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ever, as her long, sleek, dark hair frames her olive face and her boho-chic clothes show off her slim body to perfection. Behind her, seated at the table, is her circle of friends. They are trying to look like they are ignoring you, but it’s obvious that they are straining their ears to catch every word of the conversation. You cast a quick look around the group of girls. Any of them could be models – they all have the bored model pout, with perfect looks and figures. They look like they could be in university. Envy flares inside you, but you look back to Misha and see that her eyes are filled with the same kind of feeling you’ve just had about her and her group, and your insecurity melts away. You give her a friendly smile.
    â€œHey!” you say.
    Misha sets her coffee cup down, then looks up with a shine in her eyes. “You were great yesterday, you know? Congratulations on getting the title role…” Her Cheshire Cat smile now seems a little too wide. You pick up that her tone is overly-friendly, and realize what’s going on. She’s jealous , you think. Inside, you feel a leap of joy somewhere near your stomach. Misha is actually jealous of me . How do I work this? You decide to smile casually.
    â€œThanks,” you say. “That means a lot to me.” You pause, then ask your question. “What part did you get?”
    The light in Misha’s eyes goes cold but her smile stays in place. “Juliet’s nurse!” Juliet’s nurse is a big part, and it means a lot of scenes with you, but it’s not exactly glamorous. You can feel the tension start to rise, and you don’t want Misha to burst your bubble and make you feel guilty.
    You pin a real smile on to your face and make your tone more sincere. “That’s great! We’ll be working together loads, then?”
    â€œYeah!” She nods. “We’re gonna have so much fun!”
    Somehow, she just doesn’t convince you that the rehearsals are going to be fun for you. You smile at her and shrug. “Well, I guess I’ll—”
    â€œWhat do you think of Romeo?” Misha bursts in. Her face shows signs of concern, but there’s a smirk growing there too. You can tell that there is something going on. Even Misha’s friends have given up on pretending not to listen to your conversation and are looking at you, waiting for a reaction . What didn’t Reuben tell me this morning? Something is definitely up here .
    You cross your arms over your chest and look across to where Reuben is standing in the queue. He will be the next person to be served, but he’ll be at least another few minutes. You don’t want to wait that long, even if asking Misha does give her the satisfaction of knowing something that you don’t.
    â€œI don’t know,” you say curiously, deciding that you need to know now . A thought suddenly occurs to you. O h, it’s gonna be somebody really ugly, isn’t it? Euwwww! No, no, no … You stop inwardly wincing and pay attention. “Who is it?”
    â€œWhat? You mean, you don’t know ?”
    Would I ask if I knew? “Erm … no, I don’t. Who is it?”
    Misha’s smile of delight is quickly changed to a pitying grimace, and she tosses back her hair. “ Well —”
    â€œHello, my dear!” Reuben shoves a cup of hot chocolate into your hand. You glare at him, but he pretends not to notice and turns back to Misha. “Hi, Misha! Yes, lovely day!OK, bye-bye!”
    He takes your arm to steer you past a disgruntled Misha, navigates you over to the back table, then gently pushes you down into your seat. Your eyebrows are narrowed angrily as you try to speak, but he beats you to it. He looks slightly apologetic.
    â€œOK. I’m sorry, Jen, I would have told you earlier, but I knew that you would shout and get seriously angry unless we were somewhere public where you couldn’t