She Will Be Loved- Ben Tyler Cook

Chapter 19

Ben's POV

"Ben's the Ikea king!" I laughed as I heard that, finishing putting together the coffee table. I was welcomed into the city warmly with some old friends helping me get my apartment together. The Rosenthal's were here, as well as Ginna Claire, Andrew, and Mike Ryan. It was nice to see them all again, and the apartment was almost fully set up. It was an overwhelming transition to make, but I was excited for what was to come. I still felt like a kid. I basically still am, I'm still finishing up high school. This past year had caused me to mature a lot- I learned a lot of new things, grew as a person, and saw so many places. I'd been on tour before, but I was so young. I was excited to grow even more on this new adventure of living on my own in NYC. I was lucky to have a few friends already, and I was excited to start rehearsals for Tuck.

-

We had finally started rehearsals, and I was already growing close with my cast mates, some who I'd looked up to a lot. Andrew Keenan-Bolger and I bonded over us both being in Newsies, of course. Sarah Charles Lewis was a star, she was super sweet and insanely talented of course. Carolee Carmello, Michael Park, and Terrence Mann were all Broadway veterans, and it was so cool getting to work with them. They were all very nice and super down to earth. Tuck was another show with a dance heavy ensemble, which I was enjoying getting to learn all the choreography. Tuck Everlasting was a classic story, and it was incredible to see it come to life, and to be one of the people involved in this project. We were all working really hard, and I was excited to finally begin previews at the end of March. I was finally adjusting to living on my own, but I still missed tour, and was feeling a little "FOMO". I talked to Kasey almost everyday, and we both missed each other, but she was still having fun on tour, and I was always excited to tell her about Tuck's progress. As March approached, I grew more and more excited and was loving every second of progress made.

-

Kasey's POV

"What do you think it is? Free pizza party?" Morgan asked sarcastically, and we laughed.

"I don't know, maybe another variety show, we haven't had one in awhile," Kaitlyn pointed out, and we both agreed. We were walking into the theater, chatting before rehearsal. We had been told that there was "something important" they needed to tell us, and we were all wondering what it was. We got out stuff set down in our dressing room, and then went to rehearsal.

We all stretched and warmed up quietly, waiting for whatever it was they had to tell us.

"Hey guys, as you might have heard, we have a little bit of news to address today. Unfortunately, you guys aren't gonna like this very much," our director started. Bad news? Yikes. I glanced over at Morgan, and we both widened our eyes in confusion.

"We wish this could last forever, but Disney has decided to set an end date for Newsies's first national tour- October 2nd, 2016. We are officially announcing it on social media tomorrow."

I was in disbelief. Obviously, I hadn't expected this to never end, but now there was an official end date to countdown to. This tour had been the best experience of my life so far, and I'd met the bestest friends ever. I would never forget any of this, or trade this experience for anything. What's next?? I still won't even be done with school. Should I go back? Should I audition for other stuff??

"Kasey?"

My head snapped up, and Sky was trying to get my attention. Apparently I'd spaced out for the rest of that speech, as we were jumping into rehearsal now.

"You alright?" he smiled and offered a hand to help me up, which I accepted.

"Yeah, I just can't believe it. After October 2nd, it's all over," I sighed.