‘You’re theWyldegirl, aren’t you?’
‘That’s her but she’s pretty tame most of the time,’ Jack joked.
I smirked at him and nudged him away.
‘I am. Cathy,’ I said, introducing myself.
The two girls did the same – blondie-spiked and pink-hair. That wasn’t their names but that’s how I’d remember them because they looked so unique. They looked more model-type than actor-type – everyone else in the theatre was pretty conservative. I hoped they’d last the distance. I could see my three guy friends next to me appreciating them.
‘What was it like, you know, making the commercial?’ Pink-hair asked.
“Amazing,’ I said, which was what they wanted to hear. They looked at each other and grinned, and then back to me for more detail. ‘I loved it,’ I continued. ‘For two days I ran around in ballgowns; stood in front of wind machines; I jumped on the back of a motorcycle with a gorgeous guy, both of us head-to-toe in leather; and I dived into blue tanks of water in a white wedding dress … you know all the usual cliché stuff which was then cut down to a thirty-second perfume commercial!’
‘Oh. My. God. I want that,’ Blondie-spiked groaned. ‘Your face was on television, billboards and in magazine ads. Everywhere.’
I still got a buzz from being recognised but I blushed at their gushing. It was a start-up fragrance company that couldn’t afford a name and I got the gig. Lucky me.
‘My boyfriend hated it,’ I confided to them.
‘He’s gorgeous,’ Pink-hair said. ‘Didn’t he like you beingWyldegirl?’
‘Oh no, he’s fine with that,’ I said. ‘But he was bored stupid. He came with me and lasted two hours on set before he fell into a coma. He couldn’t believe how often filming stopped and started, how long it took to do a few seconds, I thought he’d implode.’
They both laughed.
‘Okay, quiet on the set, quiet in the audience please,’ the director yelled, and I gave them a small wave and turned back to watch the stage.
My class—twenty other students including Heath, and Jack, Ryan and Emmett sitting next to me—had to choose to perform in one of three plays as part of our graduation week at the Manchester College for Dramatic Arts. Two of my best friends, Nelly and Lockwood, were studying here too. Nelly wanted to direct and Lockwood was into set building. We dreamed of being in productions together after we’d graduated.
I was pretty much thinking about my lines until Heath came on stage, with his commanding presence demanding my attention. Sometimes I momentarily didn’t recognise him on stage; he morphed into the character and drew you in. Heath’s jaw locked, his dark eyes burned with intensity as he delivered the lines; he looked at me and I was taken hostage then, crash! One of the actors forgot their lines and the play came to a halt.
Ryan yawned and whispered, ‘so boring.’
I tried not to laugh. We were both inThe Importance of Being Earnest,Oscar Wilde’s brilliant play; there wasn’t an action-drama option to Ryan’s dismay. I saw Lockwood scuttle off stage after doing a few adjustments to his set. Five minutes later the set was quiet and it kicked off again. Heath gave the actor who forgot her line an encouraging smile and she gave him a flirty smile back.Whatever.I was watching for any sign that it was more because I would be able to tell. I had known Heath since he was a kid and Dad arrived home with him – this angry orphan kid who didn’t want to be rescued by Dad, or anyone for that matter.
My brother, God rest his soul – how weird was that saying, by the way? I can’t imagine Hindley’s soul resting for a moment, full of hate it was, especially for Heath. If there was a word stronger than hate I’d use it. But Dad loved Heath, I loved him, Mum put up with him, and now none of them was around anymore, except Heath and me and we were forever inseparable.
I was jolted back to the now thanks to the clapping going on around me. The scene had finished, the set was being changed and John called for a quick break before the next production—my play—began. I rose and followed Ryan and my rehearsal group. Blondie-spiked and Pink-hair wished me luck and told me to break a leg. So confident already those two.
‘You got this?’ Nelly asked, passing me.
‘Absolutely,’ I told her with a grin.God, I hope so.
Heath appeared behind me; he’d left his group to wish me luck.
Heath and Cathy. Cathy and Heath.
‘You’ll be fine, you know that,’ he said, seeing me blink away tears.
‘— it’s not that,’ I cut him off. ‘I’m just being melodramatic. In a week we won’t be here anymore and seeing our classmates every day. After three years together nearly every day, it will be over. And depending on our roles, where will you be, Heath?’
‘With you, Cathy,’ he assured me without hesitation. ‘I will be with you always.’ He leant close and whispered in my ear. ‘I cannot live without my soul!’
A shiver ran through me. Was I the only one who wasn’t excited about graduating and getting out into the world? I was like that at the end of high school too. Everyone was busting to escape school and break out into the world but I felt like the rug had been pulled from under me.
Again, now, I had a sense of foreboding as our graduation day loomed.
Chapter 3– All the world’s a stage…