Author's Note: We back! Man, I am so exited to post some of the chapters I'm working on right now (like chapter 49 and stuff)... I think you all will like them!
But first, chapter 23 :)
By Thursday, it was remarkable that the knowledge of Julian's possible move had spread only to Caitlin, Cisco and Barry (and most likely Iris because if Barry knew Iris knew).
Caitlin was still dejected by the whole idea. "I just can't believe it," she sighed, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. "So much ocean."
"I know," Julian agreed sadly. "I don't want to leave AV High. I like it here. I've got great friends and a great life and a great girlfriend."
"And your parents still haven't talked to you about it?" Caitlin asked.
"No," Julian sighed. "If they had, at least then I would have been able to try and talk them out of it. But they don't even know that I know. This had better not be their idea of a "great Christmas present"."
"Worst present ever," Cisco agreed, swinging himself up and over the back of the bench Caitlin and Julian were sitting on and joining the conversation partway through. "Remind me what we're talking about again?"
They both looked at him in a depressed way and Cisco raised his eyebrows. "Ah. Yes. The Move."
"I feel like you said that with a capital letter on the M," Julian said dejectedly. "But really it should be capital letters for the M, the O, the V, and the E."
"Right, right," Cisco nodded. "The MOVE. It'd be a good acronym. Making... M-O... Making Old Vehicles... Eat?"
"That makes no sense," Caitlin said, laughing against her will. "Moving On Very Easily makes sense."
"But it's not true," Julian sighed, and the damp mood returned. "I don't want to leave."
"I don't want you to leave either, dude," Cisco sighed. "But sometimes life is life. That's what I learned from that whole thing with my grandparents and my mom making Dante and I go away for the weekends."
"Yeah, but you figured that out!" Julian protested. "You're only gone every other weekend, and I would be gone... all the time. Always. Forever. Across the ocean."
Caitlin let out a dry sob and curled into a ball on the bench. Julian put an arm around her shoulders and sighed once again.
They sat in silence until the bus arrived, wishing more than anything that Julian would just be able to stay.
AV-High-AV-High-AV-High-AV-High-AV-High-AV-High-AV-High-AV-High-AV-High
It was the night of the show.
Kara was jittery beyond jitteriness. Her hands were shaking and her foot was tapping, and she was trying very hard not to scratch underneath her brown wig. Oliver was pacing in front of her looking calm, though she could hear him muttering his lines under his breath.
"Kara!" a voice whispered.
Kara jumped and whipped around. "Mon-El!" she gasped, spotting her boyfriend peeking out around a corner. "What are you doing here? No one's allowed backstage besides the actors!"
"I snuck in," Mon-El said. "I wanted to wish you good luck tonight."
Kara smiled widely, pleased, then glanced at Oliver. "I'll be right back," she told him, before hurrying from her spot to the backstage hallway. Once they were alone, she turned back to Mon-El. "We have until they call for places."
He nodded. "I'm, uh, really sorry our date got canceled this weekend."
"Me two," Kara sighed. "But hey, it happens."
"Yeah," Mon-El swallowed, wiping his sweating palms on his jeans. It was a little hard to hear over the sound of his heart pounding in his ears, and swallowed again, throat dry. "You... you look really pretty in that dress."
"Thanks," Kara whispered, her heart fluttering a little. She knew what was about to happen. She just knew it. "I like the yellow one better."
"Yeah?" Mon-El took a step forward, moving her wig aside a little so he could cup her face. "I bet it's beautiful."
"The costume department did a really good job," Kara murmured, eyes fluttering shut. She wasn't even quite sure what she was saying anymore.
"I bet they did," Mon-El replied, and kissed her.
Perfection.
When they broke apart, Kara shut her eyes and rested her forehead against Mon-El's shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered.
He laughed, giving her a hug. "You're welcome, I guess?"
"Now my first kiss will be actually someone I care about," Kara explained, pulling back and looking at him shyly.
"Places, everyone, places please," a voice instructed through the speaker.
Kara jumped and pulled back a little. "I have to go," she told Mon-El apologetically. "See you after the show?"
"You betcha," he smiled. "Good luck. Or... break a leg?"
Grinning widely and feeling almost giddy, Kara turned and raced to stage left, where she made her first entrance.
The play went remarkably well for their first (and last) time preforming in front of an audience. There were a few bumbled lines, but the audience was great and there was a standing ovation at the end. Granted, it was really just all the actors' parents, friends, and a few teachers, but it still felt good when you were standing onstage after bows and grinning out at a huge, clapping audience.
After the show, Kara, Barry, Cisco, Oliver and Winn all went out to the meet and greet together. They were buzzing from the success of the last hour and a half, and were met with their similarly beaming "fans."
"Barry!" Iris squealed. She had gone against the doctor's orders (she was set to go back to school on Monday, so it wasn't that big of a deal) and come to the show, and now burst through the crowd and attacked Barry with a hug. "You did so amazing."
"Iris?" Barry looked shocked. He hadn't thought she would be able to come. "What are you doing here?! You should be in bed!"
"I couldn't miss your play," Iris told him, giving him a long kiss and then hugging him again. "And I'm so glad I came; you did amazing. All of you did."
"Thanks, Iris," Kara smiled. She was tucked under Mon-El's arm, both of them looking very happy. "I'm glad you got to come."
Felicity pushed her way through the throng of audience members and popped into their little circle. "Hey, guys!" she greeted, smiling shyly at Oliver. "You did really good."
"Thanks," Oliver mumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
When the two of them were not being looked at, Felicity walked over and kissed his cheek. "I may be requesting you to sing for me now. Just saying."
Oliver laughed, turning a bit red. "For you, maybe."
Winn and Cisco, the only two that now didn't have a female tucked into their side, fist bumped. "Bachelors forever, dude," Cisco muttered. "We don't need no ladies to rock the stage."
"You know that's right," Winn agreed, before Kara hugged him, too.
Caitlin and Julian were the next to find him. "Great job, everyone," Caitlin said after giving Cisco a hug. "I wish they did more than one show- I would go see it again."
"Well, when we are all famous on Broadway you can come see our shows," Winn said, grinning.
"Dude, I'm not going on Broadway," Cisco winced. "If I'm acting, it's gonna be for music videos or television shows."
"Music videos?" Felicity frowned. "People aspire to be in music videos?"
Winn shrugged. "Sure. Taylor Swift asks me to feature and I am there."
There was a long silence. Iris giggled. "Winn... you like Taylor Swift?"
"Don't get him started," Kara muttered, but it was too late.
"Like Taylor Swift?!" Winn asked incredulously. "Are you kidding? She's a song writing, music producing genius! I know that nobody likes Reputation but it is a work of art! Those lyrics? And music? She's trying all these new things and-"
"Winn. Breath," Kara said firmly. She shook her head at Iris. "I told you not to get him started."
"I will now know for future," Iris murmured, looking like she wanted to laugh but didn't want to hurt Winn's feelings. "Hey, I don't mind Reputation. I can get into a little Delicate every once and awhile."
"Exactly. Exactly!" Winn threw his hands in the air and huffed. "Now, who's coming over for a post-performance celebration?"
About seven phones were suddenly in the open, and parents were quickly called, texted, or messaged in some other way. Then, availability and permission confirmed, the six teenagers followed Winn through the crowd and out of school.
AV-High-AV-High-AV-High-AV-High-AV-High-AV-High-AV-High-AV-High-AV-High
"So?" Alex asked when Kara got home at around 10:30, buzzing and smiling and still finding the occasional bobby pin in her hair from her wig.
"So...?" Kara echoed, unsure of what her sister meant.
Alex rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that 'so'."
"What 'so'?"
"That 'I don't know what you're talking about' so," Alex elaborated. "Now, spill. Was Oliver Queen your first kiss or what?"
Kara got a positively dreamy look in her eyes and Alex leapt to her feet. "Oookay, forget I asked. I don't think I want to know."
"Alex," Kara groaned. "No, Oliver Queen wasn't my first kiss. Mon-El snuck backstage and... you know... took care of that."
She was starting to look moony again so Alex coughed loudly. "So... did you enjoyed your first kiss? Good experience? Worth the wait?"
"OMG yes," Kara sighed. "It was so amazing. Alex... how do you know when you're in love?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Alex cried, nearly choking on her own spit. "You think you're in love with Mon-El?!"
"I don't know!" Kara threw up her hands. "That's why I asked: how do you know?"
Alex shook her head. "I am not the person to ask. I dated Max for three weeks before discovering that I wasn't bisexual and was just plain lesbian, after which I had the grand total of zero girlfriends. I've never fallen in love, and I doubt I ever will."
"Of course you will, Alex. Eventually, anyway," Kara reassuring her. "Look, I know things didn't work out with Maggie, but that doesn't mean that you won't ever find someone to fall in love with."
Alex shrugged, getting a devious look in her eyes. "Yeah, you might be right. That Sara Lance is pretty cute."
Kara's jaw dropped.
There was a long silence.
"Kara. Kidding." Alex rolled her eyes, laughing a little. "I'm not dating my best friends little sister. Especially because she's dating Leonard Snart."
"Oh, okay," Kara mumbled. "Whew."
"Anyway..." Alex continued. "My point is that when it comes to love, I have no idea how to tell if you're in it, or what it feels like, or anything like that. Why don't you ask... I dunno... Caitlin or someone?"
"Alex, I only know Caitlin a little bit," Kara sighed. "Not enough to ask her about... love and stuff. That's what sister are supposed to be for!"
"Well excuse me for not being particularly interested in that kind of stuff," Alex grumbled.
"Aleeeex..." Kara groaned. "That's not what this is about. I'll just figure it out some other way, forget it."
She sighed again and walked out of the kitchen, toward her room. Alex shook her head, flopping onto the living room's couch and texting Laurel.
'Do you think I'm a lame sister?'
Almost immediately, her phone buzzed and Laurel's face popped onto the screen. Alex accepted the call and wandered outside, not wanting Kara to overhear their conversation.
"Where is this coming from?" Laurel demanded as soon as Alex greeted her. "Alex, you're a great sister! Almost as good as me."
Alex laughed a little. "Yeah, I guess. It's just some things Kara said. About how older sisters should be the ones to know about love, and how I can't help her with that. And you know, she's right. I haven't had a long term, working dating relationship ever. How can I help Kara out when she has questions when I don't even know the answers myself?"
"Alex, you're not expected to know everything," Laurel responded. "You can talk to Kara about loads of older sister stuff. I mean, come on. You have a perfectly good, functioning mother. If Kara is really confused or worried about not knowing exactly what love is and what to do, she can just ask her."
Alex sighed. "I guess so," she agreed. "Sometimes I just wonder if I'm doing something wrong. After that whole thing with Maggie... like, she was perfect for me, you know? Almost every single thing about her was perfect for me. What if I never find someone better?"
"You will, Alex," Laurel told her. "Of course you will! You and I, and Maggie, too... we're all graduating this year. You've already gotten into the college of your dreams. You already have the next four plus years of your life all planned out. Who's to say that another girl won't come along during those plans, someone that is even better for you than Maggie?"
Alex shrugged. Laurel must have taken her silence as a disagreement, because she sighed. "I refuse to believe that Maggie is the last amazing person you will ever meet, Alex."
"I know that!" Alex protested. "I just feel like... You know how people are always telling you not to rush things or jump into dating to early? And my mom is always saying that high school relationships never last so they're not worth it. And I get that, I do. I really do. Most days, high school relationships seem pointless and like they'd take up too much time anyway, but then on nights like tonight I want to rush into it, you know? I want to jump into things now, I don't want to wait until college or even after that! I want to have a girlfriend and I want to kiss someone and fall in love and everything. And I really doubt that I'm going to meet anyone else this year that is as good for me as Maggie was!"
It was silent on the other end of the line for a moment. "Yeah," Laurel said finally. "Yeah, I get that."
They went quiet, Alex's eyes trailing after a car that drove down her street, much too fast for a neighborhood. She took a seat on the second step leading up to her house, propping her head up with the heal of her hand.
"Do you ever think Maggie is uncomfortable around me?" she asked softly. "If I say something or do something... do you think she totally overthinks it? Because I know if I knew someone had an unrequited crush on me, I would be overthinking everything they did around me, trying to figure out if they did it because they like me or because they wanted to."
"I honestly don't know, Alex," Laurel responded. "Maggie and I haven't talked much about you or your feelings. I think you were... are... closer to her than I am. We don't really talk alone much, or about you or relationships at all. If I need to talk about boys, I go to Sara. And then if she doesn't know what to do or who likes who or something, she goes to Thea and Iris." She let out a short laugh. "Not that I've had any boys to like recently."
"Since Oliver, huh?" Alex said.
"Yeah, basically," Laurel agreed. "And, while that was a rare situation that a friendship-turned-dating-turned-breakup actually worked out okay in the end, it kind of put me off of relationships. Next thing I know, we're in our Senior year. Unless some boy miraculously comes along who happens to be going to the same college I am and is everything I've ever wanted, what's the point of starting dating someone?"
"You do have, like, half a year," Alex reminded her. "And long distance relationships are possible. Like, we have texting and FaceTime and all of that now."
"I know, I know," Laurel laughed. "Gosh, you sound like my mother. She thinks that it'd be healthy for me to get into a 'functional dating relationship'. And yeah, while having a boyfriend could be fun, I don't really know who I would be dating. Honestly... who do you know at our school that I have any romantic interest or who has any interest in me?"
Alex was silent for a moment, before she laughed. "Yeah, I really have no idea. I think half our grade is scared of you so that kind of cuts down on options."
"Girl, forget half our grade," Laurel countered. "More like half our school. I think when you and Maggie told Thea you were witches at Homecoming she took it seriously and spread it around to the entire school."
Alex burst into giggles. "Thanks, Laurel," she said after a moment. "Calling you was exactly what I needed to cheer me up tonight."
"Anytime," Laurel reassured her. "You need me, I'm here."
After they had hung up on each other, Alex leaned back against the steps and smiled. She may not have a girlfriend, but her girl friend was exactly what she wanted.
Author's Note: Sorry, a little on the short side. Hopefully I can come up with more things for this story... After New Years things will get exciting again because they'll be new students...
No spoilers, though! You guys will see :D
