╔═════*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*═════╗

every minute spent in your
company becomes the new
greatest minute of my life

──● bolt
BOLT

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✦

Jady could hardly breathe, she picked the edges of her nails, something that Reysa would no doubt scold her over later, watching as Miss Charis firmly planted the cast list over the bulletin board hanging beside the entry way to the auditorium. It was a make-shift list for now, a more extravangent piece to be designed by more artistically inclined students in the school. There were plenty of painters here, talented ones, she was sure.

It was a flimsy piece of paper for now, but even looking at it Jady felt indescribably heavy, feeling the rush of movement around her as dancers glided to see what part they might have gotten, if any at all. There would be smaller performances year-round, but this was the main one of the year. Now that she was a sophomore, she'd been permitted to try out, going through the requirement courses of ballet to even be applicable for an audition entry.

The world felt blurry around her, hearing indistinct whispers. Mixes of gasps of awe, and sighs of dissapointment, followed by the trudging foot-falls of the dissapointed. The sounds were muted around her, anxiety pooling with every passing moment as the crowd began to disperse quickly, buzzes of notifications darting across hallways as the cast list was spred via messenging. 

It wasn't until the lightest brush of fingers trailed across her arm, that she snapped back into reality, voices refueling her ears as her head whipped to face the uninvited intruder of her thoughts. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." He took an even step back from her side, reaching up to sheepishly rub the back of his neck as he shyly smiled. Tall, with dark hair and dark eyes. It only took Jady a moment to register who he was. A senior, Ceol, and arguably one of the best ballet dancers in the entire school. He was a major contender for the male lead, because of his light demeanor, facial expressions, dexterity, and ballet prowess. He was a young senior, only seventeen, although his birthday was sometime in June, right after graduation. "You just looked lost, so I wasn't sure if you were."

"Oh." Jady blinked for a moment, needing a second to register the sudden realization, then shook her head slightly, her own smile reflecting his own, heat flaring up her cheeks slightly. "No, I'm, I'm not lost, I'm sorry. I was just waiting for the crowds to clear up." She looked towards the list, and her face flared up with embarrassment at the sight of the pathway to it being completely clear. Shame darted up her chest, but Ceol didn't seem deterred.

"Oh, me too, It can get a little too intense, but it's clear now. We can go up and see." He seemed cheerful, smiling at nothing in particular, not neccesarily at her, but just at the thought of getting to see the cast, even though she didn't have a doubt he already had an idea about most of it. Instead, she nodded, trotting after him like a lost puppy, and desperately trying to rid her face of the embarrassment she'd just experienced.

The paper was simple, plastered up against the board with a thumbtack, and she tried to be calm as she began scanning the list. At the top, she saw Ceol's name, next to the character he'd be performing as. Romeo. He had an understudy, Marco Chavez. Below that, was Juliet, a girl named Emlyn Clovis would be playing her. Her understudy was-

Oh.

Oh.

Jady Morrigan.

Jady couldn't help but run her eyes over the name over and over. Breathe caught in her throat, shame and embarrassment vanishing as her chest tightened for an entirely different reason. Mixed emotions darted over her thoughts, but one thing, loud and clear stood stark against all of them.

I did it.

She'd made the show, and that's what really mattered. She had been good enough to compete against some of the best upcoming ballet stars. Most importantly, she'd been good enough to be named as the understudy to the female lead in the play, as a sophomore. Excitement quickly replaced her anxiety, her eyes barely skimming the rest of the list before again finding her own name, allowing the rush of accomplishment seep into her veins. 

Before she could tell the senior beside her, a chipper voice called out from behind him. "Ceol!" The girl let go of the arm she'd been in, darting towards the senior, and playfully shoving him out of the way, careful to not invade Jady's boundries as dark eyes scanned the list like she'd been momvents before. "Oh! I got Juliet!" She beamed, whipping to face her abandoned friend, and Ceol, who'd quickly recovered from her extravagant entry. Her hands clasped in front of her, as Jady made the connection. 

Emlyn. The girl she was understudying.

She was beautiful. Ringlets of hair puffed out of braids into two buns atop her head, eyes warm and dark, alight with secrets of cottegecore forests. Those same eyes finally seemed to trail to her, noticing that there was another person right beside her looking at the list as well. Emlyn wasn't much taller than her, maybe an inch or two, but Jady felt like she should shrink under the gaze. Instead, she glanced back at Ceol, her smile softening into something less overwhelmingly bright. "Ceol? Aren't you gonna introduce me to your friend?"

"Oh, yeah- I didn't get her name actually-"

"Jady. My name is Jady." The words came out stilted, more forced than she had meant them too, and instictually, she went to chew her lip, glancing between the two of them. Emlyn almost immediately turned back the the cast list, and only a moment later she was bright all over again.

"Oh! You're my understudy." The words were said with a smile, looking back to her "That means we're like, friends now."

Her other friend, the one that had been left spinning and abandoned, previously on the arm of Emlyn, sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before sending Jady a quick smile, motioning to himself "Adwin here, hi." Then looked back to her new friend, apparently. "Emlyn, you have to ask if you want to be friends, you don't just-"

"That takes the fun out of it Addi." She huffed at him, before turning back to Jady, tilting her head slightly, and holding out her hand. "I'm Emlyn Clovis."

"Jady Morrigan." Jady went to take her hand, and smoothly, Emlyn took it and then turned her so that Jady's arm was in Emlyn's instead, and they were side by side. 

"That's a cute name, Jady." She hummed, looking back at Ceol. "Sorry if he was boring you, I'm sure he showed absolutely no reaction at getting Romeo." She laughed, and the sound settled the previous tension in the air, and Jady found herself stifling her own giggle.

"Kinda. I wasn't really paying attention to him to be completely honest." Jady covered her mouth, smothering another happy sound as Emlyn beside her laughed, turning slightly to look at her Senior friend before returning to Jady with a welcoming grin. 

"Fair enough, I wouldn't have been either, he's not very interesting to look at." Emlyn turned to taunt him. In response, Ceol just sighed, shaking his head, and Jady watched as Adwin let out a huff of laughter himself, reaching up to pat his back in half-hearted comfort. Jady couldn't help but snicker, trailing off as Emlyn turned back to her. "So Jady, are you a junior too?"

"Oh, no, I'm a sophomore, actually." That heat threatened her face once again, but instead Jady smiled at her.

For a moment, Emlyn was quiet, then she echoed her grin. "Really? That's so cool! I'm a young junior, I guess, still sixteen, but that's great!" She smoothly turned to face her entirely, arm letting go of Jady's as hands found her arms. "Are you like, a prodigy?"

This time, her cheeks flared for a whole different reason. Flustered at the sudden praise, she shook her head quickly. "Oh-no, I'm just, I love ballet, and I practice a lot I guess." Her laugh was hesitant, waving the statement off. "It's really nothing, I'm not that good."

Emlyn's smile softened, her hands clasping in front of her instead, rocking on her heels. "Well, Jady, you're obviously not bad, otherwise they wouldn't have picked you at all." She tilted her head, meeting Jady's eyes, "I'm sure you're great, Jades." Her soft demeanor changed after a moment, returning to take Jady's arm in her own "I'm glad to have you as my understudy then!"

Hesitance bit at her thoughts, plauging them as she looked to Emlyn. "You're not upset that you have an understudy?"

She watched as Ceol paused, as did Adwin, turning back to them before sharing a glance with each other. Then they went back to whatever minute conversation they'd been having, desperately attempting to look like they weren't eavesdropping at all. Emlyn giggled, turning to look at Jady, still arm in arm. "Of course not. Not only would that be a waste of my energy, but it'd be a pretty pathetic thing to be upset about." She glanced at her friends again, shaking her head at their antics before looking back at her. "I don't have an understudy because I'm not good enough. I have one because, as much as we hate to admit it, we don't know what the future might have in store for us - one way or the other." She shrugged "Something could happen to me, and we'd need someone amazing to step up to fill in." She just shrugged, then seemed to brighten again. "There's no real point to disliking your understudy, one way or the other you're going to have to work with each other, because in the end we want a good show, right?"

"Right."

"So it's pathetic to waste your time loathing something that is only meant to help you in the long run." She giggled "Also, having an amazing understudy keeps me on my toes." A pause, and then she snickered again, "Literally."

Jady couldn't help but laugh along, smiling to herself as warmth pooled into her stomach, rapidly eating away the nerves she'd been experiencing only moments before. It felt nice, honestly, especially since she'd recently had a falling out with someone who'd once claimed to be her best friend. It wasn't that Indigo had been mean to her inherently, it'd just become recently apparent that they had very different codes when it came to the LGBTQ+ community. 

It'd been after Delaney's party, after Rune had showed up, and Jady was on the phone with Indigo, her best friend. Indigo had been there, bright and happy as she usually was, and Jady had to talk to someone about the recent events of her sister's beloved showing up at midnight. It was too magical not too. 

The conversation still echoed in her head. Jady had called her, and after a brief moment, Indi had picked up. They chatted for a moment about how pretty the ball had been, how aesthetically pleasing everyone had made it. Then Jady had gotten to the exciting part, and had rather vibrantly told Indigo about Rune's arrival, and how she thought that her sister was going to confess to her soon.

Indigo had gone quiet.

--------------------

"What is it Indi?"

"So, your sister is a lesbian?"

Jady's heart dropped into her chest. "Yeah, so?"

Indigo had laughed, like it was some sort of joke. "Cause she couldn't get any man to go out with her?" Another laugh, and the sound sunk into the pit of Jady's heart. "That's kinda funny, come on."

"It's not that funny..."

"Oh, don't be such a baby, we all know why lesbians are really lesbians - it's cause every man has rejected them."

Jady felt sick, staring at her phone, a pool of dread and hot, liquid shame threatening to climb up her throat. "That's not true." She boldened. "I'm not being a baby, i'm defending my sister."

"Stop being dramatic. You're overreacting. It's fine, it's not like I care - as long as you're not lesbian we can still be friends and shit, I was just saying-"

Jady hung up. 

Then she darted towards the nearest bathroom, feeling nothing and everything all at the same time. A sudden rush of emotions came up with the contents of her stomach, and she wretched into the cool porcelin of the toilet, the chill biting into her chest above her thin sleep shirt. Choked sounds echoed out of her mouth, a mix of tears a vomit plinking into the mess of the toilet bowl below her.

A soft hand had set against her back, gliding up to gather her hair, and quietly pull it out of her face, into a loose bun. The touch was gentle and quiet, sharp against the sound of her own hollowed out cries.

Yume.

A blessing if she'd ever been sent one. Once Jady was done with her outburst, Yume handed her a glass of water, gathering her in her arms and pulling her to her chest, like Jady was a child to be cradled after a nightmare. It didn't really matter to Jady. Her big sister had always been there to cradle her, to wipe away her tears, and to sing her to sleep when the nightmares came haunting. 

She'd held her until Jady felt herself fall asleep, spiraling into nothing but sweet darkness, tears tracing silver tracks of sorrow down chapped cheeks.

And as far as she knows, Yume never said a single word about it.

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"Do you want to come with us?" Emlyn's voice shot her back from her thoughts, and Jady, thrown from her daze shook her head absently. Realizing that her new friend had been talking to her, she looked back, heat once more flaring up flustered cheeks. 

"Sorry, I was lost in thought, what was that?"

Emlyn didn't seem to be offended, waving her off. "Adwin, Ceol, and I are going to walk to the new shake place after school, I was just wondering if you'd like to come with us?" Her head tilted again, in that sweet, simple manner that Emlyn seemed prone to do.

Jady glanced past her, towards Ceol and Adwin, before turning back to Em to offer a hesitant response. "Are they okay with that?"

"Please, they don't even know they're going yet." She scrunched her nose up, glancing back at them half-heartedly, shaking her head as she sighed. "You know men." It was a tease, but it comforted Jady regardless. Even if Emlyn was only making a jab at her friends. "They like spontaneous."

She was inturrupted by Adwin, the person who apparently kept the trio of them from ending in a firey car crash. "I can hear you Emmy, you aren't being subtle."

Childishly, she stuck out her tongue at him, getting an eye roll in response, before looking back to Jady, plain enthusiasm scribbled over her face. "So, would you like to come?"

Jady smiled, that same warmth pooling into her stomach and darting through her viens. "Yeah, I'd love to go."

It was nice to have friends again, anyway. 

✦

✦ OPHELIA ✦

- here my lovess !

- don't know why i feel
so unreasonably anxious
today lol

- also i have my first chem
exam this week and I am
not looking forward to it

- ily all !

What's your character's favorite ballet performance ?

──● answers