Cinderella walked on stage wearing an obvious Halloween costume that must have been in a child's large because the hem didn't even breathe on Norah's ankles. She wore leggings underneath and a pair of Addis sneakers as Jordan hoisted her in the air, weaponizing her to knock the glasses right off Alex Patel's face.

Alex of course fumbled and walked into his dance partner Olivia's dress (a horrible Greek Goddess costume with more holes than a pasta strainer). She fell right over on her butt. This kind of thing stopped being shocking at this point.

Somewhere Parker shuddered.

"Isn't she supposed to be..." Andrea whispered as the actors practiced the dance routine. Mrs. Donnelly yelled the count as Mr. Burka played only the piano part. She told Alex and Olivia to walk it off and went right back into the count. Mr. Burka had fixed an awkward but encouraging smile as he watched everyone bump into each other, trip and miss their cues.

We had downgraded from a shit show to an actual safety hazard. Caution tape needed to be secured around the audiences' seats. Warning signs should be posted out in the atrium and by the snack counter that read "Enjoy Musical Theater at your own risk!"

Andrea asked, "Isn't Cinderella supposed to be awe-inspiring or something? I mean, enough to fall in love with her at first sight. She's more like..." Andrea shrugged. "Meh."

"Yeah, like she's hungover after Halloween."

"Chillin' at Walmart at 3 am."

"Just bad."

I tried texting Parker about it, but I hadn't gotten a reply from my last three texts, so I haven't bothered to try again. I tried to tell myself it was because she probably didn't want to hear about the production she was basically kicked out of participating in, but somewhere in my gut told me she had a bigger reason to ignore me.

I didn't like it.

"And scene!" Mrs. Donnelly announced. Everyone let their partner go. Norah nudged Jordan when he started looking at Mr. Burka as Mrs. Donnelly spoke, "It's... better. I'd like to run it from the top again, but maybe with some coffee."

"Mrs. Donnelly," Norah raised her hand, "are there any other dresses I can try on?" She grimaced and held onto her stomach. "This one... I can't really breathe in it." Jordan quickly unzipped Norah and she let out her stomach and a huge sigh of relief.

"I don't feel good either-" Olivia said, but was cut off.

"Or!" Camille piped up, raising her hands from the seats. Any cast that wasn't part of the current scene sat behind the orchestra; seeing them all wearing their second-rate costumes from so many different time periods really made this joke kind of sad. Camille suggested, "Maybe we tell Parker we DO want her costumes and she can come back. Consequences for her actions be damned!"

"Yeah," Ian agreed from the tech box, the little room above the audience. His voice poured from the speakers. We all looked around as he spoke from the ether. "Cause like. Even if everyone keeps fucking- I mean, messing up, at least they'll look good."

Mrs. Donnelly spoke to the sound booth in the back. "Parker can come back as soon as she talks to me. Personally."

Taylor Smith #3 huffed from the stage. She wore a knock-off princess costume that legally wasn't supposed to be Sleeping Beauty, but totally was. "I don't understand why everyone wants Parker back so badly. Ever since she joined drama, she's been like super rude and so annoying for no reason. It's like she doesn't even want to be here."

Olivia raised her hand again, but no one seemed to care.

Emily shrugged. She joined the play too because we were so desperate and would really take anybody. She wore a strange hybrid costume of a pirate smashed together with a knight. She had to be cast as a guy. "I'm sorry, but do you really want to look like your clothes were dried on high? You look like you're trapped in a sausage casing, Taylor."

Taylor Smith #3's face brightened pinker than her dress. She reminded me of a startled chicken as her cheeks enflamed. "I do not! And whatever! What do you even care? You're the one who broke up with her, so don't act like she's freaking perfect!"

Emily opened her mouth, a snap at the ready, but she was cut off.

"Settle down!" Mrs. Donnelly raised her voice. With a sigh, she dropped her hands and finally showed just how tired she felt with her slumped shoulders and soft words. "It seems evil, but I'm trying to help Parker. She just needs to talk to me. Norah, let's go find something more comfortable."

"Thanks." Norah smiled uneasily and followed the director off the stage.

"Let's all take a break-" Mr. Burka started to say, when Emily finally got to snap at Taylor Smith #3 like a woken guizer.

"I don't think Parker's perfect, but she's great at what she does. So, if you can just get over her attitude for a few weeks, we won't have to look like idiots."

Someone said, "I don't want Parker to come back."

Everyone stopped.

Everyone turned towards me and I realized that I was the one who said it. It had meant to be an inside thought, but my feelings had a mind of their own, clawing at the cage behind my teeth. The words escaped and I couldn't pull them back inside. The attention was blinding. Its light made my face burn.

"Excuse me?" Emily said, walking downstage, aimed at me. Her attention was a sharp blade I recognized from too many encounters.

My voice trembled as I forced myself to speak up. I strangled the neck of my violin. "I don't think you deserve her. I don't think any of you deserve her."

Taylor Smith #3 rolled her eyes and it just made my face even hotter. "You're her girlfriend. Maybe more of us would like her if she sucked our face too."

"Okay!" Mr. Burka exclaimed, "We all need to take a second to breathe-"

Anger rolled around the inside of my stomach. Glaring at Emily just made it harder and harder to contain. I couldn't keep my hands enclosed over my feelings anymore. Damn everyone staring and judging me. I don't care. I needed to speak up. I blurted as I jumped to my feet, startling everyone around me, "It's not about that! Parker and I aren't even actually dating!"

"Lizzie-" Camille gasped, but I didn't stop.

I couldn't stop.

I was a car and Emily cut my breaks. I was ready to roll down this hill and crash in a blaze of glory. "We're not really dating, but I'll still stick up for her because you know why? Because Parker's amazing. She doesn't like to open up because she's scared, and hates being vulnerable. Parker has been through a ton of shit in her life, but she still makes me laugh."

The smile on my face grew a life of its own. It might be the first time I've spoken to a crowd and not wanted to cry or run away. It was a powerful feeling. "Parker is funny on purpose and she's adventurous and she's so incredibly gentle. She'd never do anything to make me uncomfortable. She makes sure I'm good and I'm happy all the time. Maybe you guys don't know any of that because you judged her and the only defense she knows is how to fight back. I know because she used to be mean to me. Parker is awesome and it's stupid that you guys can't just admit it that you need her and you miss her."

Emily's entire face widened. A smile cracked from the side of her mouth and all my insides withered. She asked, breathlessly, "You're... you two aren't actually dating?

"Well," I fumbled, losing a sliver of nerve. "Uh, no. But that's not the point!"

"Lizzie," Camille sighed. She held her head in her hands like she was nursing a headache. "I'm pretty sure it's against the rules of the bet to tell everyone about it."

"You told Norah!" I snapped.

"That's not the same as telling EVERYONE WE KNOW!"

From beside me, Andrea's mouth dropped. "It was a bet? I knew something was weird. You never would've dated Parker willingly."

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Olivia announced.

Andrea agreed. "Yeah! I can't believe you've been lying to us! It makes me sick to my stomach."

Ian's voice appeared from the speakers again. "That's wild bro, but like do you really like her, though? Does she like you? Even as a fake girlfriend, could you get her to talk to Mrs. Donnelly about coming back?"

"I'll try!" I called to him, but I wasn't really sure I could do it.

"Why were you two fake dating?" Andrea asked and Camille sighed. Loudly. Soon, she'd completely deflate.

The blush returned to my face with a vengeance and I took up my violin again. "Um, well. We kind of wanted to fix our bad dating habits by dating each other and pointing out what we could fix-" The second everyone looked at me like I sprouted a third head, I pointed the finger at my cousin. "Camille put us up to it!"

"Shut up!" Camille insisted and sunk as low as she could in her seat. "We were just joking around!"

"Well? Did it work?" Jordan asked. "Do you feel fixed?"

"I feel..." I squeezed my violin, looking at all these people. I looked at Andrea and Camille while my heart searched for the one person that could make this jumbled mess of a feeling find peace. I missed Parker when she wasn't here. I admitted, "I do feel different. In a good way."

I smiled.

"Parker's different too..." Emily said. "Wow. You're not really dating."

I hated the look in her eyes, the fire that was once completely diminished bursting back with enough heat to burn me into a crisp.

"Mr. Burka?" I squeaked and meekly raised my hand. "Can I be excused from the rest of practice?"

In the middle of rubbing his eyes, Mr. Burka nodded. "Go ahead."

"Thanks," I said and went into a flurry to grab all my things while everyone in the cast and the band hurled question after question at me. Some people got up to follow me, when someone groaned into a yell and into violently hurling their lunch. Olivia barreled over and threw up the entire contents of her stomach onto Alex's shoes.

Alex shuddered, covered his mouth and tried to step away. His foot hit the slick floor and he fell right into the puddle of today's lunch. He convulsed before he projectile vomited all over. Everyone started screaming and trying to run away as Olivia went on her hands and knees to make a mess of the stage. Two other girls started vomiting just as Mrs. Donnelly returned.

"What on Earth- Oh my lord! Everyone exit the theater! Calmly!"

She didn't have to tell us. Panicked, we all ran out of the theater in one huge rush. Dozens of theater nerds ran outside screaming and some were even crying. Mr. Burka instructed the light-headed kids on some breathing exercises as he pleaded to everyone to remain calm. I didn't stop running, avoiding everyone at all costs as I escaped to my car.

As I drove home, my phone vibrated like crazy in my pocket, but I didn't dare look until I arrived in my driveway. There were dozens of texts from Andrea, Ian and some other kids from orchestra. There was even one from Norah, asking where everyone had gone.

A knock on my window nearly scared my soul out of me. It was my mother, who jumped back when I screamed. Obviously back from work, still in her Halloween-printed scrubs, her hair was in a messy bun as always too. She held her hands up. "Lo siento, mija."

"Sorry, sorry," I sighed and covered my face. "You just scared me."

"I figured. I'm not the boogie man, you know. Just tell me I need to go to the salon. You don't have to scream."

I cracked a smile.

"Are you coming in? Your brother will be home any minute, so you should hide your snacks."

"I will- I am. I just need a second."

My mother's eyes peered closer at my expression and I'd die to know what she saw. I wish I knew what I was thinking. If only she could tell me.

"If you ever want to talk," my mother offered, "I'm here."

I nodded, feeling the pressure to cry rise.

"We don't want another haircutting incident. Just talk to me. I miss talking to you. I feel like you're never home anymore and I know you're growing up, but I'll always be your mom."

"Okay."

"Okay." She smiled.

I watched her go inside the house. The dogs immediately tried to make a grand escape, but she wrangled them back inside and slammed the door shut behind her. Hernandez women didn't know how to politely shut a door. It was a slam or nothing.

Speaking of Hernandez women...

Looking down at my phone, Camille's text stood out:

I dropped my full weight against my seat, pressing my phone into my chest. Closing my eyes, I squeezed it and made a wish on it.

Well, hopefully, she'll forgive me.

I've also written and then rewrote Day 19 like three different times. It's making me crazy (crazier). Lol. Wish me luck! Don't forget to leave a comment and tell me what you think! What did you think about Lizzie's declaration? How do you think Parker is going to react? What about everyone else's reaction to the truth? Whose was the best? Do you think they're going to be able to pull this play off?