Chapter Text
"Wait, you guys...wrote a play?" Dylan asked skeptically. She crossed her arms and shifted her weight, studying her sister, Autumn, and Nora in disbelief.
"Yeah! Well, a musical, sort-of...We were really bored," Kat explained.
"And then we...just kept writing, I guess."
"We never would have thought the school would like it, much less want to actually make it!" Autumn added.
"Wait, they are?!" Dylan's voice rose in surprise. She briefly looked at Nora who only smiled and enthusiastically nodded.
"And...which of you geniuses actually came up this idea?"
The trio turned and pointed to Swann, seated on a recliner in the living room and intensely working on her digital camcorder with a tiny screwdriver.
She sensed the lull in conversation and looked up.
"Oh? Oh! Uhhh, yes! That...w-was me," Swann shyly admitted, raising her hand.
Dylan nodded thoughtfully. That was the first part of this that made sense.
"And...which of you is the star? I'm guessing Ms. Spotlight here." She said dryly, jamming her thumb towards Nora while looking down at Kat.
"Nope!" Nora responded, twirling in place.
She suddenly ran over to Swann, who put her camcorder and screwdriver down as she looked back up at Nora.
Nora held out her arms as if she was showing the world a brand new invention.
"May I present to you, our lovely camerawoman-turned-star...Ms. Swann Holloway!!!!"
Dylan was taken aback, skepticism now weighing even heavier on her face.
"What?! You?!" Dylan exclaimed.
Nora put her hands over her heart.
"Yes! Her!"
She held her hands down to Swann and pulled her out of the chair. The pair started dancing around each other as Swann giggled.
"But, aren't you like, a major introvert who prefers staying behind the camera?" Dylan asked, keeping her eyes on Swann.
"But that's why it works, Dyl," Autumn explained while smiling and shaking her head at her friends.
"See, the story is about an introvert who finds friends...and, it's also about that friendship," Autumn added.
Kat nodded.
"Swann's nervous, of course. But...she wants to do it. I think she wants to step out of her comfort zone. Besides, she's playing herself. And...she's the best at that."
Nora and Swann rejoined them. Nora playfully bowed.
Dylan observed the four again as they turned to her, and then focused on Swann.
"So, wait...the play is about you, Swann?"
The four exchanged glances and then looked back at Dylan.
"Like Autumn said...it's...about all of us!" Swann exclaimed.
...
(Three months later.)
...
Dylan entered the auditorium with a sense of dreadful nostalgia.
It was one thing to come back to the school to pick up her sister and her dumbass friends, but it was another thing entirely to actually be back inside the building.
Ugh.
Luckily there weren't a lot of people here. This was only a dress rehearsal, afterall.
Dylan guessed a number of the older adults she didn't recognize were parents of some of the other students who were either in this, or were otherwise involved.
Kat said the cast was small, mostly consisting of them playing themselves.
How the hell did they get this greenlit again? Who the fuck did they bribe?!
Dylan plopped down in her seat and flipped through the "Punkbill," a version of a Playbill one would receive when seeing an actual play or musical on Broadway.
Yup, Kat definitely made this.
It looked like one of her weirdo zines, entirely covered in stickers and then photocopied.
She flipped to the cast listing and read past the part where Kat and her friends were credited each as themselves, which is when she saw it.
"Sarah Long as...Dylan Mikaelsen."
I'm in this?!
Dylan huffed and shook her head. No wonder they insisted that she come to the dress rehearsal.
If she had found this out opening night, she would have snuck backstage and raised hell, maybe even flipping over a table or two.
And then she read another name in the cast list.
David Harrison as...Corey Litchfield? Who's that?
She shrugged but ultimately decided to keep an open mind. There would be plenty of time to strangle her sister later.
Suddenly, the lights flickered, indicating that they were about to start.
Rowdy kids, parents, and the few teachers that Dylan recognized all took their seats.
She closed the "Punkbill" and re-read the title before the lights went down: