Chapter 06: A Dream Not To Be

He leaned back on the bed in his small, but well-furnished apartment with a slight smile on his lips. After weeks of nonstop work trying to get the play in order, molding actors on some days and assisting the construction crew with the sets on off-days, he'd been working every day for the last three months. It felt good to have a week off from the acting side of things to put the finishing touches on the sets and props. Perhaps it wasn't entirely honest, but he needed a vacation and he was sure the actors didn't mind a few days off. Especially Abby and Paige… they always worked so hard.

His head jerked to the side in surprise when he heard a knock on his door. "Who is it?"

"I need to speak with you, Mr. Andrews." A woman's voice came from the other side of the door.

Curiously, Charlie rose from the bed to approach the door and pull it open. A woman with fiery red hair was standing on the other side with a concerned look on her face. Her eyes flitted up to his almost instantly. "How… did you get in here? It's a closed building." Charlie asked.

"That's not what's important. What's important is my daughter." The woman demanded.

"Ah, I see." Charlie pursed his lips. "Mrs. Archer, I presume." The woman nodded curtly. "Please, come in." He swept to one side gracefully to let the irate woman into his room, then closed the door behind her. When he turned around she was standing in the middle of the room, glaring at him like he'd been trying to run up and attack her. "Can I get you a drink?"

"I'm not comfortable with my Abigail taking part in such a… distasteful play." Mrs. Archer said bluntly.

"Distasteful, well, that's a matter of opinion." Charlie replied smoothly. "What about it do you consider distasteful? Perhaps we can come to an agreement to change it."

"You have my daughter making out with another girl onstage." Mrs. Archer's eyes flared. "If that's not distasteful, I don't know what is."

"Now, you're blowing that out of proportion." Charlie replied coolly. "They kiss, that's all. At no point in the play do they ever touch one-another. I wouldn't do that to them."

"Don't play coy with me, I caught my daughter with a girl the other night doing things I didn't think she knew how to do." Mrs. Archer approached him, still fuming. "All because of your play. Do the other parents know what kind of play you have their children involved in?"

"Everyone signed statements allowing their children to be involved in-" Charlie began.

"Well I'm cancelling mine, right now. Find yourself another little girl to exploit, and we'll see how many more little porn stars you have left when I tell everyone else what you've been making them do." Mrs. Archer narrowed her eyes. "Stay away from my daughter. I'm a peaceful woman by nature, but no one is going to use my daughter for their own sick desires, or to make money off of them. No one." She whirled and yanked the door open, marching out into the hallway again with her back straight.

Charlie slinked up to the door to close it behind her, leaning against it and shaking his head. This was the very last thing he needed…

***

Abby felt giddy. She couldn't stop giggling to herself as she sank into the thick cushions of the living room sofa. She didn't consider herself a tomboy, really, but she also didn't consider herself much of a girly-girl either. It wasn't like her to giggle so much, but she couldn't help it. It was like there was a tingly sensation in her chest and she just had to let it out or she would explode. Just thinking about the night before brought the tingles back. In fact thinking of Paige's face at all made her smile. What was going on with her? Was this feeling…?

The sound of feet padding up behind her brought her attention behind the couch, where she saw Ty looking at her with an expression somewhere between curiosity and pure, unbridled terror.

"Well, you… er… look different, Abby." Ty coughed into one hand. "I don't think I've ever seen a smile like that on your face."

"Really? Because I feel great, right now." Abby only smiled wider. "Funny thing is, I'm not entirely sure why. Isn't that hilarious?"

"S-sure, hysterical…" Ty coughed again, then gave her a soft smile. "But hey, I don't think I've ever seen you this happy, so whatever it is, it has my blessing…"

Abby raised her eyebrow curiously. "Your blessing? What an odd thing to say."

"Yeah, well… people talk." Ty rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"What do they talk about?" Abby's smile faded and she fixed her brother with a suspicious, forceful glare.

"Well… I heard mom talking to dad, actually… about you and… and Paige." Ty told her. "And there have been rumors at school but… I didn't believe those for a second."

"Oh." Abby blinked and narrowed her eyes.

"Like I said, I'm cool with it." Ty raised his hands defensively. "I don't care if you like girls or anything, that's all I wanted you to know."

"Thanks…" Abby shook her head. "I get the feeling mom doesn't agree, though."

"Not from what I heard." Ty coughed again. Before he could say anything else, however, they both heard the front door open and turned to see their mother entering the house. The two kids watched from the sofa as the woman walked into the living room, giving them both a soft smile before her eyes settled on Abby.

"I had a talk with your 'Director' today, Abby." She told them.

"Really…?" Abby asked worriedly.

"You're not going back to that place. I don't trust him, or the people he works for." Her mother spoke with the same undeniable authority she used to declare what they were having for dinner.

"Wh… what?" Abby stood up. "Mom, you pulled me out of the play!? But I want to do it!"

"It's not worth it sweetie. Continuing something like THAT will only hurt your future. People will start to wonder if you really are that way, and people will remember this when you try to get a good job someday. This is for the best, trust me."

"It's just a play! It's not TURNING me Gay, mother, and even if it was, why is that a bad thing!? I don't care what others think of me." Abby insisted.

Her mother seemed to visibly wince when she said the word 'Gay'. "I've taken back my permission for you to be in the play, Abigail Archer. That is final, and my final word on the subject. I don't want to hear any more about it, do you understand me?" She demanded.

Abby was practically shaking with rage, her fists clenching at her sides. She could see her brother beside her watching with wide eyes, while her mother just stared her down with firm hands resting on her hips. Abby opened her mouth to speak, but she stopped herself. She knew she'd just start screaming if she tried, getting herself in way deeper trouble than she was comfortable with. So instead she whirled to make her way into the back of the house, jumping over the back of the couch and brushing Ty aside on her way.

She slammed the bedroom door behind her and took a deep calming breath… that suddenly erupted into a shrill scream. She screamed at her empty bedroom for almost a minute before it faded into a shrill squeak, then finally she ran out of breath and fell to her knees, gulping in precious life-giving oxygen. She was sure her mother heard, but the expected sound of her padding down the hallway towards her room never came. Oh whatever, Abby thought to herself. She didn't really want to see her mother right now anyway…

She pulled herself off of the floor and approached the bed, letting herself sprawl down on it with a thud on her back, lying limp against the sheets and staring at the ceiling. She couldn't argue with her mom on this one… without her permission, she couldn't be in the play. It would be illegal, and that really was final. There was nothing she could do…

Abby felt numb, and her stomach was growling furiously the next day since she didn't come out of her room to eat. The rest of the week slipped by without so much as a whimper, and this time, it was she who decided to avoid Paige in the hallways of Ringworm Jr. High. Her mother hadn't said anything about being Paige's friend, but her anger over the play told Abby enough, and besides, she didn't know how to tell Paige that she was out of the play. Sure, it didn't hurt Paige, but she'd started to feel like they could really rely on one-another to make this work. She felt like she would be letting Paige down. Paige would get the hint when Abby didn't show up Friday.

***

The days came and went, and Abby was careful to avoid Paige until the end of the week was upon them. She knew that once the school bell rang the rest of the cast would be on their way to the theater, eager to see what surprise Charlie had in store for them. She wanted to go, just to see what it was, but she decided against it. She was trying to get over the disappointment of being ripped out of her play, her dream. So instead as the school bell rang over the Ringworm Jr. High courtyard, she made her way down the sidewalk away from the theater and found an ice-cream parlor she often frequented when she was feeling down.

She sat at one of the booths with a cup of chocolate sitting on the table in front of her, slowly spooning it into her mouth and watching the cars pass on the road outside the window. What would Charlie's surprise be, she wondered idly. Maybe they were having a party to celebrate the show, or perhaps they were going somewhere nice over the weekend. Whatever it was, Abby wished she could see it, and be in the play. Man, why did her mom have to freak out…

"Y'know, moping around like an emo really doesn't suit you, Archer." Abby blinked and looked up to see Paige standing beside the booth, looking down at her with a half-smirk on her lips. "You've never been the kind to mope before, why start now?"

"Guess I've never been in the mood before." Abby replied with a droll smile. Paige moved to slide into the booth across from her, setting her own cup of vanilla sprinkled ice-cream in front of her. "What are you doing here? I thought today was the first day for rehearsals to start up. Have to break in that new Rose."

"I asked Charlie for the day off after he told us you weren't part of the play anymore." Paige told her. "He told me why, too. It really sucks about your mom."

"What'm I gonna do about it?" Abby shrugged. "It's not like anything I say is gonna convince her to let me do it. She's convinced if I stay in the play I'm going to become a lesbian, and that's something she really wants to avoid."

Paige cocked her head to the side with a curious look in her eyes. "Then you're NOT a lesbian at all…?"

Abby blushed for a moment, then shook her head and looked down at her ice-cream. "Heck, I don't know what I am or what I want half the time. I know I've liked the time we spent together the last few days and… that's about all I know about it. I enjoyed it. Does that make me a lesbian?"

Paige shrugged and took a bite from her ice-cream. "I don't think so…" She lowered her voice to a whisper and leaned forward so only Abby could hear her. "Heck, you're the second person I've been with, and the first girl… and honestly, both times seem about the same to me. What does that make me?"

Abby shook her head, then let out a chuckle. "Confused, it seems like."

Paige chuckled as well. "Can't argue with you there." She fell silent as she dug another bite of ice-cream out of her bowl and shoveled it into her mouth. "I get why you've been avoiding me all week now… what I wanna know is if it's gonna stay that way."

"What do you mean?" Abby asked.

"Are we gonna stop being… whatever we are?" Paige asked. "Whatever the heck you'd call us, I'm not even sure anymore. Is it just gonna stop?"

"I definitely don't want that." Abby replied thoughtfully. "I definitely don't want my mom to find out about it, though. Y'know, whatever we are…" Abby blinked. "Just what are we, anyway?"

"Heck if I know, all I know is I don't want it to end." Paige replied sensibly. "And hey, if you wanna be discreet, I know how to be discreet. I have no problem with that."

"Really? Well… cool!" Abby smiled broadly. "Wow, so you and I are officially… officially…"

Paige pointed her spoon at her sharply. "Something. Just something." She flipped the spoon around in her fingers and shoved the bit of ice-cream into her mouth while Abby flashed her a slight smile.

To Be Continued