The Pros and Cons of Breathing

Walking into the school cafeteria always gave me the same cringing feeling one would get if they were ever forced to stick their hand into a bowl full of wiggling, writhing worms. I sucked in a deep breath and zoned in on the lunch line, reaching out to grab a tray and load it with whatever was set in front of me.

"Need help with that?" A sweet, husky voice asked, so low and close to my ear, I nearly dropped the trays I was currently trying to separate from each other.

I whipped around to face Landon, grinning widely at me, causing my heart to skip a beat. "Damn, you're cute." I muttered, but shook my head and returned to gathering up a suitable lunch, feeling much more confident with him standing behind me.

As I slid slowly through the procession, Landon seemed to find any and all excuses to touch me; brushing hands by purposefully reaching for the same muffin, extending his arm around me to grab something, leaving him so close I could feel his breath tickle my cheek, it was all so much that my body was practically humming by the time I reached the register to pay.

Scottie and Grant were already at our usual spot and I waved back when Scottie caught my eye. Turning sheepishly, I smiled up at Landon, "Will you sit with me today?"

A looked passed over his face, almost as if he half-expected me to ask him to leave instead, but the grin doubled, threatening to split across his face, "Absolutely, mi'lady."

He took my tray in his free hand before I could protest and led me to the open spot across from my friends. "You must be Landon," Grant reached across the table to shake his hand as soon as Landon's hands were free. I suppressed a laugh, thinking it funny how he was pretending to not have a clue who he was. "I'm Grant, Scottie's boyfriend."

Landon smiled warmly, and shook hands with Scottie as well. Kate soon joined us, shooting me a sly grin when she caught sight of our new guest, "Hey Landon. How's it going?"

Butterflies erupted in my stomach as Landon paused to look down at me and our entwined hands under the table before replying, "Never better."



Kate and Landon had decided that I could get a ride home with Landon after school, since I wanted to try out for the school's production of Pride and Prejudice, which was one of Scottie's all time favorite books/movies, even though I thought it was a little dry. She insisted I would make an excellent Jane Bennet, so I was going to try my best for her sake.

Since Landon had football practice, he was already staying late anyway, and I really didn't want to keep Kate any later than necessary. Besides, if my audition ended early, I was curious to watch Landon at practice, having never pegged him for the athletic type.

When it was my turn to audition, however, everything that could go wrong, did. First off, I was paired with Travis Easton when given the chance to recite for Jane's part as she conversed with Mr. Bingley at the ball he and his sister had held. Travis was an incredibly tall and gangly junior who struggled so much with his lines, that I was nervous for him, thus screwing up my own. Then, they had me try a second scene, as Caroline Bingley, as she and Elizabeth took a turn around the room in an attempt to attract Darcy's attention.

I tripped over a rug and went sprawling over the back of the small couch they had Darcy seated in, nearly bumping heads with the poor boy. Humiliated, I stood up and did my best to shake it off.

The only solace I took from the horrible two hours of drama-torture was my short monologue. I was given Elizabeth's conversation with Darcy, who was being read by one of the more popular drama club seniors. This didn't help my nerves at all, but I was fairly confident in my part, since Scottie spent plenty enough time reciting Elizabeth and Darcy's arguments to me in the past.

"So this is your opinion of me. Thank you for explaining so fully. Perhaps these offences might have been overlooked had not your pride been hurt by my honesty..." He began.

I cut him off, hardly looking at my sheet, "My pride?"

"...in admitting scruples about our relationship. Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your circumstances?" I almost grinned when he added a little sniff of disdain to the end of his sentence.

"And those are the words of a gentleman. From the first moment I met you, your arrogance and conceit, your selfish disdain for the feelings of others made me realize that you were the last man in the world I could ever be prevailed upon to marry." I scoffed, as we both subtly scooted closer for dramatic tension. A moment passed between us as I glared into the boy's bright blue eyes.

"Forgive me, madam," His words made me jump, startling me out of my daze, "for taking up so much of your time." He whisked around and stalked off in true, stiff, Darcy manner, leaving me feeling just as confused as Elizabeth Bennet probably felt in that moment.

"Thank you. That will be all," the director, Mrs. Shaw, brought me back to what I was doing.

Quickly, I shot a small smile to the dark-haired, blue-eyed Darcy and rushed to gather my things and leave that god-forsaken theater.