Marco's POV
"You don't know me, Steve. It doesn't work. I brought that bottle up here to make you feel cheap. That didn't work either. Instead, I'm the one who feels cheap. I've never felt that way before..." I watched as Ellie recited her lines in front of the class. Everyone was completely mesmerized. And to think I had been worried that she might get me a bad grade. She was amazing.
I watched as Ellie floated across our "set" in the amazing beaded white dress we had found for her. A matching faux fur stole was wrapped around her shoulders and I tugged on the brim of my hat. We acted out the rest of our lines and then we got to the kiss. Ellie grabbed my face and pulled me into a quick kiss and the audience gave out some catcalls.
I licked my lips after she pulled away and took a step backwards, "What'd you do that for?"
"I was wondering whether I'd like it."
"What's the decision?"
"I don't know yet." Ellie grabbed me again, but this time I kissed her back, just as she taught me. The class erupted into cheers and even Ms. Kwan looked pleased when we pulled apart. Ellie raised an eyebrow suggestively. "It's even better when you help. Uh, sure you won't change your mind about this?"
I turned around so I wasn't looking at her, "Uhuh."
"This belongs to me and so do my lips. I don't see any difference."
"I do." Okay, Ellie just had to make it through her next couple of lines and we'd be through. This would be the moment of truth.
"Okay. You don't have to act with me. You don't have to say anything and you don't have to do anything. Not a thing," Ellie started towards the door and paused. "Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, don't ya Steve? Just you put your lips together and blow."
I let out a huge sigh of relief. Perfect. Our duet had been perfect. Ellie shyly went back to her seat while I hammed it up a bit in front of the class, dramatic bows after dramatic bows. Spinner finally threw a piece of paper at me and told me to stop being annoying. I gave him a wry little smile and sat down next to Ellie. She quickly looked at me and smiled before returning to her inspection of her nails.
I was about to say something to her when Ms. Kwan interrupted," That was great. Spectacular. Okay, so you're probably wondering why you did these duets. Well, we are going to be putting on a drama production in class. Your duets were your audition pieces!"
Some people groaned because they had done poorly with their skits, while I screamed a silent "yes!" in my head. I had nailed it. I would definitely get one of the lead parts. I wondered what play we'd be performing.
"Since we just studied Oscar Wilde in English class, I figured this would be a great opportunity to do a play by him: The Importance of being Earnest."
I had never heard of that play before, but I was certain it'd be a hit. The bell started to ring and Ms. Kwan hurried to finish up, "Now, I'll post the list of parts at the end of the day outside this room. You'll get your scripts tomorrow! Have a good day."
I ran to catch up with Ellie who had somehow snuck out before everyone else. She was walking at such a fast pace that I was out of breath when I reached her. "Hey! Where are you going?"
"Um, to class... Where do you think?" She cast me a weird look and I returned it to her.
"So, you were above awesome in there. Why didn't you practice like that?"
"It's a lot different when you do it in front of an audience."
"I know, but that was amazing. I didn't know you could act like that."
"Oh, I thought we were talking about my kissing. Silly me."
I rammed my shoulder into hers lightly, causing her to stumble a bit to the side. She returned the action and clutched her shoulder. "Okay, I think I hurt myself worse..."
I instinctively reached out and massaged her shoulder as we continued to walk. "I bet you'll get a lead part, Ellie. Ms. Kwan seemed impressed."
She lifted her eyebrows and shrugged. "Who knows. Who cares."
I rolled my eyes at her nonchalant attitude. I knew she was freaking inside. There's something about seeing someone who loves acting do it. Their whole face lights up and it's like they're really the character. That's what Ellie looked like. That's how I knew she'd be getting a lead.
Ellie's POVI didn't call Sean back. I haven't talked to him at all since that day. Is that wrong? I just feel like he should suffer a bit. He spent awhile trying to win me back. Pleading with me, apologizing profusely, things of that sort, but I told him to leave me alone. He's a good listener, because he is actually leaving me alone. He won't talk to me, he won't even look at me. And I'm starting to wonder if this is what I wanted.
"So, Sean and you are still kaput?" Marco asked me after taking a bite of his fish.
I wrinkled my nose at the smell and sight of his lunch. "I don't know. We haven't talked. But he deserves this, doesn't he?"
"He did apologize."
"Yeah, and he did steal. Again."
"And he did get you out of trouble."
"Trouble that he got me into in the first place."
"He did tell the truth."
"Yeah, and he also stood up for Jay more than me. What's that tell you?"
Marco smirked, "Maybe he's gay and him and Jay have this whole affair going on behind your back?"
I threw a carrot stick at his face, "Hush."
He ate his fish and I chewed on a carrot stick for a few minutes in silence. Marco broke it. "So I think you should forgive him and go back to being happy Ellie."
"Happy Ellie? I'm always happy Ellie."
"Yeeeah... That's right. I forgot. I can't really tell. You seem to have this bored look permanently attached to your face," Marco replied sarcastically.
"Is this better?" I put an extremely huge grin on my face and Marco laughed.
"Actually, yes. Very sexy."
"I thought so. Seriously, Marco. Why are you, like, taking his side over mine? I'm your best friend. He's been nothing but a jerk to you," I knew that wasn't completely true. Sean used to be a complete jerk to Marco, but he was really starting to come around. Still, it seemed like I was grasping at any reason to not talk to Sean. Why was I doing this to myself?
"You are my best friend, Ellie, and that's why I'm doing this. Why can't you let yourself be happy?"
I didn't know how to answer that. Was Marco psychic or something? He fixed me with a no-nonsense look. The same look I frequently gave him. I drummed a carrot stick nervously against the table.
Marco took the carrot stick away from my hand and held it hostage from me. "I'm not giving this back until you agree to talk to Sean."
"I just don't see what the point is!" I wish Marco would just let it go. And then we could go on to talk about more important things- like Heather Sinclaire's embarrassing new haircut or how Terri had totally bombed during drama class.
"The point is, you haven't been this happy since we went out... briefly..."
Ouch. Marco just had to get that dig in. I looked down at the table and put my hands underneath my thighs to keep them from shaking. Didn't he understand that that was territory we didn't explore? It was true, I hadn't been happy since then. Until Sean and I started going out. Marco knew he hit a soft spot because he kicked my boot with one of his shoes below the table.
I blew a stray piece of hair out of my face, "Fine. I'll talk to him."
"Ellie!" I turned around to Marco calling my name. What was he doing running like an idiot towards me? He stopped in front of me and leaned over, breathing hard. "The cast list is up. I got a lead part!"
"Aw! That's great, Marco. What you wanted!"
"You should really go look at it, right now. Really, you should."
Okay, this was weird. I let Marco drag me towards Ms. Kwan's room and push me through the small crowd of students gathered around the little paper. And this was about....? Oh.
Cast of "The Importance of Being Earnest"
Jack Worthing- Marco Del Rossi
Algernon Moncrieff- Jimmy Brooks
Gwendolyn Fairfax- Paige Michaelchuck
Cecily Cardew- Eleanor Nash
And blah, blah, blah... The important thing was that I had gotten a main part. Pretty cool. Except for the fact that it said Eleanor. Ew. I'd have to ask her to change that. I checked the rest of the list and saw that I was also on the costume/makeup committee. That was pretty cool too. I have a knack for that, if I do say so myself. Gross- Ashley was the student director. Like I wanted to take orders from her.
"Congratulations, Ellie."
Speaking of Ashley...
I turned around and fixed Ashley with a look that could mean nothing other than leave me the hell alone. Still, she continued to congratulate me and tell me how I deserved the part. Like I wanted to hear this from her. She was probably just jealous. God, I'm so mean sometimes...
"Thanks, Ashley," I said stiffly before walking away.
"Hey, Ellie..." Jimmy threw an arm around my shoulder. "Listen, I noticed the way you kissed Marco and, well, I was thinking that maybe you could give me a few pointers. I mean, you heard what Ms. Kwan said about the play- it's sort of romantic. And so..."
"Jimmy?" I arched an eyebrow. "You have a girlfriend."
"Hey, I was just asking for some advice. It's not like I wanted you to ram your tongue down my throat. If you don't want to that is..."
I allowed myself to let out a tiny laugh and walked away, shaking my head. Okay, so before I go home there was one thing I had to do. Find Sean. And that could be hard because he usually split as soon as school was over. But I had promised Marco that I would talk to him. And I had started getting my hopes up after lunch and playing out the different ways our conversation could go.
Okay, there he was. Talking to Mr. Radditch. I wonder what about. He better not have gotten into trouble again, or... Sigh. "Sean!" I shouted as he started to walk down the hall again.
He froze in his spot and turned his head around a bit, but started walking again when he realized it was me. Okay, I'm the one who's supposed to be pissed here, not him. "Sean!" I started to walk with him. "Listen, I'm sorry I didn't call you back the other night. I was confused."
"And you were confused until right now? What is there to be confused about? I fucked up, I'll never be good enough for you. It seems pretty simple to me."
"No! That's not true. Just, hear me out."
"I don't want to hear a damn word you say."
I stood in shock as Sean walked away from me, as if I had the plague or something. That was embarrassing. I hope no one saw. Nope, the hallways were still pretty crowded and I saw a few people looking in my direction. Great. Now I had my own pity party. I want to die.
I only have one choice left.
I walked into school Friday, six periods late. If this didn't get me a Saturday detention, I don't know what will. Sure enough, I was stopped by Denise. I smirked at her as she asked me where I was and if I had a note. I popped my gum in her face and shook my head. I never liked Denise and she never liked me.
"Huh. Well, I'm afraid you'll have to talk to Mr. Radditch. I'm sorry I have to do this, Ellie." No you aren't. I'm not either.
Fifteen minutes later I was served a Saturday detention. Good. Now I'd be able to talk to Sean as much as I wanted and he'd have to listen to me. Unless he decided to block me out for the entire morning. That wouldn't be good. That would suck. Then I'd be in detention for nothing. Why didn't I think these things out more thoroughly?
Sean's POVOne Saturday down the tubes. I sauntered into school five minutes early. Why I wanted to be at detention early, I don't know. Maybe I just wanted to see Mr. Radditch's beautiful face. Or catch him with his Swiss ball. Nevermind, that'd be disgusting.
I had a major hangover. Hopefully, I'd just be able to sleep the entire detention and get over the pounding headache that was taking over my whole body at the moment. Too many drinks last night, trying to forget about that stupid redhead that keeps appearing in my thoughts. I should be over Ellie by now, but I'm not.
Why did she even have to try and talk to me yesterday? Why couldn't she just let us break up and stay broken up. I feel like an asshole because I took it out on her, but these past few days have been shitty. I'm used to her nagging me about my homework and whether I'm eating good enough or staying out of trouble. Without her, my homework doesn't get finished, I eat crappy fast food, and I stay out all night with Jay and Towerz. It should seem like the life, but it's not. It sucks. Especially when teachers give you those disappointing looks because things had been going so well and now... well, they're not. And then they ask you if something is going on and how am I supposed to tell them that my girlfriend doesn't want to talk to me anymore because I put her in second place? I can't. So instead I tell them to mind their own business and then zone out in class.
And when I'm not zoning out, I'm thinking about what she's doing at the moment. Probably turning in her perfect homework that will reward her a perfect grade and joking around with Marco. But how can she get mad at me for putting Jay first when she's still secretly in love with Marco? I can see it. She's always talking on the phone with him, touching him, sharing secrets with him. They have so many fucking inside jokes it makes me sick. I just want to beat the crap out of him and tell him to lay off of her. For someone who is supposedly gay, he sure likes to fool around with my girlfriend.
Why the hell do I even miss her nagging me anyway? I was getting so annoyed with it. It's like she was constantly breathing down my neck and I couldn't take a step without asking her first if it was okay. Who wants that in their life? Not me, that's for sure. So why the hell do I miss her so much?
I didn't even notice that the room to the library had opened up and someone else had walked in until I saw a familiar black bag being thrown on the table. I didn't even have to look up to know who it was. I could smell her perfume. I could feel her right leg jittering up and down, like it always does. I heard her let out one of her annoyed sighs. That sound always gets me. She always makes that sound.
"Hey, Sean."
Why did she have to say my name? I licked my lips and looked up at her beneath my hat. She looked like she had just woken up and I noticed the dark circles under her eyes. I realized I wasn't the only one going through this. She was biting the inside of her cheek. I wanted to touch that cheek. No. Must. Stop. These. Thoughts. "Hey, Ellie." God!
"I brought you a sandwich. Just in case, you know, you got hungry." I remembered how she had given me part of her sandwich in our first Saturday detention together. Our only detention together, until now.
"Thanks. Why are you here?"
"Skipped a few classes. You?"
I wondered if she was being serious, but then I noticed the teasing glint in her eye. Yeah, she's real funny. "Stole a few things. Stupid stuff."
"I figured as much."
"Yeah."
Awkward silence. Nothing to do now except twiddle my thumbs and wait for the clock to strike three.
"Can we talk?" She tucked her legs underneath her in the chair and leaned forward.
Talk about what? How I wanted to kiss her right now? No, we couldn't talk about that. That would make me into the wimpy boyfriend.
She didn't wait for me to answer, though. "I'm sorry. I don't know what to say, except that I don't want us to break up. You make me happy. I'm never this happy. I want to stay this happy."
"You're happy with Marco." There, I had to let that out.
"What's that mean?"
"It means you're still in love with Marco. It's so obvious. Just go ahead and do him, but he only likes it one way..."
She reached across the table and slapped me. Hard. That fricken hurt like hell. I wiped at the spot where she had hit me. Okay, so something I said obviously pissed her off.
"What kind of person says something like that? I'm not in love with Marco. I used to be, okay? But I'm not anymore. And I'm not going to let you talk about him like that and treat me like I'm some cheater when I've never done anything to you."
I didn't know what to say. I think I was still getting over the shock of her hand. "Well..." I began, but what else was I going to say? I didn't know.
"Well, what? Why can't you admit that you messed up?"
"Because I didn't!"
"Stealing is okay, all of a sudden? Taking the blame for your idiot friends is okay?"
"I stole too! Not just them. So I made some mistakes. I've had a pretty shitty life. I'm allowed to make a few mistakes."
"I know, Sean. I heard you. Everyone's heard you. Everyone has a shitty life. That doesn't mean you mess it up even more and then justify it because your parents are alcoholics or your brother moved to Alberta or whatever. You're not the only one with problems around you. Stop playing the victim and stop being Jay's whipping boy."
I picked up her precious bag and threw it against the wall. She jumped up from the table and ran over to it, putting everything that had fallen out inside. I immediately felt bad as soon as I saw that I had broken a framed picture of her dad that was in her bag. I walked over and kneeled down next to her to help pick everything up.
I picked the picture up and looked at it. It must have been taken right before her dad had gone overseas or something. He was in uniform and Ellie was standing next to him, beaming admirably at her dad. She must really look up to him. She'd never look that way at me. I went to pick up the small frame it had been in and cut myself with a piece of glass.
"Sean, be careful!" She grabbed my hand and covered the cut with her other one. "We need to wash this out and get you a Band-Aid."
I felt like the biggest jerk in the world. Why was she trying to take care of me after I had just gone psycho on her? I met her eyes and she looked back at me, worried. "I'm sorry, Ellie," I whispered.
She nodded and we stood up and started towards the hallway. "It's okay, Sean. I'll just get a new frame for it."
"No. I'm sorry for everything. You're right. I'm just feeling sorry for myself all the time. I mean, look at you. You're mom was drunk every day, you lived by yourself for a while, your dad's fighting in a war, and you're fine. You can handle it."
She looked away from me. "Yeah, I sure can," she muttered.
I pulled her into the hug in the middle of the hallway and kissed the top of her head, taking in the scent of her hair. God, I had missed this. I wanted this so badly. I could have this again if I asked. "So, can you forgive me? Are we cool now?"
She pulled the hat off of my head and rumpled my hair. "Yeah, we're cool."
Sorry it was short. Short but sweet. PsychoJo- blow up Sean's would be very nice. But only if the eyebrows were tamed down. Should Ellie wax them next chapter? Hmmm... I don't know how you could put that tactfully. Same thing, if there's a point of view you'd like to see, just put it in a review and I'll put it in. Sorry it took awhile for this chapter.