The day went by slower than usual as Jason pondered what he had gotten himself into. The teacher's voice droned on and on in the back round as his mind trailed off. No one cared to pay attention- after all, it was 8th period. Freedom was only a couple minutes away, at least for everyone else. As soon as the last bell rang, Jason would be in the hands of three teenage girls- a situation that could mean death if not properly prepared. 'All I have to do is sit there and watch them act,' he thought. 'No biggie. Then we'll go buy a CD. That's all. No reason to worry…' His thoughts were cut off by the bell. Thank God. Mr. Bell was just about to get into Nuclear Physics. Jason took a deep breath as he exited the room. 'Steve owes me big,' he thought. Of course he knew that as soon as his performance was over, Steven and the crew would emerge from behind some random corner, seemingly out of nowhere, ranting and raving about Jason's superb acting skills. They always did that. It was sort of scary sometimes.
Jason placed his physics book in his locker and walked toward the drama room. He walked like a prisoner about to be handed over to the executioner, but as soon as he appeared in the doorway, his expression turned bright and excited.
"Hey Jay!" Stephanie and Ally gleamed.
"Hey Stephanie. Hey Ally. Hi Mr. Brookfeild," he greeted.
"Hello Jay," Mr. Brookfeild welcomed. "The girls told me you would be sitting in today. Take a seat. We're glad to have you."
The rest of the class began to file in--- a good portion of them girls--- and took their seats. Jason recognized many of the kids and silently searched for Nicole's face amongst the small crowd of kids. He didn't see her though, and was becoming impatient. To be honest, he didn't want to spend any more time in there then he had to. He started to tap his foot eagerly until he saw Nicole enter the doorway. She was radiant as usual and smiled shyly at Jason before taking her seat next to Stephanie and Ally.
"Go sit next to him!" Stephanie whispered to Nicole.
"Why? No! He'll think I'm weird!" Nicole protested.
"You are weird Nicole," Stephanie replied and turned her attention back to the teacher.
"Great- Now that everyone is here, please take out the scripts I gave you last week- we left off on page 5," Mr. Brookfeild instructed them.
"What play are we doing?" Jay whispered to Ally.
"A knock-off spin-off thing of Moulin Rouge…clean of course," she replied.
"Great…" he thought to himself.
"Nicole, why don't you and… hold on—where is Brandon?" the teacher asked confusedly. Brandon Talbot had the lead for Christian but was mysteriously missing. The students turned around and looked for him but was no where to be found.
"Why do I have a feeling that Steven had something to do with this?" Jason thought. "That's right—because he probably did."
"Um- Ok- the show will go on--- Jay! Why don't you read for Brandon?" Mr. Brookfeild suggested unexpectedly.
"ME?" he asked—very surprised.
"HIM?" Nicole asked just as surprised as Jason.
"Why not?" he asked.
"YEAH NICOLE—WHY NOT?" Stephanie and Ally said directing their mischievous grins at their friend.
"Um—well I guess I could…" Jason said as Ally and Steph dragged him to the front of the room.
Mr. Brookfeild handed him a script and told him where to start. "Act 2: Scene 3—Christian and Satine share their first dance—take it away."
Jason and Nicole unsurely moved closer together as Ally and Stephanie obviously got a kick out of it.
Mr. Brookfeild- ZIDLER:
(Watching from afar from a poor vantage point as Satine and Christian dance.)
That Duke certainly can dance!
Nicole-SATINE:
(Dancing with a slightly more comfortable Christian.)
It's so wonderful of you to take an interest in our little show.
Jason-CHRISTIAN:
Well, it sounds very exciting. I'd be delighted to be involved.
(Yeah right. Wouldn't Steven be delighted if this was real life?) Jason thought to himself.
SATINE:
Really!?
CHRISTIAN:
Assuming you like what I do, of course.
SATINE:
I'm sure I will!
(I hope this isn't a sign.) Nicole said to herself.
(Everyone dancing as Christian tips his hat to the seated Bohos who encouragingly tip back..)
Class-CROWD:
HERE WE ARE NOW
CHRISTIAN:
Toulouse thought we might be able to, um... (Dips her) …do it in private.
(Yeah—Ok.)
SATINE:
Did he?
(I hope not.)
CROWD:
HERE WE ARE NOW
(I bet Stephanie and Ally are getting a complete kick out of this.)
CHRISTIAN:
Yes, you know, a…a private… (dips her again) …poetry reading.
(Ha. Poetry.)
CROWD:
ENTERTAIN US
"They already are," laughed Stephanie and Ally.
SATINE:
Ohhh…
(Ohhh…)
CROWD:
HERE WE ARE NOW, ENTERTAIN US
SATINE:
A poetry reading…oh, I love a little poetry after supper.
(Grabs at him a little.)
(This is disgusting. I'm talking to Mr. Brookfeild about this. Well, at least he's cute.)
CROWD:
HERE WE ARE NOW, ENTERTAIN US
HERE WE ARE NOW, ENTERTAIN US
Stephanie and Ally laugh harder.
SATINE:
(Giving a big kick.) Take off your hats…
Later On At the Music Store…
Stephanie, Ally, Nicole and Jason walked into Borders after drama class laughing hysterically. Well, at least Stephanie and Ally were.
"That was great!" Ally exclaimed.
"Jay! I didn't know you could act! You were great! You should try out for real! You were much better than that Brandon kid." Stephanie said and Ally agreed. "Right Nicole?"
"Oh, uh, Yeah… You should definitely try out." She replied although she didn't mean it.
"Of course he should! Ooh! YM! Come on Al!" Stephanie and Ally ran over to the magazine rack.
Nicole and Jason just stood their. They laughed a little, not knowing what to say.
"That was some class, huh?" Jason said with a smile.
"Yeah… You were really good," Nicole replied shyly.
"Thanks… I was a little embarrassed though."
"Oh, you don't need to be. You're a good dancer by the way."
"Haha. My sister used to make me dance with her all the time. I guess it came in handy," he laughed as he picked up a YellowCard c.d.
"Yeah—I don't have any sisters but I do----"
Nicole was cut off by a strange noise.
"Pssssssttt…"
"Did you hear that?" she asked Jason.
"Pssssssssttttt…"
"There it is again!" she annoyed. "What is that?"
"Psssssttt…Jason!….Over here!" Jason turned around to see the whole gang hiding behind a big rack of cd's. Steven was motioning for him to come over. "I should have expected this…" Jason thought to himself.
"Ummm… I'll be right back. Uh—Don't move." He said as he snuck over.
"Ok…" she said and began to look at some Cd's.
"What are you doing here????" Jason asked irritated.
"We came to check up on you. Great performance by the way." Steven said. "Oooh! YellowCard!"
"You saw that?"
"Yeah! Of course we did," he said, taking the Cd out of Jason's hand. "Who did you think got the Brandon kid to drop out? Man… you offer someone $10 and a peanut butter twix and he'll do anything for ya," Steven marveled.
"Well—don't do it again- I already told you I wasn't going to audition and you need to.."
"Jay?? Who are you talking to??" Nicole called.
"Uh, no one! I'll be right there." He called back. "I'll see you guys tomorrow," he whispered. "And gimme that!" he grabbed the cd back.
"Gease… he must be in a bad mood." Andrew remarked.
"Really? Ya think?" Dan said sarcastically. "Really, guys, I think it would be better if we just ended this thing now instead of— "
"Did anyone ask you?" Steven cut him off. "Come on guys, let's go. And Andrew-"
"Yeah?"
"Get off my leg."
"Ooops…sorry."
Sorry for the long wait! Script courtesy of Moulin Goldmine (altered by me lol).