"I can't believe I'm really never gonna see this boy again," Nancy huffed, slumping farther into the ground.
It was in the middle of the afternoon while the three girls sat and laid across a blanket on the courtyard of their school campus. It would have been chilly if it weren't for the sun shining upon them on this weekend that was now theirs.
Nancy laid across her stomach, her head buried so far into the blanket that she was practically a seed of the Earth despite just throwing down the scarf she was just knitting. Anais sat crossed beside her, resting back on her hands to engulf further into the sun, mumbling how she wished she could have a cigarette or two. Madeline stood on the grass, walking around slowly as she flipped pages of a book here and there.
Anais turned to look at Nancy just above her dark sunglasses, "Nance, please for the love of God please stop talking about Knox," she groaned.
Nancy frowned, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Boys like that are just so hard to find..."
Anais looked up at Madeline, hovering her hand over her eyes to see her as the sun glared right into her pupils, "Madeline tell her."
The girl spoke as she looked at her book, still walking back and forth slowing, "I'm sorry Nance, but Todd told me they don't even talk so he really wouldn't know."
Anais nodded over and over, "You have better things to worry about," she noted, "Like how we have auditions tomorrow and we have to share the auditorium with drama," she groaned..
Madeline shook her head, "They're just back to back."
Anais shrugged before shaking her head, "Yeah, alright - the only thing that matters is is that we get you the lead role," she clicked her tongue, "This is your favorite ballet."
"Girls, it's fine, please-"
Anais shook her head, "C'mon Madeline, Nancy and I already had our time to shine just give it to yourself for once. We all know you're capable of it."
It was true. Anais and Nancy weren't dumb enough to not have figured out that their best friend purposely doesn't give it her all when she has auditioned in the past few years. How she was able to nail down their steps for them and teach it to them thereafter, she just didn't feel like she was perfect enough to actually have all those eyes on her.
Just the year before Nancy was Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty and the year before that, Anais was Giselle in Giselle. It actually made sense because in hindsight Madeline wouldn't have wanted to be the lead in any of those ballets.
Nancy who wasn't really listening finally spoke muffled into the blanket, "Madeline please tell me you've have some love poem in that book of yours..." she moaned.
Madeline stopped glancing down at the girl, "It's in Russian, Nance..."
Anais clapped her hands together, "Perfect! The Russians loved their love poems! Translate one..."
Madeline shuffled a few pages for about a minute before finally deciding on a poem that she was confident in correctly translating, "Alright, uh... You saw a maiden on a a cliff... Above the sea, all dressed in white as - as, raging in the stormy mist, the wave and shore were locked in fight... As bolts of lighting flashes and poured. A crimson glow about her shape; as round as her head the... the... oh the tempest roared and winds assailed her streaming cape. I splendid sea and storm and mist! I gleaming heavens flashing free! And yet that maiden on the cliff outshines that sky and storm and sea..."
Anais nodded contemptibly as Madeline removed her eyes from the book, looking up at the girls before averting her eyes far past them, "Is that... is that a boy?"
The two connected eyes for a second before a wave of fear washed over the boy's long face, he grasped the handlebars of his bicycle before ultimately taking off and out of sight.
At the mentioning of a boy, Anais whipped her head around in a worry, "A boy?" she questioned, laughing nervously while Nancy was too careless to see, "That's impossible."
Madeline shook her head, confident that the khaki pant, red checked shirt wearing person was indeed a boy, "What other girl do you know wears pants Anais?"
Anais squinted ahead and around, not seeing anyone or anything, "Whatever..." Madeline brushed off, "Let's go inside, it's getting windy."
Anais nodded slowly, still leaning on her other arm as she stared off in the distance behind her, contemplating who was the Henley Hall visitor.
*
Todd yawned deeply, holding the phone up to his ear lazily, "I'm starting to unlike English..."
On the other end, Madeline frowned, "No... why?" she asked confused, remembering how many times before he would talk about the class and his teacher in good spirits.
Todd shook his head, "I have to write a poem of my own..."
Madeline shrugged, "That's not too bad-?"
"And read it aloud on Monday," Todd finished.
Madeline sighed, realizing where Todd's problem lies, "I mean... do you have something at least?"
Todd nodded, "Yeah - yeah but... I don't know, it's stupid."
Madeline groaned from the other end huffing, "Todd no, stop, just... just read it to me first and I'll be honest. I promise."
Todd sighed, taking a second to smoothen out the already crumpled piece of paper in his pocket, "We are dreaming of tomorrow and tomorrow isn't coming. We are dreaming of a glory that we don't really want. We are dreaming of a new day when the new day's here already. We are running from the battle when it's one that must be fought," he read, "And still we sleep. We are listening for the calling but never really heeding. Hoping for the future when the future's only plans. Dreaming of the wisdom that we are dodging daily. Praying for a savoir when salvation's in our hands... And still we sleep. And still we sleep... And still we pray. And still we fear... And still we sleep."
Madeline stood in the hallway with furrowed eyebrows at the floor, not because she was confused by her best friend's poem but instead that she was confused where a poet has been inside him all along, "Todd..." she breathed out.
Todd gritted his teeth embarrassed, "It was bad wasn't it?"
"No... oh my god...," she breathed, "You have to read it! You need to read this in front of the class."
Todd shook his head, "Madeline you know I can't do that..."
"It'll..." she started, "Just imagine like you're reading it just to me... or just by yourself," she enlightened but Todd was too stubborn.
"I can't," He reminded, "I'm not like you, Madeline. I don't perform in front of others under a huge spotlight."
Madeline shook her head, "Todd, reading a poem that you especially made isn't performing. It's - it's art. It's just life in itself. You have a gift or at least a story to tell, why keep it to yourself?"
Todd sucked in a breath, "It's more complicated than that..."
Madeline chewed the inside of her cheek, "I know..." she spoke, "I'm sorry."
*
Anais sucked in a breath, gasping for air as her back was pressed against a small shed on the outskirts of Henley Hall. She craned her neck breathing out her words, "Practicing with your other girlfriends since school began huh?"
The brunette boy mumbled against her neck before hovering right above her face, "I don't have any other girlfriends," he replied smirking, "Just one apparently," he teased, trailing his fingers across her collarbones to remove her hair from her face.
Anais scoffed, "Oh c'mon Charlie we're not together," she spoke, unable to look away from his close eyes.
He raised his eyebrows, "Of course, of course... Summer fling right?" she nodded, crossing her arms as he raised to rest his hand at the wall behind her, "It's not Summer anymore, darling," Charlie noted.
The annoyed brunette girl shook her head, "Maybe I just wanted a pack," she held up the pack of cigarettes in her hand.
"And a kiss from me apparently," Charlie snickered, "You want me, just admit it."
Anais looked back up at him through her eyelashes, she didn't answer instead only moving to kiss around his collar. Another lazy yet satisfied smirk fell upon his face as he whispered slowly, "To indeed be a God..."
Cherri's Note:
Charlie and Anais?!!! Omggggg
Also Knox's song this chapter: I Will Follow You by Ricky Nelson (lol)
Enjoy the rest of the book 📖