Chapter 31: XXX

THE PLAY IMMEDIATELY HAPPENED THE DAY AFTER THAT. 

The moment Laia entered the auditorium, everyone seemed to be doing something whether it be rehearsing their lines on the corner of the room or perfecting their stances and facial expressions.

Jake and the asshat were talking to each other nearby her, but she knew it would seem awkward to approach them so she crossed it off her mind.

"Laia! Go backstage, please!"

Her adviser's voice brought Laia back to her senses as she quickly made her way to the backstage on where Brie also was.

"Hey!" Brie motions her friend to approach with a wave.

"Brie, don't move!" Thalia, who was fixing Brie's hair, hissed.

Laia fought the urge to laugh when Brie had to apologize profusely to an obviously irritated Thalia.

Instead of going to where her friend was, she decided to approach Shane, who was practicing her lines.

"Hi," Laia awkwardly greets.

Shane chuckles at Laia's awkwardness and places her script aside. "Hey to you too,"

Unfortunately, Laia had no idea what to say next. The only plan she had in mind was to talk to someone else except Brie, not this small talk she was about to have with Shane.

The same Shane who she forgot to give a part on their presentation.

Internally cringing at her mistake, Laia was not able to restrain a frown on her face which Shane noticed.

"Are you still feeling bad about our presentation?" Shane crosses her arms. "You do realize we got the highest grade on that, right?"

Laia sheepishly turns away. "I was just--"

Shane waves her concerns away. "Laia, don't make everything a big deal. Honestly, it's okay,"

The asshat certainly made sure to make Laia think that it was all alright.

Sarcasm on point.

"I'll definitely remember to check our group chat next time," Laia promises with a tight smile.

Shane raises an eyebrow. "Do you really want to be in the same group as Samuel again?"

"Uhm," Laia checked their surroundings quickly and realized that everyone seemed to be preoccupied with something else. "Definitely not."

Her blunt statement made Shane laugh out loud. "I happen to share the same sentiment as you, don't worry."

Shane motions Laia to sit beside her. Laia obliges and decides to be blunt again. "I thought you liked him,"

"Well," Shane pursued her lips. "He is really handsome."

Laia begs to disagree but doesn't say that out loud when the asshat enters the room alongside Jake. "He's not my type."

Shane nods her head but grins. "Yeah, sure."

"But I'm not lying?" Laia retorts with a frown.

Shane shrugs and stands up. "That's what everyone says, honey," She even winks at Laia who was still sitting down. "But trust me, everyone likes him one way or another."

Shane's words stayed with Laia until they were finally a few minutes away from performing.

Laia's phone vibrates in her pocket and she hides it from her adviser's eyes as she checks.

Mommy: I'm on my way honey

The girl lets out a sigh. Of course, her mother just had to go and probably embarrass her later. Good luck to Laia's nonexistent crystal clear reputation.

Laia: Okay. Stay safe and drive slowly

Mommy: Don't perform without me!

It's not like Laia was in charge of when they would perform but she texts her mother back anyway.

Laia: I'll try.

Placing her phone back in her pocket, she does a few breathing exercises to calm herself down from both the anxiety and fear of acting like shit in front of, well, everybody.

Brie suddenly appears beside the girl and holds her hand. "Hey, you'll do amazing,"

Laia grumbles. "You don't know that."

"Shh!" Brie narrows her eyes at her friend. "Don't go all pessimistic on me before the performance!"

Letting out another shaky exhale, Laia drifted away from her gaze from the curtain separating them from the audience's eyes.

Brie gently massages her friend's back as a way to coax her growing anxiety. "Hey, just think of it as our usual rehearsal,"

Laia finally crouches down on the floor. "Ugh, easy for you to say. You've been performing your whole life,"

"You do realize having a panic attack doesn't allow you to be meaner than usual, right?"

The short-haired girl shrugs as a response.

"Hey," Brie nudges Laia's crouching form with her foot. "Just imagine that nobody is around. Trust me."

"Sure," Laia stands up and dusts herself off. "I can definitely imagine that there are no less than two hundred people watching my every move on stage and would laugh at the very moment I make a mistake,"

Brie rolls her eyes and elbows her friend who lets out a whimper. "Stop it!"

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"Stop what? My honesty?" Laia spats.

The long-haired girl sighs and was about to say something back when their adviser clapped her hands loudly.

"Places, everybody! Curtain's about to be raised!"

Laia turns to Brie with a terrified look on her face and whispers-yells. "What the hell? I thought we'd be performing at least ten minutes later?!"

For the first time since she saw her friend, Brie actually looked nervous. "I guess they wanted to start earlier?"

"Brie! Laia! Get ready!" One of their classmates shouted from in front. Probably those who were assigned to raise the curtain.

"Don't blame me if I do puke on stage--"

"Laia!" Brie hits Laia with the umbrella she was going to use as a prop.

The two girls weren't even able to do another set of Laia's self-proclaimed useful breathing exercises when the curtain was suddenly raised in the air, cueing the two protagonists to take their places on the stage.

Laia was sure she was hyperventilating. The welcoming applause from the audience didn't help either. It definitely made her more anxious and nauseous!

"Fighting!" Brie mouths to her friend when Laia finally reached her position.

Sighing deeply, Laia starts the play with her line.

"Dear Phoebe..."

Much to Laia's delight, she was able to perform her part well. Or at least by her standards, it was alright, especially the whole crying part where she had to sob uncontrollably for what felt like a week.

Brie was undoubtedly amazing. It definitely helped that her character no longer was romantically involved with Jake's, as it lessened the awkwardness between them when they had to do a scene with just the two of them.

Jake was a great actor, too. He was versatile in his portrayal of his character who seemed to be a man of no problems and was overall happy-go-lucky at first but slowly fell into a deep depression later on in the play. Laia had to admit a few tears fell from her eyes when Jake's character finally regained his internal peace near the end.

Laia made it a habit to subtly roll her eyes whenever it was the asshat's turn to perform on stage. Not only did he make everything seem dramatic, but for some reason, the audience would applaud and go crazy every time he says his lines.

Probably because, spoiler alert, the asshat's character does go a bit crazy in the end. There's even an implication that he went to a psychiatrist and everything.

When the play was finally over after Brie says the most inspiring words (words being from a quote website), the audience once again applauded loudly and some even threw bouquets of flowers at them. Laia immediately snatched a bouquet of roses, knowing her mother adores them.

"Roses? You're more of a buttercup flower, honestly."

Laia scowls at the asshat who was holding a bouquet of lilies in his arms and a stuffed toy. "I don't care what you think."

The asshat laughs. Laia swears that the asshat's only recurring action these days is to laugh at her, regardless of whether she was making a joke or she's being sarcastic. Is she his only form of entertainment now?

For some reason, the asshat grabs a bouquet just behind Laia and handed it to her. The flowers were red in color, but they definitely weren't roses. It didn't help that the girl had no idea about flowers very much as well.

Well, at least they smelled and looked good.

"Take it," The asshat pushes it to her arms, making Laia yelp as she almost lost her balance. "Those flowers fit you."

Laia looks at the flowers with suspicion obvious on her features. "Do these flowers mean I'm ugly or whatever bad trait you think I have?"

"It's a secret." The asshat even held a finger upon his lips to signify him shushing.

"I hate secrets," Laia grumbles as she glanced at the flowers again. "And I don't like flowers in the first place."

Except for an almost mocking wave, the asshat said nothing else as he left the stage.

Laia smells the bouquet again and shrugs. It's not like flowers can poison a person.

Right?

Brie suddenly appears in front of Laia while jumping excitedly. "Laia! You were so amazing!"

Laia waves her compliment off as she felt her cheeks flush. "Shut up,"

"I'm not kidding! Especially the part where you cried for what it felt like a week!"

"Yeah, it did feel like a week," Laia chuckles. "Was my crying obviously fake?"

"Nah, it was good. I almost cried on that part too!" Brie replies as she tugs Laia towards the backstage where some of the props team were already starting to clean.

Laia rolls her eyes but laughs nonetheless at her friend's silliness. "You cry at everything," She starts removing her costume once they reached the corner of the room where they're supposed to remove their costumes. "Anyway, did your parents attend?"

"Nah," Regardless of her friend's lighthearted tone, Laia knew her friend was upset. "They're busy overseas."

"When are they coming home?" Laia places her costume on a nearby chair and started to wear her original clothes.

"Next week? I don't know," Brie lets out a sigh. "Whatever, they can stay there forever, I don't care!"

Laia turns to her friend and lightly pats her on the back. "It's their loss to not see you perform."

Brie smiles at her. "You're not lying?"

"Definitely not lying."

Despite Laia not being a fan of hugs, she accepts Brie's tight hug that it lasted much longer would have had made her unable to breathe. "You really are my best friend, Laia,"

Laia pats her on the back. "Yeah, you're my best friend too."

Brie pulls away from Laia with her eyes widened. "You finally said it!"

"Said what?" Laia asks with an eyebrow raised.

"That I'm your best friend!" The long-haired girl even started jumping around like a preschooler. Laia stops herself from shaking her head and taking back what cheesy shit she just said. "Laia loves me!"

"If I knew you'd be like this I should have had taken it to the grave," Laia pulls Brie to the exit after they have both returned their costumes to one of the props team. "Come on, my mom's probably waiting.. You can eat at my house."

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