Note: I'll be a bit quick in pace by fast forwarding to the major events in the story. After all, who wants to listen to a hundred days where twenty percent are usually the same and monotonous events of school? But don't worry I'll be putting some scenes so there is some smooth transition in the events.

So here goes Chapter 6


Chapter 6: The Play

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A play is a simple art of expressing a fictitious life,

It is something that pleases us greatly,

Something that other people partake and present in the greater public.

Something that mimics life and twists it this and that to make it interesting.

Ah, screw that. I'm no good at acting anyways.

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"How come we're not having any classes today?" I asked them as soon as I had seated myself for what was supposed tom be our first class for the Monday schedule, History. The whole class was in an uproar, chatter was scattered amongst us but I sought company amongst my close friends. Natalia was smiling gleefully when she turned to me as Tear took Asch's chair and pulled it to my desk.

"We're going to plan for our class' entry for the School Festival." Natalia spoke with an excited tone. I arched a brow and Tear smiled widely which was a sight that was really uncommon to me.

"They said it's going to be a class play!" The long-haired brunette added in enthusiasm. I sighed which got their attention, "I hope I won't be part of the acting cast. I'm no good when it comes to performing in front of a crowd." Natalia and Tear looked at each other and their eyes held an emotion which could be said as disappointment.

"But you can always give it a try, Lucille. You never know you actually have a special talent for acting!" Natalia suggested but I held on to my pessimism. "I still believe I am no good with acting and memorizing scripts." They looked at me with bored gazes, "All the more reason to try it out!"

I looked at them liked they were crazy, "But! I'll totally blow the whole play!" Both girls rolled their eyes, in unison, at what I spoke; they were clearly not buying the excuse for me to be excluded from the acting cast. I groaned and their chuckles reached my ears which made me put on a frown upon my face. Great, just great. There's actually a high chance of me getting to act in this play anyways.

I ran my hand through my hair and slowly I slumped upon my desk which didn't help ease the rising tension inside me. I peeked at my friends and they were broadly smiling at me which really didn't help but only add to the tension. I turned my head to the other side so I was facing the window; luckily it was partly open so the cool morning breeze helped ease the annoying gnawing at my nerves. The wind blew some tendrils of my brown hair unto my face and I had to change my comfortable position to get rid of the hair that irritated my eyes. I gazed longingly outside; an escape from the probable conflict that I envisioned would come these next few days.

I heard the door to our classroom slide open and the idle chatter that had risen to a deafening volume of the chatter amongst my classmates had slowly dissipated until it ceased eventually. Getting this as a signal, I sat up straight upon my seat and expected the faces of my close female friends but was met with their absence and the presence of my cold seatmate which displeased me so.

I turned my attention to our class president, Elyssa Mirth, whom I had met at the party last Saturday. She was a fair-skinned girl with wavy chestnut brown hair and a set of vibrant magenta eyes. She held a red notebook where my gaze and attention were currently focused. She cleared her throat and then a smile plastered upon her features.

"Good morning. As we all know the school festival is just a few ways off from now." She grinned as her eyes lay upon all of us; the excited squeals came upon the girls while some boys let out a groan. I looked around and my eyes, unintentionally mind you, landed upon my seatmate who seemed as impassive as ever.

"Well, due to the votes of the majority, "At this she winked to us of which I knew was meant to the girls in the class. I smiled and had to admit, even though I'm quite the tense on the outcome of the cast, I honestly wanted to be part of the acting cast. Yes, I like to lie to myself. I really am ashamed to say that I actually want to be part of the acting cast. It was a huge step to changing who I have been for the past few days but then again I was also trying not to put my hopes to high since I might not even be part of the acting cast.

I gazed at the now open red notebook that the president held and her voice seemed to fade into the background as my mind conjured of ideas as it molded into a daydream. I continued on my road with imagination until someone called my name and a rough shove on my shoulder got my attention. I turned to my side which had been the origin of the movement and was met by the calm and stoic stature of Asch von Fabre. I intensely glared daggers at him which only made him smirk.

Of all the things he had to do it was the smirk, what the heck!? I let a sigh out to release some steam and turned to the front portion of the classroom.

I was immediately met by ninety-six pairs of eyes, excluding me and Asch's, and I certainly felt conscious under the scrutiny of their gaze. I found myself under the slightly annoyed gaze of our president and I shrunk under her watch. She gestured her index finger towards her which meant I was to approach her. I sighed softly and pushed back the chair to get out of my seat then proceeding to the front of the four-cornered classroom where our president held a small velvet blue box that held some pieces of folded paper. She held it out to me and I hesitantly took a piece amongst the folded white bond papers that was held inside. I was about to open it when she cut me off, "We open all the papers together."

I stiffly nodded my head, a blush creeping unto my cheeks out of embarrassment. With this, I shuffled to my desk and was content at the feeling of finally being seated. I gulped to ease my oddly parched throat and I was quite grateful to be out of my classmates' gaze.

"Too early to be dreaming." I heard my seatmate say in a deadpanned voice.

I shot him a glare, and as usual he was ever so relaxed upon his seat, "And you seem to have a morning ritual of pissing me off."

"It wakes me up."

"It makes me think of a hundred more ways to kill you."

"All the better."

"Why you?!"

"Now, now you two. We know you're having another session of your lover's quarrel but your attention is needed her in front." Elyssa's voice shot through our verbal banter and I straightened in my seat, not entirely minding the blush of embarrassment that only reddened. "I hate you so much." I mumbled to him and a chuckle was in reply.

"At the very least you use that brain of yours, how you try to plan on killing me is such an interesting thought. It's probably good because you can exercise your brain early in the morning." He smirked to himself but his eyes were upon me and I gritted my teeth as my amethyst eyes glared at him. I shrugged my shoulders and proceeded to focus my attention upon the chalkboard which held the division of labor amongst the class.

Yet deep inside my mind, I still could not put out the enraging flames of my anger.

"So seeing as everyone has gotten a piece of paper, if anyone was wondering why I didn't get a piece of paper, I am excluded since I will be the one directing." Elyssa spoke smugly as she placed her hands upon her hips.

"But I wanted to be the director!" One of my classmates spoke and immediately she gave the guy a glare, "Silence! I am the president here! If I say I am the director, then I am! With that settled the 'director' dispute is over!" With this she ended with her string of high-pitched laughter where one of her hands is poised under her cheek we only gave a nervous chuckle in reply.

I gave a sheepish smile and Luke gave me a sympathetic smile, "That's Elyssa on the loose all right." I was actually quite entertained but it told me not to mess with Elyssa in the future. "All right. Seeing that everything is settled. Let's open the papers!" She shouted like it was the signal for the start of a race.

I unfolded the paper and groaned at the object written upon the white surface. The name only conjured one of Shakespeare's famous dramas in my mind and to be honest, I was not ready for it. Chatter immediately broke out amongst us; there were varied reactions amongst the students.

"Yes! I'm not gonna do any acting!"

"Damn I wanted to get the leading character!"

"What the-?! Stage crew?!"

I poked look on his shoulder and he turned to my direction, "What did you get, Lucille?" I sighed and showed him what was written on the paper. He chuckled and then he showed me his sheet of paper, 'Sebastian' was written upon it. I smiled and told him, "You're my twin brother in the play. Although, if your twin would've been the one doing my role that'd be interesting. After all he has long hair." Luke laughed heartily, "That I've got to see!"

I couldn't help but glance at Luke's older twin but the said twin seemed nonchalant as always and if he ever heard our conversation he paid no heed nor shows any reaction to such. I sighed and grinned at Luke who seemed to like the idea of swapping my role with Asch.

Our president's loud and thunderous claps caught our attention, the waves of reactions ceased and silence instilled in the atmosphere. Elyssa smiled broadly in front of us, pleased to get our attention again. "All right, since we're up and about. Let's get the list of the acting cast, shall we?" She took a piece of chalk from the chalk box and poised it upon the green surface of the chalkboard. Thereafter, she wrote the names of the character that are needed in the play.

Elyssa's chalk-holding hand was poised beside the name 'Viola', a grin was plastered upon her features. "Now who got the paper with the name 'Viola'?" She let her eyes roam amongst us and I sighed audibly. I hesitantly raised my hand but the president, despite seeing it, spoke, "Oh I don't see any! Anyone? I'd like hands to be raised higher!" I bit my bottom lip in frustration and raised my hand higher but still…

"I don't see any!" Finally I raised my hand high, no elbow bent and even my fingers raised up. She grinned and the attention of the whole class was turned to me. "There our heroine of the play!" I quickly withdrew my hand, flushed at the unwanted attention the class was giving me. I caught some glares from some of my female classmates, they were indeed envious of my role but I could not help it. It was after all draw by lots so I can't really do anything.

"Now, who's 'Duke Orsino'?" The president chirped and a student I'm not really acquainted to shot his hand upward, exuberantly. "Me! Oh, me!" He was practically waving his hands in all directions and I groaned loudly. This was the guy that was going to be paired up with me the whole duration of the play and practice. And there's the possibility of

Damn, I didn't let the damned thought slip.

There was a possibility that we might kiss.

What the heck!?

Elyssa eyed the student for a while; it was quite obvious that she was disappointed by how it turned out. She rubbed her chin and then smiled which got us confuse and somewhat scared. "Can I see your paper for a while?" She asked and made her way to the student's seat.

"Uh, sure." He handed the paper to Elyssa and then she turned to Asch, "Asch, give me your paper."

The long-haired redhead merely cocked an elegant brow and spoke in a flat tone, "And what if I won't?" The president stomped her way to the older von Fabre twin and shot an open hand under his gaze, "Give it or else…" An evil glint was upon her eye and I managed to see Asch cringed before he reluctantly handed the piece of paper. Elyssa grinned, "Goodie. Now, Asch takes the role of Duke Orsino."

I stared at Elyssa like she just announced the end of the world.

"H-Hey wait! I was Duke Orsino!" The student cried and the all-too familiar magenta glare was thrown at him. "Do you dare react against it?!" The student cowered in fear and spoke in a stuttered voice, "No, o-of course not ma'am!" There was a tense atmosphere that took over the silence and it was replaced by Elyssa's becoming-her-trademark laugh that now sent chills down our spine.

"Continuing on, Sebastian?" Luke's hand shot up and Elyssa grinned. "Our Olivia?" Tear shyly raised her hand and Luke was astonished. A flush made its way upon Tear's face while Elyssa kept grinning like crazy. Then she set her eyes on Natalia and spoke, "Maria." The peachy blonde could only nod her head and I felt embarrassed in behalf of our president.

She quickly pointed to Guy who immediately shrank away at the seemingly offending hand, "Sir Toby!" Guy's blue eyes were focused upon the female's hand while his body continued to tremble with what little distance the president offered, "Y-yes, ma'am." I had to pity Guy's state though for even though he replied the president, she only lessened the distance and the blonde gynephobic only inched farther from the hand until he fell from his seat. And, well you guessed it, the laughter followed soon after.

We continued on like this until the whole class was in a frenzy of plans and practice schedules. I groaned loudly after the whole agenda was over. The president was merciful enough to give us a two hour break. Today would be our first practice since Elyssa had printed out the scripts in advance.

I let my forehead settle upon the surface of my desk. "You look a little green Lucille." Guy spoke in a concerned tone and I gave an audible sigh. "I've just been handed my one-way trip to hell." My other friends chuckled. "It can't be that bad. You never know you have a special talent in acting." Natalia assured and I smiled at her thoughtfulness.

"I'll try to manage but until then," I plopped unto the desk, "I'll try to even get myself out of my usual persona." Laughter erupted again, "You better do that."

"Who is a 'Lucille Veramounte' here?!" A high-pitched female voice erupted amongst all the chatters and the outcry stopped the latter. A girl with wavy auburn hair and large gray eyes strode into the classroom followed by three other girls. I raised my hand and said, "That would be me."

She haughtily made her way towards my seat, fluttering her eyelashes at Luke who rolled his eyes in reply. She crossed her arms when she came side to side with Tear; the latter narrowed her eyes in annoyance. The auburn-haired girl "flicked" Guy away while her minions laughed at his fear-stricken face. She eyed Natalia who was seated at Asch's seat. "I believe you're taking my spot." The foreign student spoke. "Oh really now? I don't think there's a name of yours written upon any surface of it." Natalia countered.

"Haha. What a lame joke." The auburn student spoke, placing her hand upon Asch's desk and I merely watched the verbal dispute. "Didn't you know that it'll be von Fabre in the future?" She seemed so sure of that and it actually ticked me off. I mean, you can't always be too sure of your future.

Time changes things, makes challenges and you're not the one to decide your future but only to struggle through the path that you took towards your future.

"You sound so sure of yourself." I spoke out of a sudden; I probably was quite ticked off. The gray gaze came upon me. I regarded her coolly but deep inside I was panicking under the intense gaze of the foreign student. "I'm Joliette Hilstone if you didn't know." She spoke in a haughty tone that yes, clearly and definitely annoyed me.

"Well, I'm Lucille Veramounte. Nice to meet you." I needed to be polite to new people, that was what ethics always taught us, right?

"Well, I make it quick. Here's the catch, I want to play your part in the class play and in return you get to be part of my fabulous group." I stared at her like her hair was on fire which I hope it was. "I'm sorry. I didn't quite catch that." I told her and a smug smile formed upon her mouth. "What? Are you so in awe of me that you didn't really put it into your mind?"

I swear I almost vomited my breakfast on her. "I said, 'I want to play your part in the class play and in return you get to be part of my fabulous group.' Got it?" She looked at her minions and fanned herself with her land like I was really going to give away the part.

Was I?

I contemplated a bit, yeah I'm shy but I guess that can be managed and then this girl, she ticks me off like hell. So, I was going to prove her that I am going to do my part but deep down I wanted to prove myself. "No."

Her movements ceased and she whipped her attention towards me. "What did YOU say?!" She spoke, venom lacing every word. I looked at her, straight in the eye, "I said NO. N.O. No." I spoke and crossed my arms over my chest, "Would you like me to translate that into some other language so you can understand?"

Her face began to flush and I knew right then and there that she was enraged. He poked a finger on me and said in the most scary and murderous tone she could muster, which I must say was quite a failure. "You should just give me the part already." She added. I narrowed my eyes at her and spoke in an icy cold tone, "I told you NO."

"If Lucille said No then it's No." Natalia spoke in an angered tone and Joliette or Ms. Annoying-Stupid-Flirt-Annoys-Me-Like-Hell or Ms. ASAMLH for short (That seemed a cool codename) shove her away. Guy who seemed to be aware that Natalia was treated unjustly, came to her defense. "Don't you dare hurt her." The blonde male spoke in a rough tone that made the annoying girl flinch. Guy seemed passive of his hand upon Natalia's forearm in a weak but protective grasp. I didn't miss Natalia's increasing blush and a second thereafter Guy seemed to realize what he did and backed away quickly but muttering a 'sorry' to Natalia probably.

Joliette rolled her eyes and scoffed, "See! You can't even put up a fight with a girl! What a gay." I narrowed my eyes but it was Luke who intervened at the insult thrown at his best friend. "What did you say!?" The younger red-haired twin exclaimed and Joliette, along wither her flashy minions, they shrunk under his uproar.

"W-well, I didn't really mean that. It was just a slip of the tongue." The auburn haired girl tried to make a way out of the situation she caused. Luke was still seething not minding how it angered him that someone who had no audacity to their friendship would insult his best friend right in front of his face. Joliette was trying to get away from the very angry flame-haired teen. She looked everywhere the room, even to my face which only held a flat expression as I was in fact merciful enough to spare her anymore of the intimidating face.

"What's the commotion here?" The all-too familiar monotone came into our hearing and I knew then and there that Asch had arrived, when did he leave? I'll never know. Joliette immediately squealed at the arrival of the said and teen and it was only self-control that made me stop myself from covering my ears at the offending sound, what can I say? I was not a fan of high-pitched squealing. This seemed to displease the long-haired male as much as I was seeing a frown mar his perfect features.

Wait. Let me rephrase that, seeing a frown make his face become uglier!

He crossed his arms over his chest and Joliette started to have 'sparkly eyes' if there was ever such a thing.

"Who are you?" He asked, regarding the auburn-haired girl passively. The said girl seemed to be shocked at the statement that her 'idol' spoke but she quickly recovered, "Oh, I'm Joliette Hilstone. I'm from the class you visited before." Asch merely arched a brow, nodding his head slowly as if unsure of the gesture.

"What are you doing in my class then?" Oh he really was straight to the point. I couldn't help but snicker which earned me a glare from the currently-being-interrogated girl and a glance from the emerald eyes of my seatmate. "Well I was trying to persuade this girl here," she pointed towards me with her long-nailed index finger and continued, "to give me her role in your play." He smirked and then looked at me, "Oh. So you gave it to her?"

I narrowed my eyes at him and his smirk, "Like I would." He crossed his arms over his chest and I knew he was in a taunting stance, "Oh and be paired with me? I thought you were trying to kill me and not to be paired with me." I glared daggers at him and spoke with venom laced in every word, "Given this chance, I have every opportunity to get a chance at killing you."

He let a smile flit to his features,"Well then, I guess I'll be expecting those." And with that said the said teen went to the president who was currently divulged in some documents. Joliette merely gaped at the retreating figure of her idol as she was ignored most of the time. She then turned to me with hatred burning in her eyes, "You!" I felt a bit of fear sliver down my spine but I held my ground, eager to honestly get rid of the annoying presence of the girl.

"Yes?" I taunted.

"You give me the part right now!"Joliette shrieked and I immediately saw the figure of our class president behind her.

"Do we have any problems here, Joli?" Elyssa spoke and the other classed students flinched at the sound of the nickname.

"Well hello there Elyssa," Joliette spoke in a rather meek tone and I raised my eyebrow in astonishment. The rather sheepish attitude that had now overtook the once snotty one intrigued me and I could not help but enjoy how Elyssa made Joliette squirm, "Fancy weather today, huh?"

"What are you doing in my class? I don't remember you in the class list, unless." Her magenta eyes slashed at the auburn-haired figure, "you transferred to my class that is."

"Well, I would if I could. I just came to meet Lucille! You know how famous she is! Right girls?" She turned to her minions and they quickly agreed to what she said. "Well then seeing as you already met, now shoo, shoo." Elyssa did the shooing gesture and so Joliette and company left though they were quite reluctant.

I let out a contented sigh and slumped against my chair while chuckles erupted from amongst us. "Good riddance." Natalia announced and I could not help but agree with her.

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I took hold of the script, my amethyst eyes looking over at the text printed upon the stapled white bond papers. It contained my lines for our play production; I was a bit tense as I practiced which made me whisper the lines to myself. I looked over to my friends who spoke their lines out loud and even Luke and Guy were debating against each other though they were using their lines so they could memorize effectively.

I sighed and hit the bunched paper unto my forehead which can never really help me at all. I took a seat upon the wooden steps of the auditorium stage.

The polished wooden floorboards seemed to reflect the light that was being set to give a nicer feel to the play. I glanced at the people who were seated upon the seats allotted for the audience; they were planning the costume design and the stage layout.

I glanced back to my lines and took in a deep breath. I didn't give my role to Joliette so at the very least I should prove to her that I can do this despite despising the attention of the public. I stood up from my sitting position and went to Luke for the first scene.

It was weird to act a pantomime, especially when the scene that Luke and I were doing was to be accompanied by music. So seeing as we were music-less at the moment, can you picture out two teens looking like idiots as we tried to act without any accompaniment. I heard laughter bubbled up and a flushed could not be contained so it painted my features into a rosy color.

I even caught Asch's gaze and glared daggers at him as Luke and I acted the boat scene. We totally looked like idiots because what were we? We were just a pair of students 'presenting' on a barren auditorium stage in just our uniforms.

I couldn't help myself anymore so I paused from all the acting and gave a hearty laugh which Luke followed thereafter. We laughed until our sides hurt and I couldn't help the oncoming days that would bring about more excitement and entertainment especially when it comes to the practices.

Somehow, I tried to envision myself acting along with Asch. It seemed okay…

Not!

But then again, I guess we'll both find a way to work it out. After all we were the leading pair.

Like it or not, we had to act the part.

Or suffer the wrath of our class president.

I felt a shiver ran down my spine at the reminder of our class president's laugh.

Okay, here we go.


Author's Notes: Chapter 6 is here.

I really noticed that I'm writing the chapter so very early in the morning. I wrote chapter five until it was five in the morning while this I wrote the first half yesterday and slept at seven in the morning and now it is four in the morning and I'll end it there.

I honestly was in the mood to write but now I shall be heading off to bed. Sorry if it's short, I need to catch up on sleeping.

Please review~ They're the only thing that motivates me to write and a good prize to me sleeping late for writing.

Onegai~

Thanks~

I will try to update soon.