The room was filled to the brim. All the drama club members were in their costumes. Some were going through their scripts while others were in small groups gossiping about the latest campus news.
Steph could feel a few daggers being thrown at her, and she was just grateful Ivan hadn't shown up for rehearsals.
She was also afraid Chloe would tail him since she wanted to keep an eye on him.
'Maybe it's even for the best that he doesn't come,' Steph thought sadly.
'Is he too embarrassed to show his face here after I ignored his texts, or is he simply held up somewhere?' Steph wondered as she looked one more time towards the entry door.
She thought it strange that she kept thinking about Ivan, but she continually told herself that it was so because of his awkward proposal to her.
'Oh my goodness! What if something happened to him?' She asked herself, worry written all over her face.
She felt a tang of guilt, thinking that perhaps her refusal to help him had led to him being in deep trouble.
'Maybe you should just text him and find out,' she decided as she opened his chat, but she soon realized that she didn't even know what to ask him.
As she held the phone, she received a new message notification from her mom, and she trembled slightly.
She had seen the news about her family home on Atlanta Latest and had hurriedly called her father to find out if the news was true.
"No, dear, that's just a mistake. Your home is safe," Max told her in an assuring voice, and since Steph wasn't convinced, she called Victoria to find out her version of things, but she wasn't available.
Before she could open the message, her attention was shifted to the main entrance of the room.
"I'm sorry I am late, guys," Luke Conner, the drama teacher, said as he hurriedly walked into the room. Behind him were Ivan and Kevin, and despite herself, Steph breathed out a sigh of relief.
'At least he is okay,' she thought, but she inwardly knew that her relief was from not yet reading the contents of Victoria's message. It was bad that she had a gut feeling about it.
"After much thought and deliberation, I have decided that we should change some of the characters in the script we are using," Luke said in a determined voice, and the students looked at each other in confusion.
"Why? We are a few pages into the scripts and are comfortable with our current roles," Madge Rudd asked, and most of the students nodded in agreement.
"Inasmuch as I want to answer your question, I'm not compelled to. I make the decisions here," Luke said, and the students looked at him in shock.
He was never rude: he was the sweetest lecturer the students had, and his answer made them all go silent, with the assumption he had a bad day.
Wordlessly, he issued out the new script printouts, and Steph almost fainted when she saw she had an act with Ivan, who had stealthily walked up to her.
"You can't really avoid me," Ivan whispered victoriously. Steph rolled her eyes before the realization hit her that Ivan must be behind Luke's decision.
But why would Luke heed him?
Had Ivan paid him?
Breathing in and out while shutting her eyes, Steph looked Ivan in the eye and felt her heart stop beating. With a lot of difficulties, she asked Ivan why he wouldn't stop flirting with her.
"Why me? Why are you making my life on this earth more miserable than it already is?"
Her voice was breaking, and Ivan looked at her with compassion as he said, "Because you're my knight in shining armor and I can make your life less miserable."
"Let's get to it," Luke ordered, and everyone's attention shifted to him.
The opening scene was for Ivan and Steph, who wanted to be anywhere else other than in that drama club room for rehearsals.
She wasn't sure she could remember her lines, and before she opened her mouth to say so, Ivan held her hand and walked with her to the center of the room.
"Lights, camera, action," Luke shouted, and while Ivan had relaxed into his character, Steph was far from doing so.
Sensing the hesitation from Steph and the compromising situation she was in, Luke asked the two to acquaint themselves with each other fast as they shot a different scene.
Xxx
Amy and Dylan hurriedly rushed out of Amy's car to Steph's and Amy's house.
The house had a large living room area with blue and white tiles and cream walls. The other room was the bedroom, and there was a bathroom and toilet.
They found the door partly locked, and the room was in a mess. Almost everything was in the wrong place, which was surprising given Steph was always so orderly.
"Beware of what you say," Amy whispered to Dylan, who nodded weakly. " From the way this room is,I can tell she is very delicate now,"
Cautiously, Amy walked to the bedroom. Steph was on the bed, lying with her gaze fixed on the roof.
Slowly Amy walked to Steph and patted her slowly as she softly called her name.
Steph lifted up her head. Her eyes looked swollen and red from crying.
"I'm sorry I am such a mess," Steph said in a breaking voice as she slowly sat up to hug Amy tightly.
"Dylan is here," Amy said, and Steph nodded, indicating that she was okay with Dylan going to the bedroom.
Dylan sat awkwardly next to a pile of clothes the girls had taken to the dry cleaner and which Steph had been too tired to put in the wardrobe after getting home.
"Did you ever find out anything?" Steph asked cautiously, and Dylan shook his head slowly and said, "nothing much. I just overheard his and Kevin's conversation yesterday,"
"What was it about?" Steph asked in a trembling voice, fearing for the worst.
"I just have today before things get out of hand. She is…I don't even want to talk about it. If Steph doesn't help me, then I'm dead meat," Ivan had said with exasperation.
There was a deafening silence for a while before Steph sadly looked at her friend then said in determination, "I know you'll try talking me out of this but it's only because you don't understand how things are right now. I think I will agree to his friendship request but everything will be on my terms."