Chapter Forty

The night finally arrived and Megan didn't break a leg nor call in sick for the performance. A small part of me wished that I could have played the princess, but at the same time, I didn't mind being put second. Life won't always give you the spotlight - just take this moment as a good example. "Brush my golden locks and hum me a sweet song." Megan thrusts a plastic hair brush into my hand and I begin brushing her hair. The audio of someone humming starts to play in the background as I move my lips in an attempt to lip sync. "Princess, are you here?" I stop brushing her hair so that Megan can look over her shoulder and witness what is supposed to look like the prince climbing through her tower window. "My Prince, you've come for me." She gets up from the chair and runs over to help Blake to his feet. I stand to the side and lower my head in respect, but high enough that I can still see the performance. Blake and Megan take the centre of the stage and hold hands while he proclaims his love for her. Instead of kissing her lips, Blake leans to the side and presses a small peck on her cheek, then steps away to hold their hands up in the air. The narrator for the story reads the ending and then the lights go dim. The audience cheers loudly, which enables us to quickly move off the stage. We stand to the side and listen to a few thank you speeches to the cast, crew and teachers involved with the night before being allowed to head back to the change room to re-dress in our own clothing. Once I'm dressed in my own clothing, I head out of the change room and walk towards the front of the school where I find our parents, Blake, Jude and Tori holding London. "You were amazing," says Mum. She embraces me in a tight hug before passing me around to my Father and Angela. Jude gives me a pat on the shoulder and Tori brightly smiles and mutters something to London about being blessed to have talented people around her. "Ready for dinner?" asks Thomas. "Yeah," we all agree. We hop into our respective cars and head to the restaurant to continue celebrating our performance. We end up going to a small chinese restaurant with a gold and red dragon on top of the door frame. We get a table towards the back, near the restroom, which has enough space for us to all comfortably sit around. Our parents sit together on one side of the table, while Tori and I play buffers between Blake and Jude. It's been a couple of days since the graveyard and he still hasn't taken it upon him to sort things out with Jude. It's hard to know what he's thinking when he spends so much time cooped up in his bedroom. "You were awesome in the play," says Tori. "Thank you." I smile back. "I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be back." I get up from my chair and Tori does the same. She passes London to Jude and then grabs my arms, leading me away from the table. "What-" "Let's see if they bond now." Tori and I perch behind a large ornamental statue and observe them. Jude fumbles with holding London, so he looks towards his parents for help, but Angela keeps her gaze trained on Thomas as they talk. "This is breaking my heart. I just want to help Jude," I say. "It's killing me too, but I know this is going to work. When London cries, I know Blake is going to help." Tori grabs my hand and squeezes it tightly for support. London starts crying and panic crosses Jude's face. He awkwardly tries to rock her, but that just makes her cry even more. "Can-" "No." Tori's hand squeezes mine even tighter, which makes me realise it's not so much for my support, but for hers. I squeeze back just as tight and bite on my lip. There's a mix of anticipation, wanting to support Tori but also the insistent need to pee. Blake cracks. He gets up from his chair and moves to sit in Tori's. I can't hear what they say, but Blake adjusts Jude's arms and manages to settle London so she's being held properly. He must have told Jude to sing because I could see his lips move. "Okay, let's actually go to the bathroom." Tori tugs me towards the bathroom and I race towards the first available stall. From the sound, Tori stands by the mirror as she reapplies her make-up. I join her by the sink minutes later to wash my hands and reapply my lip gloss. She caps her lipstick and places it back in her purse. "I'm glad we can work as a team, Ava," she says. Rubbing my lips together, I turn and smile at her. "I'm glad we can work together as a team to sort these things out." I don't know what I would have done if Blake never made the advance to talk things out with Jude. Hopefully this will help soften the tension between them. "Do you think they'll start talking to each other now?" asks Tori. "If not, we'll use London as the key to bringing them together." I half laugh. "She'll thank us in the long run!" She smiles. "Hopefully we'll never have to tell her about this," I say, "Just keep the story happy and pleasant." I'd hate for London to think she was the cause for so much trouble between those boys. That isn't something you want to live with, even if she didn't have anything to do with it. "So, I was thinking about planning a lunch for the four of us, but," she says as she looks at me, "I was planning on the two of us bailing in an attempt to get those two together." "Do you think they'll get mad?" I ask. I know Blake might be annoyed if we tried this, and I'd hate to know what would happen if things didn't work out and what would happen then. Would he hate me for it? Or just think I was trying to help? "I hope they'll work something out. We can't stay stagnant, they need to take a step to start moving forwards. I don't mind being the force that propels them in the right direction." She shrugs her shoulders effortlessly. "So, tomorrow?" "Okay, tomorrow it is."