Limitless: The Second Edition

Oliver

The next day, I'm ready. Beyond ready. Beyond ready to begin work on this musical. Beyond ready to meet the rest of my new cast mates. But above all, beyond ready to see Hannah again.

The way Hannah took one look at me and appeared to immediately associate me with a well-known Broadway character that she definitely has a major crush on. I'll never forget the way she blushed when she admitted he was her favorite character. I have to wonder, though. If she feels so strongly about Crutchie, how does she feel about Enso? How does she feel about Derek? If she's anything like most of the girls in the Chain Breaker fan base, she would choose Derek over me in a heartbeat.

Actually, screw that.

Anyone with half a brain would choose Derek Anderson over me. For a few hours every night, he is just like me. He uses crutches just like I do. But at the end of the night, he gets to put the crutches away and walk, run, and jump on his own two feet. He's got gorgeous jet black hair and eyes made of amber. He has a jawline that could cut a diamond in half. He has a six pack. I mean, so do I, but that's not the point here. The point is that Derek Anderson is a freaking gorgeous specimen, and any female in her right mind would choose him over me.

But that doesn't matter now. Hannah isn't here yet. I walk into the auditorium and park myself in a seat. It won't be long before she gets here. After all, she can use both her legs. She doesn't have to wait for the elevator. She can run down here if she wants to. Right now, I'm going to satisfy the brain cells that have decided to play the theme song that was basically the soundtrack of my childhood on repeat all day, specifically the remix. I plug in my earbuds, open up the video app on my phone, and locate the video.

I'm so busy daydreaming about being able to dance to this song that I don't immediately notice when Hannah sits next to me. But when I see her sit down on my left out of the corner of my eye, I silently hand her my left earbud to join in listening. I don't want to say anything for fear of scaring her away.

Objective right now is do not scare away the school's star actress.

However, the silence is incredibly awkward, so I decide to break the ice. "Did you watch this as a kid?" I ask her.

She looks up at me, that pretty smile on her face. "Of course. Every theatre kid watched this."

I can't help but feel an intense burning desire to get to know Hannah better. But what should I ask her? Should I turn into a toddler and ask her what her favorite color is? What her favorite animal is? Of course not. This isn't kindergarten. We are high school seniors, for Pete's sake. We do not ask each other what our favorite color is.

So I decide to go with the next best thing.

"What got you into theatre?" I question, hardly willing to make eye contact with her.

"It started when I was a little kid," she replies. "I was, like, two. My parents put me in this daycare with a drama program."

"So you mean to tell me you were acting at only two years old?"

She laughs lightly and shakes her head. "No. I mean they had a drama team that performed skits for the kids and then hung out with them during the day. It was awesome. There was this one character named Avery the Aviator. I was hopelessly obsessed with her actress. She was so adventurous and funny. She was my best friend."

As I listen to her speak, I realize that Hannah could probably read the phone book to me and I would still be listening intently. I wonder if her voice sounds this pretty when she sings. "Was she just the pilot girl or something? Or did you ever learn her name?"

Hannah nods and her green eyes glaze over as she lets the nostalgia wash over her. "Her name was Courtney Sheaffer. We were so close."

I wish I could have been there. I wish I could have met the person who is most likely the reason that Hannah is here in theatre today. "Do you still have contact with her?" I suddenly realize what I just said. She might not. I don't want to upset her.

"Unfortunately, I aged out of the program when I was five. That was thirteen years ago. I haven't seen or heard from her since. I miss her so much. She's the reason I'm a showgirl today." The smile fades from her face and she bites her lip, blinking back tears.

The next thing I know, my hand is on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'm sure she's out there, waiting for you to contact her. All you have to do is find her. And I'm sure you'll find her."

Just then, a petite blonde girl approaches us. "Everything okay here?"

Hannah glances up at her. "Yeah. I just miss my best friend I haven't seen in thirteen years."

"I know I'm not her, but I'll be your friend," the girl responds. "I'm Sadie, by the way. I'm playing Layeba. So if I act like your mother, don't be surprised. It's called character work."

"And I'm playing the bad guy, Anjan," another voice pipes up. A tall African American boy with curly hair steps out from behind Sadie. "My name's David."

Hannah turns around to face them. "You guys aren't going to pick on Oliver, are you?"

Sadie balls her fists and jumps into a fighting position. "Who do I have to fight? Who's picking on the star of our show?"

I hold up my hand. "Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal. I don't want to start fights."

"You sound like Enso," David replies. "And you are Enso. I can't believe we got an actual crutch user to play our Enso. Derek would be so freaking proud."

The mention of Derek sends a tsunami of good, warm feeling through my body. "You really think so?"

"Absolutely," Sadie answers. "He would be so happy. Well, I know my opinion doesn't matter much compared to Derek's, but for what it's worth, it makes me happy, too. You're going to be a star, Oliver. Nobody is going to mess with you anymore once they see you in this show. You'll be the king of the school."

I sigh. "And yet the jocks will probably still try to steal my crutches all the time just for their own amusement."

David's eyes light up. "Say, what's your last class, Oliver?"

"Physics with Mrs. Taylor."

"My last class is right across from there," David tells me. "Starting at rehearsal on Thursday, I'll walk you down here. I may not be much physically, but I feel like you shouldn't have to get beat up like that. I'll keep an eye on you, man. Don't worry."

I smile at him. "Thanks."

Hannah puts a hand on my shoulder. "Did you get here okay today, though?"

"Yeah," I reply. "My two worst tormentors got suspended for a week."

"Doesn't matter," David objects. "I'll still walk you down here on Thursday. I got you, fam."

Before I can say anything else to him, Ms. Dawson enters the auditorium and calls everyone onstage. Hannah and I smile at each other, then head up the ramp together. As we take our places next to each other in the circle, I can't help but feel something really good is going to happen with her. And as I think back to what she said about her friend Courtney, I begin hatching a plan.