Chapter 20 - Drama Class

Did I like Nate? Not willingly. Did that change the fact that my heart sped up every time I saw him? No. Even though I tried to shove negative thoughts about him into my crammed brain, it didn’t work and I still blushed when he smiled at me. It was horrible.

 

The day after my latest possession, I saw him and Wilson talking at his locker. You know how when you walk by some people and they just instantly shut up, you know they were talking about you? That’s what happened when I passed them. A blush spread over my cheeks, and I sped up my pace a little bit. But I obviously wasn’t fast enough, because someone said my name and grabbed my arm. I sighed and my heart began beating a little faster.

 

“Nate, I have to go,” I said and turned around. To my surprise, it wasn’t Nate at all. It was Max Foreword, the shy boy in my drama class. Yes, I’m aware it’s odd that a shy person is in drama, but whatever.

 

I was a little embarrassed that I’d called him Nate, but Max didn’t seem to notice. His cheeks were a little pink, and I thought it was cute that he was so, well, adorable.

 

“Oh, hi, Max. What’s up?” My heart went back to normal pace.

 

He looked down at the floor, giving me a great view of the top of his head. Max wasn’t painfully short, but just a little lower than me. But I guess I was what people would call tall, so maybe he was tall too. Max had the bluest eyes I’d ever seen on a guy, and his brown hair was wavy and curled in all the right places. His cheeks were full and usually pink, but that had just become the norm with Max. I wouldn’t call him hot or anything, but he was definitely attractive. In a cute way.

 

“We have to do a partner thing in drama, and I was wondering if you’d be my partner?” He sounded so nervous it was ridiculous.

 

I smiled. “Sure. Just one question: how do you know we’re doing partner stuff?”

 

He cleared his throat. “I, um. I’m sort of a teacher’s pet . . . Ms. Webley tells me everything.”

 

“Huh.” I smiled again, just as the bell rang for first period. “See you this afternoon, Max.”

 

“Yeah.” He smiled a little at me. “See ya.”

 

I scampered off to my locker, and on my way I saw Nate. He was talking flirtatiously with some brunette chick, who looked a bit like Skye, actually. I double-checked to make sure it wasn’t her. It wasn’t. Must be his ex. He had told me a bit about her before . . . that was the time I’d had a tantrum right in front of him. I stomped on past, making sure to clip the brunette with my shoulder. There was a gratifying feeling in my chest when she stumbled and tripped into a locker. I laughed to myself and continued on to my first class.

 

 

 

The day flew by. Before I knew it, it was last period, and I was in drama, watching Max bite his fingernails religiously. Ms. Webley was late--as usual--and I had nothing better to do, so I just stared at the boy with the brown hair and blue eyes. I guess he must’ve felt eyes on him because he turned around and looked back at me. I offered a weak wave, and he smiled nervously before twisting back around.

 

“Okay, class,” boomed a voice from the doorway. We all turned to see Ms. Webley, leaning against the doorframe, grinning. That was nothing new.

 

She strolled into the classroom with her checkered skirt and green top with a picture of the earth on it. She was more mismatched than me, which was one of the many reasons I loved her. Drama was my favourite class. I loved being able to stand up and be the center of attention in a presentation. It made me feel empowered, like I ran the world. I knew I didn’t, but it’s the thought that counts.

 

“Today,” she continued agonizingly slowly. “We’re starting a whole new project!”

 

This got a happy whoop from the more creative students in the class, and halfhearted yays from the less creative.

 

Ms. Webley ran into the room and then stopped abruptly, right before her desk. She then collapsed into a ball on the floor, but that only lasted a few seconds. She shot up and began dancing around the classroom, humming loudly. Some people got up and danced a long with her, and some stayed seated. I was one of the many who stayed seated. Too much effort for just a minute-long dance session.

 

As predicted, it only lasted a minute or two longer before Ms. Webley sent everyone back to their desks. I noticed Max had also stayed in his seat. Hm.

 

“Okay, the point of that was to get you thinking about what kind of little ‘skit’ you will be doing,” the teacher said. “You will be getting into partners and creating either a skit or a performance similar to mine. If you do a performance like mine, you will not be allowed to speak at all, and if you are doing a skit, you are not allowed to move. At all.”

 

A kid named Chester raised his hand. “Isn’t the point of drama to make something fake look believable?”

 

“Yes,” she answered.

 

“Then why can’t we move in the skit? It’s not realistic.”

 

“I’m glad you asked, Chester!” Ms. Webley chanted. “See, the purpose of this exercise will be to see if you can make something believable without using one of the two major aspects of drama. Really, I just want to show you all how important it is to use both parts when acting. It’s like a training exercise, but it will also test your skills!”

 

“This sounds hard,” I spoke up.

 

Everyone turned to me, as expected.

 

My teacher smiled at me. “My dear, that is the point!”

 

I nodded, an idea already bustling through my mind.

“Any questions?” she asked the class.

 

“Will we be picking our partners?” Mandy Keel asked.

 

“Of course. I would not force you to create a dramatic scene with someone you hate.”

 

Satisfied with her answer, Mandy thanked the teacher.

 

“Alright,” Ms. Webley said. “Get going!”

 

Max and stood up and rushed to my desk before I even had a chance to flinch.

 

“Which one do you want to do?” He asked.

 

“I kind of have an idea for the performance, but what about you?”

 

Max smiled. “I didn’t want to do the skit anyways.”

 

The rest of class was spent plotting the scene. It was going to be epic. The idea was sort of based loosely on an experience I’d had with a ghombie, but of course I wouldn’t tell Max that. He was going to be a ghombie--zombie is what he thinks--and chase me around the classroom, and finally will catch me after a minute or two, and devour me. We would have to work out our entrance and how to kill time more than just running and silent screaming, but I thought it was going to go well. Max did too.

 

A disturbing thought hit me as the class ended and I packed my notes up. I had detention. I groaned very audibly and dragged myself to my locker. I grabbed my homework and headed for the detention room, where Nate was waiting. His eyes sparkled when he saw me, sending a flurry of butterflies in my stomach to start fluttering around excitedly.

 

“Hi, Andrea,” he greeted. “Thought we could be detention buddies today?”

 

I felt like I needed to be rude to him for some reason (maybe because I had been mad at him fiercely yesterday) but I didn’t act on that feeling.

 

“Why not?” I said. “I’m already in hell anyways, might as well spend it with you.”

 

He laughed, I laughed, and we headed into the detention room. 

Author's Note

yay! i can't believe we're on chapter 20. TWENTY. two-zero. it's unbelievable. thanks for all the reviews and sweet comments, i'll upload again soon! enjoy!

Reviews

[TWISTED NIGHTMARE]

YAY !!!! another great chapter and i'm really liking max he seems like a sweet guy and i hope to see more of him but Nate is still my favorite... will be sure to keep reading