THE UNDERSTUDY - Act Three

Miss Natalie Primavera is still stuck on the body of Miss Ava Ross, turning the poor girl's life upside down with 5am runs and Instagram obsession. She breaks up with a Trevor boy who serenades her dressed as naked Miley Cyrus and starts flirting with Grayson. God help us all. When I give Jasmine the sugar plump fairy roll and pull Natalie, I mean Ava, from the show entirely to put a stop to this madness, she has a Prima Dona Meldown in my office and smashes the magic snow globe, releasing dark forces into the world. Gas and shoes. Meanwhile, the real Ava wakes up trapped in Natalie's broken body. The girl's finally meet at the hospital, each wanting what the other has. Tragic, eh? Miss Kenzie smart girl figures out the swap and hatches a plan. Natalie must learn to be Ava to become Natalie again. The natural order must be restored or real doomed. Now get out of my office and listen to the finale of what will probably be the end for all of us. Interior stage auditorium day. Miss Miyako sitting in the center of the audience, dancers scattered throughout the seats while Jasmine and Grayson danced the party due on stage. As they strike the final pose, Jasmine looks to the audience. Has anyone seen Mr. Constantine? Interior stage wings continuous. Miss Lana, clipboard in hand, waves Natalie over. Mrs. Premaveira wants to make some adjustments on your costume. Hmm. Interior dressing room day. Zoe is seated on her phone waiting for her turn. As Mrs. Premaveira fits Natalie with various costume pieces. Natalie notices her mother's touch, moving away whips of her hair to measure her. Have I told you that you danced just like Natalie? Oh, ballet looks the same when it's done right? No. Ballet is personal. You and her, you have the same. Something. It's hard to explain. Natalie stays silent. Life's so unfair. Natalie can't play the sugar plum fairy and I'm spending my senior year in core. How lame is that? Kenzie worked her ass off for that role on top of taking AP classes and college applications. Some of us don't want to settle for college. Do you know how much work it is to become an influencer? I just want a hundred thousand followers Mary, Timothy, Shalini and I. Is that really so much to ask for? A smoky dancer wishes by the mirror behind Natalie. She turns. There's nothing there. Lights flick her on and off. Zoe's phone buzzes and she looks at it. Whoa. Zoe hurries off. Timothy Shalini is following me on Instagram. I'm seriously freaking out right now. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. Natalie checks her phone and Zoe's page is at 100,000 followers. Zoe pops into the room. Ava's all done and he's hugged someone right now. Zoe bare hugs Natalie. Mrs. Primavera starts taking Zoe's measurements. Zoe lets go of the hug and Natalie dazed exits the room. Timothy Shalini just gave my last pick a heart. He's looking at my feet right now. I'm gonna post. Keep your shirt on, Zoe. Interior stage auditorium day. Brock and Theo perform the Russian dance as a duet. Miss Miyako claps along to the Russian music. Natalie approaches. Miss Miyako lifts her fingers still watching the dance. That looks great as a duet. It was their idea so neither would miss out on the roll. Oh. Theo and Brock finish breathing heavily. Love it. Can I help you? Yeah, I need to talk to Mr. Constantine. Have you seen him? He's been out on a family emergency. Completely unprofessional if you ask me. But you didn't ask me. Just like I wasn't asked to be interim artistic director. I wasn't asked to do Mr. Constantine's job when he disappeared right before opening. Just like completely not okay. This is like just I I'm so stuffed just so so. Natalie walks away regretfully as Miss Miyako continues to rant to herself. Interior Ava's apartment night. Natalie walks in. Miss Ross is waiting. Arms crossed. I just got off the phone with Mr. Hall. You're failing chemistry. How was that possible? I got to be on the last test. One test. Miss Ross pulls out the Royal Ballet audition packet. And what the hell is this? You don't think I can get in? What am I supposed to think? Huh? You convinced me to let you go to this school. That it'll be so easy to graduate valedictorian and get into Harvard. And today you want to skip college to be a ballerina? It's out of nowhere. Mrs. Primavera is at every rehearsal. Ask her how good I am. And who is she there for? Huh? Her daughter is rotting away in a hospital bed while she spends her days with other people's kids. Natalie is gutted. I'm auditioning for the Royal Ballet and I'll be out of your life just like your husband. Or doubt whatever. I won't be your problem anymore. Are you? Natalie waivers. Should she tell her? Natalie Primavera. Being's face peeks into the room. Go to your room, being. Will you stop blowing her off? If you can't tell, she's dying for your attention. And put a lock on your phone. She knows about dad in the 24-year-old. Ms. Ross sits defeated when your dance career ends at what? 30, 35. That's 30 or 40 more years of a career. You'll need after that. You need to think about those years too, Eva. I know, I know, I know, okay? Every little doubt you have, I have tenfold. It's constant at every audition and every day I'm killing myself to get my grades up. Work study to get ready for the show. I'm 17 and you want me to think about what I'm 40? You want A's. You want a social life. You want me to never make a single mistake. I have the whole world to tell me I'm not good enough. And my own mom is done with me because I can't be what she wants. Ms. Ross envelops Natalie in a hug. Natalie struggles to get out of it, but Ms. Ross holds on. I am never done with you. Never. Harvard, Ballerina, Alaskan Crab, Fisherman, whatever it is. I just want you to be happy and I am on board a hundred percent. Are you happy? Natalie surrenders into Ms. Ross' hug. Exterior, Mr. Constantine's house, Knight. Natalie rings the doorbell. A set of triplets, age five, dressed in armor, answer the door. Is your dad home? Father! Interior, Mr. Constantine's house, living room Knight. Natalie is sitting there with Fritz across from her holding his wooden sword, staring solemnly. The triplets are playing with her hair. A pair of twins, age 11, are playing the piano. A toddler colors a whole piece of paper black. Moving boxes are everywhere. Mrs. Constantine walks in, very pregnant, and with a baby in her arms. She's carrying a trade with drinks in her other arm. You have really cute kids. Only Fritz is the beauty. Aren't you Fritz? Yes, mama. Natalie looks at the other children who don't flinch. Are you the best child? My sister is definitely the best right now. Wait, no, I don't have a sister. It's complicated. Mr. Constantine walks in. What are you doing here? I need your help. Weird stuff is happening and I'm seeing those shadowy things from the globe and they're like everywhere. Rehears! Did you say rates? The twin song on the piano changes tone right on cue. Wish granting spirits from the old world. They only grant the deepest wish there to be spoken out loud. My ancestors captured them in the globe. It kept them under control. One wish at a time. Mr. Constantine snaps his fingers. Fritz retrieves a shoebox and hands it to his father. Natalie looks around at the moving boxes everywhere. What's going on? Are you moving? We'll be returning to Romania after this last notcracker. You mean the last of the school year? Sure. Mr. Constantine, how can I fix this? Mr. Constantine pulls out a curved piece of the broken glass from the shoebox. In order for the race to be recaptured, the natural order must be restored. You need to return. Natalie takes a deep breath, sad, and not. I know I must a baby's life. I need to make things right and then I have to go back. What if we can't recapture them? Yeah. In all my years as a keeper, no one has ever been as careless as you. So, this is uncharted territory. Mr. Constantine looks at the large mural behind him, a scene from the rapture of Rathes disemboweling, screaming people. But I've heard it's very, very bad. Mr. Hall's house living room night. Mr. Hall watches I love Lucy, laughing with the laugh track. Although he is surrounded by cats, he hears a distant meow that catches his attention. Oh, it sounds like someone is hungry for some food and friendship. Come on, friends. Let's go see high. Mr. Hall makes his way down the narrow corridor. His house is designed to be a cat paradise. He passes cat condos and nooks built for his friends. Interior exterior, Mr. Hall's house, kitchen back door, night. Mr. Hall opens the door, looks down, eyes widen. Interior stage, stage wings, day. On stage, Kenzie and the mouse king perform the battle scene in full costume. Being runs on stage for her cue. Come on dancers, dress rehearsal. Do it like the real thing. Leave it all on stage. Mr. Constantine watches the performance from the wings while Natalie paces behind him. Miss Lana spots Mr. Constantine. Uh, Mr. Constantine. We weren't sure you were coming back. Are you in the, uh, Mrs. in a trial separation? No. You're a mouse. I don't see a mouse. I see a little girl prancing like a bullshit princess. I want to see your scarier. Miss Lana jumps scared and turned. Mr. Constantine glances over to Fritz who was huddled by the prop shelf next to the wing, back turned. Is it almost ready? Quite, devil. Natalie exits with a toss of her hands in the air. Okay. Uh, what are you doing, Fritz? I'm saving the world. But how you doing wasting your childhood making farts sounds? The party boy farts on Fritz. And the party children run off laughing. Fritz watches them in size. They wish I had the friend. The lights flicker. A smoky dancer passes behind Fritz and the nut cracker doll on the prop table seems to blink. Canzi, you're killing me. Killing me. He has seven heads. When was the last time you saw a mouse with seven heads? Huh? You would shit yourself. Interior stage auditorium day. Natalie takes a seat in the audience next to Bean. Jasmine and Grayson and costume are performing the Parede. Mr. Constantine watches from the foot of the stage. As the Parede finishes, Mr. Constantine jumps on the stage. Dancers, I'm obligated to make a quick announcement that's relevant if we manage to prevent the apocalypse. Ms. Jasmine Kern has been accepted as an apprentice for the next season's Royal Ballet. Natalie sits up, dancers cheer and give Jasmine a hug. Is she smiles like a beauty queen? Natalie watches stiff, heart pounding and longing. Jasmine seems to move in slow motion. Natalie's eyes well up, unblinking. You okay? Your eyes are leaking. I'm washing all my dreams come true for someone else. Jasmine is wiping away happy tears. Fritz pops his head from the wings waving Natalie over. Father, Devokal. Yes, um, okay, everyone, keep congratulating Jasmine. Natalie and Mr. Constantine walk toward the stage wings where Fritz is waiting for them. Interior stage wings continuous. Is it ready? Fritz reveals the snow globe with jagged pieces glued together. The forest inside wilted. Natalie takes it. That's it? You glued it? Is this thing going to work? Fritz cranks the knob and it plays the haunting parede. Vex perfectly. Kenzie spots the commotion and rushes over. Oh my god, is this it? The McGuffin? Is it perfect left prison though? I'm sorry, did you say rates? Are you ready? You need to want this more than anything. I know. I'm ready. Natalie hears squeals coming from the stage and glances over to see Mrs. Primavera giving Jasmine a long hug. Thanks, Miss P. This is my happy place being here with all you talented girls. Mrs. Primavera points to Jasmine and her heart, malding. You are my heart. Jasmine reciprocates. Natalie nearly drops the snow globe from her hands. Mr. Constantine eyes her concerned. Natalie swallows and shakes the snow globe. Her eyes well up. The globe plays its tinny parede. I wish I was Natalie Primavera. The lights flicker on and off. The music abruptly stops playing from the globe. Silence. Everyone frozen. Anticipating. Did it work? Eva? What's something only Eva would know? Is a hot dog sandwich? Natalie rushes to the dressing room. Interior dressing room continuous. Natalie looks at the mirror, sees Eva's reflection. Mr. Constantine, being, Kenzie and Fritz follow her in. It didn't work. What did you do wrong? Nothing. Look at it. It's better than ever. It's her. She must have. The sad glued together snow globe springs a leak. Unnoticed by the bickering group, Jasmine stops at the edge of the dressing room, listening. What does this mean? I want my sister back. I've been telling everyone something is wrong and nobody listens to me. I wish I was grown up. So people would hear me already. The lights flicker and a smoky dancer wishes by. Natalie slumps down by herself as the group argues. Mr. Constantine puts his hand on Natalie's shoulder. It was worth the try, yes? What do we do now? Everybody upstairs. This is a sinking ship and we go down doing what we love. Let's make it a great last nutcracker before our demise. What do you say? Did you say demise? My apologies. I meant to say that but in Romanian. The group solemnly filters out leaving Natalie alone. Interior stage auditorium night. Everyone is gone. The stage is lit with a ghost light. Natalie steps out onto the stage and hums the putty to. Unnoise. Natalie pauses and looks into the dark audience. Jasmine steps towards the stage. You know Natalie and I used to do this. Dance the whole show the night before opening night. We'd sneak out and dance until like 2 a.m. Jasmine starts stepping through the dance with her. We've always been that connect. I landed my double pirouette and she landed a clean dribble. She did 12 fatties in a row and then I did 16 like the next day. I've... Oh, we've always wanted to beat the sugar plump fairy. Jasmine begins doing Fwectay turns and Natalie joins her. They watch one another turn and turning until Jasmine finally stops. Natalie stops. Why didn't you audition for the role if you wanted it so badly? Because I was scared it might have gone to me and I didn't want to break my best friend's heart. She's your best friend and why do you call her Natalie Primadonna? Jasmine raises her eyebrows surprised than shrugs. We all talk too much shit sometimes. Why haven't you gone to visit her? I have. I've just always waited for her dad to be gone. She's different now, you know? Natalie is quiet. Does she know? You dance this role. Perfectly. I'm glad you got to see it. Because I think I hurt my toe. Your toe? Yeah, it hurts. I can't handle two roles so I'm just going to dance the snow queen. I already talked to Mr. Constantine. Jasmine begins walking off. Wait, why? Is your bun too tight? Because you're the understudy. Natalie watches Jasmine disappear and she smiles. Interior, Mr. Hall's bedroom night. Mr. Hall attempts to give catastrophe a zombie cat, a saucer of milk. Catastrophe growls, one I'm missing and soars oozing from its skin. All the other cats are huddled away, backs arched, hissing. Now now, friends. Get along. We're all friends. We're all friends. Catastrophe bites a bit of Mr. Hall's fingertips. Ow! Is that what you need? Little, little friend? Here. Just a little, okay? Interior, Ava's bedroom morning. Natalie wakes up. The wall calendar reads, opening night. Natalie sighs and exits the room. Bean stirs and uncovers herself. She's a grown teenager. She gets out of bed. Her kid PJs barely fitting her. Teenage bean looks down and notices ample breasts in her PJ shirt that now fits like a crop top. Interior, Ava's kitchen day. Natalie eats fruit loops while Ms. Ross drinks coffee. A squeal comes from the other room. Natalie stands up. I'll go check on her. Interior, Ava's bedroom day. Natalie rushes into the room. Teenage Bean stands there. This is bad. My wish came true. I look so hot. A knock on the door. You girls okay? Everything's fine. This is really, really bad. Exterior theaters sunset. The blue moon is high in the sky as people of all ages file into the theater. A marquee sign reads, Willburn Arts High School, the Nutcracker, Opening Night. With a poster of the Nutcracker with Ava as the sugar plum fairy by the door, a limo pulls up and we see fancy black shoes walk back to open the rear door. White Converse Sneakers step out. Interior stage wings night. Natalie and Teenage Bean rush to Mr. Constantine. What is it? This is Bean. She made his wish to be a teenager and well... Oh, this is bad. Very, very, very bad. What does this mean? It means that full wordly chaos is just around the corner. The rates are loose, granting every twisted desire of the heart, every whim for lost love, lottery tickets, and revenge, the heart of selfish. You of all people should know this. For it's you'll be dancing with your iron sword tonight. We may have to kill something. Party boy Haltz and looks at Mr. Constantine. Did you mean to say that in a Romanian, Mr. Constantine? Interior stage auditorium night. The orchestra warms up as the audience trickle to take their seats. Trevor looks a mess. Tie on sloppy and hair unbrushed. Mr. Hall shows up, dazed with part of his cheek nibbled off. Principal Waters takes notice. But Mr. Hall, are you all right? He's gone. I open the door and he left me my friend, he's gone. Again. Well, he will, clearly, he is a brawl man. Mr. Hall still muttering walks to his seat. Climbing past Ms. Ross seated with grocery store flowers in hand. Mr. and Mrs. Primavera enter, pushing Eva in a wheelchair down the aisle. She has given us standing ovation as they make their way to park Eva up front. Eva creeds to see Ms. Ross in her seat and Trevor in the pit. Neither notice her. Interior backstage hallway night. Backstage is a chaos of dancers in costume. Most of them warming up, children laughing and chasing each other, Fritz swinging his sword. Laces. Interior dressing room night. Jasmine is in her snow-queen costume and wearing warm-up booties. Zoe as a snowflake is on her phone. Natalie walks in with teenage bean and catches Jasmine's eye. Jasmine smiles. Mrs. Primavera scurries in to approach teenage bean. Baby mouse, huh? Teenage bean nods. What happened to bean? I'm not allowed to talk about that. Okay. LAUGHTER Mrs. Primavera starts ripping fabric. Interior stage auditorium night. Mr. Constantine walks out on stage. The full house claps. Greetings. There are some family friends of Wilbur and Arts, high school, Christmas ballet. They're not cracker. I won't make a lengthy speech, but I want you all to think about this past year and all you have lost and what you may lose soon. Christmas is the saddest season of them all. I have never felt more heartbroken than I do now. Trevor's chin trembles and he claps enthusiastically. The rest of the audience is silent. Yeah! LAUGHTER LAUGHTER LAUGHTER No! The light splicker. Without further ado. Mr. Constantine motions to the orchestra as he exits. They begin. The curtain's open. The street scene begins. Interior stage wings night. Miss Miyako half jogging, hand on our earpiece. Dude, do we have any idea where the doll is? We need it now! That Miss Miyako's feet is catastrophe, crawling, unnoticed. Interior dressing room night. Teenage bean isn't a makeshift mouse costume. Mrs. Primavera puts on finishing touches. There. That should do it. Is it hard to dance with big boobs? LAUGHTER No talking, remember? Ava, that's rude. Yeah, Ava. People want to listen to what I have to say now. Maybe I'll never go back to being a kid. Bean! I mean, beans replacement. Of course you're going back. There's nothing good about being a kid or a teenager. Whatever I am. Funny how he's been our whole childhood looking ahead and our entire adulthood looking back. An usher enters with a large bouquet of flowers. Is Zoe here? Zoe at her makeup station waves her hand and the usher puts Zoe's flowers down. Zoe looks at the card. It reads, Maired Zoe, I can't wait to meet you. Love Timothy. Interior stage auditorium night. The party scene march is happening. Zoe's distant shriek echoes through the auditorium. The dancers all look off stage, but continue. Interior backstage night. Miss Lana sees the nutcracker doll standing in a walking pose near the exit door and snatches it. Found it. I must have been some kid. Miss Miyako meets Miss Lana with a box and they stick the nutcracker inside. It blinks once before the lid covers it. Mr. Constantine with an eye patch dressed as Drosselmeyer brushes by and grabs the box. Interior stage auditorium night. Party scene is on stage. Mr. Constantine pulls the nutcracker out of the box and hands it to Kenzie for her solo. Kenzie begins to dance. She nails her jumps perfectly. Ava is watching the dance from her wheelchair. She catches Kenzie's eye and flashes her at thumbs up. Kenzie smiles. Kenzie is looking longingly at the nutcracker doll. It blinks. Kenzie does a double take. The nutcracker is alive. It spots frits on the stage. I don't think we cast a nutcracker. My bad. No, no, I didn't notice it either. Who would be a fun nutcracker? One hand up. Brandon? Did you give us a demented nutcracker doll please? Yeah. The audience gasps. Frits grabs the doll, smashes it into the stage, and takes his sword striking it over and over and over again. The nutcracker is face up. Looking at Frits. I'm your friend. Frits takes his sword and smashes its face. The audience silently watches horrified. Mr. Constantine pulls Frits off by the collar of his Victorian shirt. Mr. Constantine wrestles with the nutcracker. Mr. Constantine wrestles with the nutcracker doll, wrapping it until it looks like a mummy and hands it to Kenzie. Who's breathing heavily? The show must go on. Kenzie grabs it gingerly. She timidly continues to dance. Interior backstage night. Mr. Constantine, Frits and Kenzie are rushing down the backstage hall together. Kenzie is shaken up. What's going on? You made a wish? That even needs a fun, Papa? Teenage Bean and the other mice run past. costume changed Kenzie quickly. Kenzie is pulled into the dressing room by Miss Lana. Is it dead? Please tell me it's dead. Interior stage auditorium night. Teenage Bean trips over herself. A terrible dancer in her new body. Her leaps are sloppy and barely make it off the ground. She trips and the other mice fumble behind her like dominoes. These boobs suck. Miss Ross frantically flips through the program. On the stage, the grandfather clock shatters. And Kenzie has red ribbon, fake blood coming from her arms. She falls asleep on the couch. The audience murmurs in shock. Interior stage wings night. Jasmine enters the wings in her snow-queen costume. Catastrophe is at her ankles and wanders onto the stage. Interior on stage auditorium night. Battle scene with toy soldiers and the mouse king is on stage. Kenzie sees Catastrophe and screams. Mr. Constantine is in the wings. Gives her a thumbs up. Kenzie throws her shoe, hitting Catastrophe in the face, and its other eyeball pops out. Kenzie faints and hits the stage floor hard. Eva and the audience gasp. It's Catastrophe. Interior stage, stage wings night. The curtain closes. Mr. Constantine rushes on stage and grabs the zombie cat. Interior stage auditorium night. The curtain opens to the snow-scene. Jasmine is on stage along with Zoe as one of the snowflakes. Zoe spots Timothy Shalame in the audience and gasps. Timothy Shalame blows a kiss to Zoe and she catches the kiss. Jasmine in mid-lift looks down at, it's an old fuck. Jasmine is in mid-lift looking down at Zoe. Zoe excitedly jumps up and down as the other snowflakes continue dancing around her. Interior backstage night. Constantine changes. Get ready dancers. Mr. Constantine has the zombie cat in his hand. Natalie Heron make up done but not yet in costume sees the cat and gasps. Oh, what is that? Oh my god. Catastrophe. Catastrophe growls and chants the air toward the dancers. Grayson comes out of his dressing room and pauses. Whoa, whoa. Uh, Ms. Constantine, I think your cat is like dying or something. Mr. Hall wanders backstage. Mr. Constantine covers the cat up with his cape. Have you seen Catastrophe? Pritz points to Mr. Hall with his sword. Infant writer. Mr. Hall. Let's get you a drink. Natalie grabs Mr. Hall by the arm. Interior lobby night. A bar is set up with a long line. Natalie toes Mr. Hall's straight to the bartender, cutting off Timothy Shalame. Excuse me. Can you give him some alcohol? Bartender pours a glass of white wine. Do you have anything stronger? We're at a high school production. What do you expect? Mr. Hall takes the glass of wine. I just really want Catastrophe back. I really miss him. Mr. Hall, you still have him. Adams never died. Remember? They just change into something new. Catastrophe is here now. In your heart. That's quite right. You've always been a great student, Abba. I have? I want my to follow you on Instagram. I'm for graduation. No, no, no. I'm not on Instagram. Come on, hashtag Cats of Instagram. You take to Instagram like a free radical. Take student electron. Mr. Hall laughs. Okay. Interior backstage night. Mr. Constantine wrestles with Catastrophe in his hands. He's surrounded by scared dancers cheering him on. Finally, Mr. Constantine tosses the cat in a supply closet and turns to the dancers adjusting his cape. They're sure. Must go on. Interior dressing room night. Natalie, costume on. Applies makeup at her station. Timothy enters and gives Zoe a romantic kiss. No audience members allowed here. I can't be stopped. I'm in love. This is exhilarating. It's like I'm under a spell. Are you marrying me? I have my children who are new to France. Yes, yes, yes. 50,000 followers marry Timothy and die. That's what you said, Zoe? Stocker much. She's totally obsessed with me. You can't have her. Timothy gives Zoe another romantic kiss. Zoe pulls away. Is it really me? Or am I really making out with Timothy? Shall I make it? Is this real? Literally all my dreams are coming true. A tiny sword misses Zoe's head. The nutcracker doll charges into the dressing room. Mr. Constantine enters, snatches the doll through the open door. Children are running and crying. Five minutes. Natalie looks up and nods. Mrs. Primavera enters swiftly pulling Natalie up to stand. Let's give you one last look over. Natalie watches Mrs. Primavera as she inspects the costume, noticing her mother's hands trembling and dark circles under her bloodshot eyes. Is your mother here? Natalie nods tensely. I'm sorry about Natalie. Mrs. Primavera is silent. You must be sad for you that she can't dance again. That you can't share your happy place anymore. More like my hiding place. Hiding place. Dear five-year-old, say they want to be a ballerina and you expect it to be a phase. But not Natalie. She had a dream and nothing could stop her. She makes the impossible possible. It's my fault. After her first show, I called her a star and got her a dog. Yeah, cliche. And the rest is history. She left a dance and I kept feeding it, moving to the next level, getting her point. She was the next role, real ballet. I should have fed her other things, signed her up to her, sock her and painting. I had no idea that it would hold her prisoner. All these goals, the social media. I didn't know it would get cut short for her. Nobody's a ballerina forever. How can I tell my daughter the only thing that she loves in life she can't do anymore? I think you say to her that nothing is impossible. Even finding something new to love. Natalie smiles as Mrs. Premavira pins a tiara around her bun. I got Natalie a nutcracker doll for Christmas this year. Do you think that's a stupid gift? No. She has a million of those. I'm ready. No. It's the perfect gift. Clara's love brought the nutcracker to life after he was broken. Natalie's not broken. Wait. No, I mean, her body. No, she's perfect. Exactly how she is. There are a million reasons to love Natalie. And not one of them has to do with ballet. Natalie stands still as Mrs. Premavira finishes up. Both women subtly wiping away tears. Natalie wraps her arms around her mother. Thank you. Interior stage auditorium night. Natalie sneaks over and grabs Eva's wheelchair wheeling her around the side. Hey, where are you doing? Interior stage, stage wings night. Russian duet is finishing up on stage with Mr. Constantine watching from the wings. Natalie rolls Eva up to Mr. Constantine. Mr. Constantine, where is the glow? Fits, the glove you. I know why the magic didn't work. Like in chemistry and antioxidant can't shed an electron just because it needs a willing participant. Like a free radical. Yeah. Ladies, you lost met chemistry. I made a wish on top of the bridge. Silence. You wished you were me? No. I wished I wasn't me. It's not enough for me to not want to be Eva anymore. I have to want to be Natalie. Broken body and all. And I want to be Natalie Premavira more than anything. Fritz appears with the sad snow globe and Natalie takes it. I wish I was Natalie. But put your dance. You're up next. Brock and Theo finish on stage, audience clap. It's not my role. Natalie shakes the snow globe. Eva touches the globe. I wish I was Natalie Premavira. The orchestra starts the music for the party due and the two girls wait anticipating. Then the walls rumble. The snow machine over the stage rattles to a start. Lights flicker. Mr. Constantine smiles as the faintly falling snowflakes duss the stage. A faint green glow begins to illuminate the globe. The globe is weak, but it's working. Looks like you have time for one more dance. Natalie looks to Eva and she nods in agreement. Natalie turns to the stage and sees Grayson on the other side. He throws his hands out as if to say, what the fuck are we doing this? Natalie takes a deep breath in nods. Mr. Constantine takes the glinting snow globe from Natalie. God, I'm going to miss this. I know, Miss Premavira. This song is so like beautiful. Heart breaking. The music swells. Natalie takes a step onto the stage. Interior stage auditorium night. Natalie and Grayson meet center stage and begin the pade de as the orchestra swells. Trevor plays Viola with the pit orchestra. His lip trembles as he watches Natalie and Grayson on stage. The dancer's eyes are locked on each other like there's no one else as they dance. Skillful and emotional. Miss Ross's eyes glisten wide with wonder, watching Natalie for the first time and leans forward in her seat. Interior dressing room continuous. Zoe and Timothy are lost in a messy make out session. The nutcracker doll, army crawls toward them. A light is hanging precariously over Zoe's head and a curling iron is causing a rack of tutus to smoke. Rumble. The room blacks out for a moment. The hanging light crashes into a rack of tutus to follow way from the iron. The nutcracker doll goes limp. Interior stage auditorium continuous. The two smoky dancers enter from the back of the auditorium and dance their way down the aisle toward the stage. They are invisible to all but Natalie and Mr. Constantine. Interior backstage hallway continuous. Teenage bean, fritz and the children are huddled as catastrophe breaks through the closet door. Little by little, all of the shining. Fritz clenches his sword. Catastrophe finally breaks through the door and charges toward the children. Fritz raises his sword just as flicker. The cat goes limp. Dead. Fritz nudges the cat. Zikati's dead. The children cheer. Fritz turns to high five bean who is now swimming in her costume. I'm a kid again. No more boobs. Bean hugs Fritz. Fritz beams. Interior stage, stage wings continuous. The smoky dancers join Natalie and Grayson on stage, shadowing their dance drawing ever closer. Miss Lana and Miss Miyako watch the duet ice fixed and in awe, clutching each other's hands. Grayson smiles at Natalie and the two kiss as though there were no audience. Trevor lets out an audible sob. No! With the final lift as the song's crescendo peaks, the smoky dancers enter Natalie and exit right before Eva's body drops into the final partner pose, leaving behind Natalie's spirit with a puff. Interior stage, stage wings continuous. Natalie's spirit quickly absorbs into her own body. Eyes bulge as she sits up in her wheelchair with a gas. Interior stage auditorium continuous. The audience erupts in applause. Interior stage, stage wings night. Mr. Constantine has the snow globe. Glow fizzles out and both dark dancers are back inside, frozen. Eva runs off stage and gives Natalie a huge hug. Natalie! Yes! And you're you! Enough! Solo! Now! What? No, no, no, no, no. I can't! Eva, you're the understudy. This is how it was always supposed to be. You can do this. Interior stage auditorium night, Eva steps out, begins her solo, her lips tight with concentration. She begins with her fuetes. She's nailing them, her smile spreads slowly and then wide with glee as the audience claps. Eva freezes as she spots Trevor in the orchestra pit. Trevor? Trevor turns away from Eva, angry, nostrils flaring. I love you! You do? I love you, Eva! Eva leaps off the stage into the orchestra pit, the audience and Ms. Ross gasp. Eva and Trevor kiss. Interior stage, stage wings night. Grayson watches the scene confused. Miss Miyako and Miss Lana shake their heads. Worst not cracker ever. Next year will be better when Mr. Tusexi to teach his name anymore. I mean, all semester I'm like, just shut up and kiss me already. What? No. No. Mr. Constantine walks up throwing his arms around Miss Miyako and Miss Lana's shoulders. How beautiful, how erotic and devastating. A few feet away, Natalie tugs on Grayson's shirt. Oh, hey, how are you doing? Sorry, wait, that's stupid to ask. You look good. I think so, I'm good. Um, so I was wondering if you wanted to grab coffee or food or whatever. Or whatever? Whenever I'll get you hang out with me. Let me congratulate you on Houston Ballet! Grayson gives her a curious look. He glances back at Eva one more time before turning back to Natalie and smiles. Yeah, definitely. But I said no to Houston. Going to Indiana U. Did you know that you can double major in like ballet? Interior stage auditorium night, the finale. The whole cast dips into a final bow and tensi poses with a broken nut track and doll with a large smile. Mr. Constantine steps out and plunges into a dramatic bow. No claps. A cough. Trevor sets down his viola and claps enthusiastically. Timothy is walking away down the center aisle. A moment later we see Zoe, tear streaked chasing him. I love you Timothy, shall we? Don't follow me! Interior physical therapy room morning. Natalie is looking at Eva's Instagram page. A picture of Eva, Ms. Ross, being and Trevor around a Christmas tree, captioned, Christmas is the season of magic. Natalie hearts the post. Natalie pops in earbuds, her eyes close, and her head sway slightly with the music. Grayson enters, knocks on the door with a Christmas present. Mrs. Primavera smiles and waves Grayson in as Mr. Primavera sips his coffee, reading a paper. Merry Christmas. Natalie lifts up onto the parallel bars from her wheelchair. She takes a step. Beta. Woohoo! So fun!