I didn't see either one of them all afternoon. They were avoiding me, I could tell, but I was still confused on why. But I knew Dillon was still close by, because he could never leave me out of his sight. Even with my door closed and the only other person being Molly, he was still here somewhere. And even if they were both avoiding me, they couldn't ignore the fact that we had musical rehearsal later.
They were both acting weird. I signed to Molly, who was sitting with her legs crossed on the other side of the bed, eyeing my hands. I don't know what's going on.
Well, he did kiss you. Molly pointed out, her face scrunching up jealously. Oh, you lucky girl.
Molly! He's the big brother I never had. It just wasn't right. I signed back, meaning every word. I'm surprised any guy would like me like that.
You obviously haven't seen yourself that closely in the mirror. She stated, and my jaw dropped, but I turned towards the mirror, seeing nothing special about me.
I don't see anything. I signed as I turned back around.
Well then, that's your problem. She signed and glared as someone knocked on the door. I stood up and approached it, opening in slightly, seeing Danny.
"We have to go to musical rehearsal now." He told me, and I sighed as I turned back to Molly and signed to her the same. "And we're taking the city bus."
"Fine." I told him as I waved to Molly and shut the door behind me. Danny was the only one there, and there was no Dillon. I brushed past him and found Dillon at the bottom of the stairs, and neither said a word as we all exited, and headed towards the nearest bus stop. They stayed completely silent, glaring at each other and refraining from killing each other. "Can we please not be awkward about this? I'm trying to keep the friendship that we have." I told them both, but they turned away from me, avoiding my gaze and staying silent. "Would one of you just talk!?"
"What's there to talk about?" Danny asked, lifting his head slightly, but once his eyes saw mine, he dropped it again. "I'm pretty sure we learned your feelings this afternoon."
"It's not like I don't feel anything towards you." I assured him, uncrossing his arms so I could hug him. "It's just… I wasn't expecting-"
"That." Dillon cut in, looking like he was going to laugh. "You totally got rejected, dude."
"Dillon." I warned as Danny wrapped his arms around me, giving him the death glare.
"You have three seconds to shut up or I end you." Danny growled, jerking his fist up to punch him, but the bus came right after, stopping in front of us. I let go of Danny and got on the bus, sitting in the back and hoping they wouldn't follow. They both sat a row ahead of me, on opposite sides of the aisle as I curled up by the window, looking out at the ocean and wondered how I got myself into this.
When the bus stopped in front of Fullerton, I got off first, heading for the building and ignoring them when they called for me to wait. I pushed the doors open and saw everyone getting into their starting places, so I waved to Ms. Davis and ran up the ramp to the dressing rooms, finding my Rapunzel costume and changing into it. Danny came back too, finding his and doing the same.
"Six days." He told me as he checked himself out in the mirror. "Six more days until opening night, and then eight until it's all over."
"Yeah, it's hard to believe this is so close to being over." I stated, strapping the heavy wig to my head. "And then after it's all over, then what?"
"I don't know, I guess we just hang at the orphanage until we get out of here." He replied, letting out a long whistle. "Or we actually have to pay attention in school."
"Yeah, like that's gonna happen." I laughed as I swiped pink lipstick across my lips and headed towards the door. "And… are we cool? I know weird stuff happened today-"
"Yeah, we're fine." He smiled, tapping his thumb to his chest.
"Hey, you finally learned a sign!" I laughed, feeling accomplished that I got him to learn something. "I'm so proud."
"Good, now go out there so they know you're ready." He ordered, and I happily skipped to the stage where all the other actors were, and I sat down at the edge, letting my feet dangle. I waved to my understudy, who looked very unimpressed, but other than that, sat there twiddling my thumbs, waiting for the other actors to get ready. Danny finally came out in his costume, and we finally began rehearsal.
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Dillon sat three rows behind the first as he watched the one he swore to protect be upstage with the one who was trying to take her from him. He thought it was only a job at first, because the King would kill him if anything happened, but as he got to know her, everything changed. He didn't know why he liked her like he did, only that he did, and nothing could be changed. But she rejected the one boy who knew her for her entire life, he didn't have a chance. But he did everything in his power to keep her safe, even if it was protecting her from the one who wanted her dead the most.
So as his phone vibrated and he saw who was calling, he sighed and pressed the button, placing it by his ear. "Hi Mom."
"Sweetheart, I told you very early on that we were in this together." She scolded him. "I don't know why you attacked me like that."
"Mom, it's very complicated."
"I had you be put into that class just so you could do something like this, and now that you have the opportunity to kill her, you don't?" She cut him off, not understanding the nonsense. "I raised you like I did so you could do this. So you could kill the one person I've been aiming at for years, to kill the daughter of the ones who banished you and me."
"I wasn't banished, you just made me believe that so I wouldn't know the truth." He snapped back as the understudies in the front turned around and shushed him, and he sighed, lowering his head. "Last time I checked, I was the one who has a sea witch for a mother."
"You do not take that tone with me." She growled, but continued. "And a son shouldn't attack his mother like you did. Why do you protect her like you do?"
"Because the King told me so. I mean, it's bad enough that my mother is banished, but if they figure out I'm related to you, they'll ban me too. If I become her friend, it'll make sure I don't get banished too." He concluded, thinking it was a good reason. "And maybe even un-banish you."
"It'll never happen." She stated simply and automatically. "I've done too many things to the royal family to let me live among their kingdom."
"But you don't know that, Mom." He smiled, thinking of how much easier it would be if they lived together in Antastica instead of being banned. "And maybe if I talk to Aqua-"
"Kill her." She ordered lowly. "Kill her while you have the chance."
"No." He argued, raising his voice a little bit.
"Dillon." She warned, the voice passing through clenched teeth. "Listen to your mother or you're grounded."
"Oh, you're going to ground me? From what?" He shot back, and the understudies turned around and shushed him again, so he stood up and went further back in the auditorium. "Not like you can tell me what to do anymore."
"Dillon!" She screamed through the phone, and he cupped a hand over the speaker.
"Shut up Mom, you're going to get me kicked out." He snapped lowly, leaning against the back wall of the auditorium.
"Of what? Where are you?" She questioned, and his phone beeped repeatedly. He swore as he saw the screen flash “low battery”.
"Look, I'm at Aqua's rehearsal right now, can we talk later? My phone's about to die." He told her, looking up, seeing Aqua on top of the tower, talking to the other actors in the scene.
"Why are you at her rehearsal?"
"Because I have to make sure she stays safe."
"Why would you take her side on this!?"
"Because…" He started, knowing there would be lots of yelling, so he said it as quietly as he could. "I like her. A lot. And I can't see myself killing her."
"You little-" She started before he ended the call, turning off his phone and shoving it in his pocket. He sighed and headed back to his seat, watching the rest of the rehearsal. But even though his mother did want her dead, he couldn't listen to her. Not with the unexplainable feelings he felt towards her.
But why did it have to be her?