A/N: Hey guys, here's the next chapter, it's not quite as exciting or funny as some of the others but, idk, you tell me what you think. In case you have't heard yet about my new diet (slimming down for prom, woohoo!), I'm on what I call the Fanfiction Fat Flush, which basically means whenever I want to eat junk food, I write instead. So that means LOTS more chapters for you guys! Yay! Wish me luck, this is no easy feat...
Oh yeah, and this chapter is dedicated to my awesome chocoholic friend who reads all my stories. You rock man!
Chapter 4
Part three of my cruel and usual torture: The Spring Play. Can I just say, acting? Yeah, not my forte. The best acting I did was convincing my mother not to punish me after I came home at three in the morning on Saturday nights. That took skills, but I was pretty sure those skills were limited to a need-only basis. Hopefully they would give me something crew-related, leave me out of the spotlight.
"Aw, man, Emmett… I really don't want to do this," I groaned. Emmett and I were parked in his jeep outside the school building Wednesday afternoon, but I was still hesitant to leave the safety of the manly vehicle.
"Come on, buddy, it won't be that bad. Rose is in the drama club, at least you'll have someone to hang out with." He looked even the slightest bit jealous that I would get to spend extra time with his favorite girl. If the option presented itself, I would have gladly traded places.
"Yeah, I'll have two hours of a girl I don't like throwing herself at me incessantly while I try to get in a theatrical mood." Emmett's face fell ever so slightly when I spoke with such a disdainful tone. "Seriously dude, I don't know what you see in her. She's obviously blind if she doesn't see how much you like her, and I know she doesn't care about anyone but herself."
"Dude, she's hot!' Emmett said in his own defense.
"Yeah, but vain isn't my type. God, I don't even like blondes!" I laughed irritably while hopping out of the jeep and walking toward the school in the same attitude. "Just don't forget to pick me up at six, okay?"
"Yeah, dude. Hey! You should suggest to do something sweet, like West Side Story! Maria!" He bellowed while laughing his way put of the parking lot. I grumbled, intuitively knowing that seeing him back here in two hours was about as likely as winning the lottery.
I walked into the auditorium where a bunch of drama-type kids were gathered in a circle on the stage. I saw Rose, strategically located center stage so that all boys present would notice and fawn over her. She had ensnared three already, but the club was growing. I also saw Bella, looking cheery, talking to a thin girl with long, dark hair and rectangular glasses, both of them talking quietly and ignoring the scene that Rose was making.
"Edward! Hey!" Rose called, waving me over. I pretended I didn't see her and took a seat in the farthest corner of the room I could find.
"Alright everyone, let's settle down!" Mrs. Cope, who lead the Drama Club in addition to her secretarial services, called. "We need to get this show underway!"
As soon as everyone was seated and at attention, she continued. "This year, we're doing something very exciting! An original play, written by our very own Angela Weber-" The dark haired girl next to Bella smiled sheepishly and Bella gave her a congratulate pat on the shoulder, "-Based on the timeless Shakespeare classic, Romeo and Juliet. The Renaissance love story is modernized and set to contemporary music, provided by our school's orchestra. We will have the main characters of Romeo and Juliet, of course, divided in their love by social cliques within their highschool, and we'll also have the prominent supporting characters of Mercutio, Benvolio, Tybalt, and Rosaline! We've also added the character Nina to replace the role of the Nurse from the original. The roles to be filled are limited to these characters. All others are unnamed extras, but I would like to remind you that there are no small parts, only small actors! Everyone will have a big responsibility in this production."
Hmm, did being an extra mean I wouldn't have any lines? That sounded like a good option.
"So, let's get down to business, shall we? The role of Nina will be played by Angela-" everyone clapped lightly, but Mrs. Cope motioned that we wouldn't be clapping, "Eric will play Tybalt, Ben will be Benvolio, Austin will play Mercutio, and Rose will play Rosaline." Rose's beautiful features turned into a furious glare when she discovered she had been denied the lead. I looked around to see who else would fill the shoes of the hero and heroine of the piece.
"Finally," Mrs. Cope said lightly, ignoring the building tension in the room, "Our leads will be played by Edward Masen and Bella Swan."
I nearly fell off my chair in shock. Bella literally screamed.
"Are you serious?" She yelled, just as Rosalie burst out with, "You must be joking!"
"No," I said flatly, still in disbelief. "No! Mrs. Cope, I am not an acting guy, you don't want me playing the lead."
She looked very seriously at both Bella and Rosalie, and finally at me. "My castings are final, Mr. Mason. Everyone else will be playing an extra."
She then went on to distribute copies of the play, while Bella sat perfectly still, shocked into a petrified state, and Rosalie set all her fury on me. Oh yeah, this was a good idea.
Half and hour later, we were knee deep in Love Story, the play written by Angela. We were reading off the script the part where Romeo and Juliet meet at the school dance and are magically enamored with each other, asking their friends for the identity of the other. I was doing my best, but couldn't summon the talents truly required to bring on a convincing portrayal of a love struck teenager. Bella, on the other hand, was a literary geek, and had fallen in love with the material as soon as it entered her hands. She was clearly secretly thrilled that we were doing this piece, even if she wasn't nearly as enthusiastic to be in the lead. Her inner actress was shining through as she recited her lines, whereas I was drowning.
"The girl who's hair sparkles in the light just so," I recited plainly. "Who is she?"
"I haven't seen her before," Ben followed with his line. "Perhaps one of the cheerleaders?"
"Even the cheerleaders aren't that beautiful. Did I ever think I was in love before this moment? I thought nothing would run so deeply in me since the day we won the football championship, but now I'm thinking twice." I laughed at the corny sentiments, sounding all the more stupid in my monotone voice. Mrs. Cope glared at me.
"Edward Masen, are you trying to be bad at this?" She asked bitterly.
"No, it just comes naturally." I saw Bella laugh. It was a hearty, warm sound. Suddenly, I knew I wanted to hear her laugh again. Soon.
Mrs. Cope sighed. "Alright, why don't we try the third act, where Juliet and Nina get in the fight. And with more emotion that Mr. Masen seems capable of possessing, right girls?"
The two hours dragged on, and I embarrassed myself more and more. It turned out that, in this version of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo, Bevolio, and Mercutio were jocks on the football team, while Juliet and Tybalt and Nina were math geeks. Rosaline was Romeo's girlfriend on the cheerleading squad whom he broke up with to date Juliet, so many awkward moments between Rose and I were almost a written guarantee. Romeo and Juliet fall in love, but their friends want to keep them apart. In the end, after clever plotting, they have a happily ever after where the school realizes the evils of social cliques and everyone gets together to be friends. Oh, did I mention that it's all choreographed to song and dance? It was my own personal Hell.
I raced out of the auditorium and into the parking lot. As predicted, Emmett was no where to be seen. Wow, my friends were really reliable.
I had a choice. I could call my mother and ask her to pick me up, which would be mortally embarrassing, or I could get a ride with Rosalie, which would be closer to torture.
Before I had made a decision, Bella Swan walked outside, chatting with Eric about the play.
"I think you'll be great in the lead," he was saying. "At least it's not going to be another staring Rosalie Hale show. It's a nice change."
"Thanks," Bella said honestly, though a little annoyed. Eric finally wandered away, and Bella spotted me. The sun was just setting, and the red light lit up the curve of her heart shaped face, and a small crooked smile creeped onto my own.
"Wow," she sarcastically when she saw me. "Your acting really does suck. Would it kill you to try?"
"Yup, and I'm too young to die."
"That's a thoroughly predictable answer," I heard her mumble as she turned away.
"So, what's the deal here?" I called after her. "First you want to be friends, then you don't, and now, what? You do again? I see how it is."
"Really?" She asked turning to face me again, her face crossed between angry and upset, like she was internally torn about whether or not she hated more or genuinely wanted to hear what I had to say. "How is it?"
"You don't care what people think about you, nor do you really like the people you hang out with, but you put up with it because you don't have the heart to actually be rude and tell someone to get lost, is that it?"
Her expression was frustrated and she frowned while staring at the ground. "Am I wrong?" I asked.
"No, I just… I don't like that I'm so easy to read. It's like you can see right through me."
"To the contrary, I think you're very difficult to read," I replied, the frustrated frown mirrored on my own face.
"How so?" she asked, earnestly curious.
"Well, for example, I still don't know whether or not we can be friends. Would you befriend someone you didn't like? By, say… driving me home?" This third option was much more amiable than either of my other two.
She surprised me by actually smiling a beautiful, glowing, red cheeked smile that caught my breath. "Yes, I could drive you home. But the question is, can you stand being seen in my ugly red pickup?"
"Mmm, probably not, but I can duck." I flashed her a dazzling smile, and could almost hear her heartbeat accelerate.
Soon we were in the ancient excuse for a motor vehicle driving toward my house. Bella Swan drove ridiculously slow, and her radio played approximately two stations, and that was on a sunny day. Yet, somehow, we still got into a fight over which station to listen to. Finally, she gave up.
"I am supposed to be befriending you, aren't I? This is as good a place as any to start," she mused.
"Of course it is!" I agreed, "Though I can think of some better ways."
"Like what?"
"How does twenty questions sound? I ask questions, you answer them."
"What kind of questions?" she asked skeptically.
"The get-to-know-you kind. Since you're so hard to read, and all," I added, noting that it made her smile.
"Okay, shoot."
"Favorite color?"
She gazed at the road for a little bit. 'I don't know… brown, maybe?"
"Maybe? You say that like you're not sure," I laughed.
"I'm not. Sure, that is. I like anything that isn't insanely green, like this town is." She motioned to the heavy green moss that was growing up the sides of the trees. Forks possessed an almost blanket of green. If she wasn't a fan of the color, this couldn't be the happiest place for her.
"Really, no green at all?" I asked, bewildered.
She looked me straight in the eyes, when suddenly indecision crossed her face. "Well, maybe some green is okay."
"Alright," I said, moving on, "Next question: besides this ridiculous music you listen to in here, what music do you usually listen to?"
"Umm… Linkin Park, Tom Petty… Vanessa Carlton-"
"Vanessa Carlton? Really? That's a pretty wide variety."
She shrugged. "I like the piano. Pretty much all her songs have great piano parts."
I continued on with trivial information; favorite flower (freesia and lilac), favorite book other than Wuthering Heights (anything by Jane Austen), until I reached more in depth questions.
"If you could have any superpower, what would it be?"
"Umm, the ability to be in two places at once? How's that sound? No, wait, I changed my mind!" Her face lit up with excitement.
"Well, what is it?" I asked in anticipation.
"You're going to hate me for this," she smile devilishly. "The power of privacy! Ha!"
"Oh, I get it, I'm being too nosey," I said while she laughed at her cunning comeback.
"No, no! I'm just kidding. Keep going."
"Secret desire?"
"Umm…" She really did pause this time, and I had the feeling she was trying to think of a lie. "To get a tattoo."
"You're lying."
"No, I'm not!" She said quickly, only further proving that she was.
I laughed and shook my head. "You're a horrible liar!"
"Almost as bad as you are an actor," she retorted. We both laughed it off.
"Do you have any plans for the future?" I asked.
"No," She said firmly. This answer threw me off guard.
"What do you mean? Nothing, at all? What about college, or a career?"
"No idea, though maybe I'd go somewhere warm…" She trailed off in thought, though I noticed she used the conditional tense. What was the condition? What was keeping her from planning for the future?
Driving by the hospital reminded me of one more question I had yet to ask. "What were you doing at La Push that night? With What's-his-name?"
She was silent, and frowned a little. "I'd tell you, but I'd have to kill you."
"Like you could," I laughed. The threat of violence coming through her lips was hilarious. "Fine then, could you tell me why your dad was so upset?"
She groaned a little. "Yeah, but it's kind of stupid."
"Try me."
"Well, a little while ago, Jacob and I stole some motorbikes, fixed them up, and started riding them, and my dad didn't approve."
"That's it?" I asked incredulously. "He just doesn't like motorcycles?"
"Well, when I say he didn't approve, I actually meant he yelled at me until he nearly gave himself a heart attack, grounded me until graduation, and sent my bike to the dump for immediate demolition."
Wow, Chief Swan was a crackdown when it came to motorcycles. "Yikes, that must have sucked."
"Yeah, it did! I really liked riding them, too! Luckily Jake saved my bike from the scrapper, but I haven't been able to sneak out to ride it in a while. Until last Saturday, actually…"
"So that's why he was so mad."
"Well, no, he doesn't actually know we rode the bikes. He was just angry for the association."
"Then I'd hate to see him when he's really angry," I added.
"Can I ask you a question, Edward?" She spoke up just as we passed the local diner where I saw Jasper, Alice, and Emmett all hanging out next to Emmett's jeep. I mentally swore then ducked down in my seat as we drove by so that they wouldn't see me. As soon as we were safely out of view I sat up again and answered.
"Yeah, go ahead."
She had obviously registered what I had done, and judging by her face, she wasn't happy.
"Never mind." For the rest of the ride she wouldn't say a word to me.
We were finally in front of my house. I could see Esme through the kitchen window, making dinner. She leaned against the counter and sighed like she often did, looking sad. I knew that at moments like this she was thinking about my dad.
Bella brought my mind back into the car. "I guess I'll see you at school then," she said coldly. She was staring out of the front window, straight ahead, not looking at me, her hair falling across her face so that I couldn't see her eyes.
"Thanks for the ride," I said, hoping to get a mellowed response. Nothing. "Right then. See you later." I climbed out of the car and walked into the house, unknowingly heading toward my piano.
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