POV JAQI
"Yueyue ...Have you lost weight or am I wrong?"
I watch my friend eat some grapes during the lunch break. She hasn't been the same for weeks ... She looks dull.
"What? No!"she chuckles.
"Mmh ... Can you tell me what happens to you?"
"Jaqi, what are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you pretending to be fine, when it's obvious that it's not like that at all. You've lost weight and your face is so tired! Tell me, come on ..."
I look into her eyes, hoping that
she doesn't do as usual ... That she doesn't keep everything inside.
"Jaqi ..."
Her voice breaks and unexpectedly she starts to cry.
"Hey! Yueyue ... Come here ..." I hug her tightly, seriously worried about seeing her like this.
I look around and notice that some girls are watching us curiously.
"Come on" I say, and then I take her to the bathroom and lock the door.
I embrace her again and I let her give vent to all her tears.
"I'm not fine at my home, Jaqi ... I don't even know if to call it my home! I'm always alone, always. And when my aunt is at home, I feel constantly wrong . And that's when I was a child that it's like that, but now that ... Now that I got used to Su and Dylan ... It's so hard to go back to life before! I didn't think it was so hard! "
Yue ... Poor Yue. I would like to have at least half the strength and goodness that her small body has.
"Why did you decide to leave Dylan's house? You haven't told me yet. Have you fought? I've noticed that you've been more detached from him for quite some time now."
"Because Sun Qian asked me."
"WHAT ?! THAT BRIGHT WITCH! HOW DARE SHE ?!" I scream.
"Shhh! Speak quietly, Jaqi! And she's not a witch ... Just ... Try putting yourself in her shoes! Her boyfriend who lives with another girl... Who wouldn't mind? So I thought it was the right thing to do. Dylan is fine with her, I don't want them to leave because of me."
"Shen Yue! You have to stop doing that! You can't always take the blame for everything! Damn, you're absurd!
Does Dylan know you left for this? "
"No and he must not know it, otherwise he would get angry!" she answers, her eyes widening.
"And he would be right, damn it!" I exclaimed.
She lowers her head and start crying again.
"Oh, honey ... Ok, ok, stop crying... Let's do this: you will come and stay with me, okay?" I propose.
She shakes her head.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want to disturb you and your family, Jaqi ... That's my home, I have to give myself a reason. I'll be better, I just need time."
"Yue. You come to my house. It's an order" I say in a firm voice.
I stroke her hair and finally she nods with a small smile.
"Perfect! Tonight take your bags to rehearsal!" I wink at her and help her to get up.
"Dylan doesn't have to know it, though" she says.
"Ooook!"
Yue is not meant to be alone. No one is. She always tries to make herself small so as not to disturb ... Her pain is held tight, because she is seriously convinced that letting it go would hurt those around her.
POV DYLAN
I open the front door and Su runs to his room to do his homework. He is always very productive on the days when my classmates and I have to do rehearsals for the show ... He wants to be ready to go to Jaqi's house.
I sit on the couch.
Have these walls always been so gray? Has there always been all this silence? And why don't I smell any perfume?
Maybe Daddy is right when he says that Shen Yue brought color to his bookstore... He says it every time he talks about her to some of his clients or friends. Shen Yue ... What are you doing now? Surely she will be wandering around the house with her shorts and her wide T-shirts, humming songs that only she knows, smiling even at the pictures hanging on the walls. A laugh escapes me. I'm not saying I miss her, but ... It's strange not having her around.
And meanwhile it is increasingly distant.
I don't think she does it on purpose ... Maybe, simply by not living here anymore, things have changed. I just wonder if she'll come back ... It's been more than two weeks. "For a while" she said. But how long does a while take?
POV KIDO
"Yueyue! Look at me! Am I not handsome?"
We're all in Jaqi's garage. There are those who paint props, those who practice the lines, those who try songs ...
Yue turns to me, I'm wearing Gastone's clothes sewn by one of our classmate.
"I was going to say Unwatchable, but ... " she grins.
"Hey!" I take her nose between two fingers.
"Kido! Ok, ok! You're handsome!" she exclaims.
I let her go and we both burst out laughing.
POV DYLAN
Why are you laughing with him like that? Why did you just greet me when I arrived? Shen Yue ...
"Ok guys! The actors who are already dressed go to Yue! We have to check that the measurements are right!" order Jaqi.
I would say that Miss Dong could not have chosen a better person to direct us ... She commands us like soldiers.
Yue checks some girls' clothes, then comes to me.
He studies me carefully, then comes over and adjusts my shirt collar.
"Dylan? Can you lower yourself a little? I'm struggling" she tells me.
Dylan? No more Didi?
I go down until I find myself face to face with her.
I can smell her perfume ... Her eyes fit into mine for a moment.
"Not so much" she smiles, embarrassed.
I don't pay attention to her.
"Are you ok?" I ask her.
"Yes... And you?"
"Can I take you home later?"
"I ... Um ... No, thank you".
"Why not?"
"My aunt will come and get me"
"Shen Yue ... Did I do something ..."
"That's it! Sorry Dylan, I have to check the others too!" she exclaims.
She smiles at me and goes to Darren.
I look at her... And again it seems to me to have in front of me another person.
POV SUN QIAN
Ready! Who knows what Dylan will say when he sees me dressed like that! I look just like a princess!
I leave the bathroom and go back to Jaqi's garage with Belle's evening dress.
What I'll wear in the scene where my Cookie and I will dance together.
As soon as I enter, everyone turns to me. They seem enchanted.
Everyone, yes, except one person.
Dylan didn't even notice that I entered. He is too busy looking at Yue, who is playing a stupid game with Caesar's hands.
Damn! What do I have to do to get his attention ?! Send her to another planet ?!
I reach him and tap his shoulder.
When he turns around, his eyes are dark...
"Hey! You're beautiful!" he exclaims, smiling at me.
"Yeah, ten of them have already told me before you" I mutter.
"What?"
"Forget it".
Idiot.
"Here we are! Now Dylan and Sun Qian will try the dance scene! We leave space in the center of the garage! Wang Su, put the cd in the stereo!"
Dylan and I position ourselves in our place.
I put a hand on his shoulder, while with the other I grab his hand and hold it in mid-air.
"Have you studied the steps?" I ask him.
"Yes, more or less".
"More or less?"
"You know I'm clumsy about these things."
I look at him badly.
He's getting on my nerves today. It looks like he doesn't care about anything!
"Ready, boys? At my three, the music will start and you will start dancing. One ... Two ... Three!"
POV SU
What a mess! My brother and Sun Qian should dance, but what they are doing looks more like a fight! They stamp their feet over and the witch does nothing but bark at him.
"What the hell is this thing?" murmurs Jaqi, with a disgusted face.
Caesar and Connor, behind me, laugh like crazy.
"We have to do something ..." I say to Jaqi.
"You're right, my little helper! STOP!"
The two stop abruptly. They seem almost fatigued. I'm not sure it should be like this when you dance with your lover.
"Sun Qian! Dylan is clumsy, you have to try to guide him! You can't get carried away! And you can't even keep yelling at him like that!" Jaqi exclaims.
"CLUMSY?! HE'S A DISASTER!" she replies, angry.
"Hey!" Dylan mumbles, blushing.
"Hey Jaqi, try to make him dance with Yueyue ... She is more patient, she can help him learn better how to move" Darren suggests.
Jaqi thinks about it for a moment.
"Okay, let's do it. Yue, go" she finally says.
"What ?! No, I don't ..." Yue shakes her head.
"Move! I would like to go to sleep before tomorrow!"
Yue snorts and approaches Dylan.
Sun Qian gives her a fiery look and steps aside.
Ah ah... Bye bye witch!
POV JAQI
"One ... Two ... Three!"
Su starts the music.
Dylan and Yue start dancing.
I realize that now Dylan is much more relaxed than before ... He holds his hand on Yue's back and looks her straight in the eye.
At first she looks away, but then she responds to his gaze and now she seems to have lost herself completely in his eyes.
She guides him gently, but with determination ... And neither of them stepped on their feet once.
Dylan gives her a half smile and she does the same.
They seem ... God, they seem ...
Possible? Yue is in love with him? And Dylan with her?
Whether it is so or not, this is what it looks like ... And that's exactly what we need to win the competition.
POV YUE
Dylan holds me closer to him. And here again that feeling of warmth ... Only his arms make me feel so ... Safe.
He smiles at me and I can't help but reciprocate.
POV DYLAN
It feels so strange to be able to touch her after so long ... I hold her a little closer to me. She used to hug me for every little thing ... And now that she doesn't do it anymore, sometimes I can almost feel the need.
POV CAESAR
The music ends, but those two don't seem willing to break away from each other.
"Ehm ahem" Sun Qian coughs, annoyed.
Yue jumps away from Dylan, as if she had received an electric shock.
"Well, I'd say it's decided: the part of Belle goes to Yueyue" I say.
"NO!" she exclaims, widening her eyes.
"But you are perfect! It was perfect!" I say, while our classmates agree with me.
"I just danced, guys! I don't want to do it. It's been decided that it's Sun Qian's part and it's her own. Also because she's the perfect one to do it."
Perfect? In these weeks of rehearsals we have seen nothing but two strangers pretending to be in love. But if she were in place of Sun Qian, everything would seem more real. I don't know what's between her and Dylan, if it's really brotherly love like they say or something else, but I know that for him Yue has become his priority ... She only comes after Su.
I look at my friend, who remains listening without saying a word, and I shake my head.
POV JAQI
I totally agree with Caesar, replacing Sun Qian would be the right idea. When I decided on the roles, I was convinced that the fact that she and Dylan were already a couple, would have made everything simpler and more intense ... And instead I got the opposite effect. There is not a minimum of chemistry between those two. I don't even know why they are together! However, Yue is trying to avoid Dylan and I can't put her in a position to play the lead role with him ... It would be harder for her.
Sigh.
"Ok, ok, let's finish it here. The roles don't change! I would say that we did enough tonight, we can go!" I say.
Everyone tidies up the material and the costumes and greet me before leaving.
POV SUN QIAN
"Will you take me home?" I ask Dylan.
"Sure! Wait, let's call Su".
We go to his brother, who is telling Yue something.
"Your aunt hasn't arrived yet?" Dylan asks.
"Not yet".
"Do you want us to wait here with you?"
But is he serious? What the hell, Dylan!
"No, don't worry! There's Jaqi. Hi guys!"
The little monster hugs Yue and gives her a kiss on the forehead.
We say goodbye and leave the garage.
In the end you are the only one left alone, Shen Yue. And I don't mind at all.
POV DYLAN
"I sleep with you tonight" Sun Qian says, as we walk. Su is sleeping in my arms.
"What?"
"I said I sleep with you."
"But your parents ..."
"They think I stay at Jaqi's."
"Oh..."
Suddenly I feel nervous.
"Don't look me like that! I don't want to do anything strange, I'm tired" she laughs.
"Ok ..."
When I get home, I bring Su to his bed and then I go to my room, where Sun Qian is already lying down with an almost transparent dressing gown.
What the hell!
"What are you doing? Don't you come?" she winks at me.
I lie next to her.
"Mmh ... Why are you so far away? Come closer! Hug me!" she complains.
I don't move. This situation embarrasses me ...
Suddenly it is she who approaches me and rests her head on my chest.
"Goodnight, Cookie!"
"Good night".
I shouldn't feel that way, right? It almost annoys me to have her clinging to me like this ... I ... I think I don't love her. Perhaps it is better to leave us. She's a good girl, she doesn't deserve to be with someone like me. But ... Maybe it's better to wait until this show is over ... I don't want to ruin all the work of my classmates. I've decided, I can wait.
Author's corner
I'm back!
Finally Yue admitted to feeling ill ... Luckily she has Jaqi, but I have the feeling that this new transfer won't lead to anything good ... 🤔
Who knows ...
Meanwhile, the days pass and the show is approaching!
Didi just can't take it anymore without Yue, eh? 😅
And ... I already imagine your happy smiles as you read the decision he made at the end of chapter 😂
I wait to know what you think 😉
As usual, thanks for your support 💜💛I have to tell you, I already have in mind how the story will go on, but you often leave ideas in the comments and I like to insert them here and there ... Thanks 😘
Sorry for my English...
A big hug ❤️
Lucrezia.