Tina POV
'Huh? A script? What does this mean?' I frowned.
Seeing the confused me, Chelsea explained that it is for a play during the academy founding festival by drama club and she was requested by their club president, Bella to play the female lead of the play.
"Unfortunately, the play will be on Wednesday. I need to oversee my fashion contest that day. So, can you replace me, Tina? Please?"
'Oh no. This is not gonna be good'
Crap. I've never act in front of a crowd. I mean, I'm okay with crowd but acting is different. It's always Jade or Chelsea to speak or act in front of crowd.
Yes. We still have Jade!
"Um. Why don't you ask Jade instead?" I asked Chelsea carefully.
She sighed.
"That money-head don't have any spare time to practice. This festival gonna be a big deal, remember?" She munched her cookies, waiting for my reply.
Right. Of course Jade was busy. For her, this huge festival would bring much more profit compared to other events. She would be busy with managing the stuco finance and her business- most likely food stalls. Did I mention that she was our treasurer? Yeah, the money-crazed treasurer. Of course, in a good way.
Ugh. This sucks. I really didn't want to take part in this play. I didn't even know the people in drama club.
"Hey, why the long face? By the way, Chels, if you're supposed to be the heroine, who's gonna play the hero?" Sean smirked when asking Chelsea.
"It is not confirmed yet. But as far as I know,they are trying to ask Dash to take up on that role. They never tired of shipping me and him", Chelsea let out another sigh.
"That is.. unfortunate. But if Tina play the heroine and it turn out well, then the rumour of you and Dash will disperse", Carter voiced out his opinion and pushed his black-rimmed glasses.
"Wait, you're just gonna use me, aren't you, Chels?" I scrutinized her with my light blue eyes.
"Well, in a sense, yes but I never really care about that actually. I just don't want our parents to misunderstand if we do the play. And my hands are already full with the fashion contest. I really need your help, Tina"
That was quite fascinating coming from the independent Chelsea because she rarely asks for help. She can do her tasks all by herself. Not that she was a superwoman but she rarely pass her task to other people.
"Yeah, Tina. I think this is good for your punishment. You're going to accept the role, aren't you?"Carter flashed his terrifying business smile towards me.
No. No. I don't want to.
"Alright."
RIP me.
This intimidating situation was really bad for me. My hands were sweating.
"Thank god you agreed to this. I thought I really need find other subtitute. Thanks, Carter" Chelsea beamed.
Huh?
"Pleasure". Carter replied with a small nod.
Eh??
"Oh, I knew you're not gonna help me with this but Carter said he would try to persuade you. Luckily, it worked". She gave me a sickly sweet smile.
Nope. He was literally threatening me.
Definitely not persuading. Thanks bruh.
"Don't worry too much, Tina. Your partner is Dash. It is gonna be alright". Sean smiled.
I sighed. "I hope so"
"Yeah, I will help you practice anyway.". Chelsea gave a thumbs up with her usual smile.
"That's reassuring. But is he okay with this? Dash.. I mean". I gave Chelsea a worried look. I mean, he was a busy person too. He was the student council president after all.
"Huh? Dash? He will be more than grateful with this". Chelsea said with a tone of a-matter-of-fact. Huh? Did I miss something? Hm. Well. It didn't matter.
Sean was giving me a mischievous look for a second and continued typing something on his phone. Not that I cared because wherever he was, he would always chatting with someone, somebody or something.
I stared blankly at the sight of the front page of The Lost Princess script.
"For now, why don't you read it rather than just wasting your time staring at the script? You do love these kind of stories, right?" Carter sounded irritated and started his work on his laptop.
'Hey, who should be irritated with whom, now? Didn't he the one who tried to trick me?'
Ugh, I really couldn't stand his mood swings. How the hell did Jade can bear with his attitude?
I rolled my eyes and glanced at the script. 'I guess I should give it a try anyway'.
I picked up the script and flipped the front page.
The story set in modern world where a poor girl named Roselia got a scholarship to further her studies in an elite college. She lived with her mother who worked as a receptionist at a low rated hotel and her little sister who was two years younger than her. She was not a genius but a hard worker. Yet that alone didn't earn her the ticket to the world class college. To be one of the chosen. The only thing that made her special was because it turned out she was an illegitimate child of a wealthy family.
'Wait, this is quite good'. Cliche much but this was just my cup of tea. I opened my bag to find my reading glasses. I always had bad eyesight since I was a child. One of the reasons was because I love to read online novels and stories on my iPad in the dark.
I saw Chelsea smiled triumphantly at the corner of my eyes and gave her a defeated smile. She knew I wouldn't reject a good story.
I wore my glasses and continued reading. 'The ending better be worth my time'.