Chapter 25
From Eliza and Freddy to Maria and Tony
Drew's strange escapades with Kate did not stop at early morning musical practices. They continued to the end of junior year and through the summer. The reason for such strange behavior might be found in a simple study of Drew's motivations.
Drew did not meet Kate until he was cast as the bearer of unrequited love for her character. At first, all the lovey-dovey jokes that the two constantly made were merely fun and games between friends, poking fun at their My Fair Lady characters. When the play ended, but the serenades at Kate's window continued, everyone seemed to get a clue. Everyone, that is, except for Kate.
The entire situation gave Alan grey hair, much to the exasperation of J. One such day when a case of this occurred was a lazy midsummer morning when Kate discovered a row of flowers planted beneath her windowsill. J pulled Alan aside as he was on his way out to have a discussion with Drew, saying that they needed to have one of their own.
"He's singing songs outside my daughter's window, planting her flowers, and who knows what else!" Alan protested.
J calmly placed her hands on her hips.
"So?"
"So?!" Alan's eyes widened and he took to pacing.
"So…you know what that means!"
J stopped Alan's pacing by putting her hands on his shoulders and steadying him to a halt. "Alan, look at me." Reluctantly, Alan did so. "Good. Now, how much younger were Chrissy and Shay than Kate is now when we let them date? Five years? Five years that involve a lot of maturing."
Alan licked his lips, his eyes casting a worried gaze toward Kate's room, and continued to protest. "Yes…but that was nothing. It was middle school dating that never lasted for more than a few weeks. You've seen all the things Drew's been doing. He's serious."
J stuck a finger under Alan's chin and titled it until his eyes looked directly into hers. "Were we serious when you wrote me that letter and when I climbed up that tree outside your room in the middle of the night?"
Alan drew back a little, shocked that she even had to ask that question, and confused with how it related to the issue at hand. "Of course!"
"And…" J continued with a smile, "hadn't we been going out for almost a year by the summer between our junior and senior years?"
Alan worked his jaw, trying to put his anxiety into understandable words. "But we had known each other all our lives! And…" he added in a whisper, "she's my little girl."
J softened, took Alan's hands, and squeezed them. "I know, honey…but she's growing up. You have to let her. Drew is a good guy, he respects Kate. She doesn't know about how he feels yet…you're going to have to trust them and let it work it out for themselves."
Alan sighed heavily and nodded in compliance, sinking onto the sofa. "But she's still my little girl…" he murmured.
***
Despite all of Drew's subtle hints, Kate remained oblivious to his true feelings toward her. This continued on through senior year until that spring, and Kate's last high school musical. After auditions, Kate was tickled to see herself cast as Maria and Drew as Tony for West Side Story. The idea of playing a romantic part with Drew, one of her closest friends, caused Kate to burst out in laughter any time they rehearsed one of the romantic scenes.
The only other problem that production was persuading Kate to sing "I'm So Pretty." The problem was solved when Kate learned how to choke down the gagging reflex that kicked in whenever she heard the lyrics. But she forced herself to sing it, claiming that if she could convince people that she truly felt "so pretty," than she was a good actor.
Though being Juliet to Drew's Romeo amused Kate, it had an opposite affect on Drew. Telling Kate that he loved her and hearing it back from her, only to know that it was all only acting, hurt him deeply. Still, nothing he could do save outright telling Kate would make her aware of how he felt. Only…this was Kate, the Kate who never looked at guys for anything other than friends, who thought watching a romantic comedy was quite enough "sappy stuff" for the next month or so, and the Kate who probably would only laugh at him and wouldn't believe him if he told her.
***
Practice was over, but Kate and Drew wanted to go through a couple scenes once or twice more. Since there were still sports teams at the school, the two were allowed to stay for another half an hour. After running through the scenes in question long enough to satisfy both of their high expectations, Drew and Kate cleaned up what little remained of the set. Out of nowhere, Drew got a crazy notion, and decided to act on it. Nothing else so far had worked, and he was beginning to give up hope.
***
Kate plopped the box down on its proper stack,
straightened, turned around, and jumped. Drew was right behind her. "Geez!
You scared me!" she exclaimed, eyes flashing. "What are you do—"
Then she couldn't speak. It's rather hard to talk when someone
else's mouth is pressed against your own. A million thoughts soared through
Kate's mind: surprise, confusion, anger, and one she couldn't place, in that
one split second before her gut instinct (fine-tuned by growing up with two
older brothers) kicked in. Without really knowing what she was doing, Kate's
fist flew up from her side and collided with Drew's jaw.
Yelping, Drew pulled away and clutched at the side of his mouth in pain. Drawing her arm back, Kate squeaked at what she had done, and momentarily forgot what caused her to punch one of her best friends. "Oh, Drew, my gosh, I am SO sorry!" she cried, running over to his side and examining the quickly-forming bruise on his jaw bone. "That was totally my reflexes, I didn't mean—"
"It's alright," Drew assured her in a wincing voice. "I brought that upon myself. I should have known…"
"Kate pushed her dark brown hair (dyed temporarily to better fit the part of Maria) out of her eyes and grabbed Drew's arm, pulling him after her. "At least let me get you some ice…" she offered, taking him down to the cafeteria.
***
Kate did get Drew ice for his jaw. After that, they parted ways for the night. The following day at school found them both acting as if nothing had happened, and delicately avoiding the subject. The subject was continually avoided into West Side practice. Things changed when they rehearsed the dance in the gym scene. Just as Maria and Tony did, Kate and Drew locked eyes through the crowd from across the room. Slowly, they melted through the crowd of people into each other's arms.
'The script, remember the script!' Drew urged himself mentally as he placed his hands tenderly on Kate's face.
Kate swallowed a lump in her throat, and forced her mind to focus only on the script and not the previous afternoon's events. She laid her hands across Drew's shoulders and tried to keep her mind blank.
When Maria and Tony kissed, the script dissolved. The electricity zinging from Drew to Kate and back again banished every thought but each other from their minds. The script called for Tony and Maria to break apart almost immediately, interrupted by the angered cries of their respective family/gang members. Such was not the case for Kate and Drew. Angry calls filled the auditorium, but the couple did not budge, if they had even heard at all. Nothing tore them apart until Mr. Nelson's beckoning cough shattered the moment.
Blushing, Kate and Drew separated. Yet, though they separated, they were finally together.
