A Tantalizing Kiss

“Dude what the hell is up with you?” Rodger asked as we walked through the halls in the morning.

I turned my head his way, not having paid attention to his question, “Hmm?”

“I said, where’s your mind?” Rodger gave me a weird look.

“Not here apparently.” Leah made her presence known on Rodger’s other side.

“What are you doing here?” I frowned, looking at her.

Rodger and I were walking back from weights before school, ending earlier than
normal. It was a few minutes before the buses would start arriving for school, so neither of
us were expecting her to be here.

Leah made a face, flipping her hair over her shoulder, “My sister had to leave for work
early and dropped me telling me to get breakfast or something.”

Rodger snorted, “Doesn’t it occur to you to ride the bus?”

“Ew, no. Buses are gross.” She made a face.

We laughed.

Leah didn’t normally ride buses, going with the excuse of claustrophobia. I knew for a
fact it was because she liked the extra time provided to her if her sister drove her in instead.

Rodger looked back at me as we stopped at her locker, waiting for her to get her books.
“So anyways, what’s up with you this morning?”

“What do you mean?”

“All morning you’ve been distracted.” He commented. “You weren’t even paying attention
to the pounds you were pushing this morning. Mase, you did nearly double your normal
weight.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Did I?”

“Yeah.”

“Guess my mind’s not with me right now. I didn’t even notice.” I mumbled. Now that he
mentioned it, I noticed that my arms ached a little more than normal.

“Seriously, what’s bugging you?”

“Why does something have to be bugging me?”

“Because you’re acting like you did when you were sure our freshman teacher caught
you nearly sticking it into Samantha James.”

I made a face, “Don’t remind me.”

Leah laughed, “I told you she was a mistake. Did you listen? No, because she was ‘the
most beautiful angel’.”

“No one asked for your comment, Leah.” I rolled my eyes.

She gave me an innocent smile, “Just reminding you, Mason.”

I noticed that more and more people were beginning to fill the hallways. The buses
must have already arrived.

The temptation to check the cast list was burning inside of me. I needed to know
whether or not I was getting that date with Rose.

I discreetly crossed my fingers with hopes that I would.

I had no intention of looking myself. Rose’s expression would be enough of an answer
for me. I could only hope she warmed up by the time our date took place. Her sour mood
would definitely be a buzz kill.

Leah snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Dude, Rodger isn’t kidding. You’re out of it
this morning.”

I blinked, shaking my face slightly, “Sorry Leah baby.”

She rolled her eyes at the nickname.

Rodger gave me a weird look, “So Coach wants us to do extra practice on Saturday from
nine to five.”

“This Saturday?” I asked.

Rodger nodded.

“Why didn’t he say anything at practice last night?”

“He said it before, at the one you missed.”

“Oh.”

“You going?”

“We have to, dude. Coach will beat our asses if we miss extra practice.” I groaned. I
hated extra practice. While I loved the sport of soccer and almost everything about it, extra
practice was the sole exception.

Leah rolled her eyes, “I don’t understand why it’s such a big deal to attend one more
practice every once in a while.”

“Leah, it’s for seven hours straight.” Rodger said, trying to get her to empathize with us.

“Minus lunch.” She said

“Fine. Six hours.”

“Still, it can’t be all that bad.”

Rodger and I gave her mirroring expressions of astonishment. “It’s the absolute worst
part of soccer.”

“All you do is run.”

“And run.”

“And run.”

“And run.”

“Oh, but if we’re lucky it’ll start to rain halfway through so that we get a few minutes
without running.”

“Before we run back into the school.”

“And run some more.” I finished up our explanation of the day.

Leah rolled her eyes, not caring as much. “Whatever. If you hate it so much, why bother
playing the sport?”

Rodger and I exchanged a look, groaning.

“She’ll never understand.” I mumbled.

The bell rang for homeroom and the three of us went our separate ways to begin the
day. I let myself fall into the flow of students moving towards their first period class, my mind
wandering off onto its own little world.

~*~

I managed to keep my eyes away from the Drama room all day. It was much harder than
I had anticipated as the day passed. My eyes scanned the hallway for Rose, but I saw
nothing of her. I was dying to know whether or not I was getting a date out of this.

I knew that whether or not I actually got a part, I would eventually drag her out on a date.
Just because I didn’t make some stupid play wasn’t going to stop me from getting a kiss
from a hottie like Rose.

My eyes were trained on the clock, watching as the second hand ticked along slowly. A
few more minutes and the bell would ring. A few more minutes and I would get my answer.

The phone rang.

“Hello?” The teacher asked into the phone softly so as not to disturb the working
students. “Yes….Yes I will. Now? Alright.”

She clicked the phone back onto its hook, “Mason?”

I snapped my head over to her, confused, “Yeah?”

“You’re wanted in the athletics’ office.” She said, walking back to her desk. When I didn’t
move her eyes hardened, “Now.”

“Shit.” I mumbled under my breath, grabbing my books together. What had I done? I’d
only missed one practice, and I’d asked Coach about that one. Was there a form I hadn’t
turned in or something? No… it was too late in the season for that.

Worry spread over my veins as I walked down the deserted hallway. My footsteps
echoed in the silence as my heart pounded rapidly. I bit my lip as the small door to the
athletics’ office came into view.

Hesitantly, I pushed the door open.

The four desks were occupied by four coaches buried in waves of paper work. Two
heads glanced up as I walked in, neither of them my coach. I smiled weakly, walking over to
my coach’s desk. I stood before him.

“You called for me Coach?” I asked.

He didn’t look up, staring at his clasped hands on the desk. “Care to explain this drama-
club thing you’ve got going down?”

“I already told you, I need the extra credit.”

“I talked to Mrs. Stein, I know it’s for.”

“Then what’s the problem?” I was confused now.

“Mrs. Stein was kind enough to inform me of the requirements to earn the extra credit
points.” From the way Coach spoke, it didn’t seem like Stein was kind about it in the
slightest.

“Yeah, and…?” I prompted, the suspense murder.

“All you need is to be in the chorus.” He said.

“Yeah…?”

Where was he going with this?

“Want to explain why you have singing lessons with Mr. Wilson, acting lessons with Mrs.
Stein and a part in the goddamn play?!” He hissed.

My eyes widened, “I-I have a part?”

“Understudy, whatever.”

“I-I’m an understudy?” I was shocked. “For which character?”

“Hell if I know.” Coach snapped, “Mason, we’re three weeks away from State finals. You
cannot honestly be expecting me to be ok with you joining some stupid play that will interfere
with your soccer practice!”

“Coach-I didn’t know!” I tried to reason with him. “I only knew about the singing lessons!
I didn’t even know I got a part or acting lessons!”

Coach sucked in a deep breath. The bell rang overhead, letting me know the period had
ended. I stayed put in the office, waiting for Coach to dismiss me. “Mason, I like you. You’re
one of the best on the team. And that’s why we can’t afford you to be singing and dancing for
Stein instead of running and kicking for me.”

“Coach I—”

“This is the compromise.” He said.

Uh-oh.

“You’re talking your music lessons before school in the mornings now so you can
attend soccer practice after school. I’m allowing you to miss the three practices a week for
this play as long as you’re willing to do extra practice with me on Saturdays.”

“Don’t we have extra practice this Saturday though?”

He nodded, “Beginning next Saturday.”

I sighed. It’s not like I wanted to be in the play. I was doing it for the grades, just like
Rose said. “Alright Coach.”

“You’re grades better improve drastically in that class.” He warned “And there will be
none of this next year.”

“Got it, Coach. I’m not taking any more drama classes next year anyways.” I said, trying
to make a joke.

He didn’t laugh, “I’m being serious Mason. And just because you have lessons in the
morning doesn’t mean you can slow down on the weights either. I have a good feeling this
year about State’s.”

I grinned, “Thanks Coach.”

He nodded, “Do you need a pass for your next class?”

“It’d be nice…” I said, even though we both knew I didn’t need it. Coach pulled out the
yellow slip, scribbling down the information in pencil. My grin widened. He handed me the
slip once he was finished, dismissing me.

I hesitated before turning around, “Coach, I have a question.”

“Go ahead.”

“Did you see any of the other names on the cast list?”

He shook his head, “Nah. I only asked Stein about yours.”

I nodded. “Ok, thanks.”

I left the office immediately.

I walked into Stein’s room just as the bell rang, not bothering to glance at the cast list. I
already knew my position. What I needed to know is if Rose got a part to and whether or not
understudy counted. As I walked in, Stein beckoned me over to her desk.

“Did your coach talk with you?” She asked.

I nodded, “Since when was I getting acting lessons?”

Her lips twitched, “You’re good, Mason, for not doing this before. But not good enough.
And we need to make sure you’re good enough in case you’re needed.”

“Thanks for telling me…” I mumbled.

She laughed, “You would’ve found out soon enough. By the way, you should still feel
good even if you’re an understudy. Phantom is a hard role to get.”

I blinked, “I’m the understudy for Phantom?”

“Didn’t you know?”

“Coach didn’t say…”

“It was posted right outside.”

“I didn’t check…”

She shook her head, “Well you are. Now go take a seat, I need to find my glasses
before I begin…”

I didn’t tell her she had her glasses rested atop her head as if they were sunglasses.

As I walked back to my new seat, I noticed Rose was already sitting there. Her blonde
hair brushed the edge of my desk, arms crossed over her chest. She was facing forward, not
meeting my eyes as I walked past.

I took a seat, reaching over and playing with a strand of her hair.

She moved in her seat to face me, a smirk across her lips. “I’m Christine.”

“I’m Phantom’s understudy.” I sighed, judging her reaction out of the corner of my eye as
I twisted her blonde strand between my fingers. Her lips pulled into a satisfying smirk.

“Guess that means no date.”

I laughed, “You know, just because I’m an understudy doesn’t mean it’s not an actual
part.”

Rose rolled her eyes, “You and I both know that that doesn’t count as a real part like
mine does. What are the chances you’re going to actually be in the final performance?”

I frowned, feigning hurt, “What if I am?”

“Then I won’t be.”

“You’re so mean to me, Doll.” I laughed. “How about you let me take you out on a date
anyways?”

She pretended to think for a moment, “Hmm… No.”

I frowned, “Please, Doll?”

“My name’s Rose.”

“I know.” I grinned. “One date. Please.”

“No, Mason.” She frowned, “You said we wouldn’t if you didn’t get a part and I did.”

“Well, you might not think so, but in my mind I’ve got a part. So I really don’t see what’s
stopping us from going on a date.”

She rolled her eyes, “No, Mason. For the last time.”

“Saturday.” I pushed, wanting to see if she’d take the bait. “I’ve got soccer until five, but
I’ll pick you up around six?”

“I’m busy Saturday.”

“What’s your number?”

“I’m not giving it to you.”

“Rose and Mason.” A stern voice said. Our heads turned towards the front where Stein
stood, an annoyed expression on her face. “If you two could stop flirting for one period so
that I can actually teach, that would be lovely.”

Rose’s cheeks reddened in embarrassment.

I smiled innocently, “Yes ma’am.”

“Thank you.” She turned back to the class, continuing with whatever she was talking
about before. I didn’t pay attention, ripping off a corner of a piece of paper from my note book.
I scribbled down my number and dropping the paper onto Rose’s lap.

“Call me.”