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© 2016 Shay Spencer. All rights reserved.

The Buddies Rule

Chapter 11

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The thing that I loved about writing, was that I was only ever in the spotlight, when I wanted to be. At any point during the process, I could decide not to put my name on something, stay anonymous. But if I ever decided that I wanted people to know who I was, then my name would be printed in bold.

That was one option that I wished I had in this play; to stay anonymous. I wanted to make sure that no one, not even Alan, found out that it was me playing the lead. The fear of the unknown had gotten me so riled up that I barely knew how to handle myself. Let alone, how to handle Alan.

Nonetheless, I had somehow managed to get myself wrapped up into it, and it was too late to back out now.

"Okay," Lewis started. He pressed the clipboard in his hands onto his stomach as he glanced around at the actors up on stage. "Welcome to the first day of rehearsal for, That Night at the Bar. I hope you've all memorized the first few pages of the script, because we're running lines today."

I could feel my heart pounding deep in my chest, that being the only thing I could hear. Lewis shook his head at me as he watched me take a seat on the edge of the stage. "The crew will be drawing up the sets for the beginning of production tomorrow, so talk loudly. We need to get used to the acoustics in here. All the student written plays, including this one, go live in three weeks," Lewis called.

I nervously flipped back and forth through the small script Lewis had given to us. These plays weren't long by any means, but that didn't diminish the meaning of the play that Lewis had written. This was a love story, one that was forbidden to happen.

Much like Romeo and Juliet, the two main characters were instantly taken with one another. It was as if they had known each other for their entire lives, and because of this, they felt that everything would end okay. Though, unlike Romeo and Juliet, this tale didn't end in a double suicide. It instead, ended in betrayal. Which, explained why there was only one kiss between my character and Alan's.

"Can I have Elisa and Henry to center stage?" Lewis started as he took a seat in the front row of the plush auditorium seats. I could feel a frown forming on my face with his words. "Or, you know, Bree and Alan?" Lewis corrected.

"That's me." Alan announced with a wide grin as he made his way to center stage. I myself stood up from my spot on the edge, feeling all eyes on me when I did. I walked quickly to stand next to Alan, my heart beat still as erratic as ever.

"Let's begin," Lewis said. My eyes went wide as he slammed his hand down against the clipboard, trying to copy that of a movie marker. "Action!"

I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat. Looking up to Alan, I could see the way his hands shook. This only told me that he was just as nervous as I was. Not that Alan being nervous helped me, any. It made things worse actually.

"Can I get you anything else?" I started, my words coming out shaky. Alan's character, Henry, was a customer at the bar that my character, Elisa, worked at. Lewis had written so that, in the play, it was sometime past midnight.

"A conversation, if you have the time," Alan spoke surely. His nerves had seemingly dissipated. It was as if Alan took on another personality when he acted. Alan had transformed into the character Henry Carmichael, all while I still felt like Bree Hendly.

"I guess I can spare a minute or two," I said. My sight flickered towards the now moving curtains behind Alan and I. Without warning, Chase emerged from behind the curtain and pushed a makeshift bar in between Alan and I. Did I fail to mention that Chase was working on sets?

Chase's box had forced me to take a step backwards from Alan. I barely caught as Chase gave me a wink and walked back behind the curtain. "What did you have in mind?" I continued, setting the script on the cardboard box Chase had left between us.

"You." Alan said, a sort of glimmer taking its place in his eyes. "You're all I've been able to think about since I stepped foot in this place. You're absolutely breathtaking."

His words caught me off guard as I felt a blush creeping onto my face. Luckily for me, that was specifically written in the stage directions. "You're pretty handsome yourself." I said, catching Alan's eye once more before resting my arms on the cardboard box. "I don't think I caught your name."

"Henry. Henry Carmichael." Alan recited. He quickly held out his hand to me, making his actions seem flawless in nature.

"Elisa. Just Elisa." I said as I shook Alan's hand. "I've heard of you. You own that resort just up the street."

"You're correct," Alan nodded, leaning in as instructed. "Maybe you'll join me there later tonight."

The blush that was burning on my cheeks only worsened with Alan's words. "Maybe I will," I laughed gently. "To get to know you better, of course."

"Sure," Alan teased back. "I'd love to get to know you, in a way that no one else has ever been able to-"

"Sorry!" Someone called from the back of the auditorium. The doors closed behind the feminine voice as she raced towards the stage. The girl came into the light only to reveal Astrid Free, holding a script in her hands. "Mr. Reed had me stay late to grade the English three papers from last weekend." She nodded gently to Lewis, throwing her bag onto the ground.

"You're fine, Astrid. We haven't even gotten to your character, yet." Lewis dismissed as he motioned towards the stage. "Go ahead and take a seat down here until we call you up."

I could feel Alan's body tense along with Astrid entering the room. Upon looking back up to him, I could see the his nerves were slowly taking over again. Alan's right eye was twitching, and his hands were balled up into fists. I had no idea that Astrid made him this angry. Or so uptight.

"Let's continue." Lewis announced as he stood up and took his slow steps towards the bottom of the stage. "Start with Elisa's last line."

I shook my head, forcing back any thoughts of Alan and Astrid as I did. "Maybe I will. To get to know you better, of course." I repeated.

"You're supposed to laugh there, Bree," Lewis interrupted. I could feel my eyes rolling before I realized what I was doing.

"I get it." I hissed back, instantly garnering a laugh from everyone in the auditorium.

"Maybe I will," I laughed angrily at Lewis. "To get to know you better, of course." My eyebrows furrowed together as I caught onto Alan's confusion. I reached out and placed a hand on Alan's forearm to grab his attention once again.

"What?" He asked absentmindedly. His eyes were locked in Astrid's gaze. The two hadn't broken eye contact since the second she sat down.

"Lewis wants us to start from my last line." I whispered before I pinched his skin in an attempt to bring him back. "I can go again if you want?"

Alan cleared his throat before he turned his attention back to me. "Yeah. That'd be good." He muttered as he pointed to me. "Go with your last line."

"Maybe I will," I laughed gently. "To get to know you better, of course." I repeated a third time. Alan's eyes scanned vigorously over the script, the man unable to find his line. "That's when you start telling me that you want to get to know me in a new way. It's like three lines up from the bottom of the page." I whispered as I reached forward and pointed it out to him.

"Maybe you'll... join me there later, for a drink." Alan shook his head, the man still stumbling through his words. "One that you, don't have to... Serve me?"

"Okay, cut!" Lewis issued. He was finally taking notice of the awkwardness that was currently looming over the stage. "What the hell, Alan? I thought you could do this."

"I can." Alan defended before he tossed his hands up into the air. "I just, I just need five," he mumbled. Before I knew it, Alan had stalked off the stage and had disappeared behind the curtain. I'm sure Chase would just love to comfort him in a time like this.

"Bree." Lewis called, barely catching my attention. I nodded and hopped down off the stage, nearly falling as I did. Lewis reached out and grabbed onto my hand, pulling me off to the back of the auditorium.

"I swear, it's not my fault. I know all of my lines for this blocking session, and I even tried to help Alan up there-"

"I know it's not you." Lewis laughed as he shook his head. "I know exactly who made him lose his cool. You were both doing great up there. You were even loosening up towards the end." Lewis sighed, the boy leaning back against the wall. "Things only went bad when she walked in."

"Then why did you ask Astrid to be apart of the play? Especially if you knew how she affects him," I hushed as I leaned in.

"I didn't know it would turn out like this." Lewis mocked, the man tossing his hand out in the direction of the stage. "I just remembered you mentioning her before your first date with Zac. You said that she might distract him from you."

"I was right about that one," I muttered under my breath.

"Yeah," Lewis scoffed. He shook his head before he turned to look back at me. "Do you think he's going to be able to get back to normal with her around? It's too late for me to change the cast list." Lewis rambled, his eyes growing wide as his mind continued running over the possibilities of the fallout.

"Alan's just going to have to deal with it. He's dealt with her before, so he can deal with her now. If she's just playing one of the background parts then..." I trailed off as I noticed the expression on Lewis' face changed. What used to be a look of concern, had turned into a suspicious smile. "You didn't." I groaned.

"I did," Lewis whispered as he pulled his copy of the script out from his back pocket. "I cast her as the mistress. Alan has to practically make out with her at the end of the play."

I swiftly slapped Lewis' upper arm, not taking into consideration that Chase was now making his way over to us. "Well, Alan's just going to had to deal with this. But heads up, Astrid followed Alan backstage, and things have gotten pretty quiet back there." I cut myself off upon Chase inserted himself into our conversation.

I plastered a smile on my face when Chase took a seat on the arm rest of the chair just in front of Lewis and I. "What's going on, whisper buddies?" Chase teased before gently elbowing my arm. "Got any secrets worth sharing?"

I could feel my head shaking back and forth. "Nope." I sighed, not daring to look into Chase's eyes. "Lewis could tell I was nervous about playing this part so he was giving me a pep talk. Nothing major, but I'm completely ready to get back to practice," I relayed.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Astrid and Alan walking out from behind the curtain. Alan's cheeks were red with a sort of anger, and Astrid, looked completely unaffected by whatever had just transpired between the two. It was then that it hit me; the reason as to why Alan was so uncomfortable around Astrid. It explained exactly why she was trying so hard to make everything up to him.

"Astrid dumped him," I mumbled. My eyes narrowed in towards the stage as Alan took his place again next to the cardboard box.

"What?" Lewis and Chase asked in synch.

"That's why Alan's so nervous around her. They dated, or slept together, and Alan felt something more for her. Astrid blew him off," I said. I glanced back at Lewis to watch as the realization quickly covered his face. He knew, and so did I. That was the only explanation. But this new information left me with one more question.

If Alan still had feelings for Astrid, how did he really feel about me?

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Ohhhhhh... Astrid broke up with Alan?!

I guess we'll all have to wait to see where this little play goes...

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