The wind raced past the upper-floor corner classroom like the ghosts in a Scooby-Doo cartoon. The haunting sound made the classroom undesirable for anyone to use for lunch other than the almost nonexistent Crestview Drama Society.

Carson always joked the room was like a cheering audience, but I felt the grating sound was too eerie and melancholy to be construed as excited fans.

The joke that room 322 was haunted was probably exactly what drew Jules to the Drama Society. They liked dark and macabre things and always brought some thick gothic novels to read while munching on veggie straws.

Hugh, the unelected president of the Drama Society, was the first to note that Tasha was late as he was hooking up his headphones to listen to his daily podcast.

Novah had taken up residence in the back of the room, looking bored. Her girlfriend had a different lunch period, so she sat silently sketching in the back of the room.

We couldn't ever get the whole cast together at lunch. There were too many of us, and some of our friends in Anton's after-school theater class didn't eat lunch with us. Jack ate with the football team since he was the quarterback. Juan and Shayna had lunch with Shayna's cheerleading friends. Kai sometimes came by if he got bored playing saxophone in the band hall, and Carson ate lunch whenever he pleased, depending on his mood.

"She's not texting me back," Hugh set his phone on the lab table hard.

"Stop worrying about Tash," Carson removed his headphones. "She's probably just sick."

Hugh pushed up his round glasses nervously. "Tasha has had perfect attendance the last three years."

I picked at my lunch halfheartedly. There were a lot of lines I needed to run, and Tasha always gave the best critiques. Hugh always said he didn't feel comfortable critiquing me because he thought I was always good.

My father was a professor, and his work brought him to new universities regularly. One of his new colleagues Dr. Roberson, suggested her daughter Novah show me around the first day. Novah introduced me to her friends, and that's how I found myself in room 322 for lunch every day.

Tasha was the first person to welcome me to the drama society on my first day at Crestview High School. Transferring to a new school in the middle of high school wasn't easy, but Tasha was a friendly face in a sea of uncertainty.

The door flew open, and Samantha, the stagehand, skipped in like she owned the place. She had dyed her hair pink this week, and today, it was braided across her head like Princess Leia in Star Wars. She wore a bright red leather jacket and knee-high platform boots under her black miniskirt.

Carson glanced up at her. "And you escaped dress code, how?"

Samantha spun. "You like it?"

Hugh took off his spectacles and polished them. I just nodded. Samantha was always drastically changing her appearance and clothes. I was pretty sure she had a wig collection since there was no way she dyed her hair a new color every two days. Everyone was pretty used to it.

"Lovely," I said.

"So, did you hear Jack talking about Shayna again?" Samantha asked.

I turned to focus on the monologue in my hand. Samantha had joined the cast late, and Anton made her the stagehand since he didn't have a role for her in the play.

"I thought he was dating some volleyball player named Carrie," Hugh said, unable to just ignore Samantha like the rest of us.

"They broke up like two days ago," Samantha said. "Get with the times, Hugh. It was all over Instagram."

The color drained from Hugh's face. "So, you're telling me Jack Garrison is single again?"

Samantha's cheery smile widened. "Yeah, pay attention, Hugh. I thought you were supposed to be smart or something."

Hugh's face turned red. I bit back the urge to tell her that Hugh was, in fact, very smart. He just didn't spend every moment of his life on Instagram. In fact, I wasn't even sure he had an account.

"We were too busy rehearsing," I said.

"Oh well," Samantha said. "So, like, Anton totally has to give me a role in the next production. I've heard he's thinking about Hamlet. Wouldn't I make a fabulous Ophelia?"

I nodded and turned back to my phone. My last text to Tasha was still unread. I blew out a breath and thanked the stars that the bell rang. At least I didn't have a class with Samantha.

We didn't have rehearsals immediately after school today. There was football practice, and since our lead in As You Like It was the quarterback, we had to bend to sports.

Tasha and I had planned to run lines, but she still wasn't answering my texts. Hugh said he'd stay, but then he remembered he had a physics test tomorrow, so I let him off the hook. I rode the bus home and decided to tackle my lines alone.

So far, it wasn't going well. My character Jaques had a big famous monologue, and even after practicing for Anton in rehearsal last night multiple times, I was still skipping words.

"All the world's a stage," I recited, avoiding looking down at the paper in my hands. "And all the men and women merely players..."

I knew that part. That's the part everyone knew. It got tricky from there. Novah was so lucky to have a photographic memory. At least she didn't have to keep going over her lines over and over. Glancing at my paper, I found the next phrase and continued.

"They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts," I paused, and when it came to me. "His acts being seven ages. At first..."

My mind went blank. This was when Tasha would come up with some clever picture in my mind to remember the next line.

I looked at the script and groaned. "Right, the infant... At first, the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. Then the whining schoolboy, with his..."

My thoughts were interrupted by "Hard to Be the Bard" from Something Rotten! The Musical. I tucked my script under my arm and fumbled in my pocket for my cell phone. That was the ringtone I assigned to each castmate's cell phone number on my phone, so I didn't know who it was until I saw the caller ID.

At least it wasn't Samantha. Instead, the name Tasha Gonzales read in big glowing letters. I sighed and hit the green button. Then I held the phone up to my ear.

"Hey, Tasha," I said.

The absolute last words that I could have possibly expected came through my phone. "My mom called Anton and pulled me from the production because I have the flu. She's blaming extra theater rehearsals for breaking my perfect attendance streak."

I was dumbstruck. Tasha played Celia, who had a very important role in the play. She couldn't just not be in the production.

"You're joking...." I said, but her silence made her response that much clearer. "Wait, you're serious? This is ridiculous... Tasha, no one is going to be able to replace you. I'm already playing more than one role, and no one else can double...."

"I know," Tasha said. "And I feel awful. The doctor says I'm highly contagious. Mama said that once my fever breaks, it'll still be three days before she lets me return to school. She went as far as calling the school to remove me from Anton's program. I don't think even after I get better that, she'll let me rejoin. Right now, she's talking about a two-week quarantine."

Tasha's mother was overly protective. She wouldn't even let her precious baby have a car for fear she'd crash. She usually rode with Jules and me to rehearsals.

"Anton said he'd figure something out," Tasha said. "I'm so sorry, Rita."

"Yeah, I get it..." I said.

"Mama is coming. I'd better get off the phone," Tasha said. "She doesn't think electronics help with healing."

"We'll talk later," I said. "Bye."

Anton would have to figure something out. Setting my script aside, I dialed Hugh. He'd have some perspective on this matter, and he'd known Tasha for years.

He picked up on the third ring. "Hey, Rita."

I took a deep breath, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. "Hugh, Tasha quit."

There was silence. Hugh seemed in shock before he managed one tense word. "What?"

"She got the flu," I said. "And her mom called Anton this afternoon to resign Tasha from her role as Celia."

"But we don't have any understudies," Hugh sounded flabbergasted.

I'd realized that, too. Tasha said that Anton would figure it out. I wasn't sure how, but I had to trust him.

"Anton can't cancel the play," I said. "The school would be furious. Then no one gets school credit."

"Tasha was one of the best actresses we had," Hugh said.

"And I can't double up on another role," I replied. "And I don't think Shayna can be two characters in the same scene."

A beeping noise on Hugh's side of the phone sounded like a car being unlocked. "That's true. I'm not sure anyone else can, either. I'm on my way to rehearsal now."

Of course, he was. Hugh practically lived at the theater. He loved Shakespeare, living and breathing the stage. He understood the dated references I'd picked up from being around my father, the Shakespeare professor.

My father's nomadic life researching Shakespeare and my mother's job in the Air Force made staying in one place for more than nine months challenging at best. My father ended up at a new university nearly every semester. My mother preferred to stay near her assigned base and visit when she had time off.

The travel wasn't bad. My father was a respected professor but hated to be pinned down. I think he was just afraid it might take away from his studies. My mother didn't want to retire from the military. She said that flying made her feel free. Overall, the only bad part I found about our situation was moving.

We'd lived in some cool places. One year, we ended up living in London so my father could do some primary source work. This year, my father was teaching and working on a new research paper.

I received a text from Jules on my phone. They were leaving their house in twenty minutes to get me for rehearsal.

"Jules is on their way to pick me up," I said before Hugh could offer me a ride.

"I'm picking up Kai to go over some staging ideas, so he'll be there early, too," Hugh said.

"I guess I'll see you there then," I said.

"Who else did you tell?" Hugh asked.

My phone pinged in the group message for the play. It was Tasha announcing she was leaving the play. Jules and Kai seemed to respond almost at once, voicing their horror and protest.

"Tasha just texted the group," I said. "The responses are coming in. My phone's going off like crazy. We can talk more later at rehearsal."

"Ok, bye," Hugh hung up.

I turned my phone upside down and fell backward onto my bed. This was all such a disaster.

Losing Tasha was the absolute worst thing that could happen to the play. I didn't see an easy solution to recast Celia either. All I did know was that today's play rehearsal was bound to be interesting.