Free Learning by Karen Kingsbury Page B

not. I hadn’t really thought about it until now.” Bailey stood a little straighter and took a deep breath. “Well, … I guess this is it.”
    “You’ll be perfect.” Betty leaned close and kissed her cheek. “Go get ‘em.”
    “Thank you.” Bailey searched the older woman’s eyes. “You’re a gift from God, Betty.” She turned to Betty’s husband. “You too,Bob. I don’t know if I would’ve survived those rehearsals if it weren’t for you.”
    “Nah,” Betty waved off the compliment. “Just doing our job. You’d do the same thing if you were in our place.”
    Bailey bid the two of them goodbye and walked across the backstage toward the girls’ dressing room. The couple planned to go home after the performance, since Bailey was going out for pizza with the cast. She’d catch a cab back home — something they all agreed was a safe choice. The costume room was empty as Bailey stepped inside and she realized she was a little early. But that was perfect. She needed this time to focus, to go over the songs and dance moves one more time in her head.
    On a long clothes rack, she found a costume bag with her name pinned to it. A thrill ran through her veins as she unzipped it and looked at the two dresses inside. They were both adorable. For most scenes she would wear the white dress trimmed in pink with a big pink sash and matching pink socks. Bailey was to wear her hair in a single ponytail, with a pink ribbon that hung the length of it. She found a place in front of the mirror and plugged in her curling iron. When she was finished turning her long hair into ringlets, she tied her ribbon and was about to spray the style in place when Chrissy walked into the dressing room.
    “Hi.” Bailey could barely contain her excitement. She was the only member of the cast whose first show was tonight. To everyone else it might have been just another night on Broadway, but certainly not to Bailey.
    “Hey.” Chrissy looked surprised to see her. “That’s right …” She looked Bailey over and grinned. “It’s your first night.”
    “It is.” Bailey clutched her hands together, her eyes wide. “I’m praying I won’t mess up.”
    “Come on, Bailey.” Chrissy had bleached blond hair and too-thin long legs and she played an ensemble role, same as Bailey. And like Bailey, she understudied for one of the lead roles — therole of Amber. “You give your all at every rehearsal. And you have connections like crazy. A movie credit with Brandon Paul. I mean … you’ll be a lead in no time.” Something about Chrissy’s tone sounded defeated.
    “Thanks … I guess.” Bailey wasn’t sure she liked Chrissy’s comments. “I sort of like to think I earned my spot.”
    “Well, yeah …” Chrissy uttered a light laugh. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
    Bailey hoped not. Especially after the rumblings from other cast members that she’d taken the easy road to Broadway, or that her connections were the only reason she was here. Bailey watched Chrissy take a spot in front of the long mirror. “I’ve watched you rehearse the Amber role.” Bailey had wanted to tell her this for a while. “Chrissy, you’re perfect.” The girl who played Amber now was rude and arrogant. She wanted nothing to do with Bailey, and she’d made that clear from the beginning — Francesca’s thoughts on the cast being family or not.
    Bailey gave her hair a few light spritzes with the finishing spray. As she did, Chrissy peeled off her sweatshirt and prepared to slip into her dress — a pale blue number with as many pretty bows and matching hair ties as the one Bailey wore. But in a rush Bailey could no longer focus on Chrissy’s dress, or her own costume, or anything but what was suddenly and certainly painfully obvious.
    Bailey had noticed this before, but not as dramatically as right now: Chrissy was bone thin. Her shoulders jutted out like balls at the end of a couple of sticks. The ribs across her back all jutted out, and