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Freddie POV 3:00PM Day 11
FOUR? I automatically look down at Sam, flinching at her panicked expression before shifting my attention to Mrs. Esposito.
"How could you possibly add four? How many were there originally?" I manage to ask evenly, still reeling internally. Ms. Esposito shakes her head, throwing her hands in the air dramatically.
"This is the theater, my chickens! A kiss in the theater is nothing more than another line that you have to say!" She rolls her eyes at our (in her opinion) overreaction and stares us down (impressive, considering she's about five feet tall). "Why should I not use my resources? Like it or not, you two are like…like…" She struggles for the right word in her agitation, putting her clipboard down on a nearby chair. She finally gives up on finding her word, instead miming lighting a match and setting something of fire (she even makes the whoosh sound to indicate that whatever she's lit with the match has been consumed by flames). "Yes?" Ms. Esposito asks, her cheeks red with exertion and slight annoyance when I stare back at her with my mouth hanging half open. She moves closer slowly, obviously under the impression that she needed to explain this better. "It is a gift to be so in tune with your partner and I don't think you two realize the…the…" She huffs in exasperation, hunting for a word. I'm utterly distracted by her little rant, looking down at Sam for the first time to see her reaction. She appears to be just as shocked as I am, inching away from Ms. Esposito and closer to me. I smile slightly, bumping my arm into her arm for a brief second to savor the calming feel…and to annoy her. Sam looks up in confusion, her expression quickly becoming sarcastic at the doofus smile plastered across my face. "Chemistry!" Ms. Esposito announces triumphantly, finally finding her elusive word. "People will be hanging out of door to buy a ticket to see this!" Sam stiffens, no doubt every ounce as horrified as I was embarrassed, and shifts away from me. Ms. Esposito doesn't miss this, rolling her eyes as she picks up her clipboard and flips through her script, silently counting. The suspense is literally killing me, my heart racing. Every kiss with Sam was going to pull me deeper, lessening my already slim chances of getting over her. "Eight." Ms. Esposito finally says, her eyes flashing between us. Sam backs up, her head accidently resting against my shoulder.
"Eight." She says, no inflection whatsoever detectable. I shift automatically, pulling Sam's head to rest on my chest and wrapping my arm around her shoulders to make sure she doesn't faint of disgust or something.
"Eight." Ms. Esposito confirms. She watches us for a few seconds before gripping Sam's arm. "Come along, Juliet. Romeo needs to go learn swordplay." I don't even realize that I'm playing a tug of war over Sam with Mrs. Esposito until she clears her throat. "Romeo, release." I quickly let go of Sam, noticing that she seems barely conscious of what was happening.
"Eight." Sam repeats, her voice now thick with anxiety. I grimace, not blaming her for freaking out for having to kiss me multiple times. She probably has a 'been there, done that' attitude towards the whole thing. Mrs. Esposito rolls her eyes, pushing me towards the stage before pulling Sam towards the backstage area. I pause at the edge of the stage, following Sam with my eyes until Gibby comes running up to greet me.
"Check it out Freddie!" Gibby says with WAY to much enthusiasm, swinging a very real looking rapier in my direction. I back away from him, carefully avoiding the swinging blade. Before I get a chance to advise Gibby against swinging his blade around while screaming 'kamikaze ninja' at the top of his lungs, someone takes a more instructive approach.
"Dude, your grip is wrong." I turn to see a guy about our age in soccer warm-ups and a gray t-shirt. He raises an eyebrow, reaching for Gibby's rapier. Gibby reluctantly obliges, handing him the rapier hilt-first. The guy takes the hilt and almost caresses it in his hands but after the whole 'kamikaze ninja' episode a minute ago, I'm not quite ready to take chances. I back away from the new guy, pulling Gibby with me. The guy suddenly swings the rapier through the air, laughing with delight at the whistling sound the blade makes. He steps back, parrying an imaginary strike before he jabs again. He's practically dancing with the blade and I can't help but be impressed with his skill. Gibby and I watch in amazement for a few minutes before the guy stops, not even out of breath. I'd seen many fencers, but none of them had anything on this guy.
"Who are you?" I ask, watching as he runs his finger along the blade. The guy laughs, flipping some of his dark hair out of his eyes.
"I'm Brian Phillips. I won the junior national championships for fencing last year." He explains, looking up at us briefly before returning his attention back to the blade.
"Well, call me Wade Collins and drag me to the pigeons, we've got a REAL kamikaze ninja!" Gibby says randomly, drawing a questioning look from Brian. I shake my head, not even trying to figure Gibby out. He'd never really recovered from his brief friendship with Reuben.
"Yeah, we don't know." I say under my breath, loud enough for Brian to hear it but not loud enough for Gibby. My thoughts turn back to Brian's last words before Gibby's moment of…Gibbyness. "Why are you here?" I ask, awed in this guy's presence. Brian swings the rapier to rest on his shoulder before looking back at me.
"I'm supposed to be your teacher right? This filthy rich drama lady called me and asked me to do swordplay lessons." He chuckles for a minute, returning his attention to the rapier on his shoulder. "I don't come cheap."
Sam POV 3:10PM Day 11
Ms. Esposito pulls me along, giving frustrated huffs when I practically drag my feet. I was still caught up in terror at the whole kiss thing. It had all started on that fire escape, with one little kiss. Sure, it had taken jealously to make me realize that I liked Freddie, but the kiss had been what sparked it in the first place. Now that I was trying (unsuccessfully) to get over him, I was going to have to kiss him. Eight times.
Wait. Eight times in five performances…chiz.
I try (unsuccessfully) not to hyperventilate.
Ms. Esposito drags me into a room backstage, closing the door behind us. I don't realize there's another person in the room until I sense movement.
"Sam? Are you okay?" Carly asks, reaching out to steady me by my arm. I shake my head, resisting the urge to be sick. I should have known…she had even warned me. Yet I had still gone and broken the one rule that I had been determined to follow. Irony…it sucks.
"Should have listened to you." I whisper to no one in particular, staring off into space. Carly's eyebrows scrunch together in confusion and I feel her focus switch to Mrs. Esposito.
"I added a few kisses, that is all, Rosaline." Mrs. Esposito says nonchalantly, rustling some papers around. Carly's grip on my arm tightens and I rock back on my heels before shifting to my toes again.
"Oh?" Carly asks faintly, receiving some signal of confirmation from Ms. Esposito. I shake my head to clear it, trying to return to reality. More papers rustle and then Mrs. Esposito gives a cry of happiness
"Here we are, my chickens. The rules for kissing in one of my productions." She clears her throat and I look up at her in confusion. Rules for kissing? "Number one, kiss must last a minimum of eight seconds but may not exceed a minute. Number two, absolutely no French kissing. My patrons find the use of tongues revolting. Number three, keep your hands to yourself. You are allowed to touch the following body parts of your partner: back, waist, shoulders, and face. Girls may touch boy's chest but boys cannot touch girl's chest. Are we clear?" I try to nod but the only thing holding me upright is Carly's grip on my arm. There were RULES for kissing in her plays?
"If I'm not kissing anyone in the play, then why did you tell me to be here?" Carly asks, her gaze flicking back and forth between me and Mrs. Esposito. The drama teacher sighs, taking in my paralyzed expression again.
"Emotional support." She answers simply, handing a paper to Carly. "Plus someone's got to tell Romeo the rules and I doubt Juliet here is up to the challenge." I try to breathe deeply, struggling to find something reassuring. Romeo and Juliet! It wouldn't be Freddie and I kissing it would be Romeo and Juliet! The thought seems to balance me, despite how misguided it was. Mrs. Esposito waves, smiling slightly at me before leaving the room.
"Sam! Are you going to throw up?" Carly asks, keeping me steady on my feet.
"Not anymore." I say, taking a big breath of air before exhaling in an attempt to calm myself. "I just…need a minute." Carly nods, pulling me over to sit down in one of the chairs in front of a makeup station.
"Don't worry Sam, I'll tell Freddie for you." Carly says, looking down at the paper Mrs. Esposito had given her. My hands begin to shake uncontrollably and I look up at Carly in panic.
"It's not me and Freddie! It's Romeo and Juliet that are kissing, not us!" I protest, desperately hanging onto this one thought. Carly raises her eyebrows, her eyes widening at my outburst.
"Alright, Sam." She finally says, reaching out to rub my arm. I don't even realize that I'm breathing heavily until now, my chest heaving while I try and catch my breath. Carly steps closer, pulling me into a tight hug to comfort me. "It's ok, Sam. You're going to be fine. It's just Romeo and Juliet, alright?" Carly says, her words not having the calming effect that they intended. I pull away, looking down at the ground. Every single kiss was going to drag me deeper, pulling me towards what I had always sworn would never happen.
"Can I run lines with you? Maybe the scenes between Juliet and her nurse, just to get them memorized." I say weakly, trying to distract myself. Anything had to be better than dwelling on the second biggest screw up of my life.
Freddie POV 4:40PM Day 11
"That about wraps it up!" Brian says, resting his rapier on his shoulder and smiling at us. "Not bad, not bad at all." I hear loud clapping from the audience and everyone on stage turns to see Ms. Esposito.
"Thank you Mr. Phillips. It's an honor to have such a handsome young man here to teach swordplay!" Brian nods at his name, pausing dramatically before flipping his hair out of his face again. Maybe I'll nickname him 'Flipper'. No matter how many times Sam taunted me about my 'lame hairstyle' I would never let it grow long. "You all did very well my chickens, so go home and memorize now!" The fencing lesson had been a welcome distraction, but now it was over and reality was crashing over me. "Romeo, stay here please." Ms. Esposito says, her voice almost stern. Gibby nudges me playfully in the arm, bumping me forward.
"Busted by the mustard my home skillet!" He hisses under his breath, laughing softly when I glare at him. All of the other guys collect their backpacks and exit the theater, leaving me alone with Ms. Esposito. She takes a deep breath, resting her hands on her hips before exhaling audibly. "Okay Romeo, go fetch Juliet. I need you two to rehearse for me. She's in dressing room eight." I nod, blood pounding in my head and making me feel slightly dizzy. Nonetheless, I headed backstage and finally reach the door of dressing room number eight. Before I can chicken out, I seize the doorknob and throw the door open. My eyes automatically gravitate towards the right side of the room, focusing on Sam. She looks up from her script at that exact moment, our eyes meeting. Sam's face flushes, looking down immediately. I continue to study her, hoping that she'll look up at me again. She doesn't.
"Ms. Esposito wants us to come rehearse." I finally say, trying to forget. Forty kisses that would hurt me immeasurably, maybe even beyond a hope of repair, when we went back to normal after this play. Sam nods slowly, getting to her feet and rubbing her stomach absently. I exit the room, holding the door open for her. We walk down the hallway slowly and Sam rubs her stomach again.
"You know what I hate?" She asks out of the blue, looking up at me. I shrug, frowning a little bit at the first thing that comes to mind.
"Me?" I guess, keeping me eyes focused on the walkway in front of us and trying not to let how much it got to me when she said she hated me show. I knew she didn't hate me anymore but liking someone and tolerating someone are two completely different things.
"What? No." Sam says, confused by my conclusion for some reason. She had just told me last night that she 'hated' me, but now she acts like it's the stupidest guess I could have made. I look down at her, taking in her grimace. "I'm starving! I hate missing my after school snack!" Her stomach growls and somehow, even though I'm completely miserable, she forces a laugh out of me. Sam just has the ability to make me feel better, no matter what I'm depressed about. Her stomach growls again and she glares at me when I laugh even harder. "It's." She delivers a hard slap to my arm. "not." Slap. "funny." Slap. "Benson!" She slaps my arm a final time and I wince through my laugher.
"Sorry." I apologize, keeping a straight face for a second before bursting into laughter again. "Is food all you can think about?" I ask, still chuckling. Sam glowers at me, raising one eyebrow.
"Is lame techie stuff all you can think about?" She counters, wiping the smirk off of my face.
"Touché."
What did you think? Sam may have seemed a little OOC, but it's going to be explained in two chapters (probably) why she's so worried about this. I left a TON of foreshadowing hints for you, so tell me if you find any! My fav part was probably Ms. Esposito this chapter. She's so fun to write for! Did you have a favorite part? Did you not have a favorite part because it was so terrible? How am I supposed to know if you don't review? :(
New poll up on my profile: Should Brian Philips return at a later point in the story? I like his character and want to know what you think!
I want to thank all of the reviewers because getting feedback (good or bad) is important to beinga better writer. So, GINORMOUS thanks to: Kpfan72491, Mystapleza, xx-SamxFreddie-xx, Mari13ssa, iMaximumSeddie, leodoglover, mirage888, coketree20, vigoleo23, withflyingcolors, Deathnotefan101, Romance and Musicals, bella3590, MultiSeddielover, ChaosKeks, soultaker97, icecoffee18, G, smiley face, Aria P, Clara Powell, mygirl1807, and Readerofwonderfulwriters!
TO VIRGOLEO23: I love ridiculously long reviews! XD Anyway, it must be very frustrating to be Sam surrounded by so much perfection but you don't even know the half of it yet!
TO DEATHNOTE101: Thanks! Hope you liked this chapter! :)
TO SOULTAKER97: Glad you liked it! What did you think of this chapter? :)
TO G: I haven't written it yet, but there will probably be a scene where Sam and Freddie are give more...um...specific...stage directions. ;)
TO SMILEYFACE: I'm so sorry to hear that. My thoughts and prayers are with her remaining family and I hope you're doing okay.
TO READEROFWONDERFULWRITERS: This chapter was nice and long so I hope you enjoyed it too! :)
So...that's about it! Thanks so much for reading and (pretty please with a cherry on top) review! :D