"In here!" Glee whispered breathlessly, her face shining with a kind of daring that could only mean trouble. She held a door open, waiting for Elina to join her inside.
"Where are we?" Elina asked, following the girl through the heavy black door.
"The best place in the school. Or ever. Whichever suits you." Glee said almost dreamily, hands clasped and a sappy smile stretching across her face.
That doesn't answer much. Elina thought to herself, mimicking Glee's steps farther and farther into the dark corridor.
The two then reached a break in the hallway, opening up to a gargantuan room. Blinking at a blinding white light, Elina shaded her eyes with a hand as she tried to make head or tails of the room.
Strobe lights dangled above her, illuminating her and Glee. She could see multicolored tape peeling from the darkly colored floor, fringed X's and lines set out all around her. Rows and rows of chairs were laid out before her, standing on a raised platform. That was when it hit her.
"The theatre." She gasped in realization, turning back to Glee. The other girl had her arms spread out, twirling around the stage in ecstasy.
"The theatre." Glee repeated happily. "Welcome home, Glee!"
She rushed to the front of the stage, taking a deep bow. Elina laughed quietly.
"I take it you're an actress?" She asked, joining Glee at the edge of the stage.
"Yeah. I love this like no other thing I've ever done." Glee replied, still in awe of her homecoming. She sank to the floor, legs dangling over the stage.
"Never really tried it." Elina admitted, joining her on the floor.
"Ohmigosh you have to!" Glee spurted, delicate hands clasping Elina's upper arm and shaking her. Elina laughed, half-heartedly shoving her away.
"I guess I could. Not like I'm doing anything else with my free time." Elina mused. Glee was her only friend, after all. Well, the only friend she explicitly trusted at this point.
"YES!" Glee squealed. "Oh, you'll love it! The stories and the music and the fun and the audience and the-"
Glee halted in her tracks, hearing a soft throat clearing noise from the mess of chairs.
"What are you girls doing in here?" The voice spoke now, disciplinary words conflicting with a kindly tone.
"AZURA!" Glee yelled, hopping off the stage and dashing towards the woman. She barreled into her, enveloping Azura in a tight hug.
"Glee! It's so good to see you!" Azura hugged her student back. "How was your summer?"
"Alright. I definitely missed this theatre!" Glee turned away from the teacher, her arm still wrapped around Azura's shoulders as she gestured to the space around them.
"I thought you might." Azura laughed. She then squinted slightly, trying to make out the girl still awkwardly seated on the stage. "Who's your new friend?"
"Oh! Azura," Glee had run back to the stage, and was now shepherding Elina towards the teacher. "this is Elina! She's new here. I thought she might want to join theatre!"
"Well don't pressure her into this." Azura said gently. "And it's nice to meet you, Elina."
"Nice to meet you too, Ms. Azura." Elina bowed her head, trying for politeness. Azura chucked.
"No need for that sort of thing, Elina. You can just call me Azura. I'm a teaching assistant, and I sponsor theatre here." She said gently.
"Oh! Alright." Elina said, accepting the Azura's warm handshake.
"Now you two had better run along. The first assembly starts in five minutes." Azura warned them.
"Five minutes?" Elina and Glee yelled in unison, turning to face one another. They turned and dashed towards the exit, panting heavily.
"And for the record, you're not allowed to come into the theatre alone like this!" Azura called at their retreating backs.
"Right!" Glee wheezed back, followed by the slam of a door as the friends ran to the assembly.