And as for me, I’d been looking into internships and assistant positions for me and Kat, something we could do together our last summer before college. The Williamstown Theatre Festival had a great one, and Amy thought she might be able to get us PA jobs on her upcoming film. There were some summer stock theaters in Pennsylvania and Tennessee and Ohio… we didn’t have to make any decisions yet, but it was fun, for the moment, to just look at all the opportunities and know we had options for a truly epic summer.

I turned away from the poster and saw Beckett walking down the hallway toward me, dressed all in tech crew black. I gave him a smile, and he gave me one back.

“Hey,” I said, and he raised his eyebrows at me.

“Ready?” he asked.

“As I’ll ever be.” Things between us had been different since we got back from New York. A few weeks into Lear rehearsals, Beckett had started dating the junior running the sound board. We were still friends—I knew we’d always be friends—but what we were doing now felt more balanced, somehow. Healthier.

Beckett smiled at me. “You’ll be great,” he said. “Break a leg.”

“And you, don’t break one.” He laughed, and gave me a nod before hurrying off.

Greta passed him as she half ran up the hallway, clutching her clipboard, looking around. “Places! That is places, people.”

I nodded. “Places, thank you.”

Greta stuck her head into the greenroom and announced places, and I decided to beat the rush as I headed off toward the wings. I stood in the dark, and smoothed down my costume, and took a deep breath.

I was ready.

CHAPTER 32

Kat

As I stood in the lobby of the theater, I realized that it was my first time on the other side.

I had dressed up for opening night, of course, and there was a seat saved for me in the auditorium. But as I walked into the building with the rest of the parents and friends coming to see the first performance of King Lear, I realized that it was my very first time there as just an audience member. On the other side of the curtain, not running around getting ready or preparing or putting out fires. Just someone there to see a play, one face among many in the audience.

I nodded at the sophomore selling refreshments and she gave me a quick nod back before looking from side to side, like she was making sure she should have done that. I didn’t blame her—Mr. Campbell still had a lot of power in the department, and I was basically persona non grata these days.