Caught

"Ah, the make-up is for Art class. We were testing out different face paints for our project." Shawn tried his best to come up with an excuse on the spot.

"If you are doing face paints, why would you need to put on make-up?" Jane did not end the questioning there.

"Ms Stella said that it is best to first apply foundation on your face before putting face paint as it will prevent your skin from damaging." Thankfully Shawn had learnt the word 'foundation' when the student was helping to put it on his face just now.

"Oh, is it now?" The answer from Shawn cleared up his mother's doubts. "Well go shower and rest soon. It is getting pretty late."

"I will. Also, I will be going over to Julian's house for the project for tomorrow and Friday too." Shawn tried to get it out of the way as soon as possible.

"Aren't you disturbing Julian's family too much? That wouldn't be good right?"

'No no. Julian's parents does not mind me working at their house. There is no need to worry."

"Alright, well then help me say my thanks to his parents. If you need more money for food, tell me and I'll give it to you." Jane said coolly.

With that out of the way, Shawn dodged a bullet and called it an early day again. The next morning, he went for school as per usual. In form class, Mr Bialik had a question that was burning in his mind. Calling up Shawn to his work table, he asked his student, "Shawn, are your parents too busy to come and watch your performance? I see that you did not ask for any tickets for them."

Shawn shook his head as he tried to lie his way out, "Yes, there are very busy with work and are unable to come for my performance. It is fine though."

"Did you tell them that you are the male lead? I'm sure with a little bit of convincing, they would surely come and watch."

No. There is no need to do that. I would like for them to focus on their work." Just to make it more convincing, Shawn put in a little bit of his acting to the test to make him look like he was slightly down because his parents couldn't attend. What he did not realise was that his overly convincing acting had resulted in his secret being exposed to his parents.

Seeing how sad Shawn was, Mr Bialik thought it was in his best interest to call at least his immediate guardian to tell them that Shawn was actually the male lead of the play they were doing at the moment. That immediate guardian was Shawn's mother, Jane.

"Hi, is this Mrs Lin? This is Mr Bialik, Shawn's form teacher speaking." Mr Bialik gave a call to Jane right after form class.

"Hello, I am Mrs Lin. Did my son do something wrong in school again?" The instant Jane had received a call from school, the first thing she thought about was what his son had done this time.

"Oh no, Shawn has not done anything wrong recently. In fact, I was calling to inform you more about the school play that he is currently in."

"Ah? What? A school play?"

"Yes." It was at that point Mr Bialik realised what game his male lead was playing at, "Did Shawn not tell you about it."

"No, he hasn't. Is that why he has been coming home late in the past few months." The puzzle pieces started forming together as the teacher and parent continued their conversation.

"It seems that Shawn was not planning to tell you that he is actually acting as the Male Lead in our school's latest play, Struggles."

"He's playing the male lead?!" There was shock and surprise in Jane's voice. Clearly, she was like everyone else, not knowing that her son had a flair in acting.

"Yes, he is playing the male lead. If I could interest you and your husband, would you like to come down on the finale day to watch your son's play?" Mr Bialik offered the tickets.

"I would love to go. In fact, can I go down with my husband and daughter?"

"Of course. The whole family can come along."

"That's perfect." Thinking about it, Jane decided to go for a sneaky route, "Could you not tell Shawn about all of this? Make it seem like we are not coming at all."

"Oh, this conversation never happened." Just like that, the call ended and now, the hunter had become the hunted. Shawn was going about his school as if nothing had gone wrong.

When the second day of the play had finished, the boy had gone home with Emilie this time. Her parents were fetching her for the whole three days. She had offered to fetch the boy home tonight and tomorrow. In the car, the boy didn't really speak as per usual, while Emilie was busy chirping just about anything. Emilie's father who was driving was thinking what a weird combination they were.

At home, Shawn came back this time without make-up. Jane had already broken down the story for Shawn's father, Jacob. Jacob was just as surprised as Jane when he heard that their son was not only doing a play, but was also the male lead in all of this. Seeing that the boy had been planning to keep it a secret even after the play was over, both parents agreed that they should give him a payback for not telling them about it. They were definitely going to watch.

"Hey son, how's your project? I heard you are working on face paints from your mother." Jacob asked naturally.

Being the natural liar that he was now, Shawn spoke without choking up, "Yeah, the face paint project is almost done. Just need to finalise some things with Julian tomorrow after school."

"Oh, that's good. I hope that it goes well for you then."

"Will do."

The conversation ended at a point where both parties were satisfied with the results, what awaited next was a surprise specially catered to Shawn.