I D E N T I T Y

Act One: The Unexpected

Sweat pours down my face as I try to run in my enormous ball gown. My shoeless feet ache with each step. Blood roars in my ears and tears flood my vision.

I'm not going to make it a second time.

My hearts pounds. My lungs burn. I continue to run.

I can still hear their screams from behind me. The gunshots have stopped, but they have other weapons, and when they catch me that's it.

No more do overs.

No more second chances.

I crash through the trees, sticks and thorns pricking my body and ripping my dress. But I can't stop, not even when I reach the end of the woods and the highway lays out in front of me.

Not again.

Deja vu overwhelms me and for a moment I am unable to move. But then I hear the victorious shouts behind me as they see that I am frozen with fear.

I will not give them that satisfaction.

I sprint out into the road without hesitating.

***

3 hours earlier

As soon as I walk to the main stage in the school cafeteria I'm bustled to my dressing room to work on my hair and makeup for the first act of the show.

This is it, opening night.

I bite my lip anxiously as Natalia, my hair stylist, combs through my hair. She twists and pulls chunks every which way, the result being nothing but a complicated ponytail.

She must see my confusion because she says, "We'll do the actual hairstyle after you get your costume on. Wouldn't want your dress to mess up all my good work!"

I laugh a little. "Of course not."

I guess I must look nervous or something because she furrows her brow. "You all right sweetheart?"

I give a hesitant shrug. "Just a little nervous about opening night I guess."

Though while that's true, it's actually more than that. It's been four days since I've told Kevin everything, and nearly two weeks since X threatened to tell everyone about Olivia Wright if I didn't cut connections with Kevin. Two weeks since I told Steve that I didn't care anymore about my secret and devoted my attention to making sure that X didn't even dare come close to hurting Kevin.

But so far nothing has happened.

We've been left unharmed.

No notes, no strange figures, no new threats, no word from Steve other than his lines.

Have they forgotten? Not likely.

So what exactly are they waiting for?

"Peyton, honey, are you okay?" Natalia asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I nod my head quickly. "Yeah yeah of course! I'm fine! But, um, if you see Jacklyn can you send her to me please?"

She smiles. "Of course!" And with that she leaves.

But Jacklyn doesn't show up. Not after my makeup's done, not after I'm in my opening blue dress, and not even after my hair is officially done. When I ask Natalia she just tells me that she couldn't find her, not even in her dressing room where she's supposed to be.

"Is there a phone I can use to call her?" I ask, a bit worried by now.

"Sure hon, Ms Drew has one in her office. When you reach her tell her to hurry down here, she needs to get her makeup and hair done soon, show starts in a little more than hour." Natalia tells me.