WICKED { #Wattys2016 }

Chapter Thirty-One: Don't tell Cal

By the end of the lesson, Cordelia had gotten so good she decided she needed to test herself.

"No." Kol said quite bluntly when she brought up the idea.

"Come on Kol! You said it yourself! I need to control my magic when i'm feeling strong emotions. Like fear." She argued, trying to shove the throwing knife into his hand.

"You could die." He replied plainly.

"I could die in a beer flood." She retorted.

"No."

"Yes."

"You're crazy." He frowned.

"I need to know I can do this outside the classroom where there's risk." She corrected.

"You're impossible." He shook his head.

"There's a first time for everything." She insisted.

"Cal is going to kill me."

"It'll be out little secret." She pleased.

He sighed, "Fine."

Cordelia refrained from saying 'yay,' or 'thank-you' since he was going to throw a knife at her head.

As she got into position, and anticipated the flick of Kol's wrist before he let the knife fly, Cordelia's nerves almost got the better of her. She tried to picture a giant wave washing away all her worries.

"On three." Cordelia instructed before taking a deep breath abd focusing on the knife.

"One."

I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.

"Two."

Oh Gawd I can't do this.

Apparently she took too long to get to three for Kol's liking, "Three." He said before letting it fly.

She tried to keep her eyes on it, she really did. But she found herself closing her eyes anyways, and when she openned them she let out a sigh of relief that made the hovering throwing knife clatter to the ground.

A big smile of satisfaction graced her lips, but when she looked up to meet Kol's intent gaze she found herself suggesting, "Let's not tell Cal."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Why are you so rude to someone who loves you so much? Save that kind of harsh language for your worst enemy." Benji recited as Demetrius.

"I'm only scolding you now, but I should treat you much worse, because I'm afraid you've given me good reason to curse you. If you killed Lysander while he was sleeping, then you're already up to your ankles in blood. You might as well jump right into a bloodbath and kill me, too." Cordelia replied as Hermia, "He was more faithful to me than the sun is to the daytime. Would he have snuck away from me while I was asleep? I'll believe that when I believe that there's a hole through the center of the earth, and the moon has passed all the way through to the other side. The only possibility is that you've murdered him. A murderer should look like you do, so pale and grim." She continued.

"That's how someone who's been murdered should look, and that's how I look. You've pierced me through the heart with your cruelty, and yet you, the murderer, look as bright and clear as a star in the sky." Benji moaned.

"What does that have to do with my Lysander? Where is he? Oh, good Demetrius, will you find him for me?" Cordelia pleaded.

Benji cupped her cheek before replying. "I would rather feed his corpse to my dogs."

Cordelia's expression hardened and she slapped away his hand. "Get out, dog! You've driven me to my wit's end. Did you kill him, then? From now on I won't even consider you a human being. Oh, just tell the truth for once. tell the truth, if only for my sake.—Would you have even dared to look at him when he was awake? And did you kill him while he was sleeping? Oh, how brave of you! A snake could do that as easily as you could. A snake did do it, because no snake ever had a more forked, lying tongue than you have." Cordelia recited, angrily then hysterically.

"You're getting all worked up over a misunderstanding. I didn't kill Lysander. As far as I know, he's not even dead." Benji protested.

"Then please tell me he's all right." Cordelia insisted.

"If I told you that, what would I get out of it?" Benji asked with a quirked brow.

"The privilege of never seeing me again. And now I'm going to leave your despised company. You'll never see me again, whether or not he's dead." Cordelia declared dramatically before exiting the stage.

She stayed in the wings to watch the end of the scene, but halfway through his monologue, Benji's foot went through the wooden floor, and a cry of pain followed.

Cordelia -along with Mr. Pierce, Elliot, and Holly- ran onto the stage. A quick glance told Cordelia everything she needed to know. His ankle was at an unatural angle, and already starting to swell. Definitely sprained.

Mr.Pierce called Benji's parents before he, and Christopher carried Benji out to drive him to the hospital.

The rest of the cast and crew sat in the front rows chattering, and anxiously waiting for Elliot to adress the problem. Benji had a sprained ankle and opening night was Friday.

"I just got a call from Mr. Pierce," Elliot started to say from the stage, "Benji is fine but won't be able to perform with his ankle. And we just found out his understudy dropped out."

Panic ensued, and it took Elliot awhile to silence everyone before continuing. "Fortunately, Mr. Pierce was gracious enough to accept to fill in for Benji."

While Elliot tried to calm everyone down and explain how things could and would work, Cordelia was still trying to figure out how Benji's foot had gone through the perfectly good wood floor.

A/N: Gawd i'm tired. Not gonna lie I didn't really feel like writing this chapter, but i'm glad I got it over with so I can move on, and give you guys chapter thirty-one!

If you liked this chapter please vote and comment, telling me your thoughts, reactions, and opinions!

Have a lovely day,

~Liz