Can True Love Survive High School? by Natalie Standiford

you proud of me?
    What's nu w/u?
    To: mad4u
    From: steverino
    Re: Re: back in the saddle
    U r so mature now. you'll be a thespian! A lady of the theatuh. I hope you'll let me walk down the red carpet with you at the oscars.
    Not much new here. studying. chem test tomorrow. Want to try for lunch? r u free 5th period?
    To: steverino
    From: mad4u
    Re: lunch
    Yes, but only if you'll spend half the lunch period helping me with my lines. Deal?
    To: mad4u
    From: steverino
    Re: lunch
    Deal. Dad is making bbq chicken tonight—I'll bring you a leg.
        xxx
    “Thanks for coming with me, Lina,” Mads said. They huddled backstage, waiting for Charles to call Mads for her second audition. “After the last time, I really need the support. God knows Audrey's no help.”
    “Try not to embarrass me, Fatison,” Audrey sneered, using one of her favorite nicknames for Mads.
    “I've been embarrassed since the day you were born,” Mads shot back.
    “I think you'll be okay this time,” Lina said. She had helped Mads practice her lines. Holly had planned on coming to support Mads, too, but at the last minute she got a frantic phone call from Britta. Apparently, Britta was having some kind of love crisis. Holly didn't say what it was. But Mads wished Holly could be with her. Holly had a natural confidence that sometimes rubbed off on Mads. Mads hoped so, anyway.
    “Madison? Are you ready?” Charles called.
    Mads gripped Lina's hand. “Remember—it's the great
beyond
,” Lina said, pushing her toward the stage.
    Mads went out and performed a new monologue. This time she got every line right, no mistakes. She may have underacted a little, as an antidote to Audrey's ham-miness. But she didn't stink. Not a bit.
    When it was over, Charles, M.C., and Lina clapped loudly. “Very nice, Madison,” Charles said. “Big improvement. Well, we're down to the wire with this role, since rehearsals begin this weekend, so I think I can safely say you have the part.”
    “All right!” Mads jumped up. Her plan was working perfectly. She was one step closer to learning the secrets of Sean's love life.
    Lina rushed out and jumped around with her. “Congratulations! Let's celebrate!”
    Mads and Lina left the theater and headed to Rutgers Street to celebrate her triumph. They went into Ike's Candy Store and picked out a big bag of jelly beans.
    “You're an actress!” Lina cheered.
    “Who cares?” Mads said. “Actress shmactress. Before you know it, I'll be friends with Jane Cotham, and soon I'll know every intimate detail about Sean! Maybe I'll even get to hang out with him after rehearsals.”
    “With Sean and Jane, you mean,” Lina said. “And Stephen.”
    “Oh, yeah, Stephen.” When Sean was in the picture, Stephen had a tendency to fade away. It was as if she had two compartments in her mind, and in her heart. And they were very separate. “The important thing is, my master plan is working.”
    “What master plan?” Lina asked.
    “Well, there's no actual plan,” Mads admitted. “I kind of make it up as I go along. But I know the general direction I want to go in, and this takes me there.”

9
    Waaah!
    To: hollygolitely
    From: your daily horoscope
    HERE IS TODAY'S HOROSCOPE: CAPRICORN: Do you know what a succubus is? No? Look it up. There's one headed your way.
----
    B ritta, what's the matter?”
    Holly found Britta at her front door in tears. “Come in,” Holly said, pulling the sniffling girl inside and shutting the door. “My god, what happened? Are you hurt? Did someone die?”
    Britta shook her head. “It's my parents. They're monsters! Fiends!”
    “What did they do?”
    “They're trying to stop me from seeing Ed!” Britta cried. “They're worried that our relationship is too intense. They won't let me see him more than once a week—and he's leaving in less than three weeks! That means I'll only see him twice more before he leaves—and after that, who knows?”
    She collapsed on Holly's shoulder and they both