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Thirty
Eliza
What the hell is he doing?
The audience shifts in their seats but I stiffen my neck to avoid breaking the fourth wall. I keep my eyes on Junior, trying not to show shock but holy shit — what the hell is happening right now?
Grant waves at me from backstage, making a quick gesture with his hands, urging me to continue on like normal but I can’t stop every muscle in my body from shaking.
A tear slides down my cheek and I wipe it away. “It’s over,” I say to Junior.
He doesn’t hesitate. “I don’t accept that.”
My lip quivers. “I don’t care what you accept,” I say, slipping as far into character as possible but part of me still shines through. “It’s over, we’re done. I can’t do this anymore.”
Junior steps forward with nervous energy, his eyes obviously so tempted to look out at the gawking crowd but he keeps his focus on me instead. “You’ve sung this song before, Nora. What makes this any different than any other time you’ve run away from us in the last ten years?”
“It’s…” I inhale deep, forcing the emotions just below the surface. “It’s the first time I’ve thought more with my head and not my heart.” My chest tightens, feeling every word. “This is the right thing for both of us, Danny. I know it.”
“If this is right…” he pauses. “Then why does it feel so wrong?”
“It feels wrong because we don’t know any better. You just need a little time to think about it like I have.”
“Nora, I don’t give a good goddamn what your head thinks,” he says. “All I care about is what that beautiful heart of yours feels. It feels the same as mine.”
Junior steps closer and I brace myself for the next line.
“I love you,” he says. “I’ve always loved you since the day I saw you and I refuse to let you go.”
“Love isn’t enough,” I say, my heart breaking.
“I will spend the rest of my life proving that it is.” He cups my face and wipes the tears from my cheeks with his thumbs. “I don’t care what I have to give up. It’s you and me, Nora. It always will be.”
He kisses me and the music cues on, rising to a crescendo before the lights go black. The curtain falls, drawing a sudden, heavy clamor of applause from the other side.
I break our kiss and shove him away with all the strength I have.
“Junior, what the hell are you doing here?!” I squint at him in the dark, making out the sincere shock on his face.
“Ellie, I—”
I shove him again, just barely rocking his muscled body backward. “Do you have any idea how stupid that was?! Did you even think about it for more than two seconds?!”
He grabs my hands before I can pull off another hit. “Ellie, stop! We need to talk.”
“You bet your ass we do!” I tug my wrists free and point at Grant lingering nearby with the rest of the cast and crew. “And you!”
“Don’t blame him,” Junior says, blocking my hand. “It was all my idea.”
“It was your idea to embarrass me? To ruin any chance of me ever standing on that stage again?!”
“Ms. Pierce!”
I jolt at Mr. Young’s fierce growl, counting down the seconds until I can say my theatre education is officially over. “Mr. Young, I am so sorry—”
He stops in front of me but his eyes instantly lock on Junior. “What happened? Who the hell are you?”
I swallow the fear down. “Sir, I can explain—”
