Five

I opened my eyes and my living room was gone. I was standing in a badly lit room and four people were looking at me with wide eyes.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Andrea whispered.

Ms Green suddenly burst into tears and the three men beside Andrea stood up and clapped their hands.

I suddenly felt nervous. What was I supposed to do? I hurriedly wiped my face, shame flooding through my veins.

The remainder of the heart-wrenching sorrow that had interrupted me halfway through my audition still churned in my gut.

I needed to throw up. Unfortunately, t didn't seem as if I was leaving any time soon.

"I think we've just found our Sapphire." Andrea laughed, and her bright face was a stark contrast to the crying woman standing next to her.

I did that?

I fought against the conflicting emotions swirling around my head to give her a smile. I felt, amongst a kaleidoscope of other feelings, extremely awkward.

"But we still have to audi-"

"I don't care! You, young lady, are one of a kind and I need you to be our wrong Cinderella." Andrea shot, interrupting one of the men on her right.

"I have a say in this decision! I say we keep our options open!" The interrupted roared.

My eyes widened. The sound was so loud and it triggered an unwanted memory. I shuddered, refusing to give into the urge to run out of the room.

Ms Green sniffed before giving me an apologetic smile. "I'm really sorry about this. May, was it?"

I nodded.

"I'll call you and tell you what we've decided but I promise that I'll be on your side." She added with a wink.

I nodded, knowing fully well that she could've been lying straight to my face.

I excused myself and left the room. I nearly screamed when I opened the door, only to smack someone in the face with it.

"Ouch!"

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" I gasped.

It was a boy. With auburn hair. Jason.

"Damn, that hurts." He groaned, rubbing his freckled nose.

"Oh shut up! Why was your face near the door anyway?" I asked him, touching his nose to see if it was ok.

He stopped complaining as soon as I touched him. I won't lie, I was unnecessarily touching him: his nose was absolutely fine. His skin was just as soft as I thought it would be.

"You owe me for breaking my nose." He commented, smiling widely.

I dropped my hands from his face. "It's not broken dumbass."

"Yeah but it feels broken. Aren't you going to pay for the damage you have caused to my face?"

I laughed. I couldn't help it: he sounded serious and I knew that there was no way in heaven or hell that I would pay him for anything. Not to mention, I was still reeling from my overly emotional audition.

"Do you find this funny? Is my pain that hilarious? May, stop." He continued.

He was cute in a fluffy, red-haired boy kind of way and I found myself genuinely smiling at him. His smile was contagious.

"Look, Jason. I don't know why you think I'm going to pay you for anything. You still didn't answer my question: what were you doing with your face near the door?"

He smiled as if I had just said something hilarious. "I was listening to your audition."

Something about him witnessing my first breakdown since losing half my family made me extremely uncomfortable. I mean technically the entire room behind me had just witnessed it but with Jason, it was more personal.

"Wait what?"

"I was listening in and by the way, those four are idiots if they don't give you the part." He answered casually.

That slouch and his lazy smile eased my discomfort. He didn't comment on the fact that I overdid it a little and that filled me with a warm gratitude.

"Oh thanks."

His face brightened in the dim hallway, causing me to smile back. That strange feeling from back in the waiting room sprouted in my chest again.

Just as he opened his mouth to say something, the door opened behind us and Ms Green came rushing out.

"Oh there you are! I was sure that there was someone else. Come, young man: you're the last one." She gushed as soon as she saw us.

All traces of her tears were gone. Well all except the pink tinge to her cheeks. But, judging from her bright smile, that was probably a permanent feature.

"I'll be right back." Jason gave me a dimpled smile.

"Who are you auditioning for?" I asked.

"Prince Charming, of course." He answered before entering the room.

I found myself smiling for no reason.

I took out my nearly dead phone and texted my mom to come pick me up. It was 6pm already. After clicking send, I put my head to the door and listened.

"I love you, Sapphire but I can't do this." Jason said.

My eyes widened as I realised he was crying. I recognised the part he was acting immediately: it was the same one I had done but Prince Charming's point of view.

"I loved you because you were different: you weren't the princess I had been expecting all my life but you made me happy. And that's all I needed: happiness. So how do you expect me to accept that everything our love story started with was a lie?"

Deep breaths. "I can't, Sapphire. I'm not giving up on our love because it just doesn't exist anymore. I'm hurt that the beautiful love we did share was nothing but a lie. Don't cry, you should be happy. You won: you got your Prince Charming. I'm the one who got the wrong Cinderella."

I couldn't see his face of course but I still felt my heart clench. His playful demeanor from a few minutes ago was gone; he sounded so hurt and... hopeless. I shook my head, reminding myself that he was just acting.

Sometimes not everything is an act. I thought.

I lifted my head from the door, feeling like I was intruding. Emotion was a strange thing - it couldn't just be created out of nowhere. For him to portray Ace's broken heart so perfectly, then he had to tap into something similar within himself.

I retreated back to the waiting room and waited. A part of me wanted to leave just to annoy him but my curiosity glued me to the sofa.

A few minutes of waiting later and my phone buzzed in my pocket.

Mommy dearest: I'll be there in twenty minutes love. I'm stuck at work

"You're still here!" A voice interrupted just as I was typing back a reply.

His eyes were still watery and I could tell that he had been crying but as soon as he smiled, his whole face lit up.

I smiled back at him, slipping my phone into my jeans. "Where else would I go?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Home, maybe?"

"I'll leave if you want me to." I replied, getting up from my seat.

"No! Don't leave." He said, grabbing my arm.

I turned, surprised. "We have to. Come on."

He seemed to realize that I wasn't leaving him and the smile he gave me melted my insides. He let go of my arm and lead the way out of the movie theatre.

"You were really good, by the way." I told him.

"You were listening?" He asked.

"Yeah well I had to kill time somehow." I shrugged.

He gave me a mock hurt expression.

I laughed: his expression was so adorable.

"Oh shut up. You're the one who got hit by a door." I reminded him.

"It was you who hit me!" He burst.

"So?"

"You are really mean, you know that right?" He sighed dramatically.

I smiled widely. "I know."

He looked at me oddly.

"What? Stop looking at me like that!" I hit his arm.

He dodged my attack. "Looking at you like what?"

"Like I'm weird!" I replied, trying to hit him again.

This time, he grabbed my hand before it could connect with his shoulder. I tried to get my hand back but the boy was much stronger than he looked.

"Stop trying to hit me!" He laughed.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. Now let go."

He let my hand go. "I wasn't looking at you like you're weird though."

"Oh really now?" I replied sarcastically.

"No, I'm serious. I was just appreciating how pretty your smile is." He said, avoiding my gaze completely.

That strange warm feeling again.

I stopped walking and tapped his arm. He turned to me but he still avoided my gaze, choosing to stare at his feet instead.

I smiled. How was he so confident one second then an adorably shy puppy the next?

"Jason?"

"Yeah?" He asked, his floppy hair covering his face.

"I was about to leave you that time but I decided to stay so I could ask you something."

His gaze shot up to mine. "Oh, go ahead and ask then."

Now that he was actually looking at me, I couldn't ask.

Do you have a girlfriend?

"Why did you act out the part when Ace and Sapphire break up?" I asked instead.

He smiled as if he had been expecting the question. "I did it because that's my favourite part of the book: it's the first time both of them are completely honest with each other."

"So it wasn't because I happened to audition the same part?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

He shrugged. "Nope. I guess it was just fate."

I rolled my eyes and continued walking. "I don't believe in fate."

"Why not?"

"Because it contradicts free will. I make my own decisions and those decisions determine what my future looks like. I don't like the idea of having my whole life planned out for me without me having a say in it." I answered simply.

"Yeah but you can't escape your fate. You can change your future alright but when something is meant to be, it will happen. Think about it: there are some people who meet in the strangest of circumstances and it turns out that they were fated as lovers yet two other people can meet in the rosiest of scenarios and become fated enemies. My view on fate is not a blueprint of one's life but simply an inescapable event that someone will go through one way or another."

I still wasn't convinced but his argument surprised me. Jason didn't seem like the debating type: he looked more like an adorable class clown. I didn't see myself as a judgemental person but that's when I realised that maybe I had just judged a book by its cover.

"You still haven't convinced me." I replied moments later.

He laughed. "Fine. I'll convince you another time then."

My stomach nearly growled as we passed by the food courts: I was starving but my pockets were empty and there was food at home so I ignored it.

"Wait." Jason suddenly paused.

"What?" I asked.

He pointed at a donut shop. I shrugged. "Yeah? So?"

"I'm starving. Let's get some donuts." He suggested.

I shook my head. "You can go ahead."

"I'm not eating in front of you: c'mon I'll buy you one." He insisted, literally dragging me towards the heavenly-smelling building.

"No, the last thing I need is to owe you money: I already have people that I need to pay back." I said, letting him drag me.

It was an odd thing: getting dragged was actually pretty fun.

"It's just a donut, dude. I don't mind. So, which one do you want?" He asked, gesturing at the menus all over the walls.

I gulped. I was starving and it had been a while since I had a donut but I felt really bad. I never allowed people to buy me stuff: regardless of who they were. My mom was only allowed to get me something on my birthday but otherwise, I worked for my own money and I didn't want to live off of other people.

"Hello? May?" He asked.

Thankfully, my phone beeped.

"That's my mom! I need to get this!" I laughed, taking out my phone.

I nearly shouted for joy when I saw her name on my phone screen.

"Hello." I answered.

"Hey, come out already! I'm nearly here!" She yelled.

I sighed. "Ok, I'll be there now."

I dropped the call and shrugged at the disappointed boy in front of me.

"Well I'm leaving now. I guess this is goodbye." I smiled awkwardly.

"I'll walk you to your mom's car. My ride might take a while to get here." He suggested.

"Oh you don't have to do that, I'm cool." I replied.

He shook his head. "You either let me walk you or you give me your numbers."

"What does giving you my numbers have anything to do with walking me to my mom's car?" I asked, confused.

"It doesn't but I thought it was worth a shot." He smiled brightly.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, no. Sorry. Bye Jason."

He was cute. Too cute for me. I could almost hear June yelling at me in my head but I was so used to being picky that it was difficult to just "go with the flow" like she did.

"But you can't just leave like that!" He exclaimed as I turned towards the exit.

"Watch me." I told him as I walked away.

I swear I could feel his eyes on me as I approached the main entrance. The sensation of being watched felt like popping candy under the surface of my skin. I grinned brightly, nearly bursting with the urge to tell my best friend all about my day.

I saw my mom's car almost immediately: she was standing outside it, looking extremely pissed.

"Mom guess what?!" I squealed as soon as I saw her.

She climbed into the car, ignoring me. I didn't mind: I climbed into the passenger seat and launched into the whole story. I skipped nearly everything about Jason because well, that would be awkward..

"So you got the part?" She asked as we drove home.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I don't want to get my hopes up for nothing. But how was your day? You look like hell beat you up."

She glared at me. I smiled back.

"My day sucked. My boss is being a total itch again." She replied eventually.

I smiled. "Itch" was my mom's way of trying to get me not to swear. June and I had adopted the word mostly to make fun of her.

"Oh, he's probably on his period again. Just ignore him." I laughed.

My mom looked at the road in pain.

"Well if that's the case then this man has been on his period since I met him five years ago."

I laughed at how depressed she looked. "Oh don't worry mommy. Let's go home and I'll make you a cup of that disgusting tea of yours."

She grunted but didn't say anything else. My mom was a silent but strong woman and around her, I could be my usual, bubbly self. It annoyed her but I knew that if I wasn't so happy all the time, she would not find the strength to get out of bed every morning.

I turned and faced the window, ignoring the urge to mention the emotional break I experienced during my audition.

We never talked about Matt and Dad. A part of me realized as we drove home that she was probably relieved when I buried my memories about that night so quickly.

My mom was strong and preferred holding up the weight of our world all on her own. Me being a happy child was one less burden for her to bear and so, I chose to pretend that I didn't remember seeing her shatter in front of me.

I would be strong just like her, for her.