Date Her Instead Vol. 5

Chapter Eight: Becoming Stars! ...Or Just Not Trainwrecks On Stage

"No, no, no!" Akitsuki cried in dismay. "Endo-san! How many times do we have to do this part?! I've told you a thousand times now, you have to hold her like you love her!" In response to this criticism, a very annoyed and exhausted Haruna glared back at the pompous girl who had made herself director. "Yeah, well, I'm trying to, but it's a little hard when the girl keeps moaning!" "I can't help it Haru-chi. Your touch is just heavenly~" Chiyo teased.

Practice for the play was well underway, and it was, in a word, disastrous.

*****

Within the next couple of days of the class deciding to do a play, all the roles were given, scripts were handed out and a schedule was decided upon. Considering the fact that they had a little less than a month to put everything together, practices were set to be frequent and get progressively longer as the festival got closer.

"Ugh, seriously, why the hell did I get dragged into this?" Haruna complained. "C'mon Haru-chi, I bet it'll be a blast!" Chiyo said, clearly enjoying herself. "Easy for you to say. You don't have to play some 30-year-old dude," Haruna said.

The two main roles had been given to Haruna and Chiyo. For Haruna, she would be playing the role of George Holden, a journalist for a big-city newspaper. Playing her co-star and main love interest would be Chiyo, who would be Sydney Alto, a source for a major scoop. At first, there had been a lot of reservations from the class about having either of these two girls in the roles, but they all came around eventually.

Chiyo was already naturally good-looking, even if it brought her a lot of trouble. So imagining her as a sexy, seductive 1950s American woman wasn't hard to picture. As for Haruna, there were actually quite a few people that though she gave off a cool beauty sort-of vibe, so when they pictured tying her hair up and dressing her up in a suit, many quickly became a fan of the idea. Adding in Chiyo and Haruna's close relationship (and certain rumors about them) cemented the casting choices.

For the first couple of days, Haruna had tried her best to get out of being in the play. She tried everything from skipping practice entirely to suggesting guys in the class to play the role because it would make more sense. Unfortunately, all of her attempts were in vain. If it had been up to the teacher, she probably would've been able to pull it off, but because it was Akitsuki's play, Akitsuki was in charge. That meant that her stubbornness and arrogance were at an all-time high. As a last resort, Haruna had tried to convince her to change her mind.

"Hah? You can't be serious!" Akitsuki had scoffed. "Are you trying to ruin my masterpiece? We did the casting right away because we hardly have any time before the festival. And now, several days in, you want to quit because it's 'not for you'? Absolutely not! You are in this play Endo-san, and I am not letting you out of it, so give me a stellar performance befitting my masterpiece!"

And so, Haruna was stuck in one of the main roles. "This sucks..." she groaned. "Cheer up Haru-chi," Chiyo said. "I know you're like, worried and stuff about this, but trust me, you'll be fine. Your line delivery already sounds better than mine."

"Yes, because she's actually taking this seriously Wakabayashi-san," Akitsuki chimed in. "If you would work as hard as Endo-san, we'd be much further along by now!" "Um, I'm not working hard," Haruna commented. "C'mon Akitsuki, I keep tellin' ya to just call me Chiyo," the gal smirked. "And I keep telling you that I have no intention of doing that. We are not friends or anything of the sort. In this scene, I am the director and you are an actress. That means I'm in charge, which also means I have no intention of getting any closer to you than necessary. Honestly, I do believe you're fit for this role, but I truly cannot stand you as a person." And with a final huff, Akitsuki walked away.