A/N: I've gotten a lot of reviews, and I can only reply to a few of them or I'll spend like three hours replying. Well, not that long, but I have a ton of English and Social Studies homework that I have to get to. Blargh. Anyway, if I don't reply you, review again next time and I'll be sure to reply then.

BloodOfEden: I wasn't sure if I should have Sara blurt stuff out, it didn't really seem like something she would do, to me. But I didn't want her keeping it a secret, so...Glad you think it's good!

JoonSanders: I totally understand about life. Even as a lame fanfiction writer who updates daily, I know what it's like to have a life. So you don't have to feel bad about not reviewing. Just make sure you keep reading, k?

Sweet Jorja: I inspired you? WOW! I feel so...inspiring. Thanks for taking the time to review, unlike SOME people who read this story. You know who you are, people...

XoXoXoXoX

Greg watched as the curtains lifted. He was at stage left and his heart was racing. He was dressed in old-fashioned turn-of-the-century clothing, carrying a lantern. Catherine was next to him in a long black robe which hid her head. She was carrying the heavy sword, which was metal. Greg looked nervously at the sword, wishing they hadn't written it back into the script. Instead of taking the sword out, the writers had written out the scene in which Catherine kills Ichabod Crane. "But they can kill me and no one will care," Greg thought sarcastically. The stage lights came on, and he ran onto the stage, lantern swinging wildly from his hand. Archie cued up some loud footsteps to play from the speakers, and at their apex, Catherine charged onto the stage, looking menacing.
Greg ran into a small fake briar patch that Warrick and Sara had erected the previous day, smearing fake blood on his face as he went through, and coming out looking thouroughly scathed. Behind him, Catherine had drawn her sword, which was, in truth, dull as a spoon, but looked real from the audience's point of view.
With a slash, perfectly on cue with the sound effects, Catherine swiped at Greg's neck, and as he pretended to grasp at the "cut", he burst a blood pouch with a pin that he held in his right hand. He fell spectacularly, the blood making him seem as if he'd had a very real beheading. Greg heard Sara gasp, and he almost smiled.Catching himself, he fought the urge to blink and held his breath. The stage lights went out, flooding the auditorium with darkness. The stage crew hurried onto the stage, changing the set without skipping a beat.

XoXoXoXoX

Gil was on stage, in his place beside Greg's "lifeless" body. He struggled to drag Greg over to where a few other actors were standing impatiently. They struck up a brief dialogue, changed scenes, and were soon on the set of the morgue. Gil was arguing for an autopsy with his mouth, but his mind was somewhere else entirely. He was thinking anxiously about the afterparty at Sara's house. She had told him, along with the rest of the group, about her parents and was celebrating by allowing them all to meet her foster family. Gil was thinking of the plain black dress shirt he had bought for the occasion, and what Catherine would think of it.
Soon enough, Gil was exiting the stage and the crew was dragging yet another scene, this time of the Van Tassel estate, where he would soon be acting the part of one who has experienced love at first sight. Gil knew he wouldn't be acting, had it been a certain other girl playing the object of his affections. Not acting at all.

XoXoXoXoX

Nick was tying Sara's blindfold on, and he finished just before the spotlight turned on directly over them. A group of their peers, playing children, were sitting in a circle around them. Nick took Sara's hands, and they whirled joyously among the children. One of the girls had leg Gil over, and now Sara was pulling her hands out of Nick's protecting grasp, and placing them unceremoniously in Gil's nervously shaking ones. Nick said his lines, paying little attention to what was coming out of his mouth, his eyes trained on the back of Sara's head. He felt a pang of real jealousy when Gil lifted the blindfold off her face, and the sappy, lovesick look came over his features.
Nick wished he could look at Sara with those eyes, stare deep into her soul and hold her hands so caringly. "Wait." Nick stopped himself from thinking of what would happen next. "I always liked her, but it was never this intense." He dismissed it as a heat-of-the-moment kind of thought, and tried to concentrate on his lines. It seemed that the lights could not turn out soon enough for Nick, and he hurried off the stage with Sara at his heels.

XoXoXoXoX

Sara remembered, in the practices after school, deciding just how to do the kissing scenes with Gil. They had decided that they would kiss right next to each other's mouths, giving the illusion that they were actually kissing. Now, however, when she was faced with the actual problem, she felt her muscles stiffen and her legs turn to gel.
Somehow, she managed to make her way over to him on the stage. She held his face in her hands, kissing him lightly on the cheek. She shivered slightly as his lips brushed the corner of her mouth. She might not have minded if it were Nick or Greg, she was much closer to them, after all. Finally finishing the scene, she and Gil both sighed with relief. They whispered awkwardly while they walked offstage, both vehemently denying that they had any feelings for each other. The funny thing was, both of them were telling the truth.

XoXoXoXoX

At the after-party, Warrick was gazing silently around the room full of his friends. Jim and Archie were talking animatedly, though from his place in the back corner, Warrick couldn't hear what they were saying. He could see Sara, Greg, and Nick making their way over to him, Sara in the lead and the two boys following like obediant dogs. Soon, the three boys and Sara had struck up a conversation, all of them teasing her about the kissing scene with Gil. Sara blushed furiously, wacking Greg, who was closest to her, with her hand before giving up and laughing with the rest of them.Further along the back wall, Catherine and Gil had both joined Archie and Jim, and they were all illustrating their points with hand gestures and motions. They were clearly enjoying themselves. Soon, both groups had merged into one, and they were all having an interesting conversation regarding the play, each of them pointing out their favorite part. Many said Sara and Gil's kissing scene, causing both the participants to blush madly and laugh in an embarrassed sort of way.
Before they knew it, cars were arriving. Parents were coming in to collect their child, leaving quickly, and leaving the group with one less person. Soon, only Sara and Nick were left. "Well, Sara, I guess I'll see you on Monday," Nick said, as his mother's expensive black car pulled into the driveway. "Okay," Sara said sadly. She didn't want him to leave, because it seemed to her that once everyone was gone, the magic of the night would be sucked away and she would be left with nothing. Nick didn't want to leave, either, but for different reasons entirely. Giving Sara a quick hug, he hurried out the door, closing it softly behind him. Feeling the magic disappearing into thin air, she stood in the middle of a room that had once held the best friends she had ever had, and Sara began to cry.
XoXoXoXoX
A/N: Oh my god! I did not realize there was a kissing scene until I was writing this chapter, and I had to completely improvise around it. I was also writing under the impression that Ichabod dies, which is in the original play but not the movie. I just went back and wrote in that they changed the script, so I'm sorry if this isn't my best piece. I have a couple of others that are better coming up. Anyway, if you review, I will post tomorrow!
Hugs and kisses,
Maddy