ACT 3, SCENE 3

THE COSTUMES WERE MISSING.

Aarav paced back and forth backstage. Everything used in the play from sets to minor props was carefully documented. After every rehearsal, each item was marked off as having been returned. How the fuck could all their costumes have been lost?

He couldn't believe the sight of the empty rack glaring before him. How could their school win without proper costuming? Everything needed to be perfect for even a chance at scoring in the top three. Without costumes, they might as well kiss their chances at first place goodbye. 

The head wardrobe manager was wringing her hands, red-faced and ready-eyed as she explained to Mr. Wilson what happened. Aarav felt a twinge of pity and stepped between her and the theatre teacher's brandished cane.

"I'll find them. We'll find them." He turned to the cast and crew and straightened up. Now wasn't the time to break down and cry. Not win victory had dangled so close within their reach. His reach. "Everyone split up and check the area. There's no way the costumes could've vanished into thin air."

Not to mention that they were all rented due to budget cuts. If the costumes couldn't be found, the department was facing a hefty charge. 

Aarav stalked out the tiny dressing room and into the dark backstage area. Inside the pockets of his woolen coat, his hands trembled. He inhaled sharply and pushed his glasses up his nose. His head pounded and his chest ached. In that moment, he wanted nothing more to give into frustration. His temper was hanging on by a thread, ready to snap at any second. 

A tug on his sleeve made him flinch. Aarav turned to face Jackie beside him. Her usual cheery expression was carved into worry. "I'll look with you."

He forced a smile. "Why? Scared of the dark?"

"Maybe. It's like that haunted house."

Their carnival trip felt light years away. A rare carefree moment. But this wasn't an amusement park attraction. His stomach twisted. Their costumes were gone. Truly gone. He gritted his teeth and tried to focus on the search rather than the sheer unbelievability of it. Aarav ducked behind the curtain and traveled down the hall into another group's dressing room. This early in the morning, no one was running rehearsals, so the theater was dark and mainly empty.

"Are you just breaking in?" Jackie hissed. Her hands circled around his arm.

"The door's perfectly open." He flicked on the light and looked around. Maybe another group had mixed up their costumes. A stupid mistake, but it was a reasonable occurrence. There had to be a rational explanation for the whole situation. However, Westminster's costumes were nowhere in sight. Aarav sighed and backed out. 

"We should check all the rooms." Already he was investigating the next one. 

The thudding of footsteps made him pause. Only Westminster had booked the stage for early rehearsal. No one else was supposed to be around. At him stopping, Jackie walked into his shoulder.

"Ow," she muttered, rubbing her nose.

"Quiet," he hissed. "Someone's around." Obediently, she ducked behind him, her dark eyes growing wide. 

"We're practically guaranteed a win," declared a voice. Male. But Aarav didn't recognize it.

"All the other schools were so lame last year. With Westminster out the way, we won't even have to try to win first," added someone else. A girl.

Aarav and Jackie shared a look. A growing pit formed in his stomach. Had a rival school really stooped so low as to steal their costumes? He gritted his teeth and his hands curled into shaking fists. The sheer audacity!

He wanted to win—more than anyone—but even he hadn't considered crossing the line of cheating. The thrill of winning meant nothing if the competition wasn't fair. The only thing left would be a false, hollow success.

But would anyone even believe their accusations? 

Before he could formulate another plan, Jackie stormed out from behind him with blazing eyes. And the two rivals were right in her warpath. Biting back another scream of irritation, Aarav chased after her. 

"You stole our costumes, didn't you?" she shrieked, jabbing a finger in their direction, wielding the statement as a weapon.

Aarav guided her away. "She doesn't mean that." 

He circled his thumb, rubbing her shoulders until the tension in them subsided. Hurling out accusations would only make everything worse. They had to bid their time until there was cold hard evidence.

The pair before them merely shared a glance. "You caught us," the boy said sheepishly after Aarav stared him down for a moment and raised his hands in surrender. "We hid them in the back storage closet.

Aarav's eyes narrowed. His voice edged between calmness and fury. "Which one?" 

The boy pointed. 139. Aarav released Jackie's shoulders and straightened his glasses. "Let's go." 

She trailed after him and he screwed open the door. The hinges creaked in a desperate call for oiling. He slammed a hand against the switch and the dim yellow light flickered on from a lone bulb dangling from the center. Aarav squinted at the room. In the dark shadows of the corner were the faint outlines of props and clothes. 

"I can't believe it." Jackie shook her head.

"Better start." He stepped toward the form. Every step sent a billow of dust into the air around them. He bit back a cough and set a hand along the wall as the struggling light gave out and flickered off. 

There was a rustle beside him as Jackie reached out. "These don't feel like our costumes.

A sinking stomach threatened to swallow him whole when Aarav realized she was right. The fabric beneath his fingertips was coarse and worn—nothing like the expensive, delicate material their costumes had been crafted from. "Those assholes," he hissed right as the door slammed shut behind them.

"What the fuck?" Jackie screeched. He didn't have time to be surprised at her burst of anger when she flung herself at the door. The lock rattled but it refused to budge.

The pit grew wider. A sand trap, the spiraling grains drowning them as they tried desperately to claw out. He shoved all his weight on the door along with Jackie but still to no avail. 

They were trapped.

Aarav slammed a hand against the wall, ignoring the pain shooting through his arm. He grappled for his phone to text someone to let them out. Upon seeing the lack of signal, a gripping fear began to sink its claws into him. He swallowed hard while his trembling fingers tried not to lose grip of his phone. Hurling all rationality out the window, Aarav fired off texts anyway. To Mr. Wilson, Aaliyah, Liam—anyone.

His heart plummeted when 'Not Delivered' flashed before his eyes in stark red. "Fucking hell," he gasped. 

"I can pick a lock!" Jackie suggested. She knelt before the handle and tugged a pin out of her hair. 

"Do you know how?" 

"I was planning on looking up a tutorial…" Her voice trailed off once she realized they had no service. 

Their phones were useless. 

Aarav collapsed on a random box and dug his hands into his scalp, fingers tugging into his hair. He needed them to win Center Stage more than anything. How could everything have gone so horribly wrong? Their cue was in five hours. What were the chances someone would find them before then? 

The show would have to go on. Without costumes and without a leading actress. 

"Sorry," Jackie whispered. Sorry. She flung it around like it was extra change. Her version of hello. Her version of shouldering the blame. Her version of diminishing herself.

"Don't," he snapped. "This isn't yours to apologize for."

Her mouth opened to repeat the word before she realized and shut it. "What do we do now?"

Aarav tilted his head up to the ceiling. The darkness above greeted him. For once, he had nothing to say. Not a single inkling of a plan. The blood rushed into his ears and his head began to pound. 

"I don't know."

The three words hung in the air, heavy in their lack of weight.

Her hand reached for his, their fingers entwining together. Her thumb brushed over his knuckles, sending a jolt of shock through his body. Aarav looked up, despite barely being able to see her. 

"It's gonna be okay," she whispered. "We're going to be okay." 

Defeat was a bitter pill to swallow but he accepted it along with her words. His fingers closed around hers. Her skin was cold to the touch, ice against his burning palms.

"Just being invited to compete nationally is an achievement," she chattered on. Aarav released a heavy breath and allowed her optimism to ease the coiled tangled of thoughts inside.  He knew. He should be proud they'd made it this far.

But the fact they'd come so close to possibly winning only to have that chance ripped away? It stung. Worse than any sort of poison. Expectation was the worst kind of drug. 

"Jackie," he said softly.

"What is it?"

"Thank you." The words felt strange coming out of his mouth. Like they didn't fit right on his tongue. 

"For what?" 

Aarav wiped his glasses even though he still couldn't see. He straightened them on the bridge of his nose. "For keeping me sane."

"You're doing the same for me. You're so level-headed all the time."

He laughed softly and shook his head. If only she knew how much of a mess he was right now. "I swear I'm not."

"Could've fooled me."

"I guess I do have some acting experience."

"But you'd rather direct?"

"Yeah." He nodded despite the darkness. "I like being in control."

After a moment, he realized their hands were still linked together. She'd made no move to pull away. He didn't either. It was an odd feeling, having someone's hand in his.

Aarav squinted at the ceiling. "Think that's a vent? Maybe you can fit through it." 

Jackie sat up, her hair brushing against his skin. "Can't hurt to try." 

In a flash, she was on her feet and hoisting herself up the rack of clothes. Her fingertips brushed the ceiling. Her face scrunched in effort as she pushed at the vent. Furrowing just brows, Aarav held the rack steady as she balanced precariously on the rail.

"It's not opening."

"That's fine," he said quickly and held out his arms. "Now get down before you fall."

"I'll be fine." Despite there barely being a couple feet between them, her voice sounded miles away. Jackie prepared to slid back to the ground when her hold loosened on the rack. She set out a shriek as her hand lost grip and she spiraled off in free fall.

Aarav barely had time to think when she crashed into him, the sudden weight knocking his breath away. He stumbled back, his grip tightening on her as he steadied both of them and caught his breath.

"You okay?" His hand lingered on her shoulders.

"Fine." Her eyes glimmered from the shock of falling.

"Let's not try that again."

"It was a little fun. Like a roller coaster."

"Never. You hear me? Never." Aarav gritted his teeth while Jackie giggled. Carefree as though she hadn't nearly just fallen to her death. 

When her laughter subsided, she gingerly found a seat beside him, her shoulder brushing against his. Her hands curled in her lap. Her foot bounced up and down. "Wanna make a bet? How soon do you think we'll be found?"

Aarav checked the time on his phone. 12:16. About three more hours until it was Westminster's turn for the stage. Would they even be rescued in time? The show could go on without him, but Jackie was the lead. Mr. Wilson had casted an understudy, but they needed their best cards on the table. 

Not to mention that she'd worked so hard during rehearsals. A twinge of guilt made him bristle. She wouldn't even get to compete. All because he'd been stupid enough to believe their rivals. And look where that'd gotten them—locked in a storage closet.

"It's kinda nice," Jackie commented, making him jerk forward in surprise. "Almost like stargazing."

Leave it to her to look on the bright side. "Where do you see stars? From hitting your head too hard?"

"Shut up." She jabbed a finger into his side. Another giggle. "You still haven't answered my question." 

"Give it a good day or two and we'll be free."

"A day?" 

"You have a better estimate?" 

"Three hours. Just in time for us to compete."

Ever the optimist. Aarav sighed and fiddled with his glasses. He stretched himself out on the ground, allowing the cold to seep through his clothes. In the nothingness, the exhaustion that long plagued him was harder to deny than ever. 

"Are you sleeping?"

"I can't." 

"Just take a nap. I'll wake you up later."

"I can't." Even when his eyes screwed shut, sleep evaded him. He was too anxious, too alert. Ever little sound sent his pulse spiking. 

"Do you want me to leave you alone?"

Aarav shook his head. "It's fine. You can keep talking." 

There was a rustle as Jackie shifted into a different position. "My dad told me this fairytale once. Like Vietnamese Cinderella."

"You think telling a bedtime story will help me fall asleep?" 

"No. It's just a random memory I had." Her voice continued animatedly. "After her father died, Tấm was left with a stepmother and stepsister. Both abused her, forcing her to do all the labor around the house. She found a fish once and it was able to communicate with her, so she made it a home in the well. Every day, she would feed it rice."  

Jackie giggled and turned on her phone flashlight, holding it under her chin. The shadows danced across her face, the light illuminating one half in white. "One day, when Tấm was occupied, the stepmother dressed in her rags and went to the well and called for the fish. When it came to the surface, she killed it." 

"Our of sheer spite?" Aarav blinked.

Jackie nodded animatedly. "When Tấm finds it dead, she's distraught. Her fairy godfather appears and tells her to bury the bones. She does as she's told. Soon the prince holds a grand festival to look for a bride. The stepfamily leaves her behind so fairy tells her to dig up the bones."

"So the fish was magic?"

"Yes. In place of the bones, Tấm finds lavish clothes and golden shoes. So she goes to the celebration just like Cinderella. And of course, she loses a shoe and the prince has to find her. He eventually does and they marry."

"However!" Jackie shifted so her entire face was cast in a white glow. "The stepfamily kills her when she comes home to honor her dad's day of death, and by tradition, the stepsister marries the prince. Tấm is reincarnated and killed multiple times until she ends up as a peach tree. An old woman finds her and brings the peach home. Tấm emerges from the peach more beautiful than ever."

"Why was she reincarnated so many times?"

"Something about her determination to live. Never explained." Jackie shrugged and continued. "The prince is now king and he passes through the village. That's when he's reunited with his beloved. And then they finally live happily ever after."

"If I ended up killed so many times, I'd just stay dead." Aarav shook his head. "Living isn't worth that much trouble." 

"Not even for a happy ending?" 

"You don't know if that's guaranteed."

"It is in the stories."

Jackie laid down beside him and rested her elbows against the floor, propping her chin in her hands. "Now it's your turn. Tell me a fairytale."

"There's one from Panchatantra that Aadhira loved. About a rabbit and lion." 

"Like an Aesop fable?" She moved closer, eyes widening.

"Sort of. It involves animals." 

"The animals made an agreement with the great lion, the kind of the jungle," Aarav started. "They would send one animal to him everyday to be eaten. One day, they sent a little rabbit. The rabbit arrived late, around sunset, and the lion became furious that his meal was only a meager creature."

Jackie's fingers dug into his arm. "Tell me he survives."

Aarav laughed. "Don't worry, this has a happy ending. Anyway, the rabbit told the lion that they'd been sidetracked by another lion, who proclaimed himself king of the jungle. This infuriated the lion, and the rabbit was told to lead him to his rival. The rabbit led him to a well and the foolish lion thought his reflection in the water was his competitor. In fury, he launched himself at the well and ended up drowning." 

"So it is like an Aesop fable. The rabbit was smart." 

Aarav nodded and shifted an arm behind his head. "So then the rest of the animals lived happily, free of the lion's tyranny."

"Aadhira's like a lion herself. A mini one."

A smile curved Aarav's lips. "She isn't afraid of anything," he agreed. 

A stillness settled between them, silent except for the rhythm of their breathing and beating hearts. He closed his eyes and for a moment he could almost imagine the world was upside-down and he was falling toward the stars. 

"Do you ever think about dying?" Jackie asked. Her words lingered on the quiet air.

His eyes fluttered open. "What?" 

"Like the perfect way to die," she clarified. "I want to die peacefully of old age. But also have time beforehand to plan out my last words."

"What do you want your last words to me?"

"Not sure yet. Something dramatic, like the ending of a tragedy. A line to always be quoted." 

"Famous last words."

"Yeah." After another beat, she asked, "What if we die in here?"

"You're surprisingly morbid for someone who hates horror, you know that?"

"What would your last words be?"

"Who knows?" Aarav shrugged. "I won't be around to care about what people think."

"What do you think happens after death? Is there an afterlife for atheists?" 

"The brain shuts down and our bodies decay and our consciousness simply ceases to exist. We return to dust."

"Now who's the morbid one?" Jackie jabbed him in the side and he laughed, rolling away from her.

"You asked first," he reminded. The sound of footsteps made him sit up. 

"Hello?" He lunged to his feet and slammed his hands on the door. "Who's there?"

"Is it someone we know?" Jackie's eyes carried a wildness in them that glittered—part fear, part dread, part hope. "Are we being saved?" 

A muffled noise. The footsteps grew louder. The tap of a cane. "Who's in there?" 

Aarav pressed his ear to the door. "Mr. Wilson? Is that you? Jackie and I got locked in." 

"Locked in?" Another tap of the cane and the jangle of the handle. "I'll have to find the keys. Maybe a janitor." 

The panic edged into the teacher's normally calm voice. "How did you two even end up in there?"

"Long story. Did you find the costumes? How soon can you get us out?" 

"The costumes had been thrown out into the nearby pond."

At the words, Aarav felt the rest of his hope vanishing. Maybe some had survived but no doubt there were a couple pieces that would've suffered irreparable damage. "Anything salvageable?" 

"Just hold tight. I'll get you two out." 

Hers eyes met Jackie's which were steeled in determination. Her jaw was set and her shoulders were straightened. She offered a hand to him. "It's not over yet. We can still get through this."

Aarav offered a wavering smile. Still, he accepted her hand. When the door creaked open, he allowed her to tug him into the light.