Times Squared (10 page)

“You could be one of the three little pigs,” Ashlynn said. Everyone cracked up.

“Witch is fine.” Jazmine gave her the death glare again. I thought that was a good look for her character.

Reilly was Prince Charming.

Ashlynn told Ox he was the Beast, from
Beauty and the Beast
.

“Not that you're beastly,” she pointed out. “But you're big and strong.”

Good thing I couldn't see Emma's face for that one!

“And you.” Ashlynn came over and stood in front of me. “You are a servant girl.”

Hey. And wait. A servant girl? I looked closely at Ashlynn, but she smiled back kindly.

“In the play, the servant girl turns into Cinderella,” Ashlynn told the audience.

Okay, that made sense. I guess it was just random that she assigned me that. At least I'd end up a princess.

“However, that's later. Now you're just a servant girl doing the bidding of the queen,” Ashlynn continued.
“The rest of the story is yours to make up. Ready? Go!”

Ashlynn went to the side of the stage to watch. Okay, I needed to be a servant girl. I hunched down and pretended to be scrubbing the floor.

Reilly went up to Ox. “Beast, I have a terrible task ahead of me. I need your help. I need to find my true love and slay dragons. Will you help me, Beast?”

“Sure,” Ox-Beast said. “Why not.”

“And now I need to find my true love! My beautiful princess!” Reilly announced dramatically. “Is that you?”

He stood in front of Jazmine. Jazmine was staring at her cell phone.

“I said, is that you?” Reilly asked again.

“Ew, no. And can you take this elsewhere?” Jazmine said, annoyed. “I'm studying Pythagorean triples on my math app.”

“Cut!”
Ashlynn swept out onstage. “You are breaking character! You never want to break character!”

Jazmine glared at her, looking like she wanted to break something, but not character. Hee.

“Put away the math, Ms. James,” Burkle called out from the audience.

Jazmine stuck her phone back into her pocket as Ashlynn went to the side of the stage again.

“Fine,” Jazmine huffed. “I'm the Evil Witch. I am going to . . . uh . . . poison you.”

“No, no!” Reilly exclaimed, and put his hand to his forehead. “Do not poison me!”

“Servant Girl, bring me a poisoned apple,” Jazmine announced. “Hurry up.”

I went over and pretended to hand her something.

“Cut!” Ashlynn said. “Okay, audience, tell me what the problem is here.”

Everyone was silent.

“Look at the Servant Girl,” Ashlynn prompted. “Does it look like she's holding a poisoned apple?”

“No!” Sydney called out, raising her hand. “Unless it's the size of a grape.”

Everyone cracked up. I turned red. Then I widened my hand to the size of an apple.

“And how about her characterization?” Ashlynn asked. “Is she believable? Is this how a servant girl would approach a queen?”

Ergh.

“When you're in character, what you really need to do is think about how your character walks, talks, and stands. Get into their head.”

Everyone was nodding.

“Let's practice, Servant Girl,” Ashlynn said. “Wouldn't you, say, get down on your hands and knees and look subservient?”

Fine. I got down on my knees and held up the “apple.”

“For example, the Servant Girl should look beaten-down. Imagine her in old rags. All dirty and smelly. Imagine her wearing old secondhand hand-me-down clothes.”
Secondhand, hand-me-down
clothes.

And she grinned at me.

And that's when I realized: She knew it was me.

She knew it was me
.

STILL IN THE THEATER

Payton and I have this list of Top Ten Stupid Questions People Ask. Number five is
When someone punches your twin, do you feel her pain?

The obvious answer is “No, of course not.”

But a new question has occurred to me.
When someone humiliates your twin, do you feel her pain?

Answer: Yes. Especially when it is onstage in front of an audience made up of your classmates.

“Huh,” I heard Sydney say, way too loudly. “No wonder the star didn't choose me. Her actress instinct told her Payton Mills would be perfect as a loser slave.”

For the first time in recent memory, I did not stop
to think before I reacted. Or should I say,
acted
before I thought.

“Halt!” I stood up in the audience and projected my voice as if I were confidently answering a math question. (Which I would be tomorrow, so this was good practice.)

“What?” Ashlynn turned to look out into the audience seats.

“I said ‘halt,' ” I repeated, climbing over Tess into the aisle and walking toward the stage. I climbed up the steps and faced the Evil Witch Jazmine.

“Hey, you can't just come up here!” Ashlynn protested.

“Audience participation improvisation!” Mrs. Burkle clapped her hands in delight. “Wonderful twist to the story!”

“Uh, here.” Jazmine “grabbed” the poisoned apple from my twin sister's hand and stiffly held it out to me. “Eat it.”

“No one will eat that apple!” Ox suddenly leaped in and took the invisible fruit from Jazmine and pretended to throw it far off the stage.

Wow. As quarterback on our school's football team, Ox really knew how to fake throw.

“Who are you supposed to be?” Payton asked me.

“I . . . I am you, Servant Girl. You of the future,” I stuttered. “I've come to tell you that you will become Cinderella and get your Prince Charming and live happily ever after! Just—er—hang in there and don't let the haters get you down.”

Okay
. That didn't sound remotely like me. Perhaps
I
was getting into character. Maybe I was a natural actress after all!

“Beautiful vision of the future,” Ox said to me. “Tell me, will I always be this horrible beast?”

At that moment I became aware that I had just interrupted a play in progress and that I was a person with stage fright. And that Ox was so handsome.

“Nurggh . . . ,” I said. And froze. I looked at Payton, hoping she would see the panic in my eyes.

“Oh, thank you, future me!” Payton said, standing up. “Now I know I will someday soon defeat the Evil Witch”—she dismissed Jazmine with a wave—“and become a princess!”

“There she is!” Reilly shouted. “My princess!” He headed toward Payton.

“I will escort you to the future,” Ox said in a fake-Beast voice. He took my arm and led me behind the curtain backstage.

“Cut! I mean, stop!” Ashlynn shouted. “That is
not
how this was supposed to go.”

“Aah, that is the beauty of improvisation,” I heard Mrs. Burkle squeal. “One
nevah
knows what will happen in live
theatah
!”

Ox and I looked at each other and cracked up. Quietly.

“That was something,” Ox said, shaking his head. “It's never boring with you twins around.”

“Is that a bad thing?” I sighed with relief as I sat on a prop chair.

“Well, I know what's a good thing,” Ox said. “Getting to spend a little time with you.”

I knew my face had just turned bright red. I smiled. I didn't know what to say. I heard Ashlynn order a new group onto the stage. Then I heard Sydney's voice. She was all gushy because she had been assigned the role of Good Fairy. Figured. Sydney had a way of getting what she wanted. Except for Ox, of course.

Ox!

Sydney!

“Ox, I need to tell you something!” I said in a rush. “Sydney is spreading a rumor that I like Nick because everyone thought they saw the two of us on the Ferris wheel close together!”

“You and Nick?” Ox frowned. “Why would they think that?”

“Uh.” I knew I had to be honest with Ox. “It
looked
like me, but it was really Payton pretending to be me.”

Ox's eyes opened wide.
His greenish-brown eyes with little flecks of gold . . .

“You switched places again?”

. . . that have frowning eyebrows above them.

“Well, yes, but it was an accident,” I said, “and it was only for a brief time.”

Silence.

“We didn't do it on purpose! It was totally a mix-up!” I insisted.

“I believe you,” Ox said.
Whew.
Then he said, “So what are you going to do to fix it?”

Oh.

Out on the stage there was silence. Then Nima's voice yelled, “Unhand me, you evil dwarf!”

Then Sam's voice complained, “Why do I always have to play the short character?”

“Emma?” Ox said.

“Okay,” I said, deciding. “I'll just tell Sydney and everyone that it was Payton and not me,” I said. There. All fixed.

“But didn't you two promise the school you wouldn't switch anymore?” Ox raised one eyebrow.

Huh. I didn't know he could do that. It's cute. He's so cute . . .

“Uh, yes,” I admitted. I needed a loophole. “But we're not
at
school. So it doesn't count?”

“I don't know.” Ox frowned. “It's a school-sponsored trip.”

“Well,” I sighed. “I will just have to accept my punishment.”

What would it be? Detention? Or worse . . . suspension? Or . . .

“Ox, what if they kick me off mathletes?” I wailed.

“Emma, I— ” Ox started to say.

“Announcement!” Coach Babbitt's voice boomed. “All mathletes form a group right here.”

Ox jumped up.

“The drama stuff must be over,” he said. “Come on, we don't want them to think we're missing.”

I followed him out.

“What were you”—huff, puff—“going to say . . .” I tried to ask Ox about his saying “Emma, I—” but his legs were so long, I could barely keep up with him. Within moments we had blended into the mass of mathletes standing under a glowing exit sign.

“Listen up, mathletes,” Coach Babbitt said. “While the Drama Club continues their dramatic activities, we will be walking over to auditorium seven, where the competition will be held tomorrow, for a practice.”

“Yeah!”

“Awesome!”

We were all excited. Finally! Math! Plus I'd get another chance to talk to Ox.

I searched the area for the Drama Club and Payton. I didn't see them. They were probably taking a tour or something. Hopefully Ashlynn had left the building and gone back to her penthouse condo or mansion for good.

It had been funny to see the Payton-Ashlynn reunion, but I didn't want my twin to be tortured for too long. Just a little. (Hee.)

“As our venue has separate locker rooms for the males and females,” Coach continued, “boys will come with me. Girls, you'll go with Mrs. James.”

What?
No! I needed to talk more to Ox! I waved and signaled at him, trying to get his attention, but he was looking the other way.

“Twin!” Mrs. James's voice barked in my ear. “Stop fidgeting and stay by me. You and your sister are obviously
double-trouble-makers. Honestly, I do not know why the school allowed you two to take this trip.”

Ouch.

We all started walking. There weren't that many girl mathletes: Nima, three eight graders who stuck to themselves, Jazmine, and me.

The competition arena was just a few blocks away. But when we'd left the building and were out on the sidewalk, the boys' group was nowhere in sight.

I sighed.

“Emma, what's the matter?” Jazmine sidled up to me and spoke in a low voice. “Can't handle being away from both of your boyfriends? Of course, as soon as they find out you're two-timing them they'll dump you. What a distraction. It is going to be so hard to concentrate on math.”

“I do not have two boyfriends,” I said through gritted teeth. “I do not even want
one
boyfriend. I am focused, Jazmine, and I am going to squash you like a bug.”

“Mother!” Jazmine called. “I thought you were going to keep the twin near you. I fear she is plotting some more shenanigans.”

I groaned and moved a little closer to Mrs. James. I put on my competition academma face and tried to block
out all emotions. I ignored Jazmine's smirk. I avoided looking up at the tall buildings. I matched my breathing with my walking, staring straight ahead.

Now, that's focus
, I scoffed inside my head. I was steady, calm, and determined. I was a winner. I was tripping. I was falling. I was on my face on the sidewalk, with Jazmine's black boot near my nose.

“Oops!” I heard Jazmine say. “Emma has vestibular issues, you know.”

“I do not . . . ,” I sputtered, pulling myself up. Nothing felt hurt. Except my pride.