12

That afternoon, the cast had their last rehearsal before opening night. Parker was sitting offstage, watching a scene be repeated for what had to be the fifth or sixth time. Two of the actors had been flubbing their lines, so Ms. Frasier was having them run the scene again and again to drill it into their heads. Parker didn’t need to do anything for this scene, so he had to sit and watch until Ms. Frasier decided they knew the lines well enough.

Most of the other actors had taken a seat in the audience while this went on. Yuan was out there quietly chatting with another actor. Parker decided to run back to the workshop and grab his phone out of his bag.

When he reached the workshop, he noticed the door was slightly open—which was unusual because hardly anyone else ever went in there. Parker opened the door . . . and saw Caroline inside, looking through the toolbox.

The door creaked as he pushed it all the way open. Caroline snapped upright and turned to face Parker. “Oh, hey.” She smoothed her face into a calm smile.

“What are you doing in here?”

Caroline’s eyes darted back and forth around the room. She cleared her throat. “I was just bored—looking around.”

She had clearly been searching for something in here. Parker crossed his arms. “Can I help you find something?”

“No,” she replied a little too quickly. “I’m not—I should probably get back out there.” She gave a fake smile again and scurried past him.

Parker walked over to where she had been looking. The toolbox was kind of a mess, everything tossed in randomly. She could have easily taken something and Parker would have no way of knowing what it was.

He looked back toward the door. He’d just seen something he wasn’t supposed to, something Caroline didn’t want him to know. He was sure of it.

Parker grabbed his phone out of his bag as an uneasy feeling swelled in his chest.

By the time he got back to the stage, Caroline was already in the audience watching the scene again. Parker kept a close eye on her, but she didn’t do anything else suspicious.

What were you looking for?

***

“I still don’t buy it,” Yuan said as they walked out of rehearsal. Parker had just told her what he’d seen. “Caroline’s ego won’t let her sabotage a play that she’s in. Even if she’s not the lead.”

“Well, why else would she be in the workshop? I’ve done several productions now, and I’ve never seen her show any interest in the workshop.”

Yuan shrugged. “Maybe she was just bored.”

They arrived outside to find Drew and Cole reading comic books. “Parker’s being paranoid,” Yuan announced.

Cole lowered his book. “How so?”

“He saw Caroline snooping around the workshop. Now he’s convinced she’s going to try and mess up opening night.”

“What’s the worst she can do?” Cole said. “Besides, you’ll be backstage during the whole performance. You can keep an eye on things and fix whatever she tries to do.”

Cole had a point, but Parker wasn’t so sure. “I can’t watch everything all the time,” he said. “I have to move set pieces around. I’m not just twiddling my thumbs back there.”

Cole shrugged. “Better than nothing.”

Parker sat next to them on the bench and let the issue drop. Maybe I am just being paranoid, he thought. He tried to convince himself that it was just his imagination, but the gnawing feeling wouldn’t go away.

This is ridiculous, he thought. Cole’s right. If something goes wrong, I have to fix it.

If he saw Caroline do something, he’d first try to stop it without his power. But if it came down to it, if the only way he could help Yuan was to use it, then he would.

If I can.