Leo: Stage Fright Read online

  "You said you could never be attracted to me. Not in a hundred years. You told her I was like a silly younger brother that you begrudgingly put up with. You also said I'd never make it in the theatre."

  "I never said any of those things!" Lydia protested.

  "Yeah, right," he said with a smirk.

  "Don't you see!" Lydia ran her hands through her hair, feeling like yanking it out by its roots. "Page made all of that up so that you would turn against me."

  "She didn't do it in a deliberate way," Robin explained. "She accidentally let it slip. But it's true, isn't it?"

  "No." Lydia shook her head, hard. "Not exactly."

  "No? Not exactly?" Robin repeated sarcastically. "Which is it, then?"

  "I-I said something like that," Lydia sputtered, "but Page took my words and totally warped them."

  "Tell it to someone who cares." Robin restarted the mower, and, once the engine took hold, gripped the handle and moved away from her without a backward glance.

  Lydia left Robin's yard in shock. Page is more cunning than I thought. Lydia could just imagine what Page had said to A.J. And Eric. And everybody else.

  She needed to think, to try to piece together the events of the past two weeks in some coherent manner. She moved aimlessly down the treelined street, not knowing where she was headed, or caring.

  It's like Shakespeare's Othello, she thought. Lago pretends to be Othello's best friend. But actually Lago is plotting against Othello all the time. He gets some of Othello's friends to start doubting him. Pretty soon, Othello is convinced that even his wife, Desdemona, is making a fool of him. And in a rage of jealousy and paranoia, Othello strangles poor, innocent Desdemona.

  "Page," Lydia said out loud. "She's my Lago. She's trying to destroy me."

  Lydia was so deep in thought, she didn't hear the car slow down behind her and sound its horn lightly. It wasn't until it pulled alongside her that Lydia noticed it.

  "Need a lift?" Eric called from behind the wheel of an old green-and-white Volkswagen van.

  "No thanks," she replied, glancing nervously at his van and forcing herself to face forward again. Lydia was unsure what to feel about Eric now that Page had been revealed as her nemesis.

  "Lydia, please."

  "Eric, I'm trying to sort through—" Lydia stopped herself short as she realized that this car was very different from the one she'd seen at school. "Whose van is that?" she asked.

  "Mine," he said apologetically. "It was given to me by my cousin Terrence. OK, so it's an ancient piece of scrap metal but hey, it runs."

  "What about the car you had at school?" she asked. "The fancy one with the leather seats and electric everything?"

  "Oh, that belongs to Page," he said. "Or to be exact, her parents. When my van broke down, she insisted I borrow it."

  "Page's car?" Lydia repeated, crossing round to the driver's side of the van.

  "Yeah, wasn't that nice?" Eric leaned one elbow out his window. "I mean, she barely knows me, my car breaks down, and she's there in a heartbeat with hers."

  Somewhere in Lydia's brain a lightbulb slowly started to flicker on as pieces of the puzzle began to fit together. Lydia swallowed hard and said, "This is really important. When exactly did your car break down?"

  "Friday, I think," he said. "Yeah, Friday morning, just as I was trying to get to school."

  "Friday morning?" Lydia repeated.

  Eric nodded. "What's this all about?"

  Lydia didn't want to let up. "When did Page lend you the car?"

  Eric scratched his head. "That same morning. I was legging it to school, carrying that book I wanted to lend you, when all of a sudden Page pulled over and told me to hop in."

  "She offered her car right then?" Lydia asked.

  "Right. At first, I said no," he said. "I mean, I hardly know her. But she insisted. She said I'd be doing her a favour because her father had to pick her up after school, and she didn't have a way to get the car home."

  "So you didn't have her car before Friday morning?" Lydia asked.

  "No," he replied.

  "Didn't it strike you funny that Page just happened to be there to help out when your car broke down?" Lydia asked.

  Eric shrugged. "Sometimes fate's just on your side."

  Lydia pursed her lips. Could Page really have been so clever as to sabotage Eric's car on Thursday, and then conveniently give him a lift, and her car, the next morning, so that Lydia would think he tried to kill her?

  It was tempting to add it all up neatly. But Lydia had no proof about any of the conclusions her mind was leading her towards. Better to keep quiet about it right now. She was not about to make the same mistake with Eric that she made with A.J. and Robin. Take a different tack, and see where it goes.

  "Well, Page sure is a great person," she declared, acting brilliantly. "Not only is she cute and talented, but she's proven herself a good person, which is all too rare in the theatre."

  Lydia waited for Eric to chime in with his own list of Page's attributes. But his reaction was one of odd silence, as though he wanted to say something but was thinking better of it.

  Noting this, Lydia asked, "Eric, is something wrong?"

  He took a moment before saying slowly, "I know she's your friend. But haven't you noticed how she's imitating you? Not just imitating." He struggled for the right words. "It – it's almost like she's trying to step into your shoes and, and become you."

  "Oh, thank you! Thank you!" In great relief, Lydia leaned through the open window and threw her arms round Eric. "No one else believed me. I thought I was losing my mind."

  Lydia realized suddenly that this was the first time they'd ever been this close. It was a strange sensation that took them both by surprise. Any other time, she would have savoured this moment but too many things – scary, disturbing things – were happening.

  She pulled back and took a deep breath. Then Lydia told Eric of the incidents that had made her suspect Page was up to no good.

  "I'll admit that I really can't prove any of it – the open trap door at DYT, her car nearly running me down, my house being robbed – but I just know she has to have been involved. I mean, who else could it be?"

  Eric parked his van and joined Lydia on the sidewalk. The two of them sat side by side on the kerb.

  "What makes you think it's someone you know?" he asked reasonably. "It could be a total stranger. Which means it could be anyone."

  "No, a stranger wouldn't know about the party at DYT," Lydia pointed out. "Or where I went to school, or what specific clothes mattered most to me. It had to be Page."

  "What about the voodoo doll?" he countered. "Page wasn't even at our school then."

  "Yes, but didn't she show up the next day?"

  "True," Eric admitted. "And wasn't she at the closing night party for ‘My One and Only'? I remember you talking to her."

  Lydia gasped, putting one hand to her cheek. "Page was at that party. It was the first time I met her. Page the wallflower."

  "But could she have learnt how to sabotage the lights?" Eric wondered, "and how to set the trap, in just one night?"

  "But she wasn't there just for closing night," Lydia said, excitedly. "A.J. told me Page had come to every performance and had even been hanging round the theatre, trying to get up enough nerve to talk to me." She rolled her eyes towards the sky. "If I hadn't been such an egomaniac, I wouldn't have fallen for it."

  "Don't be so hard on yourself." Eric gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "Everyone bought Page's act. Assuming it is an act."

  "Then you still don't believe it?" Lydia asked, pulling her hand away.

  "I honestly don't know," he admitted. "I mean, why would Page try to hurt you?"

  "Maybe she can't stand someone else having success," Lydia thought out loud. "Maybe she craves the spotlight more than any of the rest of us. Maybe she'd do anything to get that part."

  "But to go so far as to..." Eric discreetly d
idn't finish.

  "Well, she's gotten what she wants," Lydia said with a sigh. "I'm safely out of the way at DYT, and the part of Evita is hers."

  "What do you mean, you're out at DYT?" Eric asked.

  "I mean I didn't even get called back. Not just for the lead, either. For anything."

  "You're kidding." Eric frowned. "Then who did get called back for Evita."

  "Page, of course," Lydia told him. "And Jill."

  Their eyes widened, as the same thought occurred to them.

  "Oh, no," Lydia groaned. "If Page was demented enough to go after me, even try to kill me – would she do the same to Jill?"

  "Get in the car," Eric cried, springing to his feet. "We need to find a phone. And get word to Jill!"

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Eric waited in the car at the convenience store while Lydia phoned first Jill, who wasn't home, then Keenan. She quickly told him everything that had happened since the night My One and Only closed.

  Lydia hadn't expected him to fall over and praise her but she had anticipated a little gratitude for trying to save his girlfriend.

  Instead, Keenan was furious. "I knew you were low," he sneered. "But to try and scare Jill away from callbacks – that's the most pathetic thing you've ever done."

  Lydia was disappointed. "Think what you like, Keenan," she said, wearily. "Just promise me you'll stay with Jill. Don't let her out of your sight."

  Keenan slammed down the phone.

  "No go," Lydia said, climbing in the front seat of the van. "Keenan thinks I'd do anything to get that part." Lydia pursed her lips. And, at one time, I would have, too. Well, almost anything.

  "I guess we could call Jill," Lydia continued, "but I'm sure she'd have the same response.

  "What time do the callbacks start?" Eric asked.

  "Two this afternoon," she told him.

  He glanced at the clock attached to the van's dashboard. "That only gives us a couple hours." He sighed, heavy with thought. "Well, maybe I should get to Page somehow. Make up some excuse – I need help with homework, or something. See if I can get a feel for what she might do."

  "No, you can't just talk to her," Lydia said, shaking her head. "Eric, you have to ask her out."

  "Ask her out?" he repeated, not believing his own ears. "Like on a date?"

  "If she wants everything I have," Lydia explained, "sooner or later she'll throw Robin aside and go after you."

  "You want me to ask Lady Macbeth out on a date?" he said with a weak smile.

  "At least find a way to invite yourself to the auditions," she told him. "Make her think you're really interested in her."

  "Hey, you're the actor, not me."

  "Eric, it's the only way," Lydia insisted.

  "Well, I don't know about this idea, but OK," he said. "And you?"

  "Drop me at home and I'll call A.J. I'll see if I can talk her into letting me work the backstage crew with her. That way I'll have an excuse to be at the theatre during callbacks. With you, me and, hopefully Keenan there, Jill should be safe."

  When they arrived at her house, Eric parked the van but didn't turn off the engine. He stared at the steering wheel, choosing his words carefully. "If we're right about Page, and she is some twisted person who would hurt people to get what she wants – then we could be really stupid trying to handle this by ourselves."

  Lydia nodded. "But if we call the police, they'll think I'm just some hysterical teenager who's freaked out because my house was robbed. And it'll be back to you and me—"

  "The lion and the ram," he cut in, using their astrological signs. "Trying to take on the world."

  Lydia squinted one eye shut. "I wonder what my horoscope said for today. It would be nice if it said something like, ‘The earth will shift on its axis and all of those who were doubters will now become believers.'"

  "Actually, we can check." Eric reached behind his seat and pulled out a folded newspaper. "Just happen to have the Dallas Sun-Times right here."

  "You read the horoscope while you drive?"

  He shook his head. "I do the crossword puzzle at stop lights and in traffic jams. And when this old van breaks down. Words are my passion, remember?"

  And you could be my passion, Lydia thought, looking into his velvet brown eyes.

  Eric thumbed through the paper. "Ah, here it is. Leo." He quickly read the words to himself. The smile on his face turned into a frown.

  "What's it say?" Lydia reached for the paper.

  Eric snapped it shut and quickly shoved the paper behind the seat. "You don't want to see it. It's all bogus. Who believes in it anyway?"

  Lydia studied his face. "You do, or you would have showed me the paper." Then she retrieved the paper and opened it to the horoscope column titled "It's in the Stars".

  Leo —There is physical danger today if you act impulsively. You might drop a glass, fumble the ball or tear through your exam with an eraser. Cool your jets!

  When Lydia finished reading it, she carefully folded the paper and tucked it back behind Eric's seat. "Well. I guess the good news is that this day is half over and I won't be handling glass or playing football or taking a test. If we can make it till this evening, things should be just fine."

  Eric had been watching her intently, trying to read her reaction. Suddenly he leaned across the seat and pressed his lips against hers in a kiss.

  A shock like electricity pulsed through her body and she nearly jumped.

  "I hope you don't mind," Eric said, pulling back. "But you looked so beautiful, I—"

  "Beautiful?" she murmured, still feeling a little giddy from his kiss. "I don't feel—"

  "So beautiful," he continued, "I couldn't help myself."

  Lydia's face was flushed with embarrassment. She wanted to throw herself back into his arms, returning the kiss. But the moment had passed and there wasn't time.

  "Let's meet at the theatre fifteen minutes before the callbacks are to begin," Eric said, checking his watch. "I'll try to convince Page to let me drive her to the theatre. Then you and I can meet backstage."

  They said goodbye and Lydia hurried inside. She dialed A.J. first thing. As soon as A.J. heard who it was, her voice went cold. "What is it now?" she asked.

  "A.J., can we bury the hatchet?" Lydia crossed her fingers and lied. "I know I blew my audition but I'd like to still be part of the show. Do you think I could join your crew?"

  A.J. didn't buy it. "What is this, a joke?" she demanded. "You have never picked up a hammer, or helped with the sets, in your life."

  Try a new tactic. "OK, A.J. Look, I would just like to come to the theatre today to talk to you."

  "Why? To tell me I'm stupid and ugly?" A.J. interrupted. "Don't bother. I already heard."

  "Who said that?" Lydia demanded.

  "You did! That was a direct quote." A.J. bit off her words angrily. "Let's see, what else did you tell Page. Oh, I remember – that Eric would rather die than go out with me. And everything I've accomplished I owe to you. I also let my parents run my life, but maybe that's a good idea since I'm incapable of doing it myself!"

  "A.J., will you stop?" Lydia protested. "I never said those things. Don't you get it? It's Page. She's been spreading lies, trying to get you to turn against me. She—"

  A.J. cut her off. "Page said you'd probably do this."

  "Do what?"

  "Try and blame it on her. Boy, has she got you figured out."

  Swallowing her own hurt, Lydia calmly said, "I know your feelings are hurt, A.J. But I didn't say any of that. I want you to know that I still think of you as my best friend, even if you don't feel the same way."

  A.J. said nothing.

  Lydia forced herself to stick to her reason for calling. "A. J., please keep an eye on Page today and don't let Jill out of your sight. I'm afraid something terrible could happen."

  A.J. responded the way Lydia thought she would. She hung up.

  Great.

  Lydia
slumped against the kitchen counter, filled with self-doubts. Maybe I am losing my mind. Maybe I did say those words. I mean, the few times I've been angry with A.J., I've certainly thought a few of those things. Same goes with Robin. And that note did look like my handwriting...

  Brrring!

  Luckily for Lydia, it was Eric. Saved by the phone.

  "How'd it go with A.J.?" he asked.

  "She hates me," Lydia confessed. "And no way will she let me be on any crew."

  "I'm sorry. But we'll get this straightened out," he assured her.

  "I wish I had your confidence."

  "Well, I did my part," Eric reported. "I called Page. I have to tell you, Lydia, if we ever doubted whether she was a slime, she proved it. She told me, for starters, that she was hoping that I'd call. After all of the things that you, Lydia, had said about me, she knew I'd need someone to talk to."

  Not you, too. Lydia could barely bring herself to ask, "Did you believe her?"

  "Of course not. I went along but only to fool her. She is one scary piece of work!"

  Lydia closed her eyes, sighing in relief. "She's unbelievable."

  "I suggested I give her a lift to callbacks, telling her I owed her a favour and that I had to be at DYT for a design meeting – which is a lie, by the way. She said she was just going out the door because her audition was scheduled for 3.15. In order to delay her, I had to lay it on pretty thick about how talented she was, and how I wanted to go out with her."

  "So what happened?"

  "She finally gave in. Then she told me her house was being painted and her parents didn't want any friends to see the mess, so we arranged to meet at the school parking lot at 2.45."

  Lydia glanced at her watch. "That's in fifteen minutes. You'd better go. I'll leave now and meet you backstage before 3.30."

  "At the far right corner," he added. "Precisely at 3.15. Be there. And be careful."

  "Forget careful," Lydia said. "Let's both be lucky."