Her Boyfriend is my Fiance'!?

Curtain Call

It was only a few days until the play and I had one more thing to do. Without anybody knowing, Leo and I went to Eugene's house after school. We stood there on the front porch as I rang the doorbell. I looked around and noticed the wind chimes and cheesy decorations that seemed to fill the front porch. They seemed to be staring at me. Just then, the door opened and we saw Eugene's older sister Melony. It was amazing how different they looked. Eugene's curly, red hair was always kind of unruly where as Melony's hair was long, shiny and seemed to flow just right. Eugene always hid his eyes behind his thick glasses, but his sister sometimes wore contacts and it seemed to make her green eyes shine a little more than they did with out them. Melony could have any guy on the planet. I just know that all the guys she went to college with had practically attached their eyes to her and Leo was no exception. He stood there with a goofiest grin I had ever seen. I rolled my eyes.

"Hi Nikki. Hi Leo" she said to us.

"Hi Melony" I said

"Hey Mel" he said trying to be cool. Melony giggled a little.

"Come on in. Eugene is upstairs looking at his butterfly collection. His room is the second door on the right of the upstairs hallway. If you guys need anything just ask" she offered.

"Thanks Melony" I said.

"Yeah that's really cool of you" Leo said in the dumbest way possible. I rolled my eyes again and looked at him after Melony left. "What" he asked.

"You are such an idiot" I said sighing as I proceeded up the stairs. Leo looked at me as clueless as ever. We followed Melony's instructions and found Eugene sitting at his desk with his cast sitting on his arm. I looked at it and even more guilt came over me.

"Hi Leo. Hey Nikkie" he greeted me with a raised eyebrow. Usually that kind of creeped me out, but today it was okay. Eugene room was surprisingly well lit and the walls were dawned with movie posters and Stunko pip figurines. To no one's surprise, it had a scent of Eugene's signature smell of cough syrup. Just as Melony had told us, he was found looking through his collection of encased butterflies. His laptop cover was periodic table.

"How's your arm" Leo came right out and asked him.

"It's still a little sore, but the doctor said I'll be better in no time. I can't wait to see you two in the play" he said with a smile. We did the same as we sat down.  His laptop cover was periodic table and I noticed the butterfly collection that Melony had mentioned at his desk.

"We're really sorry about what happened Eugene" I said to him.

"We're also sorry about how it happened" Leo added. Eugene looked at us both

"Oh that's alright. I know you guys didn't do it on purpose and besides, I can just add this to my broken bones journal" he said with a laugh. The two of us laughed nervously and looked at each other. We stayed longer than we had planned. Eugene thought it was kind of creepy the way Leo senselessly eyed his sister when she walked by. I laughed at his expressions.

Leo had gone to the bathroom when Eugene had asked me a question.

"Hey Nikkie, you weren't really all that disappointed when you found out Leo was taking my place were you" he asked me. I looked away. "It's because you like him right" he asked me. I whipped my view towards him. My eyes were wide and I blushed. "I figured as much. I think that the two of you would be better than him and Kathrine" he stated. "She's kind of a..." he didn't finish. Instead, he took out a piece of paper and wrote something down and showed me. I looked at it and saw what he wrote. I started to laugh. He never was one to curse. Neither was I, but seeing him be so shy about it was kind of cute. The two of us shared a laugh as Leo re-entered the room.

"What's so funny" he asked. The two of said nothing and continued laughing.

It was opening night. I was more nervous than a turkey on thanksgiving. My hands were clammy and I could feel shocks of anxiety jolting through my body. The auditorium lights started to blink which means it was only a few minuets before the show started. I knew I was shaking in my costume. I had to admit the costume was pretty good for what was supposed to be a peasant outfit. It was a long, tan skirt with patches of fabric that didn't match it. It had wild colors like orange, green, blue and pink. The top was just a white, short sleeve blouse that was kind of wrinkled. The lights went out and I could see the lights from the lighting booth. Jenny's voice came on over the P.A system as she was narrating the story. It was my cue to go on and once I was out there, I just let loose. I may have dropped a line here and there, but I figured that the audience didn't notice hopefully.

Kathrine and I managed to get through the first act with out killing each other. The curtain came down and I heard Jenny call an intermission. We had about 10 to 15 minuets before the second half started so I went into the hallway for some air. I was standing in my gown in the hallway with my cell phone when I heard foot steps coming. I looked up and saw Kathrine walking past me with an evil look on her face. I rolled my eyes and thought "That's an evil step mother if I ever seen one". This whole thing with Kathrine is just a never ending war. To think that it all started because of a stupid valentine I got from a seven-year-old boy 11 years ago. I was running lines in my head when I saw Leo in his prince charming costume. He really did look charming.

"Is it bad luck for me to see you before the final act" he asked me jokingly

"Wrong wedding" I said. The two of us laughed. I was so glad that the two of us could laugh about it at this point. We laughed, but the last act had been running through my head. I know that before Eugene had gotten hurt, we had rehearsed kissing, but since Leo had stepped in, we had come up with something else. It was the stage kiss. That means that Leo puts his hands on either sides of my face and places his thumbs in between our lips, but his hands hid his thumbs so the audience couldn't see it. I wish we had thought of that with Eugene. Kathrine wouldn't stop bugging Mrs. Dillard about it so she decided to make us do that instead. Even when Kathrine McDowell loses, she wins. I sighed

It was the ending scene and the lights were up. Everything had seemed to go fine. It was time for the ending scene and it could have been the lights. It could have been the fact that the two of us were in character. Leo took my face in his hands and pressed his lips to mine. It was like fireworks. Leo proceeded to move his hand through my hair and kiss me deeper. I had no idea if the crowd was cheering or clapping or anything because the truth was I felt like we were the only two people in the world. We pulled back from our kiss and the curtains had already been closed. With out a word the two of us just stepped down and walked opposite ways and readied ourselves for curtain call. The curtain came back up and cast members were walking and taking their bows. When it was our turn I felt Kathrine's foot making me slip a little. I looked back at her giving her a look. I took Leo's hand and we bowed to the audience. With all the applause, cheering and excitement, all I could think was "What just happened"