The stage was a natural place to lose myself. I had most of my lines memorized by heart now, and it was all a matter of getting through each scene triple dare challenge style.

Anton sat at his little director's table, and Hugh and Samantha joined me on the stage for the scene while the rest of the cast took seats in the theater to watch.

Taking a deep breath, I moved into character. Hugh was muttering something to himself about being commanding. Rosalind wasn't too hard for me to channel. She was clever and in control of her situation.

"Scene," Anton called.

Hugh had the first line as Duke Frederick. He pointed off stage with a look of anger and recited his lines.

"Mistress, dispatch you with your safest haste

And get you from our court."

I put a hand to my heart. "Me, uncle?"

Hugh's voice rose in anger. "You, cousin

Within these ten days if that thou be'st found

So near our public court as twenty miles,

Thou diest for it."

Rosalind was supposed to be hurt by her family casting her out. I fell to my knees before Hugh.

"I do beseech your grace,

Let me the knowledge of my fault bear with me:

If with myself I hold intelligence

Or have acquaintance with mine own desires,

If that I do not dream or be not frantic,--

As I do trust I am not--then, dear uncle,

Never so much as in a thought unborn

Did I offend your highness."

Hugh's response was ruthless. "Thus do all traitors:

If their purgation did consist in words,

They are as innocent as grace itself:

Let it suffice thee that I trust thee not."

I got to my feet and moved towards Hugh, but Samantha held me back. Struggling against her, I recited the next lines.

"Yet your mistrust cannot make me a traitor:

Tell me whereon the likelihood depends."

Hugh's lip curled. "Thou art thy father's daughter; there's enough."

Anton clapped from the audience, signaling the end of the small scene. He had a pleased expression, meaning we'd done a good job.

"Well done, Shayna, Hugh," he said. "Not a bad rerun of yesterday's blocking. I'll add that to the list of contenders for the scene we perform in the first round."

Since the judges at the festival didn't want to sit through twelve plays, we'd perform one scene in the morning and compete with monologues. From that, they'd decide which three groups would perform in the mid-afternoon and evening and crown a winner.

Anton was still trying to decide which scene would be the best. I supposed his Broadway friend Jamie would help him when she came to our clinic in a week.

Juan blew a kiss towards the stage. "Good job, Shayna, babe."

I blushed and smiled back. Juan had been a little distant lately but still a doting boyfriend. He missed lunch with me a bunch, but he'd made up for it by buying me flowers.

"Next scene," Anton said, looking around him. "Where is my script?"

Jack handed the packet to his uncle. "Right here, Uncle Anton."

There were shadows under Jack's eyes made more prominent by the fading yellow bruises on his face. His lip curled, and he kept looking at his phone with disgust. I didn't know what his problem was, and I didn't care to know either. No doubt he'd cause trouble the moment we got on stage together. For some reason, that was fun to him.

"Right you are, Jack," Anton smiled and flipped through his script. "Let's try that tough part we had problems with yesterday. Actors to the stage."

Yesterday Jack had been flirting with me while reciting his lines. Yes, we were supposed to be in love but not really so much at this point in the play. I could pretend to love him but not if he made it seem too real.

"Begin after Jaques leaves," Anton said.

Jack walked out on stage and traded places with Hugh. He was walking in a slow and controlled fashion, like he was hiding something. Samantha didn't have much to do in the scene, so she went to sit in the wings so Jack and I could better focus on our lines.

Jack took another step closer to me, and I realized he had a slight limp. Maybe he was faking it for attention. It didn't matter. I gestured for him to start the scene.

Jack's eyes went all moony, and he recited his line. "My fair Rosalind, I come within an hour of my promise."

Two could play this game. I poured every ounce of passion into my next lines.

"Break an hour's promise in love! He that will

divide a minute into a thousand parts and break but

a part of the thousandth part of a minute in the

affairs of love, it may be said of him that Cupid

hath clapped him o' the shoulder, but I'll warrant

him heart-whole."

The sincerity seemed to catch Jack off guard. "Pardon me, dear Shayna."

"Cut!" Anton shouted. "Jack, you aren't talking to Shayna. This is Ganymede, who is secretly Rosalind. We've rehearsed for three weeks, and you shouldn't be making these mistakes. Continue."

I moved on to the next line. "Nay, an you be so tardy, come no more in my sight: I had as lief be wooed of a snail."

Jack frowned. "Of a snail?"

I nodded. "Ay, of a snail; for though he comes slowly, he

carries his house on his head; a better jointure,

I think, than you make a woman: besides he brings

his destiny with him."

Jack moved a little closer. "What's that?"

I took a step back, trying to maintain the distance between us. "Why, horns, which such as you are fain to be

beholding to your wives for: but he comes armed in

his fortune and prevents the slander of his wife."

Jack smiled. "Virtue is no horn-maker; and my Shayna: is virtuous."

He winked. I rolled my eyes. He was shameless. Juan was in the audience right now. Yes, we were acting, but Jack behaved as if his role across from me would make me fall in love with him like some cheesy romantic comedy.

"Cut!" Anton called. "Jack, please read the script. I'm not sure that Shakespeare had winks in mind either."

Jack looked down at the script in his hand and smiled. Then, he read the true line with just as much passion. "Virtue is no horn-maker; and my Rosalind: is virtuous."

I gritted my teeth. "And I am your Rosalind."

Samantha called her line from the wings. "It pleases him to call you so; but he hath a

Rosalind of a better leer than you."

She should have been here being a buffer, but no, Anton was just fine with her being in the wings, watching where we would stand before putting her in the scene.

The other cast members had varying looks of exasperation on their faces. Rita looked ready to put a hole in her algebra homework. I didn't see Juan, but maybe he'd stepped out to make a call or to use the restroom in the back.

The next line was more elusive for me to remember, but I seized it when it came to me. "Come, woo me, woo me, for now, I am in a holiday

humour and like enough to consent. What would you

say to me now, an I were your very very Rosalind?"

Jack smiled, and I stuck my tongue out at him. He just winked and smiled wider. It was tempting to slap that stupid smirk off his face, but I appealed to his uncle instead.

"You're going to let him get away with this?" I demanded.

"Cut!" Anton threw his script down. "Shayna, what is wrong with you? This is a secret love story. You are an actress."

Jack sighed. "If only acting were reality."

I glared at him. "This is all your fault, director's pet. This is a play. I'm not falling in love with you, and I would never ever go out with you, Jack Garrison."

"Personal problems don't belong in the theater Miss Porter," Anton said. "Please take your fight with my nephew and put it aside until after rehearsal."

"Perhaps a fresh start?" Kai suggested. "After all, don't some people here have to prepare for tonight's football game?"

"We've clearly exhausted today's rehearsal," Jules said.

Anton sighed. "Very well."

They were all taking his side. Anton would rather shut down the whole rehearsal than tell his nephew off. It made me sick.

I walked backstage to get a drink from the water fountain when I saw something that made my eyes bug out. Juan had pushed Samantha up against the wall by the fountain with his fingers buried in her blue wig. She was kissing him over and over, and he groaned softly.

"Juan," I said. "What is going on?"

"Shayna," Juan broke away from Samantha.

My face heated, and I turned around to rush back on stage. Here I was, defending myself against Jack's advances, and Juan was in the back kissing another girl.

"You okay?" Rita asked.

"I... um..." the words didn't come.

Juan rushed on stage. I whirled away, and he grabbed my arm to stop me. I jerked away.

Samantha followed on his heels with her red lip gloss smeared. I glared at my boyfriend, although I wasn't sure I would call him that any longer.

"Babe," he said. "Let me explain."

Somehow, a quiet and controlled voice came out of my mouth. "You're cheating on me with her?"

"It didn't mean anything..." Juan said, but I cut him off.

"Save your breath," I said. "I know what I saw."

Samantha stepped forward. "We've been kissing for a few weeks. I thought you knew."

I didn't have the words to tell Samantha what I thought of her. I couldn't even find more words to hurl at Juan. This was so much worse than Jack flirting or Anton taking his side.

I glanced at the assembled cast, who watched the three of us on the stage. Novah was smiling. Rita was staring at me with pity, and Hugh's eyes were fixed on his shoes. 

Then it hit me. "You all knew." 

Here, I was betrayed by not just my boyfriend but everyone.

"Shayna, I was going to tell you," Rita said. "Really, I was."

"It was just a little fun," Samantha said.

It always started as innocent fun. My father had thought the same thing before the fun turned into leaving his wife and two children for someone younger. Rage boiled through my veins.

I managed two more words. "We're through!"

Then I grabbed my backpack and ran out of the theater. Juan was chasing me, but I made it to my car and locked myself inside.

Knowing I didn't want to hear from anyone, I powered my phone off. Undoubtedly, by the end of the football game tonight, the entire cheerleading squad would know I'd broken up with Juan, but I needed the silence right now. I saw Rita and Hugh shouting at Juan in the parking lot, trying to get him to leave.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm myself, I saw Juan get into Hugh's car to give him a lift home. I'd thank Hugh for that later.

I was an actress. I could get through the game tonight without letting anyone know this was bothering me. I'd talk to Parker about it after the game. Then, I found my favorite song on my phone and set it on a loop. I drove to the football game to smile, root, and cheer, all while my world burned around me.