Romeo and Juliet

c h a p t e r e l e v e n

"Move!! I need Gina!!" River yells as she gets into the theatre.
Her cast mates laugh lightly at her chaotic state before she finds the girl and drags her off to the side.
"G, oh my god, you won't even believe what happened this weekend!" She tells her with her eyes full of excitement.
"Wait what happened?" Her best friend asks back just as excited.
"I kissed Antoine"
"What?!" Gina shouts happily causing people to look over at the pair.
"And he's my boyfriend now"
"Oh my god"
The pair then start squealing between each other as they make their way over to the rest of the cast, quietly sharing the details of the previous weekend.
"All right let's get started!" Carlos calls as he makes his way into the room but this goes ignored as everyone continues to chat.
"Hello? Let's get started!" He says again as he makes his way over to Miss Jenn.
"Okay Wildcats! Let's shake Spring Break out of our system and try the Beast transformation one last time" she says and the students nod.
Everyone but Ashlyn and Ricky retreat to the back and sides of the stage to give the pair space to perform.
"And remember this is the triumph of the show, the moment the audience has been waiting for, this has to work" Miss Jenn says through clenched teeth.
It's clear that their teacher is stressed about the whole show and that would make sense as they were nearing two weeks until opening night which made Rivers stomach turn in nerves.
"No pressure right?" Ricky says to Ash as they both laugh nervously.
"Ricky try not to rush this time, we'll speed it up when you're more confident"
"Got it!" He says.
"Let's take it from, 'you came back'" Miss Jenn says dreamily.
Everyone moved to positions and River sat herself down on the floor by her friends.
She sees Miss Jenn talking to Carlos with a tense expression on her face and worries if her teacher is okay but ultimately dismisses it when she asks the pair to start running the scene.
"You came back"
"If only Id come sooner" Ashlyn says as she holds Ricky in her arms whilst he lays on the floor, fur getting caught in his mouth from his mask.
"Maybe it's better this way"
"Don't talk like that, everything will be fine"
"No"
Sometimes River wondered how her friend had scored the lead in the show. He was an excellent singer and an alright dancer but his acting was subpar at times.
"We're together now, you'll see"
"I'm just glad I was able to see your face one last..." he trails off.
Seb then starts to play the piano after Ricky pretends to choke up on his air.
"We are home" Ashlyn starts singing and the girl smiles at her friends voice.
"We are where we shall be forever"
As Ash continues singing, River sees the boy keep lifting his hand to his mouth to try and pull out the loose hairs that are sticking to his tongue which clearly starts to annoy his stage partner as she grabs his hand.
"Trust in me, for you know I won't run away"
"Belle, I.."
"Yes?"
Ricky then rolls onto the ground face down which looks utterly ridiculous to River who has to sit and cover her mouth so she doesn't start laughing in the middle of their scene.
"No, no, please don't leave me, please, I love you"
Ricky lifts his head and reaches for the back of the mask to try and pull it off which proves to be difficult for him making his best friend cover eyes momentarily to hide from the wave of second hand embarrassment she feels.
Ashlyn quickly covers him with her cape so no one can see the transition but they can still all hear him struggling.
"It's stuck" he mumbles.
"Rip the Velcro!" Kourtney shouts at him getting fed up of waiting.
He then takes it off and throws it, making it hit into Natalies face who stumbles and knocks one of the trees making the three of them fall down together scaring the cast including River who swiftly grabs onto EJs legs in fright.
"Cut!" Miss Jenn calls.
"Sorry Natalie!" Ricky calls looking bashful.
"It's okay, it was just my face"
"Guess I should practise that throw huh?"
"The throw is great Ricky" their teacher tells him trying to reassure her leading role that it was alright.
"The mask is great, this is working" Miss Jenn comments, her voice getting higher with each word clearly showing her distress and worry.
"I will be in my office" she smiles before she walks out and everyone looks to each other.
"Guys, we're on a long five until Miss Jenn returns" Carlos says before rushing out of the room.
River looks to her cousin who has a worried look on his face and so she makes her way down to see him. They sit on the piano bench together as she starts to play him any song that comes into her head as he leans on her shoulder.