Page 10 of The Potter

My stomach flips.

I might not be ready for this audition like she thinks. Not without Dr. Potter’s help.

I also might not be ready to face Maddox again. The last time I encountered Maddox Keegan, a talented movie producer and grade A douche, I hadn’t been out of the hospital long.

Maddox needed a fresh face for a new rom-com, and I was as fresh as they came, considering I’d yet to score an acting gig since college theater. The audition required a read in shorts and a bikini. Maddox took one look at me when I walked in with a cane and fresh scars and laughed, hollering, “Next!” before I even made it to the table.

That evening, Kristen broke the news that it would be harder now to land a job with my physical disabilities and scars, but there were parts I could play. We just needed to be patient.

It was the truth—the way of the world we lived in. You are judged on your looks before you even open your mouth. Maddox didn’t need to see how amazing I could be in his starring role. He only saw the limp and scars.

He shattered my dreams just like my shitbag ex.

Everything I have ever wanted was gone in an instant.

But now, I’m here. Taking my life and my future into my own hands.

Fuck Maddox.

Fuck society and their loose morals and tainted codes.

I might not look like everyone else, but my will is stronger than theirs. I started out wanting this surgery because I needed to fit in with everyone else. But now, years later, I want this surgery, not because I need the scars to disappear, but to make the scars an exquisite reminder that there is beauty in every broken thing.

And broken things deserve a chance to shine just like everyone else.

“Halle? You there?”

I shake off the anger bubbling up. “Yeah, I’m still here. Tell Maddox thank you. I’ll be there.”

If only to flip him off.

“I can’t wait to see you! I’m so jealous Dr. Potter is making you even more stunning.”

Not exactly.

I might have withheld the information from Kristen that Dr. Potter turned me down. She was so excited and worked so hard getting auditions for me so I could immediately jump back into the business I’d longed for. I couldn’t let her down by telling her I offended Dr. Potter and was thrown out of his office.

“Yeah, I can’t wait for the new me,” I lie, waving off my neighbor’s scowl and walking out of earshot. “Dr. Potter’s schedule is tight, though, but he assures me he can see me tomorrow.” I hold back a guilty sigh as I lie once more.

“That’s great to hear. I’m rooting for you, Halle.”

“I’ll call you as soon as I see Dr. Potter.”

I can hear Kristen’s perfectly-manicured hands clapping together from excitement. “Great! We’ll figure out all the details after you recover. This is your time, Halle! Talk soon.”

It’s my time.

Mine.

Kristen is right.

No one, not even Dr. Potter, will take my dreams away from me again.

I hang up with renewed energy and some sense of a plan and find a grumpy teenager eyeing me while folding a dingy sheet. “You’re pretty good at lying,” he notes.

“And you’re pretty good at folding. Who taught you how to fold a fitted sheet like that?”

He rolls his eyes as I approach. “I moonlight at the dry cleaners during the summer.”

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