Chapter 454: First Rehearsal
Hayley’s POV:
As soon as I stepped out of the restroom, I could hear Kirsty’s smug voice from the other side of the door. She was probably ready to scold me for being late. Right before she could explode, I pushed the door open and walked in. When she saw me, her satisfaction was evident. “Hayley, you’re late,” she said.
I glanced at my watch and replied calmly, “It’s exactly 6:00 PM. How is that late?”
Kirsty checked her phone and, seeing I was right, fell silent. Someone spoke up, “Alright, since everyone’s here, let’s begin the rehearsal.”
Kirsty shot me a resentful look, but I simply smiled and ignored her. “Today’s our first rehearsal. Let’s finalize the roles before we distribute the scripts,” Kirsty announced.
I found a seat and settled in as the others began picking the roles they wanted. After handing out scripts to everyone, Kirsty still had two remaining. She glanced at me and said, “Hayley, here’s your script. Make sure you perform well.”
I took the script and opened it. Sure enough, I had the lead role, though… when I turned to the back, I understood exactly what Kirsty had planned. I locked eyes with her, my gaze sharp. She didn’t look away, meeting my stare with her own challenging one. I said nothing, choosing instead to focus on the script. I had agreed to participate, so I intended to give it my full effort.
After reading through the script, I set it aside and stood up. “Hayley, where are you going?” someone asked. “I’m going to the restroom, but I’ll be back soon,” I replied. With that, I stepped out.
After using the restroom, I reached for the door, only to find it locked from the outside. I immediately called out, “Who’s out there? Who locked the door?” All I heard in response was the faint sound of footsteps gradually fading away.
I quickly grabbed my phone, but the signal was too weak to make a call. Frustrated, I decided to sit on the toilet and calm myself down. Honestly, I didn’t even mind being locked in. I wasn’t all that eager for the rehearsal anyway. So I pulled out my notebook, took out the problem from Professor Cain’s assignment, and began working on it.
Kirsty’s POV:
After everything, I went back to the rehearsal room and took a deep breath to steady myself. Someone suggested, “We’re pretty familiar with the script by now. Should we try rehearsing?” “That sounds good to me.” “By the way, where’s the lead actress? Where did she go?”
Everyone began scanning the room for Hayley, but the large space was empty. Then someone casually mentioned, “Hayley went to the restroom. She’ll be back soon.”
Hearing that, I quickly said, “Hayley told me she wasn’t feeling well and asked for leave. She won’t be joining us today. Let’s not worry about her. Let’s just go ahead and do a run-through and then head home.”
No one questioned me, and they all started rehearsing. I let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Hayley’s POV:
I got so caught up in solving the problem while in the restroom that I completely lost track of time. What felt like only a few minutes turned out to be hours. I found that, despite being locked in, my mind was clearer than ever as I worked through the problem. By the time I finally wrote out all the steps and solved it, I looked at the time and was shocked to see it was already 11:00 PM. And my stomach was growling from hunger.
It was strange, though. Despite being gone for so long, no one had noticed I was missing or even come to check on me. Using my Alpha strength, I could easily break the door open with Hera’s help. But that would reveal my true identity. After thinking for a moment, I decided to wait and have Reniamin accier me instead.