Nine

“I just don’t see why you’re being so nice to her. You used to hate her” Sophie whispered to Leah, backstage.
“l didn’t hate her, Sophie. I just want to be her friend okay? There’s nothing more to it so just drop it” Leah whispered back, irritation in her voice.
“Whatever, Leah. Just don’t expect me to believe you” Sophie whispered, walking off to flirt with the boy who pulled the ropes onstage. Leah cursed under her breath in frustration. She couldn’t believe her best friend was doubting her. It was true that she’d made a few mean comments about Kay-Lee here and there, but things were different now. She really did want to be friends with Kay-Lee. Kay-Lee needed a friend that was a girl anyway. Sometimes you just need girl time and Leah wanted to be there for her, she really did.
“What was that about?” Josh asked from behind her. Leah spun around in fury and whispered fiercely at him “Like it’s any of your business. You shouldn’t have been eavesdropping”.
“I didn’t even hear anything, sheesh!” Josh said, holding his hands up.
“Somehow, I find that hard to believe” Leah said, narrowing her eyes at him.
“Baby, calm down” Josh said, pushing her against the wall and kissing her neck.
Leah pushed him away, and Josh let her.
“Don’t ever touch me again” Leah said coldly.
“Leah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-“Josh started to say, but Leah cut him off.
“Yes you did. You’re just like all the other guys, all you want is to get in my pants” Leah said, turning away.
“No, it wasn’t like that, I really like you Leah” Josh said with sadness in his voice.
“Just leave me alone” Leah said, tears forming in her eyes.
Just then, Adam and Kay-Lee came backstage and sensed the tension in the air.
“Is everything all right back here?” Adam asked.
“Fine” Josh muttered before walking away.
Kay-Lee saw Leah with her head down, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Kay-Lee walked over to her and asked her quietly what had happened. Adam had gone after Josh, to hear his side of the story.
“He just started kissing me. He let me push him away and then he started saying all this stuff about how he really likes me, and I just don’t know what to think, or what to do” Leah said, breaking down into another round of tears. Kay-Lee had her arms around Leah, and let her cry into her shoulder. They were sitting behind the curtains and Kay-Lee was at a loss of what to say.
“I’m really sorry about what happened, but he only kissed you once, and then backed off when you told him to?” Kay-Lee said to Leah, who had now stopped crying and was blowing her nose.
“Yea, that’s what happened” Leah said, sniffing.
“Leah, even though Josh can be a jerk sometimes, I think he meant what he said” Kay-Lee said softly, grabbing a loose strand of Leah’s black hair and tucking it behind her ear.
“You think? But he has been a real jerk to you, and tried stuff with you...” Leah trailed off.
“That was nothing, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it” Kay-Lee said, looking at Leah’s face now.
“I don’t know what to do Kay-Lee” Leah said, looking into her eyes.
“Talk to him. I know Adam is with him now, and if you don’t feel comfortable being with him by yourself, I’m sure Adam will stick close by” Kay-Lee said.
“Thank you Kay-Lee. I mean it. For everything, you didn’t have to be nice to me. I really hope we can be friends” Leah said, a little smile on her face.
“I’m sure we can work something out, now let’s get you cleaned up so you can talk to Josh”
“Okay” Leah said as Kay-Lee helped her up and took her to the bathroom to clean up.
It turned out that Josh really did mean what he had said. Adam had been watching as Josh and Leah talked, in case anything happened. They talked through everything and Leah hugged Josh at the end of it. After they had talked they came over to where Adam was, with Kay-Lee.
“Hey Kay-Lee I’m really sorry about last week when I...you know...anyway, I really am sorry” Josh said. Adam took a protective stance in front of Kay-Lee.
“What happened last week? What did you do to her!?” Adam demanded. Kay-Lee touched his shoulder and Adam turned to look at her.
“It was nothing Adam, okay? Just calm down” Kay-Lee said, her hand on Adam’s cheek.
“Kay-Lee, if anything happened to you...”
“Shhh...It’s okay” Kay-Lee calmed him, looking into his eyes. She dropped her hand and looked at Josh then.
“I forgive you. And I’m also sorry that I slammed the locker door into your face” she said with a smile.
Josh laughed unsteadily “I deserved it”.
“Come on people! Dance lessons, NOW!!!” the director shouted from the direction of the stage. Adam, Kay-Lee, Josh and Leah all walked out to the stage to join the rest of the cast.
“Right. We only have one week and 4 days until show night, so you need to nail this dance number today. It’s in the final scene of the script where Ashley and Jake are at the school dance together. You all know what I’m talking about?” the director addressed everyone on stage. There were a lot of mumbled responses. Mostly people saying “yes...” as everyone formed a line to start learning the choreography.
“Right, now everyone, you’re at the school dance. Adam and Kay-Lee, centre stage please!” the director ordered, and everyone moved into their positions.
The choreographer went through all the steps slowly, and everyone was having a great time. Two hours later, everyone had nailed the dance, and they were all ready to go through it with the music.
“Action!” the director shouted and the music began to play. The choreographer was in front of the stage doing the steps as well in case anyone forgot. They got to the end of the dance, where Adam and Kay-Lee said their lines.
“I’m so glad I found you” Adam said to Kay-Lee, holding her hands and looking into her eyes.
“I was always here, waiting” Kay-Lee said, as Adam pulled her into a hug and the curtains dropped.
Everyone on stage cheered and clapped wildly as the curtains came back up. The director and the choreographer were beaming in delight.
“Excellent! That’s the final scene down-pat! Excellent work people! That’s the only dance number in the play so the worst is over with for now. For the rest of the week I want you all back here at the same time for the two hour sessions. If you can’t make it to the after school practices, we’ll get an understudy to fill in. Go home now people! Excellent work” the director praised them all, and the group split up, gathering their things to go home.

Eight

“Hey Kay-Lee! Wait up!” Leah’s voice echoed in the school hallway. Kay-Lee turned around to see Leah running towards her, and wondered what Leah wanted. She stopped and waited for Leah to catch up to her. Leah stopped in front of Kay-Lee, red-faced and gasping for air. “What do you want?” Kay-Lee asked, and instantly regretted being so cold to Leah. “Just let me catch my breath” Leah gasped. Kay-Lee waited, absentmindedly playing with her long hair, twisting it around her fingers. When Leah finally caught her breath, Kay-Lee looked at her expectantly.
“Kay-Lee listen, I just wanted to say that you were really good back there and I was wondering if you’d want to come to a party this weekend” Leah said.
“A party? I don’t know if I –“ Kay-Lee started to say, before Leah cut her off.
“Listen, before you say you can’t come, just hear me out okay?” Leah said, looking at Kay-Lee.
“Okay” Kay-Lee agreed, waiting to hear what Leah had to say.
“I know that we haven’t exactly been friends, and I really want to make it up to you. The party is for the cast of the school play, and their dates of course” Leah explained. She seemed to genuinely mean it, but Kay-Lee couldn’t help being suspicious.
“What kind of party?” Kay-Lee asked.
“Nothing wild! It won’t be formal either, just a casual get together at the RSL club in town. What do you say?” Leah explained eagerly.
“I’ll have to think about it, check that I have this weekend open” Kay-Lee said. She didn’t want to say yes right away because she wanted to find out more and make sure that Leah really did want to be friends, and wasn’t setting her up.
“Okay, get back to me by Friday okay?” Leah said, before rushing down the hall to her next class.
“Sure” Kay-Lee called after her, wondering if she’d heard.
Kay-Lee walked to her next class, wondering about the party and if she should go. Leah had said it was for the cast of the play...
“hey” a voice whispered in her ear, interrupting her thoughts. Kay-Lee jumped and turned to see the smiling face of Adam.
“You know you nearly scared me half to death” Kay-Lee said, lightly punching him in the shoulder.
“Sorry, but someone had to break you out of the daze you were in. Like the walking dead, Kay, Freaky” Adam said, poking her in the ribs.
“Hey!” Kay-Lee exclaimed, poking him back.
“so what were you thinking so hard about?” Adam asked, walking at an even pace beside her now. Kay-Lee started to notice the girls staring at Adam as they walked past, and whispering excitedly. So they like him too...Kay-Lee thought, watching them give her nasty glares out of jealousy.
“Hello, earth to Kay-Lee!” Adam said, waving his hand in front of Kay-Lee’s face.
“You’re doing it again. The whole walking dead thing” Adam pointed out.
“Hey, did you get an invite to Leah’s party this weekend?” Kay-Lee suddenly asked.
“Yea, the whole cast did, including the backstage crew. Sounds awesome, you going?” Adam said.
“I don’t know, I told Leah that I’d think about it, how about you?” Kay-Lee asked, looking up at him.
“I said I’d go, but there’s a problem”
“Oh?” Kay-Lee asked.
“I don’t have a date” He stated bluntly.
Kay-Lee noticed some of the girls passing look up with hopeful eyes.
“Want to go with me?” Adam asked her, and Kay-Lee saw the girls look down again and keep walking. She smiled to herself.
“So I’m going now?” Kay-Lee asked sarcastically, looking at him. His face lit up, obviously he thought that had meant yes.
“Oh, I’ll make you go, princess” Adam said, mussing up her hair.
Kay-Lee laughed and batted his hand away as they walked into science.

Seven

Katherine kept repeatedly asking Kay-Lee if she felt all right for the entire car trip home from the hospital. No matter how many times Kay-Lee told her mother that she felt fine, Katherine kept asking over and over, worry clear on her face.
When they got back to the house, Katherine sent Kay-Lee straight to bed for rest, much to Kay-Lee’s protest, and Adam went home to work on some songs for the school play. Play rehearsals were scheduled for the next two weeks and the performance would be in three weeks time. Kay-Lee was excited for rehearsals to start, but Adam was feeling a little nervous. The biggest jerk in school, Josh Williams, had managed to get the male supporting role in the play, as Adam’s best friend. If Adam wanted an acting challenge, he certainly got one. Pretending to be Josh’s best friend was definitely going to be difficult.
Kay-Lee wasn't entirely thrilled about who had scored the female supporting role either. The annoyingly persistent chatterbox, Leah Smart, had got the female supporting role as Kay-Lee’s best friend. Kay-Lee almost laughed out loud at the irony.
Leah Smart was a funny sort of girl. She seemed like friendly, nice person, on the surface, but Kay-Lee knew her true intentions. She knew that Leah and her friends gossiped about everyone at school and she had been a victim to their menacing glares. Kay-Lee chose to ignore it, and avoid Leah and her entourage at all times, where possible. Being in the play with her was going to make Kay-Lee’s avoiding scheme, somewhat difficult.
Kay-Lee thought she could at least be civil to Leah for the duration of the play, there was a fine line between decency and just plain rude, after all.

* * *
It was Monday morning and it was the first day that the play rehearsals was scheduled to begin. Kay-Lee practically jumped out of bed and knocked Adam’s door down in the rush to get to school. The day flew by, and before Kay-Lee and Adam knew it, they were in the auditorium, on-stage, going through their lines. The director told the cast that they had a lot to get through, because two weeks wasn’t very long for rehearsal time.
Adam really liked the plot of the story and the script. He could relate to it so well. He had been in love with Kay-Lee for as long as he could remember, but he knew how she felt about him, and he didn’t want to go and wreck things when they were perfect the way they were.
Sure, Adam wished that Kay-Lee could be his girlfriend, but he figured it was better to keep her as a friend then to lose her completely because his feelings had gotten in the way. It was a hard line to walk, but Adam felt he could do it; after all, he had already had plenty of practice.
The script was really getting to him. The words meant so much to him because they were exactly the words he had wanted to say to Kay-Lee for so long, but hadn’t, for fear of losing her.
Kay-Lee and Adam were rehearsing the most important scene in the play, where Adam’s character, Jake, admits his true feelings for his best friend, Ashley, played by Kay-Lee. Everyone in the auditorium was drawn into the performance. Adam had a look of pain on his face as he struggled to say how he felt. Kay-Lee had a look of confusion, as she tried to understand what Adam was trying to say. They were both throwing themselves into the performance, and the other cast members couldn’t keep their eyes off them. Kay-Lee and Adam had an electric presence on-stage, and it was hard to look away.
Adam held Kay-Lee’s face in his and said his lines, pouring his heart and soul into the performance, and meaning everything he said.
“I don’t want this to wreck our friendship but I have to tell you. And if everything gets ruined and it gets awkward and weird I don’t know if I can do it. And I know it’s wrong, but I can’t help falling in love with you” Adam said to Kay-Lee, looking into her eyes.
The world seemed to stand still at that moment for Kay-Lee. She knew it was just his lines, what he was supposed to say, but she could’ve sworn it meant more than that. A part of her wished it did mean as much to Adam as it meant to her. She was slowly falling for him but had to keep her mouth shut, otherwise she would send him running, and she was afraid he’d run away forever, without looking back.
“I love you too, Jake, with all my heart. You have no idea how long I have been waiting for this moment, for those very words to come out of your mouth when I was too scared to say them myself”. Kay-Lee delivered her lines, looking into Adam’s blue eyes, and meaning what she said.
Adam leant his face in closer to hers, and their noses touched briefly. Kay-Lee’s heart started to beat faster and faster as Adam tilted his head a little lower and she leant in closer.
“CUT!” the director suddenly yelled, jerking them out of the moment. “That was fabulous, simply fabulous! Let’s save the kissing scene for the performance night, to make it more special. I want to really feel the electricity! Fantastic job guys! Keep up the good work!” the director exclaimed, the cast erupting into cheers afterwards.
Adam smiled at Kay-Lee and she gasped, taken aback. It was the first time she had looked at Adam, really looked. He was amazing. His pale smooth skin, clear blue eyes, cheeky smile. His long, straight, black hair with streaks of bright red at the end. Adam was simply gorgeous; Kay-Lee couldn’t believe he was her best friend. The best thing about him was not his appearance; it was his genuine smile and his kind heart that Kay-Lee loved the most. He could look like Frankenstein’s monster, but Kay-Lee wouldn’t love him any less.
“Are you alright?” Adam asked now, looking at Kay-Lee with worry clear on his face. “I’m fine, just fine” Kay-Lee replied, a smile slowly spreading across her face as the cheers from the crowd continued.