"Love is not blind - It sees more and not less, but because it sees more it is willing to see less."
-Will Moss
"QUIT THE MUSICAL - OR ELSE." I handed the note to Marisa while stopping at her locker between classes. Around us, students alternately hurried to their classes or walked lazily with friends, talking rapidly with each other, trying to get as much said before the bell signaled that they would be late. "It fell out of my locker right after English class. I'm not taking it seriously but what do you think?" It was signed "TG - Theater Ghost."
"Hmm... red ink, a gruesome touch. Obviously meant to represent blood but not a good substitute. Real blood would be brown after drying... The writer is trying to disguise his or her writing by making it look sloppy..." Marisa then held the note up to the light, squinting, then brought it to her freckled nose and sniffed it. I gave her an odd look, she grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I guess I've been reading too many Sherlock Holmes mysteries... Smells faintly of... Johnny Boy cologne, not unusual among the guys at our school. The ink... hmm... looks like the kind of gel-ink pens that most of the teachers here use for grading papers. The paper is ordinary notebook... but of the thicker, higher quality kind. Our ghost has a pretty good job perhaps... that explains the cologne." Marisa shrugged, handed the note back to me, and closed her locker door. "Anyway, I wouldn't worry about it too much. It's probably some kind of weird tradition to scare the lead in the musical around here... but I don't know for sure since I'm not in the music department." The bell ran and we went our separate ways. Before entering my next class, I crumpled up the note and threw it away.
"What are you doing?" I asked curiously as Rod steered me away from the main flow of students for a moment after school. He had caught up with me on my way to West Side Story rehearsal and had walked with me down the hallways of the school with his arm wrapped possessively around my waist. He was now tugging off his class ring and putting it on my right hand ring finger. It was too big for my finger and nearly slipped off.
"This is to let everyone know that you are mine and no one else can have you," he said with a smile and moved his face closer to mine. I turned my head quickly and his kiss, intended for my lips, landed on my cheek instead. Even though we had been dating awhile, I still felt for the strangest reason that I didn't want him to kiss me on the lips. We were, perhaps, the only couple at school that didn't spend the three minutes in between classes sucking on each others lips and exploring their partner's rear end with "roamin' hands and rushin' fingers." I had to turn away when seeing people like that in the hallway, it was disgusting.
Rod looked at me a moment and then gently pushed a curl out of my eyes. "Bye, Christine, my lovely goddess." He blew a kiss as he walked out of the school and I sighed once he was out of sight. The longer I was with Rod, it became clear that he was used to a much more intimate relationship than I was comfortable with. Although I liked Rod and it gave me a thrill that a guy as nice-looking as he cared about me, I knew, for some reason, that I wasn't ready for that kind of relationship... Secretly, I had always been determined to stay a virgin until my wedding night, a rare thing these days, but what better wedding gift might I give to my future husband? Unfortunately, I don't think Rod understood that and I didn't know how long I could hold him off.
I sighed again and pushed my conflicting feelings about Rod out of my mind as I headed towards the theater. It was close enough that Mrs. Lucas and Mr. Hayes had almost all rehearsals there.
Without warning, someone rudely shoved me into the wall. Charlotte walked away from me, laughing hysterically. I glared at her back and rubbed my shoulder. "Are you okay?" asked a timid voice. I looked up to see Brandi, the dark-skinned girl that Charlotte sat with at lunch. She shifted her backpack nervously and kept glancing in the direction that Charlotte had gone.
I glared at her, anger seeping into my voice. "I'm just perfect! You can tell Charlotte that I got her message loud and clear." I stopped, seeing Brandi's face get more morose. "Why do you care?" I asked a bit more gently.
She shrugged. "I don't really know... I mean, you've always been nice and, well, I just don't think that Charlotte's right about everything, you know?" I nodded. "A word of advice: try to stay away from her. She's not too happy with you gettin' the part of Maria... or goin' out with Rod."
I rubbed my shoulder again, there would probably be a bruise there tomorrow. "Yeah... I figured that out on my own."
Before walking into the theater, I took Rod's ring off my finger and slipped it into the pocket of my jeans. I told myself firmly it was because I was afraid to lose it but, deep down, I knew that there was another reason.
Walking into the brightly lit auditorium, I saw Mr. Hayes near the stage who looked up from some papers, smiled and beckoned me closer. "Do you think Erik might want to be in the pit? I could really use a talented young man like him."
I shifted uneasily. "I wouldn't think so, Mr. Hayes... he doesn't like being around people that much..."
His confident mustache drooped. "Hmm. Well... he might like to be my music consultant. He wouldn't have to be around anyone but me. Would you ask him for me?"
"Sure..." I sighed. Mr. Hayes nodded with satisfaction and went back to his papers. Behind me, I heard laughter as other students arrived for practice. I looked towards them, saying in an off-hand manner: "By the way, that was a great joke, Mr. Hayes, that you or someone else put in my locker today. I had to admit, I kinda freaked out when I first saw it."
Mr. Hayes looked up with a frown. "I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about, Christine."
My grin faded a little. "You know, the note from TG... Theater Ghost." He still looked confused. "It's not a tradition to scare the lead in the musical?" I asked weakly.
"No... why?"
"Oh, uh, no reason. I think someone was just playing a joke on me." I waved it aside but in reality I became a little concerned. Who had sent that note? And was it just a joke?