Browler's Creek

Chapter 27

I am standing behind the red velvet curtain, and my heart is pounding as fast as it can in my chest. I try to take deep breaths but all I can think about is the fact that I may mess up, or that I have to kiss Noah in a matter of minutes.

"Before show jitters?" Noah ask coming up behind me.

"Yes, but I'll be fine." I said starting to walk away.

"Olivia, wait. We need to talk about what happened yesterday."

"No, we don't I already know what you are going to say, your silence said enough. It was a mistake to tell you how I feel, when you obviously don't feel the same, so please just forget I said anything."

"Alright, everyone. Take your places. Curtain is up in two minutes." Ms. Jones interrupts.

"I'm going to take my place. Break a leg."

"You too."

"I hope you literally break a leg." Brooke says coming up behind me.

"Or maybe you will break yours. That would save the audience from your awful singing, acting, and dancing."

"What did you just say to me?" She asked getting in my face.

"You heard me. Get out of my face, bitch. Looks like someone like Noah, will never love you either."

Brooke huffs and walks away from me. Finally feels like I defeated her. That felt really good to say to her, like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders, and I feel more free now that I constantly have to worry about dealing with her.

The orchestra and band began to play, then the curtain begins to raise. The audience, I can't see any faces, begins to applaud. The ensemble and I begin to sing Grease. Then I know that everyone will leave and it will just be Noah and I. Once Grease is over; it is just Noah and I left on the stage.

"I'm leaving tomorrow. I might never see you again." I say.

"Oh, Sandy. Don't talk like that."

"But it is true."

"Sandy, don't ruin this moment."

Noah leans in for the kiss. As he comes closer I can feel my heart beat faster. He leans in a little bit more, so he is almost touching my nose. It feels like everything is moving in slow motion with the anticipation of the kiss. Finally his lips were on mine, but I bet it feels like nothing to him. More time passes, I think this kiss last longer than the time that was allotted. There is deep emotion running through this kiss. Like we are saying everything that we have felt for the past ten years through a kiss. It feels like maybe this kiss could mean something more to him and to me. But finally the kiss ends and the audience cheers.

----

The applause after the show is overwhelming, I think it might possibly be the loudest crowd I have ever heard. Tonight was probably one of the best performances I had ever been in. It was probably the most fun that I have had since I came back to Browler's Creek. Maybe it was even the most fun that I have ever had in my entire life.

"Olivia." I turn to see Noah. "We really need to talk."

"If you want to talk about what happened yesterday at the dress rehearsal, then I don't think that is a good idea."

"Please. I really need to talk to you. I need to make sure that things are alright between the two of us."

"Okay."

"About the kiss...." He starts.

"I don't really want to talk about the kiss from yesterday."

"I don't mean that one. I mean the one from earlier. The one at the very beginning of the play. "

"What about it?"

"I wanted to tell you that I meant it."

"What?"

"You said yesterday that you wanted our first kiss to mean something to me. Well it did, and I wanted to let you know that it did mean something to me. For me it just wasn't another staged kiss, this was our first real kiss.

"Why do you want that."

"Are you blind?" He laughs. "You have always been the one that I wanted to be around. The one that I wanted to send every waking moment with. The one that I told everything to, all my secrets, wishes, hopes, and fears. When you moved it tore me apart. For years it felt like I was missing part of myself. But then you came back, and for the first time in ten years, I felt like I was whole again. I no longer felt like Noah Fields, the popular guy at Browler's Creek High School. I felt like Noah, Olivia's best friend, and that is the guy that I want to be and the guy that I like being. Because I am in love with you Olivia Grace Wells. I always have been since the very first time that I laid eyes on you, and I always will be in love with you."

A/N: I'm not crying, there's just something in my eye. I will have the epilogue up in a few days. I hope you enjoyed Browler's Creek!