Returning to rehearsal like it was a normal Thursday was so strange. Nothing felt normal, and yet everything seemed so ordinary. The stage was fully lit. The only two people in the audience were Anton and Jamie. I stood across from Shayna, and somehow, she wasn't glowering.

In full costume, it all felt real. I was here not as Jack Garrison, a minor scandal celebrity, but as Orlando. Beside me stood Celia and Rosalind, not Samantha, the drama queen, and Shayna, the cheerleader.

My lines came naturally. "I would not have my right Rosalind of this mind,

for, I protest, her frown might kill me."

Shayna smiled. "By this hand, it will not kill a fly. But come, now

I will be your Rosalind in a more coming-on

disposition, and ask me what you will. I will grant

it."

I stepped forward. "Then love me, Rosalind."

"Yes, faith, will I, Fridays and Saturdays and all," Shayna said.

"And wilt thou have me?" I asked.

Shayna's change in attitude still confused me. She'd been helpful the past two days, but I hadn't seen her in person since she left the hospital with her brother. Mary had mentioned yesterday that she'd come to visit her, but she hadn't asked about me.

We'd come to a truce somehow. I wasn't sure if I could call it a friendship. It was possible she just felt sorry for me.

Shayna looked at me. "Ay, and twenty such."

"What sayest thou?" I stared back at her, trying to judge any modicum of emotion on her face, but she seemed completely in character.

"Are you not good?" She asked.

I nodded curtly. "I hope so."

Shayna's smile widened. "Why then, can one desire too much of a good thing?

Come, sister, you shall be the priest and marry us.

Give me your hand, Orlando. What do you say, sister?"

"And cut," Uncle Anton stood from his place in the audience. "Good work. I need a coffee. Go ahead and take five."

He walked into the lobby where the ancient coffee maker was in the concession stand. Jamie followed him with a concerned hand on his shoulder.

The rest of the cast poured on stage from the wings. Rita came out front holding the textbook she was reading backstage, followed by Novah cradling what looked like knitting needles. Carson hung his headphones around his neck while Hugh and Kai put what looked like physics homework in folders. Juan slumped behind them with Jules in the back.

"I can't believe you're still doing this production, Jack," Rita said. "I mean, your mother is in the hospital, and they locked your father up. Don't you have three sisters too?"

"It's only been two days," I scratched the back of my neck. "Acting takes my mind off other things. It's all very involved, but I'm trying to make it as natural as possible. The story was on the news last night, right?"

"Five o'clock and everyone at school sent it around with Snapchat," Hugh admitted. "I got it from Cameron, who got it from Kelly, who got it from who knows where."

"It must be so weird for you," Jules said.

They weren't wrong. Everything that had happened the last few days had been in a whirlwind of doctors, lawyers, and reporters. Uncle Anton wasn't enjoying the attention.

"Are you going to give an interview?" Samantha asked. "That might get you on TV."

That was the last thing I wanted. Maddy was too young to understand the ramifications of everything going on. Lilly, on the other hand, just wanted privacy. She admitted that working the lights was nice because it was a solo job, and she could easily handle it.

"Samantha," Kai looked like he'd been slapped. "Not cool."

"Isn't it cool, though?" Samantha sounded oblivious. "I mean prison... and like all the publicity."

"Not really," Rita said, shooting me a sympathetic glance.

"Why not?" Samantha demanded. "I've always wanted to be on the news."

Juan stepped forward. His shoulders slumped, and he had his hands in his pockets. He looked at me and then back at the ground.

"Jack, I owe you a bit of an apology for how I acted the other day," he said. "I said a bunch of stupid shit, and I was a complete ass. I didn't know what you were going through. I had no idea."

He'd said some things he thought were true, and I was the one who had punched him. He held no blame for the fight. I'd been hiding what the black eye really was. Letting his assumptions get to me caused me to start a brawl.

"No hard feelings, man," I said. "I shouldn't have hit you."

Uncle Anton came back into the theater carrying a large coffee mug. He sat down with a big smile on his face.

"So, I have good news," he said. "We're almost done for the day. Jack, Shayna, and Samantha to the stage. Everyone else down here with me. We've got fifteen more minutes of rehearsal, so let's continue."

It took a few minutes to get everyone situated. It was weird having an audience of peers. Usually, everyone offstage was wrapped up in phones or homework. Now they were all watching us.

Reciting the first line, starting where we'd left off, I began the scene. "Pray thee, marry us."

Samantha frowned. "I cannot say the words."

"You must begin, 'Will you, Orlando--'" Shayna insisted.

"Go to. Will you, Orlando, have to wife this Rosalind?" Samantha said.

I smiled at Shayna. "I will."

"Ay, but when?" Shayna asked.

"Why now; as fast as she can marry us." I said.

Shayna smiled first at Samantha and then at me. "Then you must say 'I take thee, Rosalind, for wife.'"

"I take thee, Rosalind, for wife." I repeated.

I glanced out at the audience. Uncle Anton was beaming. Everyone else stared at us as if we held their full attention.

Shayna reached for my hand. "I might ask you for your commission; but I do take

thee, Orlando, for my husband: there's a girl goes

before the priest; and certainly a woman's thought

runs before her actions."

Our fingers interlaced, and my heart raced as she met my eyes. "So do all thoughts; they are winged."

"Now tell me how long you would have her after you

have possessed her." Shayna stepped closer to me.

I closed the gap between us. "For ever and a day."

I was in a daze as Uncle Anton ended the scene with his customary "Cut!"

I dropped her hand and stepped away with an awkward feeling of tension between us. Yes, I still liked Shayna, but today, either her acting was on point, or something was different between us. Part of me didn't know what to do with our new and experimental friendship, and I got the feeling she felt the same way.

Shayna had yet to move. It was as if she was rooted to the spot. It wasn't until Samantha poked her in the back that she took a step towards the stage's stairs.

"Well done," Uncle Anton was saying. "This seems like a great way to end the day."

"I can't believe they did that scene without fighting," Kai said a little too loudly.

Carson was grinning. "We're going to rock the festival!"

"Jack, you did great," Hugh said. "You too, Shayna."

"Acting is easy," Shayna said, and I felt my ears going red.

"Didn't I do great?" Samantha asked, twirling in her costume.

"It was wonderful," Uncle Anton said. "I'm proud of you all."

Lilly exited the sound booth. She had her pink backpack slung across her back, and she'd already turned off all the stage lights.

"Jack, it's almost nine," she said, pointing to her watch.

Social Services had released Maddy and Lilly into the care of Aunt Virginia, who hadn't seemed as bad as Dad had described. Unfortunately, she'd told me I had to get Lilly back to their hotel by nine.

"I have to get Lilly back over to Aunt Virginia," I said. "I'll see you guys later. Lilly, let me get my costume off, and we'll go."

Entering the boy's costume room, I changed back into my jeans and a gray shirt. I hung up my costume and left it on the rack when I found Jamie waiting for me outside the costume room with Lilly.

"You did well tonight," Jamie said. "I can see you having a career in this like your uncle."

"Acting isn't too hard," I admitted.

Jamie gave me a stern look. "You're a little too good at it. You lied about your father. Tony did, too."

I hung my head. She was right. I had lied to her, and I'd asked Uncle Anton to as well. We'd played our parts too well, allowing Dad to get out of control.

"I know that the decisions we made this week drastically changed Uncle Anton's life," I said. "And it's my fault, not his."

"Jack," Jamie said. "You had to make an impossible decision. I'm not sure I could have done better at your age. Yes, Tony will probably have to make some adjustments to his life, but we'll work it out. I care about your family a lot, Jack."

"He loves you, Jamie," Lilly said. "He'll want to make it work."

Jamie smiled and ruffled my sister's hair. "You kids are amazing. Now get home before your aunt gets worried."

Lilly and I left the theater together. We got in my jeep, and Lilly checked her phone as I drove.

"So, you had on-stage chemistry tonight," Lilly said after a few moments of silence. "Is Shayna going to be your new girlfriend?"

I sighed. "I don't know. I'd settle just for her friend at the moment."

Being Shayna's friend finally seemed possible. Even if that was all we ever were, it was better than her hating me.

"You don't think she feels sorry for you, do you?" Lilly frowned. "When you were doing that last scene, I thought it was pretty genuine."

"Lilly, mind your own business," I said.

"I'm telling you," Lilly said. "I don't think she hates you anymore."

I jammed the button to turn on the stereo. Carson's demo for his song "Supersonic Nova" blared through the speakers. Even though I was hoping for a distraction, the lyrics couldn't help but remind me of Shayna.

I'd sort the whole thing out with Shayna later. Maybe Lilly was right, but maybe she wasn't. At the end of the day, no one could solve my problems but me.