I jump out of the way and throw my hands over my ears just as it makes a loudcrashon the stage.
I glare up at the crew member.
“Sorry,” he says, shrugging.
He’s not sorry.
But I am pissed and I need to take a breather, so I walk out the side door and try to cool off.
My phone rings in my pocket and I answer with a gruff, “Hello?”
“Well hello to you, too,” a cheerier voice greets me.
I relax at the sound of my Dad’s voice.
“Sorry,” I tell him. “Things are just insane over here.”
“What now?” he asks.
I hear the sound of pads clashing with each other from his end of the line. He’s calling me from practice, which is pretty unusual. He mustreallybe worried about me.
It makes sense.
I haven’t exactly been my usual sunny self as of late.
“I am just in over my head,” I tell him honestly. “I feel like I have no help and we open in two weeks and I honestly don’t know if I am going to make it in time.”
Dad sighs. “I hate that you took all this on, Mel. It’s not your job. You should be focusing on class and your performance. You’re not the director.”
“I know,” I say. “But there would be no play if I didn’t do this.”
Dad seems to think this over. “What if I told you that I had someone who could help?”
I scrunch my eyebrows. “Who?”
“I’ve got a hurt player. He tore his ACL and can’t play this season. He may not be able to do too much heavy lifting, but he can paint and assist you. Does that sound good?”
I think about it.
I try to avoid my dad’s football players as much as possible. And, being in theater, that’s pretty easy to do. But the idea of having an assistant who has an incentive to listen to me is really appealing.
After what I just saw with the tree limb, I think I’m not exactly in the position to turn down help.
“I think that would be great,” I tell him. “Could you ask him to come to the theater tomorrow at 5?”
I can practically hear my dad smiling on the other end of the phone.
“Absolutely,” he says.
When we say goodbye, I can’t help but feel relieved.
Maybe, with a little help, this show won’t be doomed after all.
Chapter Three
Blaze
When Coach asked me to help his daughter out with the fall play, I didn’t have much of a choice.