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As soon as the curtain closed behind her, Molly dashed out of the wings. She had absolutely zero clue how much time she had left before she had to go back. Minutes maybe? Barely enough time to scramble and drink water. Or those snacks that production left over on the counter for all the kids to enjoy in case their blood sugar was low. Mostly chocolate cake themed or sweets, so it wasn't like they would help much anyway. Just thinking about sweets sometimes made the little girl's stomach churn. Grown ups just assumed she was too young to already hate the taste, though. Everyone loves candy. Except Molly.
"I-I can't do this," Molly wheezed, pushing past the other kids despite a couple worried looks from friends and the guy on call backstage.
Molly's eyes stayed fixed to the floor, she didn't even really know where she was going exactly, she just knew she couldn't stand in the wings anymore. Through the backstage hallway she continued trying to ignore the deck crew or whoever whispered as she passed. It probably wasn't very hard to tell she was upset, especially with the tears in her eyes. She rubbed them away with shaky shallow breaths.
The bathroom was not very far away, she could go there, but it was only a single stall and someone might actually need to use that. Molly didn't want to be in the way or anything, so that was a no go. After a few minutes she just found some dark corner by the last changing rooms and curled up in a little ball. Burying her head in her knees, she knew she didn't have a lot of time. At least Loud would be, well, loud. And from the noise coming from the speakers, they hadn't quite gotten to that song yet.
The preppy looking suit jacket thing was so uncomfortable and itchy, she wished it would just go away. It was nothing like the soft, warm homemade one that her mother gave her. It didn't resemble bears at all, and it was obviously pretty cheap. Even the stitching was exactly the same like the unfeeling robot that probably made it. Maybe that's why she felt so uncomfortable. Being yelled at by the Trunchbull or the idea of chokey wasn't nearly as terrifying when it was just an abstract concept. Or when you knew it was just Rick Shades' usual shenanigans. Dress rehearsal though was tangible, real. You could touch it, you could feel it. And on top of all that, she had to take off her bear hoodie.
Somewhere down the hallway, Molly heard faraway sounds of excited kids being ushered away from the mics and the wings. She wished she could be like that. She wished she could just walk away from the stage. Molly didn't really have that option. Not when her life was just as bad and tiring offstage as it was on. Guess that's why she got cast as the main part or whatever. Maybe the director just saw how exhausted and "mature" she was compared to the other kids. Maybe he saw beyond all the chaos and noticed she needed help. Nah. Grown ups never cared about that in her experience, anyway.
Suddenly, the relative quiet was disturbed with a loud screech and flare in the music from the loudspeaker. Great. She didn't have a lot of time left. It made her look up from her safe position though. Down the gray and white tile hallway a couple adults whispered to each other near the men's ensemble dressing room. One of them passed a knowing look and they hushed once they were aware of Molly's tiny eyes on them. Then they pretty quickly turned their attention back and disappeared through the heavy doors. With a soft click, they were gone.
Molly hugged her knees tighter and just wanted to disappear a little longer. The last few days had been exhausting between constant rehearsals and work at the Toy Emporium, not to mention school. She couldn't remember the last time she's gotten time to sleep. Maybe she could ask someone to wake her up if she used her Epithet to tune everyone out. Then again, the director told her that wasn't a good idea and she'd miss her cue.
"What's wrong, Beartrap?" a familiar voice called. Molly looked up to see that Giovanni had come over and was in the process of getting onto her level. He had already been prepped with the fancy hat and suit, and most importantly of all a goofy old timey villain mustache he was so excited to wear. It was pink to match his natural hair, but it made him look more like a reject from clown college than a well established escapologist. Plus, he even got to have a fancy red cape. It wasn't nearly as cool as his homemade blaster one either, though.
"I don't know, Boss," Molly mumbled. "Everything."
Giovanni shushed the little girl in mock anger. "SSHHUUUSHHHHH! They're not supposed to know we're in cahoots! As far as THEY know, we just know each other cause of Trixie."
Molly turned her head like a little dog.
"Didn't those guys send you over here to get me?" she asked.
"You know for someone who's super power is dumb, you sure aren't." Giovanni smiled and gently nudged his small friend.
"I wouldda totally come over completely on my own if I had seen," he added, throwing up his hands. "I hate seeing you cry."
Even if this wasn't what was intended, Molly flinched. She didn't want to be in the way. She didn't want to make Giovanni sad or anything. He must have seen her retreat a little more, because he scrambled to fix it, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like almost a swear under his breath.
"You're doing great, and I promise your hoodie is exactly where you left it. I know that Rick seems scary, but he's kinda just like more dorky me with glasses...even if he isn't wearing them right now."
"I don't know why people think Matilda is a happy story when she's..." Molly managed to get out.
"I know," Giovanni said darkly, completely dropping his usual happy go lucky mood in favor of concern.
"It's not just a story," Molly said desperately, opening herself up for a hug.
She hadn't expected to be practically tackled.
"Not for much longer," Molly thought she heard the teenager say as he held her close and ran his hands along her back. It wasn't long before Miss Honey's final notes came over the loudspeaker. It wasn't much, but for that short little bit she felt safer in his arms than any other moment on stage. She couldn't wait until their duet in the second act.