Hello!
Here comes the second chap. Thank you so much to vanillaandtoothpaste, laurenscissorhandss and the guest for the reviews! I'm really happy you liked the first chapter and hope you'll also like this and the following reading in any case! :)


Everyone meets in the Blackbox Theater on Wednesday after school.

Thomas wants them to do a full run through first. Everyone has their scripts in their hands as they act out the scenes for the very first time.

Lindsay and Sam have drunk a coffee together and it's the next scene for the two of them together that plays that afternoon where Lindsay rings Sam's doorbell. They haven't agreed to meet again but have exchanged their full names and their phone numbers. And Sam has casually mentioned where he lived. Lindsay has known his address either way but now, she is able to just show up at his place without him wondering.

"I'm sorry I just showed up at your door step," Jade instantly says as Lindsay as soon as Beck has opened the door as Sam.

Beck makes a surprised and yet happy face as he answers with his lines: "No, sure. Come in. Want a drink?"

She passes by him. "Do you have coffee?"

"At this time of day?" Beck says as he follows her over the stage.

She gives him a smile over her shoulder. "Always?"

He smiles back just like he is supposed to and it makes Jade feel a little sick because it instantly warms her heart. Every one of his oh so perfect smiles warms her heart and she hates it.

She turns back around and sits down on the couch – the only big prop on the stage for this scene except for the door and the coffee table in front of the couch.

Beck pretends to make coffee and gets two cups out of the back that he puts on the coffee table. "So... Is there a reason for you coming here?"

"Do I need a reason?" Jade says as though she feels offended.

Beck shakes his head as he sits down next to her. "No. I'm sorry."

Jade pretends to take a sip out of the cup watching Beck closely as the scripts tells her to do while Beck looks down on his own cup.

Finally, she speaks up again: "Do you wanna know why I came here?"

"Why?" Beck asks, looking back up to her.

"I think we forgot something earlier," she says and her heart is pounding like crazy by now.

She puts the cup back on the table and changes her script into her left hand, so her right hand is free.

This won't be her first kiss. She has kissed before and not just one boy. But this will be her very first stage kiss. This will be the very first kiss other people watch intently, other people will probably judge over. And this will be the very first kiss with a boy she isn't on a date with.

She takes a deep breath. She knows she just has to go for it. She doesn't want Thomas to make them do this scene again and again the next rehearsal until he is satisfied. She doesn't want to get critized by her kissing technique by anyone.

So, she does go for it.

She leans forward, puts her free hand on Beck's cheek and pulls him into a kiss.

For a second, she forgets everything. He returns the kiss, puts his own hand in her neck and she just feels him, feels warmth in every core of her body. Her heart beats even faster now, as their lips meet again in a different position.

They only pull apart when they hear Thomas' voice: "And the curtain will go down then. That's the first act."

Jade wants to stand up, so they can change the scene and get into the second act. But she can't tear her eyes away from Beck's. And he looks right back.

She has never felt better during a kiss and she's almost sure to see that Beck feels the same. At least, he's also a little stunned.

"Guys. We have to move the couch away," Tony pulls Jade out of her thoughts again.

The others are already moving everything around for the next scene.

Jade jumps up and steps away. Beck also stands up as he says: "I'm sorry."

Then, he looks back at her though with that look in his eyes... She turns her back to him and takes a deep breath. She knows she's in trouble.

.

.

The second act is the actual fun one with all the heavy stuff.

And finally it's time for the final scenes.

Sam has fallen ill – apparently, as Lindsay of course has poisoned him which is why he grew sicker and sicker over the last two weeks – and now lies on the couch in his apartment.

Lindsay tells him she will go now when he suddenly whimpers: "I'm not feeling well."

Jade tries everything to act like she feels like breaking apart but wants to hide that. She has never had a role in middle school where she had to pretend in character. But she feels like that's where acting only really starts.

"I'm sorry," she says and Beck grabs her hand as Sam as he asks weakly: "Can you stay with me?"

Jade looks into his eyes and it isn't hard to promptly turn away and pull her hand from his grip like she is supposed to. "I can't. I... have to go."

She moves away from the couch but stops in her tracks again when Beck says: "Please, Lindsay? Stay."

"I really can't," she says and tries her best to sound choked up at that. Well, she definitely still has to practice that, she knows. She should get tears in her eyes now but she isn't fully there yet.

"How long will it still take?"

Jade turns back around as Lindsay, widens her eyes as she looks at the sick Sam in surprise.

Beck almost smiles, hopelessly, and damn, he really is a good actor because this smile isn't in the script but it fits perfectly. "I know you've given me poison over the last few days or even weeks."

"You know?" Jade breathes and steps closer again.

Beck has to take a look at his script again which he has to do surprisingly rarely. "Will it take some more days or only hours now?"

"For how long have you known?" Jade asks.

Another weak smile by Beck that fits so perfectly. "I saw you last week messing with my drink."

Jade looks at him in disbelief. "Why did you take it?"

Beck shrugs. "Because I deserve it?"

Jade goes down on her knees between the coffee table and the couch, shaking her head. "You don't. It's just..."

"I know," Beck assures her as Sam. "I hope with this we can end the family feud."

"It will never end," Jade answers and somehow, hers and Beck's free hands find each other and she isn't entirely sure how it happens, who has initiated it. But it fits.

Beck acts out a havy breath, then: "How long do I still have?"

"A day?" Jade suggests, now herself with a weak voice.

"Can you make it faster?" Beck asks and presses his eyes closed. "It hurts so bad."

And she's glad to see that he also isn't perfect yet. He doesn't look like he's in all that much pain.

But she can pretend like he is. She nods and now, there are tears in her eyes because she can do this. She makes her hand shakes as she pulls a small bottle out of the pocket of her jeans, opens it and pours some imaginery fluid into Beck's mouth.

He grabs his heart and pulls a face which probably is supposed to express all his pain, which doesn't really work. But her tears are running now.

"I'm sorry," she says as weakly as she can and his answer takes a few seconds and is just a breath: "I love you."

And it does hurt. Beck may not be good yet in acting out pain but those words just now felt so true and real and it's like everything inside of her wishes that those words would have been directed at her, not her character. Which is ridiculous.

"It goes dark, then," Thomas says and Jade instantly stands up and wipes away her tears. Beck also stands up and helps the others to get the couch and the coffee table off the stage again.

Tony steps onto the stage while Jade pulls the bottle with the pretend poison out of her pocket again and keeps it in her fist. Then Thomas says: "And the lights go up again."

Jade tells Tony as her in-play father that it's done and he praises her and tells her that it's finally over, that they've done it. And while he's still talking, Jade breaks down as Lindsay. She lets the bottle with the poison roll out of her hand as her father kneels down next to her, desperately asking what has happened, if she needs a doctor.

She takes a deep and heavy breath as she says the last lines of the play: "I'm sorry, Dad. This was never supposed to happen, I know. But I want to follow him. ... I love him."

"And that's it!" Thomas calls out and everyone starts to clap as Tony and Jade stand up again. Well, everyone except Jade. It's not like there is a reason to applaud themselves. They haven't done a great job yet. It has just been a run through.

Thomas then says though: "I think it was awesome. And I already want to thank all of you very much because I definitely see my vision coming true. I want only Beck and Jade here for tomorrow's rehearsal. We will work on your scenes first. I will tell everyone if I need you back next week or of we have to work on their scenes alone for more time. Keep next Wednesday's afternoon free in any case, okay?"

Everyone nods and Thomas tells Jade and Beck that he'll see them tomorrow, then the rehearsal is over.

Jade shortly glances to Beck who actually looks back at her, then she hurries out of the theater. Damn, Beck really is also an amazing actor. He can't do anything just like that but it also has been their first rehearsal for this play. And then he's so ridiculously handsome and nice, has this amazing smile and he even is a great kisser. She still remembers the feeling of his lips on hers although there was a whole second act in between. He is too perfect and she knows he has to be hiding something. Something big. Something that's really wrong with him. There has to be something.

.

.

Beck can't help but think about Jade for the rest of the day.

He still has to do homework but he finds he can't even remotely concentrate on it. Jade is on his mind, the damn interesting girl that's an amazing actress and that has kissed him like nobody has kissed him before. It has made him slightly dizzy and he can almost still feel her lips on his now.

He is sure she has also felt something, the way she has looked at him after the kiss, but when he sees her in school the next morning and greets her, she ignores him completely. He doesn't feel too bad about it. After all, they will still spend the whole afternoon together.

She is already there when he arrives in the Blackbox Theater after his last lesson. Thomas meanwhile isn't yet.

Beck puts his bag on the second chair next to the one, Jade has put her bag on. She has already pulled her script out, stands in front of the chair and barely glances up before she keeps reading the script.

He pulls his own script out of his bag before he tries to start a conversation: "The play is really great, isn't it?"

Jade doesn't look at him but she does answer: "It is."

"And I think we work really well together," he continues because he thinks they do. He hasn't done many plays yet, not one where he has had a role like this and has had to play one part of a couple or something. But he's pretty sure that it usually isn't as easy as it is between them. The fact that Thomas hasn't been able to cast a Sam until he came along because apparently nobody else has worked as well with Jade as he has, and the fact about how excited Thomas has been after their very first scene, just proves him right. They do have chemistry. A sort of chemistry that surely not everyone has with each other.

Jade shrugs. "I guess so."

Beck wonders if she just doesn't want to admit it or actually doesn't feel the same way. But he doesn't have more opportunity to find out more as that's the moment Thomas comes in with three of his friends who are responsible for set and lighting and who therefore probably want to hear Thomas' directions from day one and also possibly put some in on their own. They are also the ones that made sure they already had the most important props yesterday.

Beck loves how organized they are. He has had a way more disorganized teacher in his drama class in middle school – he brought the last prop on the day of their performance which has annoyed Beck pretty much though he hasn't showed it too much.

Thomas now makes them start right away. This time he doesn't let them go through with any scene. He interrupts them all the time to tell them how to do it differently. Beck has thought he and Jade were pretty good but apparently they were awful. Though Thomas does say at one point: "You're fine but I'm sorry. I want it as perfect as it can be. Don't be too offended when I criticize everything."

Jade does look pissed some times but she does as she is told. Beck himself hates how often they have to do the scene where they get coffee together. Both their characters also get themselves a croissant they eat while they talk. They aren't supposed to actually eat anything and also don't have any props for it (Beck doesn't know if they still will get something to pretend) – and apparently they are both horrible at pretending to eat something.

Beck doesn't think it can look all that horrible and doesn't think anyone of the audience will ever notice how they pretend to eat which is why it's going a little on his nerves. On the other hand, Thomas's tips are great. Thomas does know how to act himself, has been at this school for some time and has either learned already a lot here or is just extremely talented himself.

And Beck likes that Thomas knows what he wants and tries to get it out of them.

They end that scene with Thomas saying: "Well... I'm still not fully satisfied. Maybe, we will give you something to eat but I'm not sure if that'll work. Because then you have to watch to not take a too big of a bite for your next line to give you trouble and stuff. I'll think about it. Let's get to the next scene. I hoped we could go over all of your scenes today."

Their next scene is of course the scene of their first kiss and Beck already hates the thought that Thomas could critize that kiss as much. The kiss has felt amazing the last time and Beck is sure it also has looked that way. But he also has thought their other scenes were okay and Thomas still has had to say too much about it. Beck doesn't want him to say anything about his kissing technique.

On the other hand... That would allow him to kiss Jade again and again...

He has a little trouble concentrating on the scene but Thomas interrupts them anyway already when Jade comes in, wants them to move differently over the stage.

It takes a while until they finally get to the kiss. And that is just as amazing as the last one. Jade really goes for it again as Lindsay and Beck hopelessly returns it without really knowing what he's doing.

When they break apart again, Thomas nods: "Well... You are young and probably pretty new to stage kissing and I know it's embarrassing at first talking about it but... You're in luck because I don't have to say much about it. If you do exactly that for every performance, it's perfect."

Beck can't help but smile. Of course, it's perfect.

He looks over to Jade who doesn't return the look but keeps her eyes expectantly on Thomas as if she hasn't even heard the positive criticism and just waits for the next direction. Whatever is going on in her head. Beck wishes he would know.

"Then, let's get into the second act," Thomas says and that's what they do.