Beautiful Monster 2(37)

 
“Right, but she’s always around you,” I retorted. “Every time I look, there’s Nina by your side, Nina clinging to your arm.”
 
“Amy…” He reached out for me now, but I drew away slightly.
 
“Whatever. You could have told me you were going to help her last night. I thought you were going down to the basement to transform by yourself. But she was there?”
 
“I didn’t know that I needed your permission?” Liam snapped back at me.
 
It seemed to be a day for me to get in fights with people, and it was the last thing that I wanted. Sarah and Liam were the people I loved most in the world, and I didn’t want to fight with them. But today, nobody seemed to be getting along with me.
 
“You don’t. But it’s nice to tell your girlfriend when you’re spending all night with another woman.”
 
“Amy.” Liam looked shocked. “It’s not like that and you know it.”
 
“Whatever.” I shook my head. The conversation with Sarah had put me on edge and I didn’t want to discuss anything with him anymore. “I have to go to class.”
 
“You don’t want to talk about your audition?”
 
I shook my head, readjusting my backpack shoulder straps. “See you later,” I said, turning and leaving. I was already late, and it only added to my bad mood.
 
Trying my luck, I took a short cut through the empty Red Theater to get to the main lecture hall. The theater was dark and I stepped quickly through the aisles that I knew well, going up the steps and heading backstage to take the stage door exit to the other hallway. My emotions were boiling over, and I had so much on my mind that I almost missed it.
 
There was a flash of light, out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head out of instinct, and just for one moment, I thought I saw a swirling white mist.
 
I froze and blinked, not trusting my eyes. The white mist was getting taller and branching out. I shook my head and closed my eyes, counting to five.
 
When I opened my eyes, it was gone and the only thing still there was the memory I had in my mind’s eyes.#p#分页标题#e#
 
Over six months ago, standing on that very spot, I had prayed for Porsche’s life in the wake of Selene’s murder. Liam had hovered over her broken body, sobbing, frantically trying to change her into an immortal. The floor had been cleaned, the blood had been wiped away, but the white mist had been over that exact spot.
 
I took the other stage door exit, my heart thundering loudly. I felt a weight on my chest that wouldn’t lift until I was back into the hallway that was busy with students. Once among the masses, the fear disappeared and I felt like I was safe. I didn’t know what I saw, and I couldn’t make sense of it. I just know it had made me afraid. And that I would never forget it.
 
I sat on the opposite side of the lecture hall from Sarah, wanting to keep my head clear. She gave me a few glances, but I didn’t meet them.
 
When class was over, I bolted towards my audition, not wanting anyone who was coming from school to catch up to me. This should be one of the more exciting days of my life, but instead, it was turning into a disaster.
 
The only bright spot in the day was that Drago would be there as the new stunt coordinator for Ranger. Technically, there was no reason for him to be at the auditions, but when he found out I would be auditioning, he found an excuse.
 
I wasn’t expecting a paparazzi mob when I approached the building, but I guess, with Ranger being a popular show, there was a reason for them wanting to capture the next future star. Trying to maintain a cool head, I ignored them, keeping my head low and slipping around them into the doors. Cameras flashed at my back, but I didn’t turn around as I headed down the long hallway, following the signs.
 
The last TV audition I had was an absolute disaster. Film acting is so much different than stage acting, and it had taken me quite a while to grasp that concept. But I feel like I have learned a lot in the past year, and I was ready to give it another go. Heck, the camera time alone on Sites, which would air tomorrow, had taught me more than I needed to know. Film was long and tiresome work, but what I liked about it was you could play up little things that a theater audience couldn’t otherwise see, like a flicker of a smile or a flash of the eyes. Those things were all captured in minute detail on a camera.
 
I signed in and joined the other potentials in the waiting room. Liam had taught me to ignore what everyone else was doing and just focus, but today, I couldn’t. I was thinking about what I had seen in the theater, and the fight I had with Liam and with Sarah.