Backstage before a staged show was magical. Girls and guys crowded in front of mirrors, fixing their hair and makeup inside of clouds of sticky sweet hairspray. Parker sat in the corner with a line of actors in front of her to get last-minute things here and there fixed. Some were humming or doing warm-ups. The ones that got ready the fastest were lounging anywhere and everywhere, laughing and talking over each other in full costume.

The buzz in the air alone made things surreal as if nothing would ever be better than this while we were all together.

Losing myself, I watched Parker sitting cross-legged on the floor with pins in her mouth as she fixed the drooping hem of one of the guard's pants. Tonight, she wore an all baby blue suit with beads spilling from her shoulders, so she matched Cinderella. Even her fingernails and eye shadow were blue. She glanced up for just a split second. She did a double-take when she noticed me and dropped the boy's pants.

She waved and my heart and hand waved back in unison.

It was that look in her eyes that could make me fall in love with her over and over again.

The playing field had changed. This wasn't about a bet anymore. This was about two real people with real feelings. Feelings with the horrid potential to get beaten, battered and bruised. The next time, I just prayed that Parker would take it easier on my heart.

"You look snazzy," someone said.

I spun, finding Emily dressed as a peasant with a bit of fake dirt on her jaw. Underneath her wool bandana hid perfect little ringlets for the ball later. She was already hooked up with her microphone, which looked like a little bean in the middle of her forehead.

"Thanks, you look poor," I said.

Emily forced a small puff of laughter. She sized me up in my concert uniform, a long black skirt with a matching black short-sleeved top with a weird square shaped neckline. After curling my hair and putting half of it up, Gina showed me how to put on eyeliner and she let me borrow her red lipstick. My mom also let me borrow her pearl necklace and earrings.

"What's in the bag?" she asked, referring to the paper bag in my hand from Miss Patty's shop. Tonight, I planned to give Parker her leather jacket. As a gift for doing so well with the play! No other reason. Not at all.

"It's nothing," I said, hiding it behind my back.

"Relax. I come in peace. Taylor sent me to remind everyone that the Opening Night Party is going on at her Dad's house. Not her mom's house. Do you need her passcode to get through the gate?"

"Oh, um I'm probably going to pass."

"Really?" Emily's eyes sparkled.

"Okay, you don't have to get so excited." I gripped my bag and started to storm off, making sure to yell over my shoulder. "Why don't you break your leg, Emily!"

"It's break a leg."

"I know what I said!"

#

The musical through Act One was incredible.

It began with a speech from Mrs. Donnelly, who lamented how this might have been the hardest production in her lifetime as a drama teacher, but she wouldn't have changed a moment. She thanked Miss Patty's Salon and even thanked Parker. She said, "Without Parker this production would've never been possible, but as we all know..." she smiled, "... impossible things are happening every day..."

I was sure that made Parker cry. Her family was sitting near the orchestra and Debbie even noticed me. She nudged Parker's Dad and they both gave me a wave. He showed off his poster board sign that read "Parker! You're the best!" From the piano, I could hear him bragging to the other parents that his daughter made the costumes.

Mine were on the other side, taking turns using my father's reading glasses because my mother refused to admit she needed some. They sat with Camille's parents, our abuela, a few cousins and my auntie Gloria. Meanwhile, Gina was probably in the back with her friends, giggling over how cute Jordan was going to look as the prince.

Then, the play was off.

The arrival of the peasant Drag Queens got a round of applause out of the crowd. It was a good way to start. Throughout, people were mixing up the old choreography with the new. Norah hobbled around with crutches that we painted to look "old timey", which also got a good laugh. The newer addition forgot a few cues, but the moment Jordan started singing, no one cared. He ran around the stage as charming as a prince and he didn't even run into one fake tree.

When Camille graced the stage, our family started a round of applause that almost broke Camille completely out of character, but she gathered herself up and sang so beautifully, like a little songbird.

We didn't have the budget of the Broadway Musical for Cinderella's transformation. Ian played with the lights and the orchestra and I was a part of the music that swelled, giving Camille time for the quickest quick change this high school stage had ever seen. Parker threw Camille back on stage among swirls of fake mist surrounding her and the audience roared with thunderous applause. It nearly lasted a full minute before Mr. Burka signaled us to start playing again.

There might have been glitter in Camille's eyes because I could tell she had begun to tear up, but she persevered and danced with the Prince. Jordan swept her off her feet and spun her around and around the stage. I could've listened to them sing that song forever, but the curtain fell on Act Two unexpectedly. That was the funny thing about loving musicals. The wait to see one took forever but consuming them with your very soul only took a few precious minutes that honestly felt like seconds.

The band played into intermission and the house lights brightened. A soft buzz rumbled from the belly of the theater as people got out of their seats, shuffling to the bathroom and the little concession stand. Outside, the student council even set up a table where people could buy single roses and send messages to anyone that was a part of the play.

I disappeared backstage, searching the crowd of ballgowns. The Drag Queens were high fiving their buddies while Mr. Burka awkwardly laughed and rubbed his neck as one Drag Queen named Pork Chop tried to figure out if our music teacher was available for private lessons. Among them, I caught Miss Patty's sparkling eye. She blew a kiss, which I caught and pressed into my heart to keep forever.

I mouthed, "I love you."

She motioned me to go off with her long burly manicured hand. Maybe she read my mind, telling me to find the person I'm looking for, the person I've been looking for my whole life.

Still holding my hands over my heart, I headed towards the dressing room that was half the bathroom connecting the chorus room and the band room, searching for Parker. My excitement was bubbling to the surface and I was about to burst with all the things I wanted to tell her. I nabbed my paper bag from Miss Patty's and raced back to the drama department. Emily was walking around, reminding people where the afterparty was being thrown. I purposely ignored her presence. No Parker in sight.

I could still hear the music as I spun and slipped through the crowd, dancing in my own waltz. My heart pounded as the top of my skin tingled. I was bursting with all the things I desperately wanted to say, all of it tap dancing on the tip of my tongue. But I bit down my lips, locking the words away. Just temporarily. This was one secret I couldn't keep.

Right by the doors, I spotted Parker talking to her dad and Debbie. First, she hugged Hayden, then Debbie and then, her dad who seemed a little taken back at first, but he soon enveloped Parker in his arms. They swayed a little back and forth as he let out an uneasy laugh.

A swell of joy filled me as I imagined what Parker must've been feeling. This was important for them and I didn't want to take over the moment. I faded back into the crowd, wandering back to the drama room.

Cooly, I walked right by Emily with my nose up and moved to the other side of the room from here, but that wasn't even far enough. If this was the last day I saw Emily, it'd still be a day too much. Creeping into the corner, I joined my fellow band girls sitting together.

I asked them, keeping my voice low, "I'm going to get back to my chair. If Parker swings by, will you give her this..." I placed the paper bag in the middle of the table. "And tell her to talk to me when she's ready."

"Yeah, of course." Colleen, our first chair clarinet player nodded. "Consider it done."

"Thanks." I smiled at her and breezed past Emily without a single look.

#

I couldn't quite cry.

Not like sobbing, oh-man-is-there-something-wrong-with-her-kind of sobbing. But the warm gooey emotions welled up in my tear ducts, but I couldn't cry past the huge smile on my face. Taking a deep breath, I clutched the collar of my shirt as the entire cast of Cinderella took the bottom of the stage for their bows.

The crowd applauded, certain audience members whooping and hollering for their friends and loved ones as the orchestra played the "Impossible" song again. At the end, the entire cast gave a hand to Ian up in the control room, the orchestra, and Mrs. Donnelly, and then Camille smiled at me, dressed in a wedding gown fit only for a princess and lifted her arm to me.

A dozen of other open hands stretched towards me and Jordan beckoned me to peek out from the wings. I glanced past the thick velvet fabric and immediately noticed my parents holding up a new sign that read "My Daughter did the Costumes".

I found Lizzie in the orchestra and waved, mouthing the words "We did it!"

She grinned from ear to ear and looked back down at the piano keys.

The very second the curtain closed, and the music faded to a stop, I bolted. I wasn't going to stop for anybody. My parents could wait. Mrs. Donnelly could wait. I knew that some people would need more help getting out of their costumes than others, but I hadn't seen Lizzie all night and my heart was going through withdrawals.

"Hey, Parker," someone said.

I spun around to find Emily, dressed up in smiles and her purple gown with pink trimmings. There was a glint of eagerness in her eyes. Something about her was off, maybe it was just the energy from the performance still making her adrenaline bubble. She grabbed my arm to keep me from bolting.

"I know you want to greet the masses so everyone can drown you in compliments," Emily said, teasingly rolling her eyes.

I grinned. "Then, you know why this can wait later—"

"Just slow down so I can give you this."

She raised a brown paper bag and I straightened up. "Lucky for you I like presents as much as I like praise." She handed me the bag and I shoved my hand inside, touching cool rough fabric and my fingers remembered the touch of the thousands of leather jackets I must've touched and yearned to own. I couldn't take it out fast enough.

Dropping the paper bag, my jaw dropped as I admired the shiny metallic buttons and the zipper outlining the lapels. I flipped it over and my heart jumped up my throat in total glee. A scribbly threaded bouquet of daisies. My dream bouquet after a show. Somehow my blazer wasn't spontaneously combusting to make room for this jacket.

"Em! This is amazing! I love it!" I threw my arms around her, tightening my hold around her, despite how rigid she felt. "I can't believe this. You know I wanna die and—"

"And come back to life as a leather jacket, I know..." Em tightly smiled and nodded. "Do you have a ride to Taylor's party? I can drive you."

"Really? Yeah, that'd be cool," I said off-handedly, too consumed with shedding my jacket so I could now start my new life as an owner of a leather jacket. Who doesn't want to be a woman with a leather jacket? I stretched my arms, admiring the leather around my arms.

"Great." Emily rubbed her hands together. "Um, I'm gonna get changed. Do you wanna meet by my car?"

"Sure."

"Okay."

"Thanks again!" I cheered and hugged her one more time. I didn't realize how much Emily truly knew me. It seemed she did, right down to my very soul.

She turned for the drama room, glancing behind her shoulder, still wearing a strange look. That costume must be super uncomfortable at this point. Best part of wearing high heels was taking them off. I kneeled down and shoved my blazer into the paper bag, along with my playbill and some of my jewelry when I recognized a galaxy pair of leggings pass me.

"Andrea!" I called out, snatching her sleeve before she could get away. "Hey, where's Lizzie? Have you seen her?"

She had to see this jacket.

"Lizzie?" Andrea raised her brow. She glanced down at my peasant hand touching her and I promptly dropped it. I jumped to my feet as she explained, "Lizzie already left. I saw her bolt out of here. Maybe she's trying to avoid someone..."

She started to walk away with her stink eye, so I shouted after her, "One day you'll love me! Everyone succumbs to my charms eventually!"

"HA!"

That didn't sound like it boded well for me, but I just gathered my stuff from the drama room. No sign of Camille or Norah either. I checked my phone, but there weren't any new messages or missed calls. An uncomfortable nervous feeling festered inside my stomach like energetic gnats whirling like cyclones in the humid summer.

Something just wasn't sitting right.

#

I shoved the EXIT doors open, my eyes burning white hot with tears. This misery landed in my skull like a nuclear bomb, instantly giving me a headache. I'd have to sit my car with the seat down so no one could see me crying long enough for me to get it together and drive from this hellscape. The tears poured down my cheeks.

It all happened so fast.

And then, so slow.

Then, fast again.

I quickly found Parker.

I watched in slow horror as she threw her arms around Emily. She smiled. She laughed. She even hugged her again. My heart splintered into tiny shriveled needle-thin pieces that struck the inside walls of my body. Death by a thousand cuts.

Before Parker could turn and spot me, I ran. She was wearing the jacket I got her. But I guess heartbreak trumps a cool jacket every time.

"Lizzie!" Camille called.

I only glanced behind me but did a double-take watching Cinderella chasing my heels. It was a surreal strange moment, a break from reality crushing me into a paper wad that had the great destiny of being garbage.

"Where are you going?!" Camille huffed, trying to catch back up to me.

"I'm going to the store to buy enough toilet paper to dress my house up like a mummy."

"Wh-what?" Her voice cracked in surprise. "Why? It's not Halloween?"

"My parents are at your house. I know they won't be back for hours. It's my one shot. I have to pay my debt from the trial. I have to shut the door on this forever. Officially." I pulled out my keys, rubbing my face with the sleeves of my jacket. Like rubbing sand across already raw skin. "I can't let the present pass me. I have to move on like everybody else. Finishing this bet is the only way to do it, the only way I can let go."

"Um, I'm supposed to be the dramatic one. Lizzie, are you really giving up on Parker?"

I whirled around. Maybe Camille was a figment of my imagination. But she just stood there in this crazy reality, mirroring my stupefied look. "I thought you were against our relationship."

"I mean..." She shrugged her glittery shoulders and crossed her arms. "At first, I was a little worried. You were just falling for her so fast and so hard that I thought you're going to fall flat on your face."

"Don't you dare tell me I told me so—"

Her eyes bugged out. "No! I was worried at the beginning until I noticed that Parker was falling too. We already discussed that I was just being a jealous hag, okay? So, we don't have to go through that again."

"You don't know that."

"What?"

"That she fell for me."

Camille quirked her thick brow and then grabbed a handful of her wedding dress fabric. She bunched it all up into her arms, hunching down to reach the bottom of the hem, revealing Parker's messily stitched name. Parker signed all her dresses like that.

"Camille, I know—"

Before I could finish, Camille moved the fabric to show more. There, in electric blue thread read: Parker x Lizzie. My strength around my keys weakened so much I almost dropped them. I could just imagine Parker sitting clumsily on the ground with her long legs crossed as she handstitched my name, thinking of me in every stitch.

That made me think of the leather jacket. Made me think of Emily and Parker smiling and holding each other.

I gripped my keys again.

"Sure, but that was before I broke up with her. We're just friends now and you know what?" I stormed around my car and hopped into the driver's seat. "I asked for this, so I'm just going to deal with my self-imposed consequences."

"Wait!" Camille knocked on the glass. The way her voice was muffled behind the glass made it easier to ignore her. "Let me come with you! I'll just get changed really quick!"

I just started the car and revved the engine, forcing Camille to quickly back away as I zoomed out of the school parking lot... well, as I got in the exit line and waited my turn to pull onto the road. Fifteen excruciating minutes of pretending Camille didn't exist and that she wasn't staring at me and trying to call my cellphone.

#

Hello friends! Here's a rather long update for a rather long wait! I wanna say... there's like... two or three chapters left?? This book really doesn't have chapters per-se so it's hard to nail down a number. I'M SO EXCITED FOR THE REST OF THE BOOK! It's gonna be a blur of fun, drama and a race against time. Lol.

Don't forget to tell me what you think! Did you think they'd EVER do the play? Lol. What do you think about Lizzie's decision to wait and not interrupt Parker's family moment? Can you believe Emily stole Lizzie's jacket to give to Parker? Lizzie didn't tell anyone about the jacket, how will Parker find out who really gave her that jacket?? And is Lizzie really going to end the bet all on her own??? How can the author possibly create more drama?????