Chapter 1 - Bumping Into One Another

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"Goodnight father!" I said as I climbed into bed. I turned the lights off and quickly fell asleep.
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I woke up to my father not being home. I quickly got ready for school, ignoring the flashbacks in my mind.
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Walking home from school, the first thing I heard was my half-drunk father saying "There's a list of groceries for you on the kitchen counter. Go fetch them for me."

"Fine." I mumbled, grabbing the list and the $50 he gave me.

Once I got to the store, I started looking for the things on the list. As I was walking down an aisle, I bumped into someone and fell down.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Are you ok?" The person said, helping me up.

"Yeah, thanks." I replied.

I looked up at the person and saw she had reddish-brown hair and was wearing a black sweatshirt with some red and black striped pants.

"I'm Jessica, but you can call me Jess, what about you?"

"I-I'm Claire."

"Well, Nice to meet you Claire. May I ask where your parents are?"

"At home."

"And how old are you?"

"Umm, 13." This person was starting to creep me out.

"Oh wow. Your parents shouldn't send you here alone. New York's a dangerous place."

"It's not like he cares about me anyways." I mumbled.

"What did you say!?" Jess asked, surprised.

"Oh umm, nothing. I should probably get going now." I said, starting to walk off.

I felt someone grab me and I flinched. "Wait, stop! D-Don't hurt me!" I said. The grip softened and Jess said "I'm sorry. I'd never hurt you. I don't know who would."

"My father would." I said quietly.

"Wait, hold on. Is this what I think it is?" She asked.

"It depends what you're thinking." I replied.

She lowered her voice down to a whisper and said "Is your father abusing you?"

"Well umm. I- uh, well, I should probably get going." I started to walk away again and I heard Jessica say "Wait, I want to help you."

Oh, well, umm, I really need to get going or else my father will get mad at me and when he gets mad he will hur- I-I said too much." I said covering my mouth.

"Here, why don't you come with me to the theatre. You'll be safe there."

"Oh, umm, o-ok then."

I followed Jessica till we got to the theatre. It said "New World Stages" on the front of the building, and then posters of the musicals that were being played. Jessica led me around to a smaller door. "This is the stage door for Heathers." She explained. I nodded as she led me in. She signed a sheet of paper on the wall. I looked at it and it looked like some type of attendance sheet.

Someone else came through the door and I flinched. "Oh, hi Barrett!" Jessica said.

"Hi Jess!" She replied. "Who's this?" She gestured towards me.

"Oh, that's Claire." She replied.

"Why is she in the theatre?" Barrett asked.

"I'll explain later."

Jessica led me to her dressing room and I looked around. There was a counter against the walls and it was crowded with makeup and hair stuff. On the other side there was a couch and a bunch of costumes.

"Can you step out real quick Claire?" Jess said.

"Sure." I could hear them talking. I put my ear up to the door and listened.

"So what happened to her, and why is she here?" I heard someone say.

"Well, I found her at a store. She bumped into me and fell." I heard Jessica say. "We talked for a few minutes and I think her parents are abusive. When I tried to bring it up she just got really nervous, so I think it's best if we don't say anything about it to her for now."

"Oh, wow. We need to help her." Barrett said.

"She can stay in one of our dressing rooms for the show." Someone said,

"Sure, she can stay with me." Jessica said.

"Ok, well, let's bring her back in then." Someone else said.

I quickly scooted over and I heard the door open. "You can come back in." Jessica said. I nodded then came back into the dressing room.

"Ok so, I'm Barrett, which you already know. And I play Veronica." Barrett said.

"I'm Jessica, and I play the almighty, Heather Chandler."

"I'm Elle, and I play Heather McNamara." Someone said.

"I'm Alice, and I play Heather Duke."

"I'm Ryan, and I play JD."

"I'm Katie and I play Martha."

It went on, and the whole cast introduced themselves.

"Well, I'm Claire, and I play no one." That got a laugh from everyone.

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