No Rules To Love

Chapter Four:

I did not want to get up the next morning.

I was content with snuggling into my duvet and sleeping the day away. Surrounded by the warmth of the fluffy covers, I smiled. I could even ignore the shrill tones of my alarm clock and keep my eyes closed in ignorant bliss. That was how badly I did not want to get up. I heard a harsh banging on my door, making me flinch. It sounded like a stampede of elephants was ramming their heads against the wooden door. Not long after the banging died down, I heard the annoyed tones of my best friend on the other side.

"Get your arse out of bed!" Ashley was saying. Her voice wasn't clear, so I presumed she was talking around her toothbrush.

Ah, so we had reversed the roles. I liked it.

I was about to snuggle down deeper into the cloud-like duvet, and another smile began to grace my lips. But Ashley's voice interrupted my serenity.

"You can't let some arrogant guy stop you from going to a rehearsal for one of the most important shows of your life so far," Ashley said. Her annoyance and care combined to make an odd begrudged tone. I knew there was love somewhere in there.

I groaned, thinking about what she said. Decision made, I shoved the covers down and away from my body. The chilly air hit me straight away, making me regret my decision for a moment. But Ashley was right, of course. This was important to me. In a way, it was the start of my career. Or the last show before I would be a professional actor at least. Was I going to let some arrogant asshole prevent me from going to an important rehearsal? This guy thought he was the bee's knees when I was sure that wasn't the case and I was still going to let him put me off? What was wrong with me? Has someone slipped something into my drink that made me disregard my career?

"I'm up, I'm up!" My voice was thick with sleep. I hoped it was loud enough for Ashley to hear and stop bugging me. I fell out of bed; my limbs were still reluctant to move. I had to steady myself for a few seconds. The room was spinning a little due to how I had dragged myself out of bed. When the world had steadied itself, I straightened up and completed my morning routine.

When I finally walked into the living room, dressed and with my bag at the ready, I smiled at Ashley. I had to do a double-take because Ashley was already halfway through her bowl of cornflakes. She pushed a full bowl towards me.

"I made breakfast for you," Ashley told me, stating the obvious. "It's only to save time because if we don't get a move on, we're gonna be late."

I smiled my thanks to her and sat down to eat the food, scared to say anything else in case I annoyed her further. We ate in silence for a couple of minutes. Ashley had already finished hers and she was waiting for me to finish mine. Her patience was rather astonishing.

I broke the silence. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened before. You know I'm never like that. I'm usually the one getting you up in the morning."

"It's not a problem, trust me," she chuckled. "I understand your problem. If I were in your situation, I'd still be in bed right now. I'm too stubborn to move. At least I know what you go through every morning with me. And let me tell you, I do not envy you."

I laughed at her before finishing my cereal, washing the bowl, and putting it away. We then both walked to our rehearsal. Once I was out in the fresh air, I did feel a little better about going to the rehearsal. I also realised how ridiculous I was being. The fact of the matter is I won't have to spend much time with Hunter, because why would he be helping Maria? And again, why was I so bothered about avoiding Hunter when I had much more important things to worry about? Like playing the lead role in my final, third-year show for a start...

The auditorium was where the rehearsal was taking place, so we made that our destination. This was exciting. We would start moving everything that we had learnt from the rehearsal room onto the stage. We would now have to familiarise ourselves with the different entrances and exits and some of the set pieces. It was becoming real.