Play the Game (16 page)

‘Did you hear about Belle?’ asked Freddy, rushing up to me as I walked into the theatre.

‘No. What?’ I sighed to myself, expecting him to tell me that she’d got a new haircut,
or something equally exciting.

‘Her mum just got some big job overseas – and she starts in two weeks.’

‘Two weeks? Are you serious?’ I said, wondering what that meant for Belle.

Freddy nodded, his shoulders slumped. For a second I felt happy about the idea of
Belle leaving the play – I could spend more time with Freddy! But then I saw how
upset he was. The look on Freddy’s face made me realise just how close he and Belle
had become.

‘What about the play?’ I asked, trying not to be jealous.

He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to her. I just got a text.’

‘Are you okay?’ I wanted to give Freddy a hug, but I wasn’t sure if I should.

‘Not really, Edie. We’ve become really …’ He stopped, looking gutted.

At that second Kerry walked into the theatre carrying a bag of scripts. She looked
as harried and overwhelmed as Freddy did.

‘Oh, Freddy, you’ve heard,’ she said, noticing the look on his face.

He nodded. ‘Yeah.’

‘We need to recast. Tonight,’ she said.

Freddy blinked. ‘What? Recast? Why?’

‘Belle’s pulled out. She’s moving overseas.’

Freddy slumped. ‘Oh. I didn’t know that bit.’

I couldn’t believe it. Even though I didn’t really like Belle, I did feel sorry for
her. She’d got a dream role, and now she had to drop out.

‘Come on, it’ll be okay,’ Kerry reassured him. ‘We still have time to find a new
Juliet.’

As she said the words, I realised what this meant. The part I wanted was being recast.
The part that I’d thought was mine. Kerry must have had the same thought, because
she looked straight at me and smiled.

But it was Freddy who looked up at me and said, ‘Edie can play Juliet. I’d feel okay
if it was you, Edie.’

‘Thanks,’ I said tentatively, not sure what he was saying. Why would he feel okay
if it was me? But before I could work it out, Kerry stepped in.

‘Maybe it’s fate after all, Edie. What do you think? Do you want to play Juliet?’

Did I? I didn’t know. It was all I’d wanted at first, but I’d learnt the lines for
the Nurse, and I really liked the part. I also wasn’t sure how I felt about being
someone’s replacement.

‘But what about the Nurse?’I said to Kerry, surprised that I felt so strongly about
my character.

Kerry shrugged. ‘We can find someone else for that part. It’s Juliet I’m most worried
about.’

‘Oh,’ I said, a bit hurt that Kerry thought the Nurse was so much less important. ‘Um,
I’m not sure.’

Kerry looked at me strangely. ‘I thought you desperately wanted to play Juliet?’

‘I did. I do. I’m just … can I think about it?’

Kerry nodded. ‘Tell me first thing tomorrow, okay?’

The rest of the cast started filing in, and Kerry explained what was happening. Several
people shot me funny looks – I guess because they knew I’d auditioned for the part.

Jackson leant over and whispered, ‘You must be happy?’

I shrugged. ‘Not sure,’ I whispered back.

He nodded, like he understood. Kerry broke us into small groups to run the scenes
that Juliet wasn’t in. It was a strange rehearsal. Freddy seemed lost, and sad. And
I kept forgetting my lines – I couldn’t stop thinking about what I should do.

As I rode home from the theatre, I didn’t even think about where I was going. Before
I knew it, I found myself knocking on Tess’s front door. For once, it wasn’t the
twins who answered. Tess was still in her state netball tracksuit – she must have
just come from training.

‘Hi,’ I said softly.

‘Edie? What are you doing here?’

I shrugged, then blurted out,‘I miss you.’

She smiled. ‘I miss you too. I spend all my time with my brothers. If I see another
soccer ball I’ll do more than just kick it! I need
conversation
,’ she said, pulling
a face, and dragged me into the house.

As we walked into her room, I gave her a stupid massive hug. ‘I know exactly how
you feel. I’ve been stuck with
Jean
.’

Tess squirmed and laughed. ‘Hey, you’re squashing me!’

‘Sorry. I’ve missed you so much!’

As Tess pulled away, she looked at me. ‘Really? Even with all those new acting friends?’

‘Oh yeah, I forgot about them. Wait, who are you?’

Tess rolled her eyes. ‘Hilarious.’

‘But what about Saskia? I thought you guys were friends?’

‘Oh, please. If you think I’m obsessed with netball, try hanging out with her for
more than five minutes! Bo-ring.’

She looked at me, really seriously. ‘So you’re really okay with not playing Juliet?’

‘Well, actually … it turns out Belle’s moving overseas, so Kerry just offered me
the part.’

‘That’s awesome,’ said Tess.

‘Yeah. It’s nice that she thinks I can do it,’ I said.

Tess gave me one of her looks. ‘Wait, why aren’t you sounding excited?’

‘Well, the Nurse is actually a really great part, and I know all my lines, and I
don’t know if I want to take on something as huge as Juliet after all. It feels like
it’s Belle’s part now, even if she’s not here, you know?’

She shrugged. ‘Stupid reasons. Take the part.’

I groaned. ‘It’s not that simple. I’m not sure about playing Juliet to Freddy’s Romeo,
either.’

‘I thought you liked him?’ She threw a hand to her forehead.
‘Freddy, Freddy, wherefore
art thou Freddy?’

I rolled my eyes at her. ‘I do like him. But I don’t know if I want to kiss him on
stage. And then there’s Jackson,’ I added quietly, causing her to squeal.

‘Jackson? The guy in our English class last year?’

I nodded.

‘He’s definitely cute. But what does he have to do with whether or not you play Juliet?’
she snapped, sounding annoyed.

‘Why do you sound mad?’ I asked.

‘I thought you came here because you missed me, but you just want advice. You ditched
me so you could play Juliet. And now you don’t want the part. What do you expect me
to say?’ said Tess coolly.

I wanted her to say she understood that it was a hard decision to make. I wanted
her to tell me what to do. But maybe she was right. I had to figure this out myself.

I did want to play Juliet. It was a dream role, and this would probably be my only
shot at it. And yes, okay, kissing Freddy would probably be dreamy. But the Nurse
was a great part too, and I knew the role so well now. Besides, I was still a bit
concerned about stage fright. Should I play Juliet, the part I’d always wanted, or
stick with the role I knew, and now loved?

As I texted Tess to say I was sick and couldn’t go to training, I actually started
feeling sick. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d lied to her. I hated doing it,
but I really didn’t have a choice. If I told her the truth – that I was going to
the disco with Finn – she’d be furious.

I hit send, hoping she wouldn’t call me. But of course my phone started ringing almost
as soon as I’d put it down.

‘Edie? You okay?’ said Tess. Her concern made me feel even worse.

‘Yeah, just not feeling great. Sore throat. Headache. You know,’ I said.

‘Poor you. That sucks that you have to miss training,’ she said, as if it was the
worst thing in the world. ‘That must be why you were so off your game last week. You
were getting sick,’ said Tess.

I wasn’t about to tell Tess that the real reason I’d been off my game last week was
because Finn had made me nervous. Instead, I snuffled pathetically into the phone,
pretending my cold was really bad.

‘Do you want me to drop in on the way home and talk you through the session?’ Tess
offered.

Eek.
Thinking quick, I said, ‘That’s okay, I don’t want you to get it too. Besides,
I might be asleep. Justine said she can run me through any play changes before Saturday’s
game.’

‘But what if you’re not better by then?’ said Tess.

‘I’m sure I will be.’

‘Okay. Just text me if you change your mind.’

‘Thanks, Tess. Hopefully I’ll see you in the morning.’ I coughed a little, to reinforce
how sick I was. My drama classes were paying off.

I hung up, feeling awful. But I knew there was no way she’d understand. I loved netball,
but I didn’t love the way it had taken over my life. Besides, I’d already said yes
to Finn. I shouldn’t have to change my plans just because a last-minute training
session had been arranged.

I really hoped that Finn hadn’t said anything to Maggie about me coming to the disco.
If he had, I was in trouble.

I glanced at the clock. Actually, I was already in trouble. I only had 56 minutes
left to get ready!

I pulled on my pastel green jeans and a stripy top that Tess bought me for my birthday
last year. It was a bit dressier than the things I normally wore, but still not over
the top. Now I just had to fix my hair. And maybe borrow some of Jean’s lip gloss
– if I could find it.

Finding anything in the bathroom Jean and I shared was kind of impossible. Because
the bathroom was upstairs, away from our parents, they pretty much left us to it. And
cleaning wasn’t really our strong point. There was stuff everywhere. The top three
drawers were stuffed full of Jean’s make-up. The bottom drawer was mine. All that was
in it was a first-aid kit, a ton of band-aids, the udder cream Maggie’s mum had given
me and the flower hairbrush I’d had for years.

I found a stash of lip glosses, and picked the one that smelled the nicest. It was
all sticky, and didn’t taste like strawberry at all. But it looked good. I think.
I found myself wishing Jean was home so I could ask her.

I brushed my hair and fluffed up my fringe with my fingers. There wasn’t much I could
do with it. It was either wear it out or put it in a ponytail, and since I always
wore it in a ponytail, I figured leaving it out might make a nice change.

I suddenly felt really nervous. I didn’t actually know Finn very well. It was weird
not being able to talk to Tess about it. I’d never even been out with anyone before,
and now that I actually had a date, I couldn’t even tell her.