Cath stood near the front of the stage, beside a wobbly table buried under paint-stained brushes, art supplies, and a glue gun that looked as old as the school itself. In one hand, she held a piece of white fabric. In the other, a can of blue spray paint. Miss Jenner had told her to make the fabric “look oceanic,” which apparently meant figure it out yourself.

Ana stood next to her, fiddling with a laurel crown she was pretending to adjust — but her eyes were fixed on a spot near the left wall, suspiciously close to where Mathew Andrews was stringing up fairy lights.

Cath raised an eyebrow. “Why do you keep trying to catch his eye? You literally called his friend group ‘the generic boy squad’ last week. If I were him, I wouldn’t exactly be rushing over.”

Ana scoffed, still staring. “Okay, but he’s the hot one. There’s always one.”

“That says more about you than you think,” Cath mumbled, hunched over the table. “Still, bold move trying to flirt next to a table that smells like glue and paint fumes.”

“It adds mystery.”

“More like brain damage.”

Ana narrowed her eyes. “You’re only saying that because you think Carter is the hot one.”

Cath gave her a flat look, one brow raised. “I think you need to go outside and get some fresh air. The fumes are messing with your synapses.”

“Oh my god. You’re deflecting with academic words. You’re so into him.”

Cath blinked at her. “Ana, shut up.” Then she muttered as she turned back to the table, “We were so close to passing the Bechdel test. And then you brought up Carter.”

“And that’s why you love me! It’s my charm.” Ana beamed. “Anyway. I know you don’t want to talk about boys anymore, but… did you see the cast list? It’s like Miss Jenner has something against Carter.”

“And why would you say that?” Cath asked, side-eyeing her with a sigh.

“Well, for a start, she cast his ex as Calypso.”

Cath gave her a look. “Mira’s always loved theater. I don’t see how that’s related. The girl’s just pretty enough to play a goddess.”

Ana raised an eyebrow. “That says more about you than you think.”

Cath rolled her eyes. “And why do you think Miss Jenner has some sort of personal vendetta against him?”

As if on cue, Miss Jenner started scolding a group of kids who were sword-fighting with the prop armor. She was standing on the highest step of the auditorium stairs, teetering in heels like she was preparing to smite them from Olympus itself.

“Anyway,” Cath said as she walked away from the table to hang the ‘oceanic fabric’ somewhere it could dry, “that’s one person. What else you got?”

Ana let out a delighted squeal as she followed her. “That’s exactly the question I was waiting for. Well, she also cast Matt as Eurilochus.”

“So?” Cath waved the fabric at her in a go on motion.

“Come on. He’s the guy who betrays Odysseus. And you know they had that really ugly fight two weeks ago.”

Cath deadpanned, “Ana, they were fighting over grilled cheese, and then they were singing some dumb kids’ song on the bleachers an hour later. Why would Miss Jenner care about that?”

“Well, maybe she’s secretly in love with him and wants to ruin his life,” Ana offered.

Cath nearly choked on air. “Ana, seriously. You have to stop watching Riverdale. Miss Jenner has a whole wife.”

“I was just saying.” Ana shrugged.

“Stop your weird conspiracy theories for like two seconds and come help me hang this up,” Cath said, clearly struggling with the fabric.

They finished attaching it to a very wobbly cardboard column. Just then, Miss Jenner appeared center stage, standing in absolute silence with her arms outstretched and a few strands of hair sticking out of her headwrap like angry lightning bolts.

The girls exchanged a confused look.

Miss Jenner remained motionless in her full dramatic form until the entire cast and crew had gathered around and sat down in silence at the center of the stage.

“Well,” she finally announced, “it’s been an undoubtedly productive afternoon. On Friday, we’ll start rehearsing, so make sure you know your lines. I’ve assigned partners in the group chat. See you then!”

And with that, she spun on her heels and started gathering her things.

As they headed out of the auditorium, Ana turned to Cath with a grin. “Five bucks says you have to rehearse your lines with Carter.”

“The five law books in the library say gambling is illegal,” Cath replied, matching her energy.

Ana fished her phone out of her neon pink Jansport and gasped. “Oh my gosh. See? Miss Jenner is definitely up to something!” She danced in place, shoving her phone in Cath’s face.

Cath sighed at the screen.

Rehearsal partners

—

Laurel Thompson – Monique Cooper

Matthew Andrews – Mira Johnson

James Carter – Caitlin Rojas

Marcus Green – Anthony Ramirez

—

“That’s not even my name,” Cath whined.

“Who cares? You’re the only ‘Rojas’ here. Besides, that’s not the point. You and Carter? That’s expected. His best friend and his ex? Miss Jenner knows what the meaning of drama is.”

“Great,” Cath muttered as Ana dragged her toward the bus stop. “Now I’ll have to explain to half my family why I’m spending my afternoons with a boy who’s definitely not a potential boyfriend.”

Ana didn’t even hear her. She was already too deep into a new conspiracy theory about Miss Jenner’s evil matchmaking powers.

Btw, I have no idea about when and where are you supposed to add italics and bold and all that? So…
You can find me on tik tok as @c_loves_books !
I have a twitter but I’m honestly scared to use it.