Folklore
We didn't start practices yet. It was already lit class and was the last subject for the day, thankfully. My day was so blurry that I was thankful it was already the last period.
My classmates were talking quietly as Gwen looked distant on stage, her head down low as she crossed her arms. She was awfully quiet, which might have startled the students and might have terrified me a little. When her eyes landed on mine, she grabbed me and dragged me to a corner.
"What happened?" she asked. It didn't sound like "tell-me-everything-from-the-start-because-I'm-so-excited" kind of question, but it sounded more like a dad who was trying to be calm before punching his son for his consequences.
"Are you seriously having this conversation with me during practice?"
"Yes," she sounded angry. "Because Tyler just gave up his spot. What happened?"
"I don't really wanna talk about it."
"Kris," she sighed. "We'll talk about this later after class. But I just want to know where the fuck Tyler is because he's been MIA for three days for practice already. The scripts are already here and we can't start practicing without him."
I opened my mouth to talk when we heard gasps as Mr. Williams entered the room, with Lucas trailing behind him. I saw some other girls swoon and whisper about how hot he is which started circulating in the room.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your practice. But this is Lucas Cooper. He's a transferee. He'll be part of your class and the play. Be nice to him please."
"Hello everyone, my name is Lucas Cooper and I am excited to work with all of you," he said. He spotted me and came next to me, making the girls' jaws drop.
"Hi, Lor-"
"Shut up," I said. "I don't use that name anymore. Just call me Kris."
When Mr. Willams exited the room, Gwen shouted in frustration.
"Well guys, Tyler just quit his role and won't be joining our play. Now we don't have a leading man."
The students looked at each other with open mouths. Someone asked what happened to him, but Gwen just looked at me as if I would tell the whole class why Tyler decided to quit the play.
When I just kept my head low, I felt Lucas hold my arm.
"I can sing." Lucas volunteered when everyone was so quiet. "Tyler got his voice from me, after all."
"Wait, you and Tyler are related?" Jay asked.
"Yep, he's my brother," Lucas answered and everyone gasped.
"No wonder he looks so good. What's in their genes, by the way?" I heard someone comment.
"Alright, we'll have to do you then," Gwen said, giving him a manuscript. "Here, your role is named under LM1."
"Doesn't he need to sing for us before we start practicing?" Shaina asked from the crowd. Gwen crossed her arms as she examined Lucas. Her eyes flickered to me, as if she already knew what happened last night.
"We don't have time," was all she said as she motioned for the students to back up and sit at the chairs that was on each corner of the room.
Lucas flipped through the pages while Gwen also handed me a script.
"Yours is LL1."
"I'm sorry," I whispered to her after some time. She just squeezed my shoulder and then told me to come up stage.
I read the summary of the play. It was about a Royal family who had the most pickiest son on the planet. He didn't want to marry any of the princesses that was introduced to him because they didn't fit in his standards. But here comes Augustine (who will be played by me) who was a very charming and sarcastic girl who was the daughter of the head of The Private Secretary's Office. She goes everywhere where his dad went for a very special plead. The Queen welcomed her almost immediately because his dad was already serving the Queen for 27 years. Since his dad initiated their political duties such as speeches, correspondence and everything the Royals need to appear on public, Augustine would meet James (Loui's role) for the first time. Although James hated her for no reason, Augustine, through her sassy and sarcastic remarks, has made the prince fall in love her.
She was good at giving speeches, and it didn't help when the Queen decided to let Augustine help his son, which made them close more than ever. But their sparkling love couldn't go anywhere because he was a prince and she was just someone working in the Palace.
The time came when James needed to meet Princess Rebecca (which will be played by Carly's role) and the King had had enough of his son's picky attitude. He was arranged in a marriage with Princess Rebecca-
"Wait, who wrote this script?" I asked. Angela raised her hand.
"Is there a problem with the script?"
"No, but I'm just very impressed of Cardigan, Betty, and August. I see what you did here," I commented, very well known of Folklore's love triangle that Taylor Swift created. I see now that Taylor's fans are getting pretty talented themselves, moving aside their ability to solve her easter eggs every now and then.
She put a lips on her mouth. "I did it to know who the real swifties are. I love her."
I nodded at her. "I love her, too."
I continued flipping for the summary that was located on the first page.
So James decided to tell Augustine what he really felt about her, but Augustine did not want her to lose her father's job and be kicked out of the palace. She stood her ground and let everything fall into the right place. She didn't want to become the next Camilla Parker in this lifetime, besides, she grew up to obey and know what is right.
On the day of the wedding where James was supposed to say "I do," he grabbed the mic and turned towards the crowd and told him he was in love. He confessed that it was the first time someone caught his eye, and it was sad because their love was forbidden.
After all the commotion, the Queen stood up and called the ceremony over so that the very personal details of Prince Jame's life wouldn't be cast upon the world.
I put the script down and already knew what would happen. I turned to look at Lucas, who had also just finished reading the script. He came close to me and whispered in my ear.
"Everybody will know the plot after the wedding. It's too common but I suggest we do a mile for our part so that the people will be intrigued even after knowing what will happen," he suggested. I nodded at him.
"You know what to do, huh Cooper?" I smiled.
"I was a glee club member and we have set plays every now and then. You'll be surprised," he proudly said. I just rolled my eyes at him as he guided me to the stage.
"Okay, scene 1," we heard Gwen announce in the speakers.
________________________________________________________________________________
I went to the pool to check if there were any practices. As I push open the doors, the pool and the bleachers were all empty. Usually the team would gather at a corner already with their swim trunks and talk about the daily gossip in school.
I met Martin halfway in the pool. He slung his bag on his shoulder and nodded at me when our eyes met.
"There's no practice?"
"Nope," he answered. "Hey did you know Tyler dropped his spot? He's quitting the swimming team."
"Oh, I didn't know." There was a huge part of me that was still mad at him but knowing all this made me kind of sad. To be honest, I haven't really seen Tyler today. I didn't see him on his locker, his classes, or even in the hallways. I wasn't looking for him, though, but it's hard not to miss a 6'3 looking-greek-god that stalled the hallways.
"I'll be off then," I said and waved at him as I exited.
When I arrived in front of the school entrance, a familiar grey sedan parked in front. The windows rolled down after a minute and I saw Gwen inside. She waved me over.
I walked over and entered the passenger's seat. We were quiet as she drove off to Starbucks' drive thru. When we got our order, she just parked on the empty parking lot out in the back.
"So, I guess Tyler left school just because you found out that he was related to Loui?" she started.
The tear that I didn't know I had started to fall as I sip through my caramel latte. I thought all of my tears were gone. I was certain that I had bawled my eyes out last night. But my heart started to wrench as the memory recalled itself in my head.
"And I'm guessing Tyler left in no good terms with you," she observed. "Okay, why are you crying? Are you crying happy tears because your long lost best friend came home? I mean, we should celebrate, right? Not sulk around."
"Gwen," I whispered.
She stayed silent and crossed her arms. She had already placed her latte on her cup holder as she raised me one of her eyebrows.
"I fell for him," I confessed, crying. Now I can taste salty tears mixed with sweet latte because I couldn't stop myself from crying.
"You fell for Loui once again?"
I shook my head. One of her eyebrows relaxed as she realized who I was talking about. Her mouth formed an "O" shape before she covered them, her eyes widening.
"Tyler made me feel alive again. I had never felt anything like it. But then Loui came home and everything just went downhill from there. I started feeling guilty for not waiting long enough for him. I feel like I should have been more committed to him."
On this point forward, I was already crying on the passenger's seat.
"I felt so betrayed that even though Tyler knew I was looking for Loui, he didn't tell me. Instead, he made me fall in love with him and now left me to deal with every fucking emotion that I can't control. No matter how hard I tried to push him away, I started looking for him everywhere."
Gwen put a hand on my back to try and comfort me. She didn't say anything, but let me pour my stupid heart out to her. When I was done ugly crying, we fell into a deep silence.
"First of all, you and Loui are not a couple. The fuck you mean about 'I should have been more committed to him'? No, bitch, no. We can't control what our heart wants. So I think Loui will understand if you fell for his brother. If he's a real one, it wouldn't be a big deal."
"Second, perhaps Tyler fucked up big time. But if he's the one you want, why are you forcing yourself to Loui? What? Because he's back? When he wasn't here, I know you were falling for Tyler but I didn't say anything. Because for the first time, I saw you happy. Why are you suddenly having the urge to fight for your loyalty to Loui? You were a mess when he left. You were a mess growing up waiting for him. Now that Tyler entered the chat, I for one, have seen you genuinely happy. Why are you self-sabotaging that now?"
"You're not nine, anymore. You're not the same girl who had feelings for him before. It's free to change. It's fucking free to fall for somebody new. If you look at Loui now and tell me you're still head over heels for him, then it might be fucked up for falling for Tyler. But that's completely normal because you and Loui are not in a relationship!"
"But if you look at Loui now and tell me nothings beating in your ribcage anymore, then you fucked up for letting Tyler go. And I mean, fucked up."
"Bitch do you get my point?" she sighed and I shook my head.
"What I'm saying is; don't you have the slightest feeling that you should have let Tyler explain before jumping into overthinking land?"
I kept quiet and then started crying again. Now I feel ten times worse knowing what I should have done before jumping into conclusions. Maybe Tyler did have a good explanation or something.
I started getting my phone to dial Tyler's number when Gwen stopped me.
"Just cool your head for now, okay? You're not thinking straight. And it might not be a good idea to let him explain now when you just shooed him off."
I nodded and kept quiet. I encouraged Gwen to change the subject so that I won't have to think any of this anymore. She did change the subject to 365 degrees and I was glad that it made me forget about everything that was happening in my life.