Day Fourteen

Ten minutes.

Frantically texting Gwyn to help me with the rest of my hair, I squeezed into my corset, juggling my phone and the fiddly strings of the costume. I didn't know how time had gotten away from us in the closet, but I was nowhere near ready, and I needed to be on stage in just a few moments.

The rest of the cast was fully dressed and chatting excitedly behind the curtain, leaving me to my own devices in the makeup room with little to no idea how not only to do my hair, but make it look presentable enough to show to the hundreds of people waiting in the audience.

Gwyn peeked her head through the door and I waved her over, "Hey, come in." I smiled and faced her in the mirror, clutching my head. "Please tell me you know how to do an updo."

"Girlie, don't even worry." she scoffed, smiling. "I've got this."

"Thank you so much." I smiled, releasing a breath. Gwyn immediately began curling the front ends of my hair and sectioning the rest in the back.  For once, I was grateful for her hair and makeup expertise. "You're saving my butt big time."

"What would you do without me?" she giggled, releasing perfect ringlet curls from the iron. "Look at that!" She pinched the curl near my face, letting it bounce as it dropped. "I'm just too good."

I laughed, nodding. "Maybe you should do this for a living."

She stopped fiddling with the back of my hair and met my eyes, jaw dropped. "Oh, my God. Maybe I should." She looked down, smiling wide as she began pinning the other strands up. "That's a great idea."

In the mirror, the door flew open to reveal a fully costumed Mark, whose expression shifted from panic to disdain as his eyes flickered from mine to Gwyn's.

"Uh, five minute call." Mark cleared his throat, nodding at me in the reflection. "You gonna be ready by then?"

"Yeah, I think so." I said. "Gwyn?"

"Just need a couple more pins and some hairspray," she said, a bobby pin between her teeth.

"Yeah, work your magic." Mark murmured, receiving an awkward look from Gwyn in the reflection. "If anyone can do it, it's you."

He slipped out of the room with a shy smile, closing the door gently behind him. Gwyn's mossy eyes trailed up to mine, a sad smile on her face.

"I'm know I'm not the brightest, but it really wasn't smart to let go of that one." she sighed, spritzing my entire head with hairspray. "He deserves better."

I stood and faced her, offering a sweet smile. "Everything happens for a reason. I'm sure you two can be friends after some time goes by."

"Really? You think so?"

"Yeah." I nodded, extending my arms for a hug. Wrapping our bony arms around one another, I mumbled, "After all, he does move on pretty quickly."

She pulled away and smiled at the reference to our conversation in Art. "Maybe after this is over, we can all grab coffee sometime. Or ice cream, or something. You could bring Zak." She winked as we headed toward the door.

"I guess we'll just have to see what happens." I said quietly, joining the rest of the cast. "Thank you again, you really saved me."

"Of course, girlie." She blew me a kiss, slipping out the back door. "Break a leg--but not really!"

Straightening the skirt of my dress, I walked over to where the cast was huddled, meeting the chocolate gaze of my best friend, who bowed as I approached.

"M'lady." Mark smiled, reaching over to bounce the curl by my face. "Must I say, thou looks ravishing."

I swatted his hand away, smiling. "Hey, don't do that. You'll mess it up."

"Indeed," Zak smiled over his shoulder, "Thee taketh my breath away."

I looked down, curls falling in my face as my cheeks reddened. All dressed up, Zak seemed much older and somehow even better looking than usual with his hair neatly styled and his smile broad and confident. If I thought about it enough, I could almost still taste his lips on mine.

I did a little curtsey for the two boys before we were interrupted by the booming voice of our beloved Theatre teacher.

"Gather round, children, gather round." Gorveau motioned toward us, stepping up onto a rickety barstool to overlook the group. We shuffled into a huddle, Zak's shoulder brushing against mine, and I shot him a small smile. His arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me closer, and I leaned into his embrace.

"First things first, it looks like we have a full house tonight, so I need you hooligans to mind your p's and q's. Opening night is no time for careless shenanigans. We don't need another High School Musical disaster on our hands." He rolled his eyes and the cast giggled, recalling the impromptu cafeteria food fight scene and spaghetti splattered audience members.

"With that being said, you all do look lovely, some of you more than others." He shot a look at Mark's white skin-tight stockings. "But I'm sure you'll all do splendidly, anyhow. And let's not forget our little chemistry assignment with Juliet and Romeo." His beady eyes flickered over to us. "After discovering this cheeky pair in the janitor's closet, I have a feeling they'll pass the chemistry test with flying colors."

I swallowed, pasting on a nervous smile as the entire cast gawked at us, smiles creeping on multiple faces. Gorveau's lips spread into his Cheshire Cat grin, continuing, "And, of course, I want to thank you all for being such a wonderful cast. This dreary, satirical play simply would not be the same without its actors. All hands in," he said, jumping off the stool to extend his arm. All of us put our hands in the middle, smiling around at one another. "Macbeth, on three."

"Macbeth?" I gasped, shaking my head at the teacher. Saying 'Macbeth' before a show immediately cursed the play, so I couldn't believe the word had actually come out of his mouth. "How could you even say that?"

Gorveau laughed, "I'm just kidding. Keeping you all on your toes," He pointed around at the group before putting his hand on top of the rest of ours. "Now, let's get out there and put on a great show. Drama, on three. One, two--"

"--Three, drama!" The cast chanted.

Assuming our positions backstage, the curtains opened and Gorveau strutted onstage, receiving excited applause and whistling from the audience.

Looking out into the black abyss, I couldn't suppress the onset of nerves rising in my chest. My heart was rapidly and erratically beating as I waited in the shadow of the curtain.

In my ear, a voice murmured, "Boo," and I jumped, snapping around to shoot daggers at Mark. "Gotcha."

"Mark," I palmed my chest, gawking at him. "You're the worst."

He laughed, wrapping his arms around my shoulders from behind. "You need to relax. It's all gonna be fine."

I grabbed hold of his forearms and sighed, "I know, I'm just nervous. What if he cursed the play?"

"The show must go on." Mark laughed, and the lights dimmed to black. 

Gorveau slipped backstage and sent me a wink, instilling some much needed confidence in my panicky, uncertain pre-performance brain.

This was it. This was the moment I'd been waiting for all semester. All of the countless hours, lines memorized, long rehearsals, and hard work was finally going to pay off.

And now that I knew how Zak felt about me, it wasn't a matter of acting at all. It was time to show how I felt about him, too.

Blood pumped loud in my ears as I stepped out onto the dark stage, gearing myself up for the performance of a lifetime.

----

To everyone's surprise, the first Act went seamlessly.  The blocking we'd all so meticulously rehearsed didn't have a single hiccup, and everyone seemed pretty confident in their characters.

Mark's old-timey, high-pitched Mercutio voice received several laughs from the audience throughout the show, and although he wasn't supposed to break character, I caught the slightest smile on his face every time.

Zak was perfectly comfortable up on stage, parading around as if he really were a prince and the stage his castle.  While he delivered his lines on cue, his eyes didn't necessary follow suit.  On several occasions, I'd catch him sneaking a peak across stage, and it took everything in me not to break character when his lines said one thing, but his eyes another.

And it didn't help he looked damn confident while doing so.

Overall, Gorveau seemed pleased.  Perched smack in the middle of the first row, his beady eyes followed our movements, periodically flickering down to scribble onto his scratch pad.  Maybe it had been a good thing he'd found Zak and I in the closet, because the sexual tension lingering between us was inevitably obvious onstage.

Act Two was off to a strong start--at least until I tripped over my hoopskirt and nearly ate it.

"Cursed dress!"  I exclaimed, dusting myself off as if it was part of the script.  Luckily, Juliet and Romeo was a satirical spin-off the real play, so it was an easy save, but it was enough to get my blood pumping.

Zak's lips were firmly set in a line as he swallowed back a laugh, eyes sparkling with humor.  I took a deep breath and continued with the scene, mumbling something about my mother's lacking sewing skill before delivering my next lines. 

Besides the small hiccup, the rest of Act Two was a breeze.  The tension between Romeo and Juliet was building greater and greater, and it was finally time for the dreaded Scene 12--the most important one in the play--the scene used to test our chemistry, once and for all.

Zak was center stage, only a spotlight fixed on him as I paced over, fighting back the nerves rising in my chest.  

He turned to face me, shadows accentuating his cheekbones and jawline as he swallowed, Adam's apple rising and falling. 

"Juliet,"  he mumbled, expression softening, "You came."

"I received your letter."  I said, folding my hands in front of me.  "But I'm unsure of your feelings."

Zak's eyes flickered between mine, his brow ever so slightly creasing.  My line had been I'm unsure of my feelings, but he quickly caught on to what I was doing, and broke from my gaze, licking his lips.

"I don't know how else to express myself."  he said, completely deterring from the script.  "I meant every word I said.  I can't help how I feel about you."

My heart thudded against my chest.  The adrenaline kicked in, blood pumping loud in my ears as I tried to stick to the script, running through both of our lines in my head.

"Show me."  I whispered, and he stepped closer, eyes skimming around my face.  "Show me how you feel.  Show me how to be brave."

Zak's mouth opened to deliver the next line, but he stopped himself and clenched his jaw, eyes studying my face.  Silently, I begged him to say something, anything at all, but he was drawing a complete blank, eyes flickering between mine.

In the complete silence, even our breaths were hearable as we studied one another, my heart filling with a sense of panic, pleading him to refer back to the script. 

Say your line, damn it.  Say anything.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to him, bringing us face to face.  I let my fingers rest on the nape of his neck, ever so slightly letting my fingertips graze against his skin as we gazed up at one another, giving in to the tension.

Electric blue trailed from my eyes to my lips as he cupped my face, brushing his thumb across my cheek.  I leaned into his touch, allowing him to run his thumb over my lips, pulling the bottom down enough to hitch my breath in my throat.

"Wh-what are you doing?"  I uttered, barely audible.

He leaned closer, seizing my breath entirely as his lips came to hover just above mine, nose pressed against my cheek.

"Showing you." 

His lips brushed against mine, slow at first, then certain as I kissed him back, sliding my fingers into the soft hair at the back of his head.   His mouth moved against mine in synchrony, reading my hesitancy and meeting me with sweet assurance.

The audience whooped and hollered, whistles blown as rowdy members cheering us on.  I smiled against his mouth and pulled him harder against me, letting myself become completely and utterly consumed by him.

His hands moved to my waist and wrapped around me, closing the small distance between us.   I kissed him harder, ignoring the cue of the flickering lights and tangling my fingers in his hair, careless of anything and anyone other than the beautiful boy in front of me.

Our facades were gone, we'd left the script in the dust, and things would never be the same between us.  There was no going back now, because there was no denying I was falling for him, too.

And if that wasn't chemistry, I didn't know what was.

-----

The cast lined up for our curtain call, interlocking hands to take a long, dramatic bow as the audience rose to their feet, clapping and cheering filling the entire room.

Beside me, Zak squeezed my hand and I returned the favor, giving him a mile wide smile as we bowed before the crowd, soaking in the well-deserved praise. 

I didn't care what Mark, or my parents, or Gorveau had to say.  We'd put our literal blood, sweat, and tears into this play, and nothing could take that away from us.  I was proud of my cast, and, more importantly, I was proud of myself, and at the end of the day, that was all that really mattered.

After hugging my parents and receiving some merciless teasing from my little brother, I surfed through the crowd to find my friends, who eagerly waved me over.

"Oh, my God, girlie."  Gwyn squealed, jumping with excitement.  "You were totally amazing.  That kiss!"  she gasped, putting her hand over her chest.  "I mean, I knew you could act, but I never knew you were that good."

If you could call it acting.

I laughed and thanked her, giving Hunter a hug as he chimed in, "Yeah, that was epic.  Seriously, great job, Zoe." 

"Thanks for coming, guys.  It means so much to me that you're here."  I smiled, catching Gorveau's glare in the corner of my eye before looking back at them.  "Sorry, I do have to go, though."

"Oh, no worries, go do your thing."  Hunter laughed, waving me off.  I sent them an apologetic smile before treading over to where the teacher stood, arms crossed and face sour.

He glanced down at his watch and looked around, muttering quietly.  "You and Romeo.  Backstage.  Five minutes." 

I swallowed and nodded, a deep sense of dread sinking in my stomach.  If he wasn't pleased with our performance, I didn't know what I was going to do.

I found Zak in a swarm of bro-hugs and fist-bumps.  His smile cracked wider as I approached the group, welcoming me into their circle to congratulate the both of us.

Raising on my toes, I whispered, "Gorveau needs us." 

Zak's brow furrowed at my tone, but he nodded and we waved the guys goodbye, heading up the stairs and down the long hallway to what felt like our own personal judgement day.

"Good or bad?"  he mumbled.

"I don't know."  I said, looking up at him.  "Let's hope for good."

"We got this."  he said, instilling some confidence in his tone as he shot me a smile over his shoulder.  "Nothing that you and I can't handle."

I blushed as he grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers, his touch reflecting the meaning of his words.  As long as he and I were in this together, it was going to be okay.  It had to be.

Gorveau was slumped in his director's chair, a sludgy smoothie in one hand and his forehead in the other.  Already, we were off to a bad start.

"Mm, I have to say."  Gorveau took a long sip of his drink, every lingering second making my heart race faster.  "You two really took me by surprise."

"How did we do?"  I gulped, tensing my grip around Zak's hand.  He gave me a comforting glance over his shoulder.  Nothing that we couldn't handle.

"Well, it was absolutely splendid,"  he started, and I started to get my hopes up.  "Until Romeo forgot all of his lines during the most important scene of the play."

My heart sunk. 

"Props to you, Juliet, for trying to save it.  Valiant effort, truly."  he said coolly, raising his smoothie in solidarity.  "However, Romeo failed you tonight, and that kind of behavior simply cannot be excused."

He took another long swig of his drink, and I fought back the bitterness rising in my chest.  Yes, Zak had forgotten his line, but I was the one who'd strayed from the script first.  It wasn't even his fault to begin with.

"Sir, what exactly are you saying?"  Zak asked, eyebrows furrowed. 

Gorveau held up a finger for us to wait as he finished his sip, smacking his lips together and letting out a long breath.  "Zoe, you were absolutely marvelous, and I couldn't be more proud.  As for you, Zakary,"  he paused, cocking his head at us.  "I'm afraid you've failed."

I blinked, jaw falling open in shock as I looked over at Zak, whose face had gone completely blank.

"I simply cannot reward incompetence."  He shrugged, shaking his head.  "You made a decision to stray from the script, and I can only--"

"No."  I cut in, locking my gaze on the teacher's beady eyes.  "No, I can't let you do this."

He let out a dry laugh, "I beg your pardon?"

Mustering up all of my courage, I straightened up and continued, "It wasn't his fault.  I was the one who messed up my line, and he was just playing off of it--"

"--But you saved the scene."  He pointed out, "Zakary didn't even deliver a line."

"But we made it work,"  I huffed, "What does it matter that we strayed from the script if we nailed the scene?"

The teacher was silent, eyes flickering between the two of us and down to our entangled hands. 

I took his silence as a cue to continue.  "We've spent the last two weeks getting to know each other so that we could fix the play, and now that it's fixed, it's not fair of you to flip the script on us." 

No pun intended.

"In the first few days of all of this, you made Zak and I improvise a boat scene where we were lost at sea."  I looked up at him, and he smiled in recognition.  "During the past couple weeks, we'd weathered so many storms in that little boat together, but we always came out on the other side.  Now that we've managed to sail to shore and plant our feet on the ground again, I'm not going to let anything drag us back out to sea." 

Gorveau's lips cracked into a curious smile.  "What are you saying, Miss Scott?"

I sighed, "If you're going to fail Zak, you're going to have to fail me, too."

Zak shook his head, "Zoe, what are you doing--"

"I'm serious."  I said, brushing my thumb against the back of his hand.  "We're in this together."

Zak looked down at our hands and smiled, letting out a breathy smile as he met my eyes again.  He raised my hand to his lips and kissed it, squeezing his palm against mine.

Slowly, the teacher started clapping, one clap following the next and the next and the next.  He rose from his chair, a proud Cheshire Cat smile cracking through his lips.

"Congratulations, twinkies.  You passed the chemistry test."

I looked up at Zak in disbelief and gawked over at the teacher, shaking my head.  "W-What?"

"All I wanted was for you two to make some magic happen--and you've done it--sacrificing your grade for the sake of your costar.  Brilliant."  He kissed his fingers.  "I couldn't be more proud."

"Wait, so...you're not giving me an F?"  Zak squinted, blinking in surprise.

"I was never going to fail you, Zakary.  What kind of monster does something like that?"  The teacher laughed, sipping his smoothie.  "Was I tempted?  Yes, but I wasn't going to go through with it.  You both are amazing actors, and your chemistry is undeniable." 

"Thank you, sir."  Zak blinked, extending his hand to the teacher.  Gorveau shook his hand, clasping his other hand on top of the shake. 

"Yeah, thank you so much, Mr. Gorveau."  I said, shaking his hand.  Although he'd totally pranked us and I was still recovering from the shock, I couldn't have been more grateful for a joke--no matter how twisted--in my entire life.

"Now, I may be out of line here, but I'm just going to say it."  The teacher smirked, pointing at us.  "If you two don't date after this, then I haven't done my job." 

I looked up at Zak, unable to contain the red flush on my cheeks.  Zak laughed and wrapped his arm around me, his eyes sparkling with admiration.

"Sir, I don't think you have anything to worry about."  Zak smiled, kissing my head.  "I think you've made the match of a lifetime."

Well, that's a wrap!

What are your thoughts? I would love to know in the comments!

A huge thank you to everyone who has so lovingly supported this little novel throughout the 6 years it's taken to write. This is such a bittersweet moment for me—and for you guys—but I'm so happy I was able to tell the story in the most honest and genuine way possible.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you all for being the most amazing readers a girl could ask for.

There's an epilogue on the way, but for now, this is my curtain call.

Lots and lots of love,

Ari xx