Chapter 4

more confusion emerges, and Brynn is faced with yet more problems.

There wasn’t much time over the next couple of weeks to hang out with anyone, because the Drama Club was doing the Rocky Horror Picture Show as a play. Jeez, being director had never been so hard.

I ended up giving Eden and Brendan the parts of Janet and Frank N. Furter, respectively, because how could I not? Eden was perfect for the role, and Brendan…well, he was Brendan.

His audition was fabulous. He walked out on stage dressed in full Furter regalia, cape and all. He then proceeded to give a flawless audition, complete with singing and a description of his life as a “Transvestite from Transylvania.” Now, obviously the part had been his from the moment he’d strode out on stage, but I didn’t give away my decision, instead watching the whole thing with a thoughtful look on my face, even pretending to scribble down a few notes on the paper in front of me, which was actually the Latin homework I was doing between auditions.

Once he was through, Brendan stood with an anxious look on his face, awaiting my decision. Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I chewed on my pen cap and stared at him, pretending to think.

“Well?” Brendan finally asked, looking so worried I thought I was going to completely lose it then and there. Clearing my throat, I stood up solemnly and said, “Well, Brendan…”

He was almost falling off the stage, he was leaning forward so far. I finally let loose and cracked up, seeing the blank expression on his face dissolve into one of relief and excitement.

He jumped down from the stage and ran over to me, hugging me tightly. “Thanks so much, Brynn!” he cried happily, looking down at me.

I pretended to be suffocating from his crushing hug, and gasped, “Can’t…breathe…air…good!”

Looking sheepish, Brendan released me and grinned. “So I’m in?” he asked. I rolled my eyes.

“Do I have to paint a picture? Yes, Brendan, you’re in.”

That might have been one of the happiest moments of his life.

Smiling to myself at the memory, I looked around at the assembled cast, thinking that this time, Nikki - who was my assistant director- and I had done a good job. One of the leading roles, Brad, was played by Avichi, a freshman who needed a little work on his acting skills, but who I felt could use the experience. Columbia was played by Tamar, who always made her roles shine, though I usually placed her in minor roles because I felt the background cast needed a little spicing up. Pinkham, a short redhead, got the part of Riffraff. I gave him the role because I could tell he wanted it badly, and really, there was no one else I could possibly have given the part to. I wasn’t even going to cover up his hair, either, because I enjoyed the irony. Magenta was being played by a freshman named Brooke, who showed some promise and who I figured could handle the role. Rocky was being played by a junior I knew of dubious attractiveness, but who was an excellent actor. His name was Brandon, and he and I were relatively good friends, and I knew he could pull off the part of Rocky beautifully.

“So!” I said, clapping my hands together briskly. “Hi.” There was a small chuckle from those assembled, and a few, including Brendan, said hi back. I grinned.

“Isn’t it great that none of you got assigned a tree?” I said, raising my eyebrows. There was more laughter, and someone yelled, “Yeah! We all get to be strippers instead!”

I laughed and called back, “Yup! And it’ll be my pleasure to place you all in drag, just for a bit of fun!”

After the merriment died down, we got down to business. “So, we barely scraped this past the school board, and I don’t think it was because of the ray guns,” I said, raising an eyebrow. People chuckled, and I turned to Brendan.

“I’m afraid I don’t think I can let you pleasure Brad like you wanted, Frank. Sorry,” I said apologetically. Brendan laughed as Avichi pretended to nervously edge away from him. Looking at Eden, I added, “And you and Rocky won’t be doing it on the lab floor.” Eden chuckled and rolled her eyes, and I flashed a wink at Rocky, who grinned in response.

“So, of course, this means that there’s gotta be some cuts,” I said. There was a general groan from the cast, and I shrugged. “I know, I know, it sucks,” I said. “But I like my position as director, so I can’t have my cast being naughty behind the curtains.”

A couple of people snickered, and, hearing them, I singsonged,

“Now I know who the perverts are!”

People rolled their eyes at my behavior, being familiar with it from past shows, and I grinned at them. “C’mon, you know you love it,” I said.

No one argued against that, and I laughed before outlining my plan. Since there were newer versions of the movie where Frank N. Furter sang to Brad instead of blowing him, I figured we could get away with that. And as for the moments where Janet is doing either Furter or Rocky, I suggested we could just close the curtains before things got too graphic. My ideas were accepted and finalized, and we had ourselves a play.

I left the outlining of the toned-down costumes to Nikki, we passed out scripts, and we called it a day. I left feeling rather accomplished, catching up with Brendan and Eden as they were leaving the school.

Eden was talking animatedly to Brendan, who looked shocked and worried. As I walked up to them, however, Eden broke off in the middle of her sentence and turned to me, smiling with what looked like too much force.

“Hey, guys,” I said, feeling suspicious. What had they been talking about? “What’s going on?”

I had expected Eden to answer, but it was Brendan who spoke first. “Not much at all, Twin,” he said, his face completely changed from the dark expression I had seen on it before. “Where’s Danny?”

At the mention of his name, I felt a sharp pang go through me. We hadn’t talked much recently, and with each day that passed I became more worried about losing him. I gave no outtward sign of this, of course, not wanting to worry Brendan or Eden over my own matters.

“Oh, he’s at practice again, cause he’s such a devoted fanatic,” I said brightly, rolling my eyes slightly. Brendan and Eden weren’t the only ones who could put on a good acting performance.

Perhaps it wasn’t quite good enough, though, for I saw Brendan look slightly suspicious before his face reverted back to its expression of friendly politeness. “Oh yeah, I forgot. He’s got so many practices I cant keep them all straight,” he said, shaking his head.

I chuckled, remembering with fondness how I used to go to all of his practices. I hadn’t been to one in at least a week since that day at Brendan’s. the thought made my throat close up for a moment, and I had to swallow hard before agreeing.

“Oh, hey, I just remembered something I left in my locker,” I said suddenly. “I’ll be right back.”

They nodded, and I whirled and tried not to run back into the school. Walking down the hallways, I took deep breaths and told myself not to cry. I was just overreacting, I told myself sternly. Eden and Brendan were probably just talking about something that had to do with one of their clubs that they were in together. There could’ve been any number of reasons why they didn’t want to tell me whatever it was they were talking about.

Deep inside, though, I knew that wasn’t really the reason I was so upset. Every day it was harder to talk to Danny, and we tried to avoid being alone at all costs now, for fear of what would come of it. I didn’t want to lose Danny, but I wasn’t sure what to do about it. I couldn’t just order my feelings to make themselves clear to me. Things didn’t work that way. I wanted to love Danny, but I was scared to say it. He didn’t understand how bad the heartbreak was, and so I didn’t tell him about it. I should, but I couldn’t.

I strangled half-sob escaped from my throat, and I dug my fingernails into my palms, forcing myself not to cry. I’d made a vow to never cry over a boy, because they weren’t worth it. But no boy had ever torn my heart like this.

I kicked a locker and then sat down on the floor, holding back the tears. No way was I gonna cry. I couldn’t let myself.

 

~*~

 

Eden made sure she was out of the auditoria with Brendan in tow before Brynn noticed their absence. They hurried outside to the front of the school, where Eden finally released Brendan and turned to face him, taking a deep breath. This might be the only chance she got to tell him.

Brendan was looking at her curiously. “What’s wrong, Eden?” he asked, picking up on her distress. Not that it was that hard, Eden figured, with her wordlessly dragging him out of the school without any explanation whatsoever.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Eden started from when she first noticed the tension between Danny and Brynn, her talking to Danny at the library, and the conclusion she had come to afterward. Brendan listened to it all quietly, his brow creased with worry. When at last Eden finished her story, he sighed and rocked back on his heels. “Are you really sure about this?” he asked finally. Eden bit her lip. “Mostly,” she responded. “I mean, what else could it be?”

Brendan shrugged. “A number of things. They could just be fighting or something. I don’t think you should bring it up with her yet, in any case,” he said, sticking his hands in his pockets.

“But-” Eden began to protest, when she noticed the object of their conversation walking up to them. Biting her lip, she forced a smile and talked with Brynn for a minute, noticing how Brendan seemed to hang back a little, his face clouded. It surprised her, though, when he stepped up to cover for her slips, seamlessly fitting into the role of ignorance.

She breathed a silent sigh of relief when Brynn finally left them again, feeling a pang shoot through her as she watched her best friend run back into the school.

Brendan spoke out loud what was on the both of their minds. “She knows something’s up. She doesn’t know what it is yet, but she knows.”

Author's Note

gah...floundering in a sea of "quick! what next?"

Reviews

[HermitsUnited]

...Meh...I like the ending...but what do you expect form me!?
So anyhow. You need to capitalize a bunh of stuff! Ha ha! And you still don't seperate paragraphs where people have talked! Ha ha! So you could totally come to me and Tiffany about your issues! That's always fun! LOL! We'll make you feel better! Ha ha!