Over the next few weeks, time passed quickly. Isis and Kael were far too busy to even think about a third date; rehearsals were now every night as the performance of the play was only a week away.
It was nerve wracking just thinking about it. Isis had started to have nightmares about getting up on stage to find she was only wearing her underwear, or going to say her lines, and forgetting everything. So, as she went to school on the morning of the dress rehearsal, the butterflies thumping in her stomach (they felt more like elephants than butterflies, to be honest) were a painful irritation.
Kael seemed so laid back and calm that she wondered if she'd gotten the wrong day, but when she asked him about it, he merely smiled.
'No, no, it's today,' he replied. 'We get to miss lessons, don't we?'
Isis nodded. 'But...' she looked at him, head tilted to one side in that familiar expression of curiosity he'd come to love. 'Surely you're scared? Why are you so calm and collected about it?'
'It's all a farce,' he assured her. 'Break it, and I'm a shivering wreck beneath, absolutely terrified of farting onstage or something.'
Freya giggled in the back at hearing the word fart. Kael turned in his seat and winked at her, making her giggle more. Isis rather suspected that her younger sister was a little bit in love with her new friend. Her cheeks were prone to flush every time Kael spoke to her, and she went very, very quiet whenever he was around. It was rather adorable.
'Phew,' Isis replied, rather relieved that she wasn't the only one fretting about anything possible to fret about. She was still feeling nauseous, even when Kael gave her a stomach flipping kiss. In fact, his kiss probably only worsened the feeling; and that was never good.
His lips brushed across her forehead. 'You'll be absolutely fine, baby, alright?' he promised her. 'It's only a dress rehearsal, if something goes wrong, we'll know how to stop it from happening the next time, yeah?' He brushed hair softly back from her face. 'It's what the dress rehearsal's for, isn't it?'
Isis nodded, giving him a wan smile. 'I just can't help but get nervous,' she whispered. 'But thank you.'
One thing which very few people had actually thought about was their costumes. The several large boxes of outfits stored in the school drama department closet were rather old, and hadn't been looked in for a year, and Isis couldn't remember if there was anything suitable.
Sorting through the box, she pulled out a yellowing dress, clearly meant for Juliet's balcony scene, and some rather pathetic velvet tunics and things for the boys.
Handing out costumes to everyone, she realised, with a start, that the only good costume was Lydia's: and she'd brought her own from home.
'Ah,' said Kael, surveying the result. Everyone was looking at their outfits distastefully, the moth eaten remains of Romeo's costume crumbling as they spoke; Isis's dresses looking about four sizes too big for her.
'It's not great, is it?' said Xavier, newly out of plaster. 'We're gonna look like such idiots.'
Mrs Robson frowned. 'No, no, children! These are perfectly...' she paused, and that said it all. 'Acceptable.'
'They'll do, won't they?' Isis said, always one to look on the bright side, and the others nodded, some more reluctantly than others.
Kael wasn't so sure. The outfits were so dreadful, he thought that they might fall off half way through the performance, and that would be far, far worse than just farting on stage.
The dress rehearsal started off well. Isis, despite the terrible outfit, looked radiant, performing her lines to perfection, without need of a prompt, and Kael managed to swap between his two roles with ease.
However, others weren't so successful. Many people forgot lines, Callum's outfit half dropped off during the balcony scene, earning uproarious laughter from everyone, and a small bow from the now scantily clad Romeo, and several cues were entirely missed as people attempted to pin their costumes on to prevent the same thing from happening to them.
It had been a long, long day, Kael reflected, as the final scene played out. They'd ended up cutting the scene where Paris died, sparing Kael the trials of having to act out his own death twice, and instead had him at the tomb with the parents, as the death of Romeo and Juliet was discovered.
Seeing Isis lie there, perfectly still, fake blood splattered all over her, and what looked like a dagger sticking out of her chest, made his heart wrench inside of him. He couldn't imagine what he would do if this scene was actually real. Even the mere thought of losing Isis was terrible enough; he was too cowardly to think about it properly, instead turning his mind away from the horrible thought.
Then it was over, and Isis got up, a huge smile spreading across her face as she realised that they'd performed it, and they'd performed it well, despite the many mistakes.
Practising how they were all going to bow, Kael shot Isis a look which he hoped told her how proud he was of her. She flushed at the admiration in his eyes, and winked at him.
'Isis!' Lydia said, shaking her head. 'We can't have Juliet winking at Paris! She just killed herself to escape a marriage from him.'
'Oh yes,' Isis recalled. 'Sorry about that.' Turning back to Kael, she gave him an evil glare, and poked her tongue out at him. 'Better?' she asked Lydia.
'It'll do.'
After dropping Isis back that evening, Kael passed the fancy dress shop he'd purchased his wig from, and stopped short. It was a good job that there were no other cars on the road.
Getting out, he saw the wizened old man who had sold them the wig just about to lock up, and raced to his side.
'Sir?' he said, politely.
The man turned. 'You again, eh?' He peered behind him. 'You haven't got the little one today then?'
'No,' Kael said, rather bemused. 'But I was wondering about something.'
'Yes?'
'Well, would you have enough outfits for school play of Romeo and Juliet?' Kael asked. 'We need them for next week, I was wondering if we could hire them?'
The man frowned. 'You'd better come in, laddie.'
Following the shop owner into the well stocked shop, Kael looked around him. There must be enough outfits. There had to be.
'How many will you need?' the man asked, fingering a velvety outfit that would suit Callum rather well. Well, better than that ridiculously decrepit old outfit he'd worn today.
Kael counted up. 'Probably fifteen male outfits,' he said. 'Then a few dresses for the beautiful Juliet, two more for the other ladies... and that should do, I think.'
The man rubbed his chin. 'Hm. Let me go and see.'
Disappearing through a door marked PRIVATE, the man left Kael alone in the shop. Looking around, rather wistfully, Kael wondered if he had enough in his wallet to pay for the hire of all of these outfits. He wasn't sure how much he had on his card, but it should probably do. His spending had dipped right down now that he wasn't buying alcohol almost every weekend for various parties, or buying expensive clothes when they were allowed out into the local town. He much preferred his life now.
The man reappeared, his arms full of clothes. 'Here you go,' he said, piling the male outfits onto the counter. 'Now for the ladies.'
Beckoning to Kael, the man went down through the shop, to a big rack of dresses. Picking out two for the wives of Montague and Capulet, the man gestured to a row of white dresses. 'How many do you need for the little one?' he asked.
'Little one?' Kael looked up. 'How did you know she was Juliet?'
'Obvious,' the man said, with a smile. 'The way your eyes lit up when you said the name was clear enough, you daft lovesick pup.'
Kael blinked, rather puzzled. He hadn't realised that he'd been quite so clear with his feelings for Isis.
'Well, er, I think three dresses should do,' he said, fingering some white material. 'We have an old one which can be splattered with blood, so she'll just need one for the balcony scene, one for the first party scene and then one for the other scenes, I reckon.'
'Want to pick them?' the man asked, pointing them out.
'Uh.' Kael wasn't sure. He didn't know Isis's size, and he definitely wasn't very well schooled when it came to female fashion, but... 'What have you got?' he asked.
The man pulled out three dresses, two white, one pale blue. 'I thought these ones,' he said, looking at Kael's expression knowingly. 'I've had Juliets wear these before. It's the innocent little dresses that work best.'
'Thanks,' Kael said, gratefully. 'Which size?'
'Smallest I have,' the man told him. 'She's a very delicate little thing, isn't she?'
Kael nodded, and, as they went back to the counter, attempted to add up the cost in his head. It couldn't be that much, could it?
As the man told him the price, Kael reached for his card, putting it into the machine and typing in the pin number. Thankfully, all was fine. It seemed surprisingly cheap to him, but perhaps that was because his senses when it came to money were warped by his father's wealth.
Heading out of the shop, with a cheery farewell to the man, he piled the armfuls of clothes into the boot of his car. He wasn't sure when he was going to get the chance to slip them into the school; he certainly didn't want people knowing that he'd hired them all costumes. He decided to slip them in after dropping Isis off the next morning. That would probably be the best option.
So, the next morning, he did just that. Popping them all down in place of the others, he quickly scrawled a note. Outfits on hire for the play. Enjoy.
Heading out, he felt rather pleased with himself. This would hopefully give the cast the boost that they needed. He couldn't help but feel that the old outfits had really put a downer on them all.
That evening, at after school rehearsal, Kael acted as surprised as he could when the outfits were discovered, and grinned to himself as everyone set about trying their costumes on with unreserved glee.
Isis wasn't fooled, however. Clutching her three outfits to her chest, she approached him with raised eyebrows. 'You scoundrel,' she said. 'Taking none of the credit.'
'I don't know what you're talking about!' he replied, but a smile slipped across his lips, and Isis flung herself into his arms, costumes and all.
'You're amazing,' she murmured, into his chest. 'Thank you.'
Looking down at her, Kael could easily say that it was the most well spent money he'd ever spent. It was worth it just for that look of pure joy across Isis's gorgeous face. She deserved all of the happiness in the world, he thought.
The rehearsal that evening went better than anyone had expected. The excitement everyone seemed to be feeling was matched by the gorgeous outfits, and even the somewhat shabby set seemed to be aglow with wonder.
'I can't wait for the play,' Isis said, grinning at him as they went home that evening.
'What's new about that?' he asked her, teasingly. 'You've been banging on about it for years now.'
She gave him a light shove. 'Have not!'
He laughed. 'I know. I'm excited too.'
'Are your parents coming?' she asked, suddenly frowning.
Kael frowned too. 'I hadn't thought about it, actually.'
'No?'
'No. I should ask them, really.' He scratched his jaw. 'Do you think your mum could manage it?'
Isis twisted her lips. 'I really hope so.' She looked out of the window. 'She... I was going to tell her just before, so she won't be able to talk herself out of it.'
'You should,' Kael told her. 'She'll want to go, deep down. This is an excuse to get her out of the house.'
Isis grinned. 'It is, isn't it?'
Kael nodded. 'You can do it. I just know you can.'
'Thanks for the optimism,' she told him, with a wry smile, and, as she headed into her flat a few minutes later, she suddenly felt far more optimistic herself. Something about Kael just made her feel much better about herself, and about life in general. She was lucky that she'd met him.