Pride & Princesses (41 page)

This, I have to do, alone.

Julie takes out bottle and drinks.

   
Julie’s mother runs in (and here Mr Sparks copied the exact text) where the mother is played by a very smug Freya, (who’d demanded dual roles to show off her ‘versatility’). Freya is plastered in ageing make-up (with talcum powder in her hair to make it look grey and tries to shake Julie awake. Of course the talc began snowing all over the floor by this point and it’s lucky Mouche didn’t turn her ankle as well).

The scene continues:

Mother

Who has done this? A jealous hood! A jealous hood!

Quick, call for help.

Rocco hears Julie has been killed. He fights and kills Paris, runs to Julie who is lying on the floor.

Rocco

Oh my love, my wife.

Julie

Here’s to my love. The drugs are quick Thus with a kiss I...(Julie falls down)

Rocco kisses Julie, Julie starts to stir, She wakes up as music starts. Julie shakes Rocco but he doesn’t stir, as the curtain falls and anti suicide, smoking, drugs and drinking slogans are projected on the wall behind the slain lovers ...

   
‘This was so not in the plan.’ Teegan comforted me after the curtains had been lowered as the audience clapped madly and I was left waiting in the wings sans date even for the after-party. I figured I could safely kiss Julliard goodbye.

   
‘Gosh,’ Brooke said, ‘I had no idea Mouche was such a wonderful actress. I knew she was a great dancer.’

   
‘Oh hush,’ Teegan said, ‘can’t you see Phoebe is suffering terribly? Her one chance at college might be down the drain (now this made me angry, who were they kidding?) but what is worse, she had to witness Mark kissing Mouche. He’s obviously in lust with her – Mouche, I mean.’

  
‘It must have been so hard for you,’ Brooke said patronizingly.

  
‘It was just a play!’ I interjected. ‘Besides, no one
owns
anyone and we’re not even together. They were
acting
.’

   
‘Didn’t look like acting to me,’ Teegan said.

   
I must admit, they did seem to have some serious chemistry. I should’ve
stalked and
claimed my prey
in Sunrise Park when I had the chance (according to Chapter Nine of
Mrs Robinson’s Guide
).

   
Oh, I was ready to weep like a heroine from one of the old-fashioned movies Jack Adams and Teegan and Mouche and I had watched together. And, of course, the show had to go on, so it was not officially Mouche’s fault. She’d only reluctantly agreed to don my costume.

   
And here I was back stage, freezing and miserable as my best friend took my place during the deserved standing ovation. All the plans I’d had for prom and even my post high-school life suddenly seemed ground into the dust.

   
‘You’re such a drama queen,’ Trey had once said, when I was delegating roles in our neighbourhood Christmas pageant almost ten years ago. I was only six but I liked to be in control almost as much as Mouche.

    
Not quite as much. Mouche had outsmarted me. Here she was, acting up a storm in place of me, a shining star. I’d wept as I watched her perform her scenes.

   
‘I’m so sorry, Phoebe,’ Mark said again later that night, ‘Freya was just helping me practise the scene. I know that sounds like a line but I really mean it.’

   
‘Well, it seems like she did her job so well, she forgot to tell her friend how to place the props correctly and ah...I can’t move my foot.’
  

    
‘I’ll get the nurse,’ Freya added helpfully. Don’t you just love that? That part where girls pretend to be nice in front of boys they are trying to impress? It makes me so annoyed.

Chapter 25

Frenemies

   
Mouche walked towards me.

   
My best friend had brought the Julliard people backstage to meet us. Was it her fault that they seemed more interested in talking to
her
about the possibility of a scholarship? They did say how great I was in the first two acts and Mouche looked at me with a wan smile, ‘I hope you can forgive me,’ she whispered. Then I realised, it was my place to say, ‘what for?’

   
I had to get over myself.

   
This was not the end of the world. After all, we still hadn’t organized dates for the prom, but I wasn’t letting her get away with taking my role and kissing my man and thinking it hadn’t hurt me to the very core of my being.

    
The Julliard representatives gave me a polite smile then walked off as Mouche and I scowled at each other.

   
‘How could you, Mouche? You were my best friend in the whole world!’

 
   
Mouche looked stunned. She turned around without giving me another glance, and walked away.

    
For the first time in years, Mouche and I went home without saying a word, separately and silent.

   
Well, Mouche walked, I hobbled.

 
  
My ankle was bound tightly but well on the way to healing.

   
Of course, the play didn’t go off without a hitch, but it did end up being a huge hit.
Rocco and Julie
only ran for six nights but there was a packed house every night. Mark learnt his lines pretty quickly after his first performance (after all he had been listening to the rehearsals for months!) and really rose to the occasion. Mouche got the best reviews of her career. Thom begged her to come back to the agency as he phoned with updates on Wednesday’s audition. ‘It’s between her and one other girl but I will keep you posted...’

    
Teegan glanced at me knowingly and said, ‘it’s amazing what some girls will do to get their baby sister famous...’

    
‘What do you mean?’

     
Teegan had never really warmed to Mouche even though Mouche had made all her costumes beautifully and had really tried to be helpful once all the girls had realized their rules were somewhat skewed and they would need access to the proper advice.

    
‘Mouche would never kiss a boy just to get Wednesday famous.’

    
‘Not what I hear,’ said Teegan. ‘It sounds like she’s been doing more than kissing. My sister told me Jet’s father owns the company making the advertisement...Seems like I didn’t have to put in a good word for her after all...’

    
It’s interesting to note that often people accuse others of something they have imagined or have done themselves. Mouche was giving me the silent treatment and I was seriously beginning to miss her. My only outside ‘friend’ contact came via the Princesses who were reverting, true to form, to type. Most of us were busy working on the final edit of the soon to be
Boy Rating Blog
now that our group effort, the team work of the second
Boy Rating Diary
, was practically in the bag.

     
Mouche hadn’t returned my calls.

     
The end of the school year was nigh, the dates had been dated, none of us had boyfriends (except maybe Mouche) but she hadn’t spoken to me for almost a week now, not since I’d yelled at her after the kissing scene with Mark. In truth, I’d only meant to ignore her for a day but it just seemed more and more difficult to talk. But let’s face it, the fault really lay entirely with me. I needed to own my jealous streak.

     
Teegan wouldn’t talk to Mouche either. The leading Princess had always been envious of Mouche’s perfect hair, cornflower blue eyes and talent. Teegan had long wished for a reason to exclude such a pretty high-achiever. The other girls sided with Teegan, because deep down, they’d felt the same way. The only person who seemed to be talking to Mouche was Mark. Oh, and Jet. They all sat together to have lunch. It got even worse when I asked Jet to help me with my history homework (though I didn’t really need any help). That was when Mouche discovered me canoodling in a corner of the lunchroom with Jet. It was the same corner we’d invented the original Boy Rating Plan in, all those months ago.

    
I grabbed Jet by the shirt collar, flicked his hair out of his eyes and planted a kiss on his cheek when he least expected it just as Mouche was walking over to say ‘hi,’ and collect her lunch.

    
She turned around again and before I knew it, even if I’d wanted to talk to her, she didn’t seem receptive to talking anymore. In fact, she frowned at me.

   
I was way upset but pretending not to be when she began to appear in tandem with my nemesis, Freya. Mouche really knew how to go for the jugular. They were discussing fashion and pre-men as if I didn’t exist. Apparently, Freya was secretly jealous that I had stolen Teegan which wasn’t entirely true because Teegan was no replacement for Mouche. We didn’t have that much in common.
 

    
Teegan
was acting more superior than ever. She was way too self-obsessed to be interested in my life plans (recently shelved). Teegan wasn’t interested in helping me become a better performer, either. She just wanted to discuss boys and talk about how easy it would be to prise Jet from Mouche (‘if she’s even got him...’). This got a tad boring after a while. We polished a lot of fingernails and chewed a lot of gum.

    
Life was lonely without Mouche. I went to my closet one afternoon and pulled out the hundreds of childish letters we’d written to each other over the years and a little tear dropped off my cheek and into the shoe box before I mopped it up with a tissue.

   
My mom noticed me flicking through old photograph albums. She was getting ready to go on a group date with Martin, Mrs Mouche and Mrs Mouche’s new boyfriend, Jake.

  
‘I’m going to talk to Mouche’s mom about this. I’m sure there is a way for both of you to be friends again.’

  
‘No, mom, don’t. I’m going to work this out.’

  
‘Well, just remember darling, there are always boys, and it’s wonderful to make the right match and perhaps even have a husband one day, but real friendships can’t be replaced. The best ones last a lifetime...’