Oh great. What have I gotten myself into?
Know who ended up as the female lead for the play? You're right. It's none other than...
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"Oh my gosh, Leia, you're going to be Arlette!" Xandy exclaimed excitedly as she pointed to the bulletin board. On it were written the different plays of the year level and the students who got the part in the respective auditions.
"You've got to be kidding!" Leia replied as she made her way in front of the bulletin board. "Maybe there was a typographical error or something, and..."
She stopped short upon seeing the name written for the female lead of "Juris & Arlette". To her horror, it said:
Leia Organa-ArletteHer mouth dropped. I'm going to play the role of Arlette. Even though practices hadn't started yet, she felt nervous at the thought of performing in front of a large crowd.
"Hey Leia! Congrats!" Leia turned around and saw Winter and Siobe, who were smiling at her. She made her way out of the crowd and caught up with them along with Xandy.
"So, aren't you excited?" Siobe asked, who seemed more excited for her.
"What do you mean excited? You should have gotten the part, Siobe!"
"You'll do better if you were the one there,' Siobe replied to her as they entered in the classroom. From afar, Xandy uttered a 'goodbye' before she entered 3-B. The three waved at her from the door and went immediately to their respective seats.
"But Siobe, I'm not an actress," Leia told her apprehensively. "And if you were the one there in the play, you'll make your mother proud!"
"Haven't you noticed how enthralled the audience were when you and Bearwin performed your dying scene? The auditorium was practically pin-drop silence!" Winter commented. "Honestly, you have a talent, Leia, and this is the time to unlock what could be as your potential."
"You really think so?"
"Of course! Just believe in yourself."
From nearby, some of their female classmates were grouping again. Leia heard one say, "She probably got the part because Professor Westenro's one of the judges. So it's true that she's really his favorite student."
Hearing one of her classmates talk about her again made Leia depressed. It's not my fault if I unexpectedly got the part. She clenched her fists in anger. Siobe and Winter knew why she was so worked up, because they too, were hearing snippets of the conversation from the gossip girls nearby.
"Just ignore, them, Leia," Winter told her in a whisper.
"They're just jealous because you're a better actress than them," Siobe quipped up. She stood up, mumbling, I'll give them a piece of my mind. All those nasty talks about Leia were also getting to her nerves. She hated it when one of her friends is judged unreasonably.
"Where are you going, Siobe?" Leia asked upon seeing her stand up.
"I'm going to give those idiots a piece of my mind," she said, and soon marched up to the group of girls talking. But before she can approached them, she heard a male voice say, "Are you talking about Leia again?"
It was Bearwin, who just arrived. He too, was aware of his female classmates ganging up on her, and found this a good opportunity when he heard one say as he stood at the classroom door, "Leia really sucks up to the teachers!"
The girls stopped, surprised at hearing Bearwin say that. Even Leia, Siobe and Winter turned their heads to look at the little commotion.
"Why are you so quiet there, huh?" Bearwin asked sarcastically as he gave them a piercing glance. "Tell me, are you gossiping about Leia?"
"So what?" A girl stood up with her hands on her hips. "It's none of your business if we talk about people we don't like," she said, as she glared at Leia.
"I'll fight back now," Leia told Winter as she was about to get to her feet. "I'll be defending myself from now on."
"Not now," Winter reminded her. "This is not the right time."
Leia was about to say something when she heard Bearwin say, "Even if you don't like her, you have no right to talk about things which you don't even know as true! Have you managed to prove that Leia is really sucking up to the teachers, especially to Mr. Westenro, that's why she got the part in the school play?"
Silence.
"So, you girls are really guilty," Bearwin concluded. "If you can't say anything nice, just shut your dirty mouths up, will you?" He went at the back of the classroom and sat in his assigned place, arms folded, irritated.
The looks on the girls' faces were priceless. They stared at Bearwin, then at Leia. "Let's go back to our seats," a girl whispered to the group.
Siobe returned to her place alongside Leia and Winter and watched as the girls separated ways and returned to their respective places.
"Next time, don't waste your time gossiping so early in the morning," Bearwin remarked loudly from behind a book he was reading.
"Seems like you've found you knight in shining armor, Leia," Winter commented smilingly.
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I couldn't believe at what Bearwin had done that morning. Since then, the nosy girls stopped talking to each other in groups. That afternoon, the first day of practice, I approached him and thanked him for what he did. Bearwin just gave me a smug smile and said, "No problem, Princess."
"I... I really appreciated what you've done. Thanks for standing up for me to those girls," I said, stammering.
He stroked my head playfully and said, "Let's start now with the practices. I think I heard Ms. Zena calling us."
We walked alongside each other, and I realized that moment that beneath his mean exterior, a true friend could be found in him.
You might have noticed that its been days since I last wrote to you, diary, as I'm so busy with the practices for the play, which was going to be held in three weeks. Anyways, I'm doing pretty well, thankfully. Bearwin makes for a good leading man. Even if both of us are at first reluctant to be the leads for this play, we're starting to get used to the idea of performing in front of the whole school.
Some of the nosy girls who badmouthed me in class are part of the play. Rhea, one of the girls, is going to be my mother, Arlette's mother. She was the one who commented that I was sucking up to the teachers. We were awkward with each other at first, as we rarely talked except when we spew out our lines. There was this scene, which calls for Arlette's mother to slap her daughter. Rhea and I got carried away with the scene, and when she slapped me, it was hard! My face reddened a bit, and I told the cast and crew, "I'm okay, really."
Later on, Rhea approached me and said, "Sorry about that, Your Highness," she said, with her head bowed in shame.
"Oh, it's okay," I told her. "In fact, you did great! Arlette has to be slapped in that scene, because her mother's reprimanding her not to elope with Juris, and she refused to listen to her."
"No, it's not about the play," she said shyly. "You see, I've thought about what I've been doing to you the past days, all those mean talks about you in our classroom with my friends. I realized that I was in the wrong. Bearwin's right. I should not gossip about people, even if we don't like them, and if I have nothing good to say, I'll shut up from now on."
Under the tree near the open-air amphitheater (the place we were practicing after classes), Rhea and I sat and felt the cool breeze blow. It was a silent moment for both of us. Then Rhea spoke up.
"Leia, are you angry with me?" she asked.
" To be honest, who wouldn't get angry with what you did? I felt bad about it. Those talks had affected me for days on end, and it made me wonder what have I done that made my classmates so against me." This was said out of honesty, and it felt good to pour out your bent up emotions.
"I guess I got carried away because I, too, am crushing on Professor Wes," she revealed. "When I noticed that he was fond of you, I got annoyed with you. You see, I felt bad about the higher essay scores he gives you. I lamented that he wasn't noticing my talent. That's why I
badmouthed you, because I was jealous."
"My father used to tell me never to harbor envy and jealousy towards other people, because you'll be the one killing yourself in the end," I said, remembering one of dad's hundred good advices. "Never let the green-eyed monster get you."
"That sounds nice," Rhea remarked. "I'll be following that advice from now on. And I'll be telling the other girls too about it. Come to think of it, I did judge you wrongly. You're a genuinely kind person, Leia. Don't change."
Then she suddenly hugged me. I was pleasantly shocked, and touched at the same time. "I'm sorry, Leia. I hope you can forgive me," she said.
"Forget it," I said, as we broke away from the hug. I smiled at her, knowing that my apology and hers were sincere, and from the heart. We walked back to the open-air amphitheater nearby.
Before we left after Ms. Zena's instructions for us, telling us to be early for practice the next day, Rhea told me, "You know, I think you deserve to play the lead. You're doing well," she said as she put an arm around my shoulder.
"You too," I said smilingly. "You're perfect as the mother of Arlette. Just don't slap me hard next time, will you?" I joked. We laughed.
I felt so good at being able to forgive somebody who wronged me. Dad's right. You heal your heart when you heal the heart of others. Since then, Rhea has been nicer to me.
Before we parted ways, Rhea told me, "Don't mind Tanya. I know she's been bullying you. Ignore her. She's an idiot."
"Thanks," I said gratefully.
"If you need to fight back, me and Bearwin will be behind you. And the whole cast, as well," she said as we waved goodbye to the other cast of the play.
I smiled at them, and back at Rhea. We walked arm-in-arm as we sang the latest hit single of the Bith Band.
"You like Bith Band?" Rhea asked me.
"Yeah. Foz is so cute," I said, referring to their lead singer.
"I think so too."
That day, I not only found a new friend, but also, a healed heart, and forgiveness. It feels good to forgive.
I'll be updating you on the news about the play! Soon, I'll be winning the best actress award! Me, the actress.
-Leia Organa