Picking Scabs

A/N: A complete rewrite from what I had originally planned to write. I have no idea how this is going to end.

Chapter three: Opening Old Wounds

"I will be performing 'Prayer' from the ballet inspired by my creation 'Coppelia'."

Cleo watched from backstage as Coppelia began going through her routine. She had been right about grace being programmed into her. Her every step was absolutely flawless; she seemed to glide across the stage.

It caused her physical pain to admit it (even just to herself), but she was actually scared she might lose.

"Don't worry." Cleo turned to see Deuce walk up beside her. He put his hand on her shoulder. "You'll do fine." Trying to ignore the fluttering in her stomach, she started to thank him but, he pulled his hand away like he'd been burned. " 'Cuz, y'know... you practiced a lot."

She turned back to the stage and ignored the sharp pain in her chest. Coppelia ended her dance with a deep bow. The crowd leapt to their feet in a standing ovation. "With Ra as my witness, I swear I will beat that tinker toy, even if it's the last thing I do."

"I thought you wanted to win that crown."

She wrinkled her brow. "What crown?"

"Never mind." Deuce shook his head.

Her name was called by the stage manager. Showtime. Cleo took a deep breath to steady her nerves and strode to the stage with every ounce of confidence she could muster.

"Break a leg." Deuce called after her. She turned and shot him a weird look. "It's a figure of speech." He clarified. "It means 'good luck'."

She smiled. "Thank you." She stepped up to the edge of the stage, ready to make her grand entrance. "But luck is for talentless commoners."

"Hey, Cleo. I got the tickets. Um, just wondering wher-" Deleted.

"All right, I guess it's pretty clear you're not coming. Just gimme a call back and we'll-" Deleted.

"Listen, if this is about something I did, then-" Deleted.

It might not have seemed like it, but she really was trying to listen to the messages. Yet, try as she might, she couldn't make it through a single one. Simply the sound of his voice made her chest ache more.

"Your day of reckoning is nigh, De N-" Deleted.

Cleo sighed and closed her voicemail. She scrolled through her contacts list until his name came up. Not quite able to get herself to make that final step and call him, she stared at her phone long and hard.

She turned her phone off and tossed it to the side. She'd see him at school.

Cleo wiped her forehead as she got off the stage, the applause of the crowd still ringing in her ears. She did it!

She glanced around for Deuce. He had helped her out so much with her routine, she couldn't wait to see his reaction. He should have been waiting for her by the stage, but she didn't see him anywhere.

There was nothing but teen ghouls all around her, crying their eyes out because they weren't finalists. Cleo frowned. He was the only boy there; he shouldn't have been that hard to find.

After exchanging sneers with Coppelia when they past each other, Cleo looked for her missing friend. A familiar hiss came from around the corner. She followed it to the back of the dressing room.

"Deuce?" Her insides turned to ice.

In a little clearing inside the forest near the airport, Cleo watched a airplane fly off overhead. Deuce had shown this place to her the first year she had moved there. They would sit and watch planes take off and land for hours. Not really doing anything, but being together.

Cleo sighed.

"Oh." She jerked her head up and saw Deuce walking out of the woods. "Hey." He rubbed the back of his head and gave her a sheepish grin. "Didn't... expect to see you here."

Cleo kicked at a dead root, not caring dirt was getting on her one of a kind designer platforms. Okay, she cared a little, but not enough to stop and have to look up. "I came up here to think." She said quietly.

"Really? Me, too." He leaned back against a tree.

Neither of them said another word.

"Cleo, what's going on? They just called your name." She didn't say anything to him, didn't even look in his direction. Her stage make up was running down her face like she had been crying. "What happened?" He asked, instantly concerned. He had never seen her like this.

She breezed past him like he wasn't even there.

"Cleo?"

A/N: I feel weird, because this was suppose to be the last chapter. So, it feels... incomplete