The Actress

William sat through his last two periods anxiously. He stared at his papers, but was doing nothing. He looked up at his teacher, explaining something about cos tan, but heard nothing. His mind had been transfixed on the note Violet had given him. He stared at the clock, willing it to go faster, knowing that it was useless.

Once school was finished William grabbed his books and bag from his locker and headed to the music room. William walked down the hallway, checking over his shoulder every once and a while to make sure no one knew he was still at school.

He sat his backpack down on the floor and picked up a guitar, sat down, and strummed away carelessly until the halls had cleared; until it was safe to go and meet Violet. William put the guitar back and replaced it with his backpack before eagerly walking to the parking lot.

Violet stood there, already, looking anxiously around for William, subconsciously watching for anyone that may see her. Finally the boy she’d been waiting for walked out of the school doors towards her.
A broad smile spread across both their face, William flaunting it but Violet embarrassed by it. He walked over to her slowly, watching her face grow with impatience - enjoying every minute of it. Violet, growing tired of William’s teasing, ran to him and stopped before him, their faces so close they were almost touching.

“I was worried you weren’t coming,” she said quietly before delicately putting her arms around William’s shoulders.

William, stunned by her closeness and change in attitude stood there for a few moments before putting his arms around hers. Just as quickly as Violet has wrapped herself around William, she pulled away.

“So, why’d you want to meet me here?” she asked, a crooked smile on her face.

“Umm.” William racked his brain, “wait! You asked me here!” he laughed at her, whilst he tousled her hair a bit.

“Hey!” she shrieked, pulling William’s hand away and giving his a playful slap on the arm. “Come, on.” Violet motioned her head away from the school, holding out her hand for William to hold it, which he did obligingly. Violet took his other hand in hers, walking backwards in front of William down the sidewalk. “I just wanted you to walk me home,” she said, like it was the craziest thing in the world before letting go of one of William’s hands and returning to his side.

They walked in silence to Violet’s house, but not awkward silence. The sort of comfortable silence where there is no space needing to be filled. It’s filled by one another. William played with Violet’s hand, wrapped in his.

Finally, they reached Violet’s house, the walk seeming not long enough. Violet fiddled with her keys a little, her other hand still attached to William’s.

“Hey, do. .do you want to come in for a bit?” She looked up at William with one eye, not sure if she should be asking this.

“Ya,” William responded with no hesitation.

Violet sighed with relief, opened the door, the two walking through and into Violet’s room. She sat down on her bed, and William nervously sat across the room from her on the computer chair.

“So.” William said before clearing his throat.

Violet smiled a little at his nervousness. “What do you want to do?” she asked, raising one eyebrow a little.

William swallowed loudly, not sure what to do. “So, what did you think of that second period quadratics quiz?” he asked, finally, about the only class he had with Violet.

“Oh, my gosh! Don’t even get me started!” She said, already started.

It went on like that for hours, the two of them talking, not even noticing the hours slipping away. Eventually William grew more comfortable in Violet’s room - it was like he’d been going there every day for years. He was now sitting on the floor, his back against the wall, with Violet beside him.

“Hey,” Violet said, “you play guitar, right?”

“Fuck, yea,” he responded quickly, excited that she had asked.

Violet got up and walked out the door quickly. She returned minutes later with an old, well-used acoustic guitar. “Here,” she said, handing the instrument to William. He took into his arms, carefully.

He strummed the guitar, giving it a quick tune. “Well,” he said, turning to her, when he was done, “what do you want to hear.”

“Something you wrote,” she asked, shyly.

William smiled. It was the first time that someone had asked to hear his original music. Usually he ended up playing some kid’s favourite main stream watered-down pop song. Playing his own music sent him into another world almost. Like time would stand still and all was at peace - simply because he was creating his own music. Emotions that couldn’t be expressed in worlds just melted out of his head, through his fingers, and into the guitar for everyone to hear and maybe understand.

Quickly he began to strum a heartfelt tune on Violet’s old guitar. His eyes closed as he got more and more immersed in his song. When he was finished sat for a little, his eyes still closed. Only did he open them when he felt Violet’s warm arms wrap around him. He looked up at her, her chin resting on his shoulder.

“That was beautiful,” she whispered.

William couldn’t take it anymore. Her sparkly blue eyes hovered close his own. He could see under her make up that her skin was dotted with tiny freckles. That her lips parted slightly when she breathed. Her light hair fell in wisps around her angelic face. He couldn’t help it.

William bent his head even closer to hers, close enough to smell her sweet perfume. Without closing his eyes, he captured his lips on hers, looking her in the eye all the while. He pushed his lips harder against hers, but not roughly. William put his hands on her hips and pulled her onto his lap, then wrapped his arms around her body. Violet kissed him back, the tip of her tongue moving across his’s bottom lip. He opened his mouth and traced the corners of her mouth. Violet tilted her head, bringing her hand up the nape of his neck whilst he cupped her face in both his hands, pulling her face closer to his. Shivers went down William’s spine; he’d been waiting for this moment to happen since he laid eyes on Violet. The kiss was everything he wanted and more. She tasted sweet, like her lip gloss, of cherries. Her hair was silky and smooth beneath his fingers. William didn’t want to pull away, ever, so he didn’t. Violet continued to kiss William, their tongues tangling in one anothers.

“William!” Violet pulled away reluctantly and looked at him, trying to keep a smile off her face. But the smile won. She wrapped her arms around him before saying into his ear, “I think you should go now.”

He looked at her with understanding; they shouldn’t have kissed. Violet had a boyfriend. They were two completely different people that, much to William’s dismay, couldn’t be together.