Laila seated herself on her bed and placed a book of female monologues in her lap. She was currently in a black bra and dance shorts with her outfit for the day laid out behind her, having already showered, done her makeup, and fixed her hair in it’s usual ponytail. She thought back to the evening before, when her mom and Rose had decided the incident with Dario was adorable. They had giggled like school girls and gone on about how cute she and Jace would be once they finally got together. She rolled her eyes at the memory and glanced out her window to see if he was even up yet. Waking up an hour early to choose a monologue had definitely paid off; there was so sign of him. She refocused on her book and flipped to the table of contents.
“I need something cute but dramatic,” She ran a finger down the page until she spotted the dramatic section. “Something Roxie,” She flipped to the listed page and began to read her choices.
It wasn’t long before she found something perfect. It wasn’t exactly cute, per say, but it would definitely show her ability to portray the depth of Roxie’s character. She marked the page in her book and stood, eager to get dressed and start her day. As if on cue, a steady beat of drumming picked up outside her window. She groaned and quickly snatched up her dress. The sooner she could get away from Jace the better.
“Goodmorning, Laily!” Alyson stood in the doorway, coffee in hand and a huge smile on her face. “Is that James playing drums? I didn’t know he’s a drummer,” She crossed Laila’s room and peered out the window, and Laila reluctantly came to join.
“Are you gonna complain and say I need to put on more clothes?” Laila reluctantly got up to join her mom at the window, “He could look up any second.” She added.
“Oh it’s okay, he’ll see you naked eventually.”
“Mom!”
Alyson ignored Laila’s incredulous look and tightened her robe before opening the window. She stuck her head out and shouted, “Hey James!”
Jace slowly stopped drumming and looked up. He seemed annoyed, but the second he spotted what Laila was wearing he smiled. He got up and crossed the room to his window, then opened it and leaned out.
“Hi,” Laila greeted dully.
“You finally learned how to take directions,” He said in approval. His smile turned to a bland stare as he turned to her mom. It was safe to say he enjoyed her giddiness just as much as he enjoyed Amanda’s. “‘Morning.” He finally replied.
“I’ll just leave you two to talk,” Alyson retreated from the window and quickly left the room. Laila could hear her scheming giggles even as she walked away and down the hall.
Jace’s green eyes fell on Laila as he leaned against the window sill, and she shifted uncomfortably under his indifferent gaze. “How long do you think it’ll take your mom to finally grow up?”
“Don’t insult her,” Laila said coldly, “And what directions are you talking about?”
“The black,” His hand drifted up and down as he indicated her clothing, “It’s better than the rainbow clown suits you normally wear.”
She slammed her window shut and closed the blinds against his laughter. She hadn’t worn the black bra for his viewing pleasure. She took her time changing into a lavender leotard and light pink tights, then covered up with a white babydoll dress and lavender thigh high leg warmers. The dress didn’t cover much, not that it mattered since her only non-dance class of the day was English. She slipped her feet into a pair of white converse and laced them up before picking up her school bag. She stuffed her monologue book and cheer uniform inside before making her way downstairs.
“Did you and James have a nice conversation?” Alyson looked up from her breakfast as Laila entered the kitchen.
“If you count shutting the window in his face, yeah. It was lovely.” She smiled in satisfaction at her mom’s reaction and placed her bag in a chair. “He’s never gonna like me.” Her engagement ring glistened in the light as she pulled the refrigerator door open.
“I think he already does,” Her mom said through a mouthful of cereal.
“Even if he does, I still hate him.” She pulled out an assortment of fruits and veggies, then thoroughly rinsed and sliced them before packing it all up for lunch.
“Why? He seems so sweet.”
“Really?” She gave her mom a strange look as she mixed herself a vegan protein shake. “If you say so.” She quickly downed the drink and washed her dish out before pecking her mom on the cheek. “Have fun at work,” She picked up her bag and slipped it over her shoulder.
“Bye,” Alyson affectionately patted her daughter’s cheek as she pulled away, “Have fun at school!”
“I’ll try,” Laila smiled and walked from the room, hoisting her bag higher on her shoulder as she exited the house and shut the front door. She took a bite of her bar as she leaned against the side of the porch, opting to stay clear of the sidewalk in case Jace walked by. She really had no desire to see him for the rest of the day. A car horn caught her attention and she looked up to see Caleb pulling up to the curb.
He rolled down the window and leaned out. “Get in loser, we’re going shopping!”
She laughed and strode down the walkway to his car. “Can you go a day without quoting something ridiculously gay?” She teased. She pulled the door open and got in.
“I dunno,” He started driving and turned the music up, “Can you go a day without singing?” His question was answered when she started harmonizing with Call Me, Maybe, and he joined in as they drove the seven blocks to Amanda’s house. He picked up Laila’s left hand as soon as they came to a stop. “What is this?”
“My new engagement ring,” She replied. “Isn’t it gorgeous? It was like five thousand dollars.”
He gasped and dropped her hand, “Are you serious? And Jace got it for you?”
She nodded and couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah. The only nice thing he’s ever done.”
“Nice?” Caleb looked at her like she was crazy, “More like heroic! This isn’t a ring, it’s a rock. No, this isn’t a rock, it’s a boulder!”
“What is?” Amanda pulled the backdoor open and got in, then stuck her head between the front seats to see what they were talking about.
“Her engagement ring,” Caleb thrust Laila’s hand in her face.
“Ooohhh,” She breathed, holding it up for examination. “How much was it?”
“Five thousand.”
“Five thousand!” She screeched. “He must be in love with you!”
Laila laughed and pulled her hand back, “No, he’s not. He’s just...”
“Just what?” Caleb started driving as Amanda buckled her seatbelt, “In love with you? That’s why you stopped talking, ‘cause you know we’re right.”
“You’re way off, he doesn’t even like me as a friend.” Laila protested.
“So why’d he spend so much money on you?” Amanda asked curiously.
“‘Because...” Laila trailed off again. She honestly had no idea why he would do such a thing, and of course she couldn’t tell them he was semi rich from his band.
“Because he’s sprung!” Caleb answered.
“He is not!”
Their argument continued all the way to school, and Laila had never been happier to exit the car. She briskly walked up the school steps as Caleb and Amanda continued to bicker behind her. Somewhere along the way Amanda had decided Jace was a secret millionaire trying to write off tax dollars, while Caleb, on the other hand, was stuck on his original theory of unprofessed love.
“He can’t be a millionaire, someone would’ve noticed by now,” Caleb repeated for the umpteenth time. “What do you think, Laila?”
“Uhh,” She gave a noncommittal shrug before escaping into the crowd of students. She quickly made her way to her locker in hopes that Jace wouldn’t be there when she arrived. To her great relief he wasn’t. She spun her combination and swung the door open.
“Hi!”
She jumped, thinking it was Jace, but relief once again washed through her when she saw it was just some random girl. “Hi,” She flashed a friendly smile before placing her bag inside. She traded it for her pointe shoes and toe pads, along with a much needed roll of toe tape. “What’s up?” She shut her locker to give the girl her full attention.
“I was just wondering if you could maybe help me find a monologue for the audition next week? You’re really good, so I figured you’d know how to find one.”
That’s who she is, Laila suddenly remembered, the girl who was checking Jace out the first day of drama class. “Yeah, sure,” She finally said. “What part are you going for?”
“I dunno. Probably just ensemble. I’m not very good at singing but I really want a part.”
“Yeah, I’ll help.” Laila gathered her things and they set off down the hall.
“I’m Bonnie, by the way.” The other girl offered her hand and Laila shook it.
“I’m Laila.”
“I know,” Bonnie smiled and held her books tightly to her chest, “You’re one of the most popular cheerleaders. Everyone knows who you are.”
“Oh,” She had never thought of it that way, “I never noticed.”
“What’re you doing at lunch?”
“Eating,” She smiled as Bonnie laughed at the obvious response, “But I can help you then, if you want.”
“Okay!” Bonnie agreed happily. “Where do you normally sit?”
“With most of the cheerleaders. And Mandy,” She took in Bonnie’s intimidated expression before adding, “Or I could sit with you instead. I dunno where you eat, though.”
“Do you know where most of the drama kids sit?” She paused while Laila nodded, then said “I’ll be over there.”
“Okay,” They came to a stop outside the girl’s changing room and Laila paused with her hand against the door, “See you then!” She was about to push it open and go inside when Bonnie stopped her.
“Are you engaged?”
Laila glanced at her left hand and hastily let it drop. “No. It’s a promise ring.” She lied flawlessly. “My boyfriend gave it to me.”
“You have a boyfriend?”
“Yeah,” She nodded convincingly, “You haven’t heard me talk about him?”
“No,” Bonnie slowly shook her head.
“Oh,” Laila paused and pretended to be surprised, “I talk about him all the time. I guess you never noticed since we don’t talk very much. I gotta go change for ballet, I’ll see you at lunch!” She quickly pushed the door open and disappeared inside. She hadn’t expected anyone to notice the ring so quickly, and now that she’d told one person about her ‘boyfriend’ she would have to stick with that story for everyone else.
You’re such a liar, she mentally chided herself. And then a thought hit her.She wasn’t a liar at all. In fact, she was taking part in an acting exercise that could last an entire year and had the potential to drastically improve her skills. She pulled off her dress and quickly changed into her pointe shoes, now in a considerably happier mood. Maybe this whole situation was a good thing.
She entered the ballet room just as class was beginning, and quickly took a spot beside Caleb at barre. She spent the remainder of class going through possible scenarios and responses she would give about her imaginary boyfriend, and by the time it was over she was quite confident in her ability to keep the lie going.
“So who else noticed your rock of love?” Caleb asked once class had ended and they were walking down the hall.
“Just this girl from drama named Bonnie,” She replied. They made a quick stop at her locker so she could trade her pointe shoes for her bag and monologue book, then continued down the hall.
“So what’d you tell her?”
“That my boyfriend gave me a promise ring,” Laila grinned as Caleb laughed in amusement. “It’s kinda almost true. Except not really.”
“Yeah, not at all.”
“Whatever, close enough,” She twisted the ring around her finger as he pulled the classroom door open. They crossed the room to their usual table, and Jace looked up as she took the seat directly across from him.
“Hi guys!” Amanda dropped her stuff on the table and sat beside Laila, and a second later Wes joined across from her.
“Hey,” He grinned around the table and dropped a mostly empty binder on the table.
“Is anything even in there?” Laila asked. He flipped it open to reveal a lone piece of paper. She laughed and shook her head.
“Better than just a monologue book,” Caleb teased. She shot him a playfully offended look and held the book up defensively.
“I’ll never get on Broadway by the time I’m twenty three if I don’t-”
“Memorize the entire book?”
“Play every single role ever written before graduation.”
“No, have a leading role for every year you’ve been alive-”
“Put on a one woman production of Funny Girl to prove there should be a Broadway revival and you need to play Fanny Bryce or else you’ll die!”
“You guys are soo funny,” She dropped the book on the table as her two best friends laughed at their own joke. “I was gonna say prioritize.”
Their table fell silent as Ms. Garcia cleared her throat from the front of the classroom. “Today we’re starting our first creative writing assignment, so everyone take out a pen and paper and get started. It can be fiction or non-fiction, just as long as it’s school appropriate. There’s a three page minimum, seven at the most. We won’t be presenting until Tuesday, so you have the entire week to work. Any questions?” She looked around at the silent classroom. “Nothing at all?” A few students shook their heads. “Then let’s get started.”
The class broke out in hushed conversations as everyone got their supplies out, and Laila turned back to her table.
“Time to memorize my monologue,” She flipped back to the page she’d marked, only to look up a second later when Wes let out an impressed whistle. “What?”
“That thing on your finger,” He tapped her left hand before asking quietly, “Everyone at this table knows, right?”
“Yeah,” She replied hesitantly, assuming he was referring to the situation between Jace and herself. If so she didn’t like where this was going.
“That’s a fuckin’ rock you got her! Holy shit dude, that must’ve cost a fortune.” He switched his attention from Jace to Laila with a teasing smile, “What’d you do to get that, huh? If you know what I mean,” He nudged Jace repeatedly while Caleb started cracking up.
“Nothing, shutup!” Laila hit Caleb to keep him from laughing, “I didn’t do anything like that.”
“Suure you didn’t,” Wes laughed while Caleb continued to snicker down at his paper.
“I didn’t!” She insisted, growing more and more flustered by the second. “Leave me alone, I’m trying to work.” She finally huffed, ignoring Jace’s snickering as she tried to focus on her book.
“You know I’m kidding, everyone knows you’re not like that,” Wes assured her. She grunted and he chuckled before setting to work.
Their table fell into an unusual silence, quite the opposite of the rest of the classroom. Or pretended to work, as Caleb seemed to be the only one actually doing the assignment. Laila sighed and set back to the beginning of her monologue. She couldn’t focus thanks to Wes’ comments and Jace’s stupid smug smile. She glanced up to see his unnerving eyes on her.
“Stop looking at me,” She told him.
“I’m not,” He smirked and kept staring. She brushed it off and looked back down, keen on ignoring him completely, but every time she looked back up he was still watching her. He was clearly toying with her.
“Can you look at something else?” She demanded, her frustration finally getting the best of her. “I’m trying to focus.”
He finally looked away and she groaned in annoyance. Her train of thought was completely broken, and the noisy classroom was doing nothing to help. A couple minutes passed before she decided to entertain herself.
“Baby you light up my world like nobody else..” She absentmindedly tapped her nails against the table as she began to sing, “The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed, but when you smile at the ground it ain’t hard to tell, you don’t know, oh oh-”
“You don’t know you’re beautiful!” Caleb sang along, and she smiled at him before going into the next verse, but it was quickly interrupted by Jace.
“For the love of god, please, shut the fuck up,” He groaned.
“Would you rather a different song?” She asked sweetly. “I don’t mind taking requests.”
“Yeah, I love your voice.” Wes encouraged.
“No, I would rather you-”
“I threw a wish in the well,” She she cut Jace off with a new song, “Don’t ask me I’ll never tell, I looked to you as it fell and now you’re in my way..”
“I’d trade my soul for a wish, pennies and dimes for a kiss, I wasn’t lookin’ for this, but now you’re in my way,” Caleb exchanged smiles with her as he joined in.
“Your stare was holdin’, ripped jeans, skin was showin’-”
“Hot night, wind was blowin’-”
“Where you think you’re goin’ baby?”
“Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy-”
“But here’s my number,” She jumped back in enthusiastically, “So call me maybe! It’s hard to look right at you baabbbyy-”
“But here’s my number-”
“So call me maybe!” She reached toward Jace longingly as she and Caleb switched to a perfect two part harmony, “Boy you came into my life, I miss you so bad, I miss you so bad, I miss you so, so bad-”
“Shut the bloody hell up, that’s the worst song I’ve ever heard!” Jace declared over their singing and Wes’ uncontrollable laughter. Jace was just reaching for his ipod to drown them out when the bell rang. “Thank god,” He said loudly. He stood with such force his chair nearly fell over.
Laila waved after him as he left, wiggling her fingers flirtatiously as she called after him, “But Jace, I’ll miss you so, so bad!”
“I love you, Laila,” Wes announced, “You’re my hero.” He pulled her into a huge hug before following Jace out the room.
“Time for lunch?” She asked, turning to her best friends with a cheerful smile.
“Someone looks happy,” Caleb gathered his papers and put them away while she slid her monologue book into her colorful bag.
“Because I am,” She linked her arm through a giggling Amanda’s and led them to the door. “And I’ve never had so much fun singing in my life.”