The Luna Choosing Game

“Maid! Oh, where is my maid!” Bridget called from the center of the ballroom that was once again our makeshift stage. The real stage was currently being worked on at the far end of the room. Occasionally the sound of hammers or saws would cut through our rehearsal.

Bridget said my cue, so I’m forced now to move to the center of the stage.

“My true lover will be here in a moment. Maid, please! You must help me. Keep watch at the door, and if anyone comes, you must let us know!”

Here came my one line of the entire show. “At once, Mistress.”

We were playing the parts we were born to play, Bridget had said. Thanks a lot.

The script dictated that I moved toward the door but stay on screen, so I moved toward the edge of where our fake-stage was.

At this point, Nicholas’s character was supposed to climb through a window to see Bridget’s character. Since the set was still being worked on, Nicholas just walked up instead.

“Oh! There he is! My love!” Bridget held open her arms. Her eyes were full of longing, like they had been separated forever and not just had a lengthy conversation about something from their childhood not twenty minutes ago during a break.

I guessed this was why Bridget was out there making millions and winning awards.

Nicholas, meanwhile, was no trained actor. He stepped to where Bridget had marked his spot with tape the last time he had messed this up. Then, he awkwardly shifted to face Bridget.

“Hello, uh… my love,” he said like he was greeting the refrigerator.

Bridget’s smile tightened ever-so-much. It must have been painful, going from working with professional actors to us amateurs. Though… truly she brought this on herself. Julian was the second- best actor in the room, but she didn’t want him as the second-biggest part.

She wanted Nicholas, Honest, steadfast Nicholas, who was so straightforward, he didn’t know how to lie well enough to act his way out of a wet paper bag.

“My eyes don’t deceive me,” Bridget said, coming closer to him. She was a true professional. If she was in a scene with a bad actor, she just needed to act well

• 18 BÓNUS

enough for the both of them. “Oh, my love, I am so glad you are here. Tell me. Do you bring good news of our engagement?” This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

Nicholas stared off for a beat too long.

Bridget cleared her throat. “Do you bring good news of our engagement, my love?”

“Oh! Oh. No. Uh, no, my father… that is… he refused to give his… um, blessing? To our thing. Engagement.”

At this point, Nicholas was such a bad actor that I was wondering if he was putting it on, on purpose to get out of doing this. But that couldn’t be. He was too honest for that.

The scene went on like that for a while. Until it came to the part that I absolutely dreaded the most: the scene where Nicholas and Bridget were supposed to kiss goodbye.

Bridget, holding onto Nicholas’s upper arms, closed her eyes and pressed her face upwards. She pursed her lips.

Nicholas looked down at her with a frown. “We don’t have to practice this part.”

“We should,” Bridget said, with her eyes still closed. “So that it will be believable on the night of the show.”

“We’ll be fine,” Nicholas said.

Bridget righted herself. “Oh.” Even with her high standing, she couldn’t directly argue with a prince, at least not when he wasn’t indulging her. Bridget cleared her throat, and then her bright countenance was back as if it had never left. She bounced back quickly from rejection, I was almost impressed.

Nicholas turned to glance at me. When our eyes met, I saw the whispered promise in his gaze. You are the one I want.

My heart soared. He didn’t want to kiss her unless he absolutely had to. The one he wanted was me.

I was so lost in Nicholas’s golden eyes, that I nearly missed a second pair also looking at me.

Bridget looked away the moment I met her gaze. She turned so quickly, I wondered if I had imagined it.

Either way, blessedly, the scene ended and I was able to return to my friends.

Tiffany was fanning Susie with her script as Susie was nervously reading through hers for the hundredth time the past ten minutes.

•IS BONUS

“One of her scenes is next,” Veronica said.

“There’s too many lines,” Susie said. “Why would Bridget think I could do this?”

“Because you can,” Tiffany said. “She sees the potential in you for greatness.”

Maybe that was true. Though the potential Bridget saw in me was to be a maid so I doubted it was as deep as all that. And I didn’t know if Bridget had more than one conversation with Susie. Did she even know she suffered from severe social anxiety?

“Maybe we should talk to Bridget,” I said. “We could switch parts?”

Susie looked at me with pure hope in her eyes. “Do you really think so?” She clutched my arm so hard, so desperately, that her fingers cut into my skin.

“Let’s see.”

Susie did not release her death grip as together we approached Bridget. She was mostly alone, thank goodness, having a drink of water from a drink table set up for us.

She stopped when she saw us. “Susie? What are you doing over here? You should be going to the stage.”

Susie made a panicked noise.

I cleared my throat, brining Bridget’s attention to me. “Susie and I think it would be a good idea if we switched roles. See, Susie has -”

“Impossible,” Bridget said quickly. “I assigned each person the role that fits them best.”

Irritation zipped through me, remembering once more that Bridget had thought my perfect role was a maid. But that wasn’t my purpose here, so I pushed down the anger. I wanted to help Susie, and I

couldn’t do that by losing my temper at Bridget.

Besides, Bridget did seem earnest in this. She probably didn’t even realize what she was doing when I got the maid role. And she probably did want to help Susie, like Tiffany did.

What they didn’t understand was they were pushing the poor girl into an anxiety attack.

“We aren’t trying to ruin your show,” I said. “But there are certain conditions

that

you don’t know about. Susie has stage fright.”

Bridget laughed. “Everyone does. Go on, Susie. Just give this scene one shot,

okay? You’ll see how easy it is, and we won’t talk about this again.”

“And if it doesn’t go like that?” I said.

Bridget’s good mood disappeared with a sigh. “Then we can talk again. But try first.”

Susie, who had been quiet until now, looked at me.

I wished I had better news, but this might have been the best shot we would get. Do you think you can try it once?”

She hesitated for a good long while. Then, slowly, she nodded. “I’ll try.”

“Good for you!” Bridget said brightly. “Knock them dead!”

Susie clutched her script tightly with both hands, crinkling it. Too quickly, she walked toward the center of our fake-stage.

I hadn’t really read this scene, but it was my understanding that Susie was supposed to give some kind of monologue here.

Nathan hushed the room.

Susie, pale as a ghost, opened her script with shaky hands.

“You can start now,” Nathan said.

Susie opened her mouth.

And promptly fainted.