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  Jenna Brooks POV

  What? No, no, no, no, no!!!

I don't wanna be Cinderella. Cinderella requires a lot of work, Cinderella has dialogues, Cinderella doesn't just stand by the sidelines and make funny hand gestures. I don't wanna be Cinderella. I want to be a tree, a freaking tree!!!

"Congrats, Jenna." Liam yelled, pulling me away from the crowd, "You got the lead role."

"What? I don't wanna be the main lead, Liam. I want to be a minor character. For example, a tree." I vented in a low tone.

He leaned in, "What? Jen! You should be happy. You get to be a significant character! "

"But I don't wanna be significant!"

"Cut the whining. I auditioned for the prince's role and got casted as a mouse! A freaking mouse, Jenna!"

I pouted, "So much for bad boy charm!"

"I wonder who the male lead is."

"I don't wanna know, Liam. I don't wanna be Cinderella. Mouse also works. Let's trade places." I said with desperation.

The thought of standing on stage and talking for too long was unbearable, to say the least. Cinderella is like, the center of attention. Nobody pays that much attention to a tree or a mouse. Which is why I wanna be a mouse, so nobody pays attention to me!

"You know that's not possible, Jenna. How can I be Cinderella?" Liam asked, arms crossed.

"A little wig and makeup, and you'll be all dolled up in no time to make the perfect Cinderella. Take it from me, you're Cinderella material."

"Nah, I'll pass." He said, then leaned back. "You can't bail on us, Jen. All the other roles have been taken. This is your only to chance to become a member of the club."

"I…"

"Think about it, Jenna. I'll be back."

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  Conrad Declan's POV

  I closed the small space between us and crushed my lips against Anika's. She sighed as I pushed my tongue into her mouth, her hands moving to grip onto my hair. My hands dropping to run down her bare arms and down over her waist.

Anika shifted onto her back as my hand slipped down to touch her leg. I followed as she snapped her mouth from mine with a gasp. But I didn't stop kissing her. I dragged my lips over her jaw to kiss along her neck, my hand moving beneath her skirt to stroke the soft skin of her waist.

Anika's fingers pulled at my hair, and her leg lifted to wrap around the back of my thigh. I groaned against her throat, moving back up to take her mouth with mine. As my tongue slid against hers, I traced my fingers further up her body. Anika broke from the kiss.

"Conrad..."

I dropped my head to the crook between her neck and shoulder, breathing deeply. I wanted her so much it was almost too much to take. I breathed in and out as Anika dropped her hand to stroke up and down my back. 

"Why did you stop?" I whispered against her ears.

Her head was down as she fiddled with the tip of her shirt, "Don't you think we should get to know each other first?"

I personally thought what she said was funny. We were only having fun, I wasn't into her at all. I just liked the taste of lips and how curvy she was.

"Come on, Anika. Making out is way more fun. Besides, you made a deal. Remember?"

Our deal was that, if I auditioned for the school play, we could be make out buddies— if that's even a thing. After my audition, we both came back into the empty drama club room to do our thing.

"I know, Conrad."

"I already auditioned for the play. Now, should we get back to where we stopped?" 

I leaned forward, tilted her chin toward me with my finger and kissed her on the lips. As she opened her lips, I pushed my tongue to meet hers, losing my breath as I did.

Too lost in the kiss, we only broke apart when someone cleared their throat from across the room. I lifted my head to find Carter smirking. When I glanced down at Anika , her cheeks were blazing.

  She got off the table and whispered into my ears, "The casting result is probably out. I should go." She whispered and walked out of the club room.

"I see you got another play mate," Carter said, walking up to me.

I adjusted my shirt, then smirked, "Who, Anika?"

"Yes."

"It's nothing serious. We're just having fun…"

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  Jenna Brooks's POV

  I was on my way to get my bag from the class, still deep in thoughts about what I was going to do when Anika walked up to me. Her face was all red.

  "I can't believe I got casted as your understudy!" She yelled, her fists clenched.

From the way the said the word 'understudy', I knew it was a bad thing. Anika was an amazing actress, how could she be casted as my understudy?

"What's an understudy?" I asked.

"God! You don't even know the terms in theater works and you want to play a lead role? This must be a joke." She taunted, her hands on her hip as she stomped her feet.

I lazily rolled my eyes, "Care to enlighten me?"

"Well, an understudy is like…err…an assistant female lead. I get to practice the same lines as you but I don't get to be on stage unless something happens to you. I'm like a safety precaution. A backup plan for you. I find this really annoying!" She blurted.

An understudy, huh? This is it, this is the solution I need. I just have to pretend to take the Cinderella role, make sure I find out who pstar7 is before opening night (the day of the play), then ditch the the play. Then Anika can play Cinderella since she's already learnt all the lines as an understudy. Nobody gets hurt. You're a genius, Jenna. A freaking genius. 

"We can't be sure I won't fall ill before opening night," I said with a smirk.

"I wish, Jenna! I really really wish" she replied and walked away.

Okay, that was mean.

After grabbing my bag, i walked out. The driver was already waiting and Jeanette and Jamie were standing by the car. Conrad was no where in sight. As I approached the car, Conrad suddenly blocked my path.

"Hey, shortstuff," he said, his smile a bit too wide.

"Hi…hey." 

"You're not wearing the bracelet I got you," he took my wrist and gently examined it, "Or, are your wrists too small? I could get the bracelet adjusted."

He bit his lower lip as he waited for my response but I tried to avoid eye contact.

"I'm kinda good at misplacing things. I figured I could lost the bracelet if I wore them."

Yes, I was afraid of losing the bracelet. It was the first gift Conrad gave me since I came to Houston. I was going to cherish it for life by waking up everyday and looking at it before going out.

He arched his shoulders back, "It's fine, shortstuff. I can just get you another one every time you lose it," 

God! He's just so good at being cool! 

"You offered."

"Sure, shortstuff." He suddenly stopped, then smiled again. "I heard you're Cinderella,"

How did he know about it? He probably thinks I'm some dork after finding out I'm starring in the school play. Plays are for dorks.

"Ye…yes,"

He smiled, then placed one hand on my shoulder, "That's great. Cos' I'm the prince."

My eyebrows shot up, "Huh?"