Limitless: The Second Edition

Oliver

The next day at rehearsal, all I can think about is Courtney. And Hannah, of course. I don't want to be wrong. I don't want to face the possibility that the woman I messaged last night was not Hannah's Courtney. I don't want to face the fact that Hannah's friend might not even be on Instagram at all. I want this woman to be the Courtney Sheaffer. Because after all, this woman is a legit Broadway choreographer. If she turns out to be who I'm looking for, Hannah will be thrilled. Well, that is, if I can get her here.

I'm sitting in the auditorium, looking through my phone. I decide to hop on my video sharing app and see what's in my recommended. Upon tapping the app, I'm greeted with a bunch of compilations of Broadway actors and some cosplay videos. Nothing new. I scroll down a bit to try to find something interesting. I come upon a half-minute video of a little girl singing the song "Winner". I plug in my earbuds, tap on it, and sit back and watch for the next thirty seconds as a four year old girl sings the fastest song in the musical. She stumbles over the words a few times, but she's pretty good. She's even attempting to do choreography. Not bad for a four year old.

Hannah sits down next to me, and I silently hand her one of my earbuds to listen. She takes it, and a smile grows on her face as she looks at the video.

"She's so cute," she remarks. "She's one of the first little kids to be born in the era of Chain Breaker. Pretty neat."

"Yeah," I reply. "She looks like she's trying to do everyone's dance moves at once. It's not bad at all. If anyone other than Derek can do everyone's choreography at the same time, it's probably this kid."

Sadie approaches, and David comes close behind. I'm not exactly sure why David always waits until all four of us are here to come chat. Maybe he's socially awkward. Every day he meets me out front of my last class, walks me down here, then retreats a few rows of seats away. He doesn't speak much, and he hardly looks me in the eye. I know he's nervous about his role, and I feel bad for him.

"Are you watching that precious little girl?" Sadie asks, leaning in to see. Hannah and I nod. "She's so cute."

"I haven't seen it yet. Let me see." David darts in front of her, and I unplug my earbuds so he can hear it. He smiles and gives a thumbs-up. "Anyone know if Derek has seen this yet?"

Sadie scrolls through her phone, then shows us a WorldChat post from Derek. "'Shout out to the lovely fan who sent me this adorable video this morning!'" She reads aloud. "'I strongly expect to see this little lady in her school's production of Chain Breaker one day!'"

David nods in satisfaction. "So he has seen it. Great. Are y'all ready for rehearsal?"

"Oh, definitely," Hannah answers excitedly. "How about you guys?"

"I'm ready," I say. "I said it before, and I'l say it again. I'm just happy to be here."

"Me too," Sadie replies. "I'm so excited to work with you, Oliver. You did so good at the read through yesterday."

"I'll say," Hannah agrees. "Dude, you were amazing! And you sure can sing. If I wasn't too starstruck to message him, I'd send a video of us singing together to Derek right now."

"Come on, what's holding you back?" David questions with a grin. "Go on. I'll even film it. Right now. 'I'm Not Broken'. Go." He pulls out his phone, but Hannah holds up her hand.

"No."

"Yeah, please don't," I beg him. "I don't want Derek to see me inevitably mess up his song. Maybe sometime, but not right now."

David puts his phone back in his pocket. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry guys. Truth is, I messaged him once and was so caught off guard and nervous when he replied to me that I never messaged him again. I was too scared. That was two years ago. There's just something about him that..." His voice trails off, and he shakes his head.

"That what?" Sadie presses him.

"Nothing. I'd rather not say. Don't ask. It's nothing."

He clearly doesn't want to elaborate, so we all just let it go. I turn to say something to Hannah when my Instagram notification goes off loudly. And my WorldChat notification is a custom ringtone of Derek yelling "I KNOW I'M A WINNER!"

Sadie and Hannah look around hopefully, and David's face tuns beet red.

"Sorry guys," I apologize. "It's my WorldChat."

"Aw, man." Sadie sounds a bit disappointed, and for a second, I wish I could bring Derek here. For Sadie. For David. For this entire cast. But most of all, for Hannah. I wish I could be the man of her dreams, but I know I can't compare to Derek. For this reason, I sincerely hope she meets him someday and he falls in love with her.

I push the thought aside, then open the notification. I jump a little when I see who it's from.

It's from Courtney.

One of my crutches falls and knocks me in the face. I don't care. I quickly try to calm down, hoping Hannah doesn't look over and see. With shaky hands, I slide my crutch out of my face and begin reading to myself.

Oliver, I'm actually crying right now. That is Hannah McFloyd. That's my girl. I can't believe this. You've found my best friend. Please, tell me ASAP. Where are you? Littlefield High School I'm guessing? Is Ms. Dawson still the drama teacher? Give her my email. I live in New York City now, but I'll be on my way down to Maryland very soon. Call me at this number as soon as you can.

At the bottom of the message is her number and email. I save the number to my contacts and make a mental note to show Ms. Dawson the email before or after rehearsal. My heart is pounding against my ribcage and an indescribable feeling of pure joy is rising within me.

I've found Courtney Sheaffer.

She is going to come home to see Hannah.

Hannah looks over at me, then tries to look at my phone. "You okay?"

I quickly shut off the screen and yank the phone out of her reach. "Yeah, I just got a notification from someone I didn't think would reply to me. I searched for hours yesterday trying to find this person."

"Derek?" David asks.

Sadie elbows him. "No, you idiot. Derek does not take hours to find and he always answers within the hour, at least ninety percent of the time."

Ms. Dawson enters before I can say anything, calling us onstage. I somehow manage to make my way up there before anyone else. Despite what some people might expect, I'm pretty fast on crutches when I put effort into it. I quickly approach her and discreetly tap her on the shoulder.

"What is it, Oliver?"

I show her the message, and whisper as quietly as possible to explain to her what's going on.

Ms. Dawson's face lights up. "Oh, Oliver. I will email her when we take a break in an hour. She was the best theatre student I've ever had. Only Hannah and you have come close to being anywhere near the actor she was. Don't you worry. You have my word."

I thank her, then turn to walk away.

"Oliver."

She calls my name, and I turn to look at her.

"Thank you, Oliver."