Who Killed Opal Westwood

Who Killed Opal Westwood?: Part 1

"We have five minutes until showtime, where's Jasmine?" Jodie asked as she scrambled backstage to make sure everything was ready for the show.

One of the guys on the production team, Jacob, shrugged his shoulders, "Last I checked, she went to the bathroom. Said she wasn't feeling good."

"Move", Jodie said as she pushed through a blockade of students behind the curtains. She hurriedly made her way to the girl's restroom and saw that only one stall was in use. She sighed and she tapped on the door, "Jasmine, is that you?"

"I can't do this, Jodie, I'm sorry. I have a really bad feeling. Someone moved my bag that was sitting in my chair so I don't know where my inhaler is", she replied through teary eyes.

Jodie put her hand on the stall, "What do you mean you can't do this? We have less than three minutes until the show starts. Do I need to remind you that your understudy is in the hospital? We can't do this without you."

A few moments of silence passed until the stall door finally opened, revealing Jasmine sitting on the ground, bent over the toilet. She had been throwing up from her nerves about performing. Even though it was only a high school performance, Jasmine still held it in high regard. She'd always wanted to be an actress.

Jodie came closer and stuck her hand out to help Jasmine stand to her feet. Jasmine took her hand and stood up. They both moved over to the sink, where Jodie told her to clean herself up. She grabbed Jasmine by the shoulders, "Look at me. You can do this. You're the only one that can. When you go out there, just imagine that no one else is in the audience. Now come on, I need to go take my seat."

Jasmine nodded and had finally been motivated again. She rushed backstage to where her other cast mates were and they all joined together in a hug. Jodie snapped her fingers, "Places, everyone. Don't mess this up!" She quickly ran out to the audience and took her seat up front.

The lights dimmed and the curtain began to peel back. There stood Jasmine as Opal, and her five friends as they opened the show in heavy conversation. Eryn, who was played by Mariah, sighed in frustration, "Opal, what's the meaning of this? Ryan's telling me you've been talking nonsense again. Is what he said true?...Opal!"

"I see Ryan's been runnin' his mouth as usual. I was going to tell you all. I guess now is a good time as any since we're all gathered together", Opal replied. She turned to the audience and spoke, "I think we should come clean about what we did."

"Opal, are you crazy? Do you want us arrested or somethin'?" Cade replied.

"Would you quit your worryin'? The sheriff will know that it an accident. And besides, I wouldn't mention any of your names. But people are gonna start talking and puttin' the pieces together if we don't do it for them", Opal confessed.

Lyla launched herself at Opal, just barely missing her face with the palm of her hand. Everyone gasped and she turned to face them, "You better be lucky you moved or I would've slapped you silly for what you just said! No one has to know that we were involved. If this is all you called us here for, then we're leaving, right guys?"

Everyone but Opal nodded and walked off in a group together. She sighed and she took a seat on the ground, engulfed in her dress. "And now cue the spotlight on her", Jodie said quietly as she waited for the lights to zero in on Opal.

Opal looked out into the crowd with her arm stretched, "What would you do when faced with a choice that conflicts with your morality? Maybe Thomas, my brother, would understand. Yes, that's it, I'll ask him what I should do."

Before Opal could stand and before the the scene could change, the curtains began to close. Jodie instinctively stood up, "What is going on?!" The spotlight cut off and the audience was trapped in darkness as the sudden change occurred.

Moments later, a loud scream pieced the ears of everyone inside, which caused people to cover theirs in hopes of it ending soon. Jodie was furious; this was not how the next scene was supposed to play out. As much as she wanted to go backstage to see what was wrong, her theater teacher, Ms. Harris had instructed against it. She just had to wait and see how this would play out. Nervously, she sat back down and bit her nails anxiously.

A few minutes later, the lights cut back on and everyone had found their way back to their seats. The curtains were still closed which left everyone, especially Jodie, feeling confused. Then suddenly, the curtains drew back and revealed Opal lying down center stage.

Leo, who was playing Thomas, Opal's brother, had rushed out to her and knelt on the ground next to her and gently shook her, "Opal, is everything alright?"

There was no response.

He shook her once more, "Opal? Are you...AHHHH!" He immediately jumped back and ran off the stage.

Jodie couldn't contain herself anymore and got out of her seat and rushed to the stage. Once she got close enough, she saw that there was blood surrounding Opal's body and she covered her mouth in shock. She slowly approached, "Jasmine? Can you hear me?"

No response.

She bent down, putting her ear up to her chest and listened for a heart beat.

There was none.

Panicked, she looked out at the audience and all eyes were on her. The murmurs became louder and everyone questioned what was going on. She knew she had to give an answer to the crowd. What would you do when faced with a choice that conflicts with your morality? Would she tell the crowd the truth about what was really going on? Or would she withhold the truth to not cause panic?

She cleared her throat, "If I could just get everyone's attention please. We're just going to be taking a 20 minute intermission. Please just remain seated and we'll be back as soon as we can, thank you. Somebody get these curtains!"

The curtains closed at once and left a separation between Jodie and the audience. She was finally able to realize what truly happened.

Someone really killed Opal Westwood.