––––––––
“Excellent,” Ms. Mitchell said, clapping her hands.
Nadira and Kiln had done their short, dramatic piece on Much Ado about Nothing. In it, Kiln accused Nadira of texting another guy. He’d searched her phone and found the text. In the end, Kiln discovered that it wasn’t even Nadira’s phone and he apologized.
Not exactly the spirit of the play, but there was only five minutes and, let’s face it, they weren’t the best English students in the world.
Dana had gone before them. Hers had been a video presentation, which Ms. Mitchell allowed. Apparently, her and Jake had recorded themselves doing a pretty much word for word reenactment of Titania and Oberon’s final scene in A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream. The same scene they’d done last year in the school play. Seeing Jake’s face again made my stomach ache. I wondered when they recorded it, then put the thought out of my mind. I didn’t want to give Jake a second more of my time. I was worth too much for that.
My stomach tied in knots as Noah and Cassie went. Cole and I were at the bottom of the list, and he still hadn’t shown up for school. I had our piece in my shaking hands, but without Cole, I wasn’t sure that Ms. Mitchell would pass us. If I failed this class, I was sure that I would cry. So would my GPA.
I gripped the marked up, white loose-leaf pages and studied them. I’d thrown the little play together in less than two hours. At the time, it seemed like a masterpiece, but now, the more I read it, the more terrible it sounded. Not as terrible as some of the other kids’ plays, but still not my best work.
If only Cole and I had spent more time on it. But it was too late to think about that now. Plus, I didn’t regret the time that I spent with Cole. He’d mellowed me out, and made me laugh. Our time was precious, and I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. Not even a passing grade.
Noah and Cassie were fake stabbing each other with pencils, then making out with each other in their weird version of Romeo and Juliet. I could tell by Ms. Mitchell’s wary smile that she was as confused as the rest of the class. But, as a teacher, she had to applaud their effort, and so she clapped.
“Thank you, Noah and Cassie, for that ... uh ... inventive retelling of Romeo and Juliet. Now, we come to our final pairing. Bella French and Cole Winsted.”
My stomach filled with mutant butterflies, all clawing at me. I was an okay public speaker, but it wasn’t my favorite thing to do. Especially when I had to do a play with two characters, and it was only me. I walked to the front of the classroom with heavy, slow steps. Anything to eat up the seconds.
This was going to be horrific.
“I, uh ... this was supposed to be a two person play, but my partner isn’t here, so...”
All eyes in the room were staring at me as if I had a clown suit on. They saw my nervousness, and now they were pouncing on it. Last week, these people called me their queen. Now, I was just another loser. I guess what they say is true. Time changes everything.
I cleared my throat and raised my paper, reading off the first line. My line.
“I can’t believe that my dad said we couldn’t go out, Lincoln. And all because you’re not rich like me.”
I know. Lame.
My eyes darted to Cole’s next line on the page. I considered doing it with a deep voice, then rejected that idea. I would be entirely too embarrassing. My hands shook, and broke out into a sweat.
I looked at Ms. Mitchell.
“I’m sorry. It was supposed to be two people.”
She smiled softly and nodded. “Why don’t you just read the rest, dear? We’ll get the point.”
I nodded, swallowed, and immediately wished for the floor to swallow me whole.
It didn’t.
“Why does... Why does...” This was stupid. Utterly and completely stupid. I couldn’t read this play by myself. Why didn’t Ms. Mitchell just give me a pass? She knew that Cole’s mother died. Why would she torture me like this?
“Then Lysander, uh, Lincoln says ... uh...”
Suddenly, the door burst open and Cole rushed in like a man on a mission.
My heart leapt. He was here.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, throwing his bookbag on his desk and running to the front of the room.
“It’s okay, Cole,” Ms. Mitchell said. “Just start from the beginning.”
I was sure that I was grinning like an idiot and my face was red, but I didn’t care. Cole was here to save the day.
I mouthed thank you to him.
He winked at me. I found that I didn’t mind it so much.
“I can’t believe that my dad said we couldn’t go out, and all because you’re not rich like me.”
“Why does your dad have to be so corny?”
“Because he’s my dad. He thinks he controls everything.”
Cole put his finger on his temple, pretending to think. He was really hamming this up. A bubbling of laughter rose from the class as the fated lovers, Lincoln and Hermia, planned their escape in to the woods.
“I’m afraid, Lincoln. What if we get caught? What if something happens to us?”
“Oh, Hermia. Even if we only have an instant in time to be together, in that instant, I promise that I will love you with all of my heart.”
Yes, it was amateurish, but, even as Cole said the words that I’d written, I imagined that he meant them. That he wasn’t talking about Hermia, but about me.
Cole had said he wanted me once. He’d even kissed me. A kiss that I still thought about every day. Did he? Could Cole ever forgive me for ripping apart his family? For sending his brother and sister away? For refusing him?
It was a secret wish. One that I couldn’t let blossom too deeply within me. My heart was still so fragile. If Cole had changed his mind about me, I decided that I didn’t want to know. It would hurt too much. I had my chance with Cole, and I blew it. I doubted life would give me another shot.
We bowed at the end of the presentation, even though the only one who clapped was Ms. Mitchell, and I was sure that she was just being nice about it.
“Class, you all did such a wonderful job. I am very proud. In fact, this project was so successful that I am thinking about doing it again for the spring.”
The class groaned.
“Now. Now. For doing such a good job, no homework this weekend and I will see you all on Monday.”
The bell rang, releasing us from English for the next two days.
Just four periods left.
“Class dismissed.”