillows! Also, did you know this dress has three layers? Three layers!"

    " That color isn't the best I've seen on you it's true."

    " Also I'm roasting! I'll probably be drenched in sweat by the end of rehearsal, then what will I do for the show-"

    " It does look rather warm."

    " Also the makeup I have to wear makes me look like a Barbie, I hate a lot of makeup, it makes me feel all cakey and fake."

    " That is a lot of makeup."

    " Oh God, will you stop agreeing with me??"

    " Was I supposed to not agree?" Will looks bewildered.

    " Yes sir, it's the way to a woman's heart, always no matter what, compliment her on something," Lena says coming out of nowhere.

    " Did you hear all that?" I groan.

    " I hear a lot of things," Lena says grinning.

    Will shakes his head, " It seems I'm outnumbered in this discussion."

    " It's true, hormones over testosterone and all that," Lena replies. " But that's not the reason I'm out here, Skye you guys have to be on stage in approximately two minutes."

    I leap up and run backstage.

Our scene goes smoothly and right after I get back to the dressing rooms I rip off my costume. Only after the pink pile of satin is laying prostrate on the floor do I dare take huge gulps of air. I couldn't even breathe in that dress.

I'm just back into my normal clothes when Ava comes bursting into the dressing room. She looks mad. More than mad, she looks as if she just swallowed a nest of hornets. " I now completely understand." She says to me, her face a dark shade of red.

" Understand what?" I ask.

" Mark! He's a-a" she is about to say something but cuts herself off when she notices the smaller girls have gone completely silent and are staring wide-eyed at her.

Ava ushers me out the door and towards the surprisingly empty kitchen. She closes the door with a bang and begins rummaging in the fridge. Eventually, she retrieves what she's looking for, ( a leftover bowl of Caesar salad from lunch) and turns to me. " He told me that I could improve my directing skills," She stabs at her salad furiously, " then proceeded to say that he had suggestions for improvement! The audacity! He's never been in a theater since this week! How can he-,"

I cut her off before she chokes on her greens. " He's said worse, but I do understand he's the most infuriating human I've ever met."

     " He's a pain in the royal glutes that's what he is." Ava continues murdering her salad.

     " So now can you fire him? Or at least tell him to go away?"

      Wow, Skye that was real mature.

     "That's the problem, I can't. Of course, I can have him not come back for the rest of the summer, Thank God, but I just wish we could spend this last day Mark-free."

     I nod. Having a day where I didn't have to be constantly worried about Mark is a beautiful prospect. But I only needed to survive a couple more hours, and the week would be over.

                                      ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

     Streams of people are coming through our front doors and I greet the parents of the campers with a plastered smile. " Melissa did so well this week!" I say to an elderly couple who beams with pride for their grandchild.

     Will is doing something similar to what I'm doing except he isn't fake. His smile is genuine as he shakes hands with a Dad that looks so much like Arthur it's almost shocking.

     I escape during a break in the flow of people to get changed. The dressing room is loud, and I'm already sweating in my normal clothes. To my relief, Harper helps me get into costume. It goes a lot smoother with her help, and I feel my mood lighten.

     " Nervous?" She asks, giving one of my hip pillows a pat.

     " A little, my nerves are shot" I reply.

     " Did you have your coffee this morning?" She asks point blank.

     Suddenly it hits me. I had slept in so had no time to think of coffee. " No."

" Should I ask Will to get you some?"

" He can't he has to be in our scene remember?"

" Oh that's right he plays that small role."

I shoot Harper a look. " All roles are important!"

Harper raises her hands and backs away, laughing, "okay I'll get you coffee then."

Thank God she exists.

The show is in full swing when she comes with my coffee. I have to be on stage in fifteen minutes and the sight of the rich brown flavor of the iced coffee, cold foam floating on top with condensation dripping down the sides of the cup makes me forget all my worries.

Then I have to go on and the nerves come back. Will and I walk backstage together and he holds my hand for comfort. I'm probably making him lose circulation in his fingers but he chooses not to mention that.

Our whole team, and Nat pack backstage. We all hold our props nervously and try to get into character. Evelyn is flirting with Arthur old-fashioned style, flitting her fan in front of her face and batting her eyelashes. Arthur is ignoring her which I silently applaud.

     The lights drop on the scene before us and we file onstage. It takes stage crew an annoyingly long time to set our scene, but finally, the lights go up.

     " Mr. La grange what did you think of our visit?" Nolan begins.

     The whole scene goes perfectly. Nat snaps out of it and says his lines well. Evelyn and I pulled off our relationship convincingly. Oliver wasn't too serious and Will owned the stage though his role was small.

     The lights began to dim and I realize it's over.

     Thank you, Jesus.

      But then I make eye contact with someone in the front row, peering innocently up at me with a small smile on her face.

     Bet.

                                    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

     It takes two gulps of iced coffee, breaking free of my costume, and Lena consistently asking if I'm ok till I came to my senses. Bet was here! In the same building as Mark who has been threatening her all week.

     I tell Will and he looks more concerned than I have ever seen him. " What do we do?" I ask nervously.

     " I don't know... wait, let me check something." He then leaves and I follow after him.

     Will peers through the door leading to the auditorium. He has a good view of the whole crowd and spots Bet right away. There's an empty seat beside her and before I can stop him, Will marches down the aisle and sits right next to her. I watch her grow surprised, then she throws her arms around him in joy.

     It almost makes me cry. I knew exactly why he was sitting there. He would protect the innocent at all costs.

     I head dreamily back to the dressing room but stop when I see Evelyn hastily wiping away tears at my entrance. " What's wrong?" I ask rushing to her side.

     " Oh nothing it's stupid, I'm just... tired" She wipes away the last of her tears and tries to smile.

     I don't believe her for one second but choose not to press her. I give her a small hug and leave her alone.

     The show ends and the kids take their bows. They get a standing ovation which is unheard of for summer camps. I beam with pride.

     The main house lights come up and I push through the crowds to where Will and Bet stand. She spots me and throws her arms open in greeting. I scoop her up in a tight hug. Over Bet's shoulder, I can see Will getting a tad emotional at our reunion.

     We talk for a while about everything and nothing, then the crowd sweeps me away and Im stuck talking to parents again. I keep looking over people's heads, trying to see Bet, but she must've left with her family already. Suddenly someone taps me on the shoulder and I turn, a lady with hazel-green eyes, much like Bets, is standing before me. " Hey, I saw you talking to my daughter a bit ago, and now I can't seem to find her, would you have any idea where she is?" The lady looks fairly calm but I can see she is starting to worry.

Her words go straight through me. " I'll go try and find her, no worry's!" I smile and quickly rush off telling myself she's just with Will or with her friends. But my intuition tells me otherwise which quickens my pace.

      I run into Will in my hot pursuit, ricocheting off his chest, much like the first time we met. He looks down at me with an amused expression on his face. " Have you seen Bet? Her moms looking for her." I ask.

" I was just talking to her, I'll help you look." Will looks chill but my gut is screaming warnings. " I'll look in the auditorium, she's probably just lost in the crowd." He leaves, walking away all broad-shouldered and confident.

     I begin searching the back of the theater. She's nowhere in the packed hallway. Not in the nursery. Not in the library. I even check the dressing room though there's no reason why she would be in there.

Finally, I push open the kitchen door, my tired eyes sweeping the room. They land on a sight I will never forget.

Mark is holding Bet in a tight grip, her back against his chest. He has a knife at her throat and is speaking in a low voice to her. I can't make out what he's saying but by the look on her face, I can tell it's not anything good.

Mark spots me but doesn't move from his position. " Are u finally seeing the consequences of your actions now?" I say nothing, rooted in place.

Bets eyes speak volumes and my entire being wants to scoop her up, turn tale and run. But of course, there's the small issue of the knife. " Cats got your tongue?" Mark asks cockily.

I refuse to let him get to me even though I'm visibly shaking with fear. My mind filters through my options. I could kick him in the balls. But Bet is sort of blocking that certain area so it's out of the question. Head butt? Also not optional. Scream bloody murder? Too wimpish.

" I didn't know you could wield a knife," I say coldly. It may be not the smartest idea to annoy him, but as long as I keep him talking, Bet lives.

" You don't know a lot of things about me." Mark glares.

I glare back, not breaking eye contact. " I know you're stupid. And deranged." Mark's face starts turning purple " you also have no sense of social awareness."

" Do you want me to kill her?" Mark asks lowly, pressing the knife into Bet's skin. The blade must be dull because it does nothing. Bet doesn't even flinch.

" I want you to come to your freaking senses."

" I have more sense than you'll ever have."

" A person with sense doesn't put death threats on children just because he's jealous." My voice starts to raise, " a person with sense doesn't ruin relationships and demeanor other people, if you had sense, Mark Vaughn, you wouldn't be here at all, you would be off somewhere healing from whatever hurt you."

Silence fills the room. Mark's eyes have gone blank. There is nothing in them. No emotion. Just a deadness that scares me more than anything else could.

The knife slowly lowers from Bet's throat. I may be imagining it, but Mark's eyes grow glassy. " You have no idea..." he trails off and swallows.

He never gets to finish his sentence because the door behind me gets flung open. Will marches in and takes in the situation in one glance, Mark still holding the knife, me standing there with fists clenched, and Bet frozen in fear.

" What the hell?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I can hear sirens in the distance. Everything seems like a confused blur. Lena has her arms around me, trying to offer all the comfort she can. Harper, still not being the touchiest person alive is cracking her knuckles and begging to have at it with Mark.

But Mark already got what was coming for him. Will made sure of that.

Bet is with her family. And I can only sit, mind reeling. The cops arrive and there are questions. So many questions. Will and I sit next to each other trying to explain the events of the past week.

Past the officer's shoulder that we're talking to, I see Mark get shoved into the back of a police car. Through all the lights, sounds, and pressing questions I have one clear thought.

I could pity Mark. But he doesn't deserve it. Pity will fix nothing. It won't change what he did. It won't change his future, and it won't change the course of his life.

I never saw Mark after that night and I never wanted to again.

Authors note

That was a doozy of a chapter😅 How do y'all feel about Mark's final fate?

One more chapter to go!

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-heavengrace55