Stage Kisses

“How long has this been going on?”
“What are you talking about, Will? You’re not making any sense!” I muttered into my phone.
“I know something’s going on that you’re not telling me. I don’t even know if I can trust you anymore, Hallie.”
“You don’t think you can trust me anymore? Oh, okay I see. I’ve got to go, Will. Call me when your drama is over,” I snapped before ending the call.
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I couldn’t help but notice that I was getting some major split ends. As I made a mental note to set up an appointment with my hairstylist, a hand covered my eyes. Instantly my mood brightened and I grabbed his hand off of my face, spinning around. In front of me stood my best friend, Joe; Jay to anyone who actually spent anytime with him.
“Oh, honey! You have no idea how much I've missed you!” I shouted, hugging his torso.
Laughing, he hugged me back.
“Halls, I was only gone for like five minutes!” he said, flopping down on the bench beside me.
“I know, but that’s a long time. Oh and you missed Will’s second call of the day,” I said in a disgusted voice.
“Oh, I smell trouble in paradise!” Jay chirped.
“Yeah, he’s so sure that I’m unfaithful. What have I done to make him think that?” I wondered aloud.
Beside me, Jay burst out laughing.
“What? Why are you laughing?” I demanded.
“Because Hallie, I can give you a list of things you’ve done in the last two hours that look as if you were “unfaithful”, “he said using finger quotes.
“Enlighten me please.”
“Well, let’s see… You ignore his texts whenever you’re with me, and you have serious attitude whenever he calls…”
“You get annoyed when my phone keeps going off!” I interrupted.
“Hmmm, okay I’ll give you that. You have been talking about how you’re going to kiss another guy,” Jay said shrugging.
“Hey, that guy is you, and Aaron is making us!” I interrupted again.
We were cast as a couple in our school’s spring production of Guys and Dolls. I was Miss. Adelaide, and Jay was Nathan Detroit. Aaron is our director.
“Oh you’re right. He’s impossible to argue with. I apologize on that point. On with my list! You are always hugging other guys.”
“I only hug you and Brandon! I’m a touchy-feely person, you know that!” I exclaimed.
Brandon is our other close friend.
“Yeah, well obviously William has a problem with it,” Jay said, scratching his chin.
“Yeah, obviously,” I muttered darkly.
The two of us sat in thoughtful silence for a moment before Jay jumped up, grabbed my hand and yanked me to my feet.
“What’s going on?” I laughed as he started to pull me along the sidewalk.
“Well, you’re all blah because of this jerk so we’re going to go do the one thing that always makes you happier.”
“What’s that?” I ask.
“Rehearse!” He said, pulling me inside the theater building.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + Two hours later, I did feel better. Rehearsing wasn’t the only reason though. Being around Jay could turn your entire day around; he had that effect on everyone he met.
My character in the play, Adelaide, was a show girl who wanted out of the business. She wants her fiancée of fourteen years, Nathan, to commit and marry her. There’s a lot of dancing involved in the part, but I love it! Most of the two hours Jay and I spent “rehearsing” I was practicing my choreography while he read lines out loud.
“Your choreo is looking really good,” Jay commented later while we grabbed burgers.
“Thanks, I want to have it down perfect for Monday’s run through,” I said, thinking about Aaron’s expectations.
“You’ll be great. You’re always great,” he said smiling at me.
I blushed at his praise and smiled up at him.
“I have a feeling that you want to go order me a shake,” I said clearing my throat.
“Oh? You have a feeling, huh? How strong is this feeling?” Jay asked leaning forward on the table towards me.
“Very strong. I can feel it deep in here,” I said placing a hand over my heart.
Jay moved his hand like he was going to put it over mine, but froze mid-motion. We sat staring into each others eyes. I felt myself getting lost in his ocean blue green eyes, and wondering what it would be like to kiss him. I broke out of my trance and quickly sat back in my chair. Jay, startled by my sudden movement, jumped up.
“Umm, milkshake, right. Be right back,” He muttered before dashing off towards the counter.
I sat alone at the table wondering what had just happened. I had never felt that way before when I was near Jay; all I knew was that I needed to never feel that way again.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + The rest of the evening went by without any other odd encounters. When Jay dropped me off, I wanted to bring up what happened, whatever it was, and see what he thought. I chickened out. Instead of bringing it up, I gave him a quick hug goodbye and ran into the house.
I waved to my parents, who were watching TV in the living room before making my way down the stairs to my room. When my older sister moved out my parents let me decide if I wanted to keep the room I shared with her or move to the basement, which I got to redecorate. My decision was made in about three seconds flat. Jay and I spent the summer before junior year painting and building bookshelves for my room.
Turning on the lights, I touched the spot where we’d painted out initials, a ritual I did whenever I came or left the room. I dropped my bag at the foot of my bed and sank down on top of my pile of pillows. Reaching over, I grabbed my beat up iPod off of my bedside table and turned it on. I scrolled through my playlists till I found one I’d made when I had a rough day. The first song was Details in the Fabric by Jason Mraz. I clicked play and closed my eyes as I listened to the opening chords of the song. Before the song reached the chorus, I felt my phone vibrating against my bedside table. Sighing, I paused my iPod and reached over for my phone. Will’s name showed on the screen above a picture of the two of us. I took a deep breath before answering.
“Before you say anything, I’m sorry for being such a butt earlier,” I said, skipping over the traditional greeting of hello.
I heard Will chuckle on the other end of the line.
“Hales, I called to apologize to you. Will you forgive my Neanderthal behavior?” he asked.
“Mmm, I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it,” I teased, biting my bottom lip to keep from giggling.
“Do you want me to come over and grovel? Because I will if you want me to,” Will said with a laugh.
“No, I think we’re ok, but I will remember your offer to grovel for another time,” I said with a fake evil laugh.
“Oh no,” he groaned, “What have I gotten myself into now?”
I just laughed and sighed happily. The thing I loved about being with Will was that when we fought, which was becoming more and more frequent, it took almost nothing to makeup. Sometimes I wondered if that was really a good thing.
We kept talking for a few more minutes. He told me about his day and how he got a really good grade on a test he was stressing about.
“That’s awesome, Will. I am very proud of you,” I said pumping an extra amount of enthusiasm into my response.
“Well, I have homework I’ve gotta get to. I love you,” Will said.
“I love you too,” I said automatically.
We exchanged goodbyes and then hung up. I was bothered by our conversation though. I didn’t even blink when I said I loved him. The first time Will told me he loved me was a few months ago, and I was too shocked to come up with anything else to say so I just said it back. I was too tired to dwell on that now, so I turned my iPod back on and drifted off to the sound of someone else’s problems.