Theater Cubicles

Apologies & Embraces

"Hey, Nolan? We've got to talk," I said hesitantly.

The person before me felt as much like a stranger as he did in the beginning of the year. This time around, I had decided to leave my room for rehearsals even earlier to catch Nolan.

Startled, he answered, "Alright, Juliette."

We sat on a bench in Inspiration Park as I started talking, "Nolan, I'm sorry about what I said the other day. I really am. It was uncalled for and in the heat of the moment I said something I would deeply regret soon after."

"I accept your apology."

"Wow. It was as simple as that? Apologizing really does fix things."

"You bet."

"So, could we start all over. From the beginning?"

"No. Please not from the beginning. It took us a long time to get here. Let's start fresh, anew, yet still with the sentiments of our deeply rooted friendship."

"Ok. First, remind me why you're not a poet, Nolan. Second, is our friendship that deeply rooted?"

"Sometimes it only takes four months for a relationship to take flight. In other cases, just a few days..." Nolan said trailing off.

"So. Let me get this straight. You liked...pfft... me from the start?" I said bashing my own identity.

"From the beginning of time..."

"Aww!" I involuntarily reacted as if I was watching this in a movie.

I immediately recollected myself and came to my senses saying, "But you're...you. You're two years older than me. You're a senior and I'm a freshman. Your a director and I'm a newbie. You're pointed out from a crowd by females and I'm barely looked at by anyone. This is just... I don't know how to deal with this."

"I take into consideration all the things you've pointed out, and take the compliments too, but I still don't see what's wrong when too people's friendship become so strong so fast that they start liking each other. And I realize that what you did the other day was just you dealing with these feelings. So I forgive you," Nolan reasoned.

Awkwardly I asked, "So. Does this mean I could hug you now?"

"That's not even a question to ask..."

And so we embraced. Both of us hugged each other as if we were long lost friends seeing each other again for the first time in four years. His body have a comforting warmth as if to confirm that he was there for me in every journey of life. I knew it was a protective hug as he had my head in his hand and ran my hair through his fingers. It was much like the hugs my mother gave me when I used to come home and tell her that someone had said hurtful things to me.

Glancing at my watch I looked at the time. Oh my gosh. We were officially late. Nolan has been the only person that has inspired tardiness.

"Nolan! The time!"

"Run! Run!" he said as he took my hand and started running towards the general direction of our destination.

Out of breathe we entered the auditorium as nonchalantly as possible. Too bad Lara York didn't miss a thing.

"I can't believe it. My two over achievers. Late! Well, this calls for some measure of punishment. Okay, cast!" she called out to the now extremely suspicious group of people on the stage, "You're dismissed for today. Go to your rooms or the cafeteria and just relax. The two tardy parties here," at this they erupted in laughter, "will have to retrieve the entire wardrobe of the cast from the costume room by themselves. I will leave as well. And to you two, happy costume hunting!"

As people started cheering and leaving and making plans, Nolan ran his hands through his wavy hair in anger. The last time I saw him do that in frustration was when I dropped my line in Hamlet's final rehearsal. Lara gave us the papers that specified what each costume needed and left us.

Nolan yelled, "I've never been in trouble before.

"Me neither. My parents used to get mad at me for binge watching movies from the old times. That's about it."

We walked towards what seemed to be the enormous costume room filled with years and years of accumulated costumes. Upon entrance, I observed the ceiling to floor conveyor belt of clothing and accessories fit for any time -period.

"Well I did get in trouble once when I was around five or six and Adel was a baby. It was the time that I took her to the park to impress, well, that girl in my kindergarten class. I shouldn't have taken Adel out apparently without parent permission. The stroller supposedly could've tipped over. Whatever."

"Impress a girl, huh? How many girlfriends have you had?"

"Not more than four. Excluding Edith," he said with laughter in his eyes.

He knew that this infuriated me and that I was extremely jealous. However, knowing him, and all the other guys left in this generation, I couldn't expect anybody to be like me, never been dated.

An hour later we had gathered most of the clothing necessary for the production. There were just a few things left, one being the mayor character's top hat that was all the way on the top shelf. Both of us being unable to reach it, we acquired a ladder.

"Here, you go up since you're petite and your head won't hit the ceiling like if I were to go up. But be careful! You tend to be a klutz," Nolan said.

"Ok. Just because we're...a thing now doesn't mean you're allowed to openly insult me!" I complained as I reached for the dusty black velvet Abraham Lincoln hat. 

For some reason, I decided to dust it off then and there, completely forgetting about my dust allergies,  as the puffs of dust wafted their way into my nostrils. And then came the great sneeze which made me toss the hat from my hand, loose my grip of the ladder, and flail backwards.

And they said that humans can't fly.

A/N: Cliffhangaaaaa!!!!! So many things happened in the Jolan relationship but...what do you think about it? Leave a comment of your opinion and vote if you liked this chapter :)  And feel free to point out any edits I can make.