Jessica Walsh

An hour after the show, in the practice studio beneath the high school's auditorium. Jessica Walsh is crouched in front of the mirrored wall, sweeping up scattered sequins with her hands. A little while ago, it was she who brought A-young, a trainee who had been crying alone on the empty stage, back to the dressing room. She's also already heard that the first person to find A-young was you, with your staff pass hanging around your neck. Academy rules forbid private conversations between trainees and staff, but she knows those rules protect no one on a night like this. When footsteps sound from the stairwell, she looks up without opening the hand that holds the sequins.