After the audition, everyone scattered to go home but Craige had to go back to the auditorium because he could not find his phone. When he got there, he found something else instead. Rather, someone else.
Craige had to pass by the stage to get to the backstage where he probably left his phone, so he had no choice but to acknowledge Ameera who was lying down at the very center of the stage with a troubled expression on her face. "Hi."
Ameera instantly changed her expression when she heard him and smiled brightly. "Hello."
The end.
That's always how far their conversations would go. So he started walking to the backstage to look for his phone but Ameera suddenly sat up and called after him.
"Craige!"
'That's a first.' He turned around and saw that her smile was again gone and replaced by a frown. "Yeah?"
"Can I ask you something? And please answer me honestly." Ameera asked in such a serious manner that made it hard for him to refuse, so he nodded. She got on her feet and went down from the stage. And as soon as she stood in front of him, she attacked him with questions. "What happened earlier? That was not an act, right? When Zee told me that she couldn't breathe, that was for real right?"
Craige stiffened.
Ameera noticed it and she moved closer before asking again in a hushed tone. "You know something, don't you?"
He didn't answer.
She started pacing back and forth looking so agitated. "I mean, it just doesn't make sense. She grabbed onto me so desperately as if she was really crying for help. No matter how much I think about it, there's no reason for her to act that way."
"Maybe, she was just into her role." He answered cautiously.
Joshua suddenly came out from the backstage with a serious look on his face as well. "No. That's not it. She deviated from the script. According to the scenario, she should be begging to be killed. Not saved."
Craige was thinking of how to counter Joshua's logic when the other completely shut him up with his next words. "And the way you were panicking earlier when I tried to hinder you from going on stage was not normal too."
Ameera turned to Craige with a disbelieving look in her eyes. "What is it? Because if that was not an act earlier, that means that there is something seriously wrong with Zee. I was barely holding her neck at that time but she pulled me down and told me that she couldn't breathe!"
"You're probably just reading too much into this." Craige quickly answered Ameera who was showing signs of panic. Then he turned to Joshua who was now frowning as well. "And if you have any questions, then why don't you go ask her directly? Why are you asking me?"
"Just tell me what you know, please!" Ameera pleaded, unable to control the emotions that she has been bottling up the entire time.
Unbeknownst to everyone else, she broke down at the backstage after her scene with Zeanne. Thankfully, Joshua told her that she could go and get herself together and assured her that he will take care of the rest. "Do you know how crappy I've been feeling since earlier?! Whatever that is, it happened while I was choking her! Do you know what that makes me feel?! What if something really bad happened to her?!"
Craige could not answer her. And it's not just because he made a promise with Zeanne to keep her condition a secret. It's also because he's pretty sure that Zeanne would not want Ameera to know that she could've been in serious trouble because of Ameera's mere adlib. 'Go ahead and die already… I didn't know until then how seriously lethal that line could be. It's like a deadly curse.'
Joshua put a hand on Ameera's shoulder. "Ameera, calm down. Craige is right. If we want to know something, then we should ask Zeanne."
Ameera remained silent for a while then she looked at Craige. "Will it be safe?"
"Huh?" Craige was confused by her question at first. Then he understood what she was trying to ask and he slowly shook his head. "If… there really was something wrong, I think it would be better if you just forget what happened earlier. That's probably what she would want, given that she hasn't said anything about what happened earlier."
Joshua frowned. "Since we're suddenly hypothetically speaking now, I'll go ahead and voice out this concern: What if something during the play caused her to be like that? Then that would mean, if we want to avoid that from happening again, you have to at least tell us what we should be careful of. We can't just overlook this like that, IF something is really wrong, Craige. "
He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. 'This is Katherine all over again.'
He remembered that time when he asked Katherine for help. She's the one who's always with Zeanne in school and on the way home. So, he told her that in case something happened to Zeanne, she must call an ambulance then call him at all cost. But it did not take long for him to doubt himself if he did the right thing. Because Katherine bombarded him with a bunch of questions that he could not answer.
'Do you like Zeanne?'
A bunch… of questions.
"Could this be related to why she did not want to pass the audition?" Joshua asked carefully.
Then Ameera, who seemed to have composed herself already, clapped her hands together. "A stage fright?"
Joshua massaged the bridge of his nose. "I can't really call it a stage fright with the way she acted during the second half. Didn't you see her molest me in front of all those people? I'm too afraid to be anywhere near her right now."
Craige chuckled. 'Your lips didn't even touch. That's really nothing compared to what she did to me.'
Joshua asked, "You saw that?!"
Ameera asked, "You two kissed?!"
Craige instantly stiffened. 'Did I just say that out loud?'
Both Ameera and Joshua were looking at him with astonishment.
He waved his hands defensively towards Ameera. "No! It's not what you think."
Joshua eyed him suspiciously. "Really? Then why do you look so flustered?"
"I'm not." He said firmly and heaved a sigh. "We did not kiss. It's not like that between us. It's just that I did something that pissed her off so she attempted to bite my finger."
"Eh??" Ameera looked dissatisfied and weirded out by his answer.
Joshua, on the other hand, was able to relate to him. "I knew it! That character switch that she did earlier was also not an act, right? That's her true self! She's really crazy, isn't she?"
"I wouldn't really call her that. She had a justifiable reason then for biting my finger. Just like when she… rebelled against you." Craige subtly explained.
"And what reason would she have for kissing me?!" Joshua's pitch rose higher and annoyance was very evident in his voice.
'Like I said, your lips didn't even touch. Why are you overreacting?'
Craige was careful this time not to say those words out loud.
But Ameera added fuel to the fire by answering Joshua with a hint of mischief, "Because she likes you."
"Hell, no way!" Joshua strongly denied the idea.
Ameera smiled, "How can you be so sure that that's not the reason? Who knows…"
Joshua made a cross with his arms. "That's not happening because Zeanne likes Arthur."
"Arthur?" Craige could not help but be surprised by this piece of information. But then he remembered that time that Zeanne came late to the station. She said that Arthur dropped her off.
'Arthur actually came at 8 in the morning, just to drop her off?'
He's been bothered by that thought the entire ride that he could not listen to what the two girls have been discussing for more than three hours.
"Seriously?" Ameera asked excitedly.
And Joshua nodded proudly. Craige studied him and he looked like he's really confident about what he was saying.
"So? If it's not stage fright, what should we be careful of?" Ameera turned to him with a hand on her waist.
'We're still on that topic?'
"Panic attack."
Craige's eyes rounded in surprise and he swiftly turned, baffled to see who's standing by the door of the auditorium.
'Think of the devil… and the devil will appear.'
"Kath?" Ameera muttered in surprise.
"Why are you grilling Craige about this?" Katherine took her time in walking towards them. Then she gave Craige a side glance before speaking to the other two. "You changed the script midway, didn't you? Without telling her."
Ameera was confused by her question.
Joshua on the other hand was just eager to get his answers so he quickly admitted to the crime. "I wanted to tweak it a little bit. So I asked Ameera to change her lines and how she delivers it."
Craige's eyes darted towards Joshua with resentment. Then Katherine calmly nodded which made Craige nervous. 'What is she planning to tell them? Does she know already?'
"What about it?" Ameera asked this time.
Katherine shrugged. "You guys don't have to worry. This happens to her all the time whenever she's put on the spot. It's usually not that serious but she was on stage earlier and there were a lot of people looking at her. That's probably why she panicked. Zee really hates it when the attention is on her. And if she snaps, she can become a little… aggressive."
'That makes sense.' Craige thought to himself as he observed Katherine with a curious gaze. 'Is that what Zeanne has been telling them all this time? Or did she just make that up? If it's the latter… That would make her and Zeanne like two peas in a pod.'
Katherine caught him staring and she folded her arms in her chest. "Stop looking at me like that. I have to tell them the truth, so that they can avoid making the same mistake again."
Craige just kept quiet. 'She doesn't seem to be lying about this. Which one is it?'
"Then it really was my fault?" Joshua looked dazed as he asked.
Katherine patted him on the shoulder. "It's not entirely your fault because she accidentally had caffeine prior to that which put her in a bad shape to begin with. Just try not to give her surprises like that next time."
"That's why she kept telling me to stick to the script." Joshua muttered then he briefly looked at Craige before turning back to Katherine. "But she'll be fine as long as she's prepared well, right? She only became 'aggressive' because I pissed her off by changing the script, right? She's not usually like that?"
Katherine nodded. "Yeah. Zeanne can go from sluggish to hyper depending on her mood but she's not bipolar."
'Why does that sound exactly like a bipolar to me?' Craige kept this thought to himself.
Joshua shook his head in disagreement. "I highly doubt that. She should consider getting checked."
Katherine chuckled. "You don't have to worry, really. She gets regular check ups from Mia's dad and he said that there's nothing wrong with Zee aside from these occasional panic attacks caused by her aversion to attention."
Craige nodded as he came to understand why Katherine's reasoning sounded so legitimate.
'She learned it from an expert.'
Joshua and Ameera also fell quiet as they tried to absorb all this information. And when they're done with processing it, they both thanked Katherine for telling them and left the auditorium after some extra chit chat that lasted for almost 10 minutes.
Craige was timing it in his head because he's waiting for a chance to slip away and find his phone.
As soon as Joshua and Ameera left, Craige turned to go backstage but Katherine held him back.
"I was telling the truth about the panic attack." She looked deep into his eyes. "Zeanne has been suffering from it since she was a kid. That's why her father enrolled her in acting classes, so that she can get used to people having their attention on her and learn to cope with it."
Craige slightly frowned. "Why are you telling me all these?"
"Because I'm aware that you know it's more than that." She answered with conviction. "Zeanne has gotten a lot better since she started those acting classes during summers. She could even go to parties and events organized by her dad. But since she went to Canada last year, she started avoiding crowds again and would always turn down Mia's party invitations. Then I lost contact with her during summer and later learned that she's been holed up in the acting center of her dad's company the entire time. And just recently, she told me that she's taking up lessons again. That's why I strongly believe that there's more to these lessons than just teaching her how to act decently."
Craige could only stare at her. Now he understood why Zeanne was weary of hiding things from Katherine. 'She's way too sharp.'
"Katherine, to be honest, I didn't know about the panic attacks." He answered honestly. "And like I told you before--"
"I know. I know. You're not in the position to tell me anything." She took a deep breath. "I just wanted to confirm one thing."
He nodded.
She looked at him expectantly. "What happened during the play… when she grabbed Ameera's necktie as if she's finding it hard to breathe… That's what you wanted me to watch out for right?"
Craige took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes. And from what I've observed so far, the progression varies so we have to be alert when it happens."
"You mean, you've seen this happen before?" Katherine was surprised because she never expected that Craige had experienced it first hand before it happened today.
"That's how I found out." It was not a lie. Not entirely. "At that time, it came very slowly but I was just practically watching it happen in front me without a clue. Yet this time, it progressed really fast."
Katherine studied him for a long time and for the first time since meeting her, she smiled at him genuinely which caught him off guard.
"Thanks for being there when she needs you."