I had already suspected it; I already knew it was going to happen ever since the beginning. My friends called me paranoid, jumping on his back before I knew anything was for certain yet. But ever since day one, I knew that nothing good was coming out of this.
Sure, I knew the two of them were excellent actors on stage, but even I could tell they were definitely not acting at that moment. The way she latched herself onto him when they were supposed to kiss was not the way two people in two separate relationships should have acted.
I was standing next to her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend, by chance, and I noted the same expression on his face. He turned towards me, a very sad look in his eyes. I shook my head and turned away from him; I had my own troubles. There was no need to have his burden on my shoulders as well.
I quickly excused myself from the auditorium. I couldn't watch it anymore. Seeing the two of them attached like that hurt too much to bear. My friends began protesting, but they did nothing physical to stop me. None of them tried to sit me back down, or kick me in the legs. That's because they knew I had been right all along.
I knew I was.
I was sitting out in the lobby by the senior stairs. It was nice and quiet out here, but I could still hear the muffled sound of the cheering audience and the jubilant music from the pit band. Of course, this was only opening night, so I would have to bear watching this scene two more times.
If I had a choice, I wouldn't step foot into this theater again. Now, it was just a constant reminder of how the one guy I had trusted for four years suddenly turned his back on me. He never told me straight out that he was having a relationship with that… Rachel Payne. I suppose he never knew; I just suspected.
I had seen the play, Kiss Me, Kate back on Broadway a couple years ago, and I fully recalled all the intimate times they shared together. With us as the techies, I was forced to watch them… fondle each other for three months. That was when my suspicions began to arise.
He stopped coming over my house on weekends as he usually did. Our conversations diminished to nothing; instead he chose to talk to Rachel all the time. Whenever we did talk, it mainly revolved around "Oh, Rachel this and Rachel that… and did I mention Rachel did this?" It could drive anyone insane.
But none of my friends believed me. Not even when Rachel's boyfriend approached me did they believe me. They said that we were both being too uptight about the whole situation; the two of them were just great actors on stage. It was what they wanted to do with their lives when they grew up.
Look who's right now?
I sighed and rubbed my face. I let the headset fall down around my neck and turned off my microphone so no one could hear me if I accidentally burst into tears at a random moment. I leaned my head against the cool white walls as I stared down the stairs towards the front door.
I heard the techie door open from the auditorium, but I took no effort to turn around and see who it was. He or she sat down next to me and nudged me with their elbow. "Hey." I heard someone say. I couldn't help but smile slightly. How should I not have guessed that my best friend would come out here to help me out? "You okay?" Becca asked, taking a deep breath.
I shook my head and closed my eyes. Was she just going to tell me to suck it up and act like an actual eighteen year old? Or was she actually going to try and calm me down? With Becca, nothing was ever known. "I know I was paranoid." I muttered quietly, more to myself than her. But nonetheless, Becca still leaned in to try to hear my words. "I wanted to believe you guys, trust me. But I couldn't. And guess what?" I let out a bitter laugh. "I'm actually right for once in my life."
I turned my head to look directly at Becca who only returned my glare with a sad look. "I know you are." She shook her head, as if she was still trying to absorb the truth as well. "That's what Eric told me about twenty seconds ago. Apparently he walked in on the two of them at each other like they were on stage inside the costumes closet back in January. I'm sorry, Kay." She said quietly.
Whenever she used my special nickname, it always tugged my heart ever so slightly. Even when I was the one in distress, she always used my name of "Kay" to truly show how sorry she was, even if I didn't want her apologies.
But before I could get in another word, the doors from the auditorium burst open and hordes of people began pouring out of the balcony area. Becca and I stood up; just to make sure we couldn't get trampled over. We stood along the side, but of course that didn't stop the whispers.
I should've seen this coming. Stephen Ravago and I were one of the longest lasting couples left in the school. Rachel Payne and Mason DeStasio were one of the most adored. And now, Mason and I were the two left in the dust as Stephen and Rachel went romping off into the sunset together.
People I held close relations to gave me a sorrowful tight lipped smile before walking away. Obviously they knew that it was best to just let me wallow in my sorrows instead of having anyone comfort me. Of course, that was exactly why I kept Becca Chasmar at my side; to make sure that I wouldn't jump off a bridge. But of course, who was I to cry over a relationship?
I guess it was bound to happen eventually. I just never thought it'd end like this. Not three months before graduation, before we could amicably split and possibly never see each other again. No pain, no gain. But now, we had to endure two out of our four courses together, not including lunch.
Why must he make us suffer?
"Are you going to the cast party?" Becca asked as we walked back into the sound room. I shrugged and put my headset on my designated chair next to the control panel. Walking over to the corner, I pulled my sweatshirt out of the pile and yanked it over my head.
Only then did I realize the other five techies were still in the room, asides from Becca and I. each of them looked at me; obviously they had already caught up on the gossip. Eric Malone was the first one to stand up and walk towards me. The Eric who had told Becca about walking in on Stephen and Rachel. Also the Eric who is Stephen's best friend.
He grabbed my elbow gently and brought me out to the lobby. People were still lingering about as they waited patiently for their rides. I could feel their eyes on us as the door to the sound room clicked shut. Eric shoved his hands into his sweatshirt pocket as we began our descent down the senior stairs towards the main lobby. "I'm sorry." He finally blurted out, not looking at me. "I didn't tell you because I thought Stephen was actually going to say something. I didn't want to be the one to tell you; I thought it should have been him to say the truth."
It hurt to see other people feel pain over my issues. There was no way Eric was in fault; I definitely could not have him apologizing for this. "Eric… it's not-"
"Yes, it is." He snapped back. "If I had told you the truth earlier, we could have avoided this altogether. But now, you had to see it before your very eyes…" Eric slowly trailed off. "And here he comes now."
We had somehow walked over to the backstage doors. And at that precise moment, Stephen had come walking out of the doors. I had half-expected him to walk out with Rachel attached to his arm, but alas, he was alone. Stephen must have noticed us standing there for after saying good night to the other actors; he made his way over to us.
"Hey." He grinned, acting as if though nothing had happened on the stage. Then again, that is his specialty. "Ready to go?"
"I'll see you later." Eric replied bluntly and continued walking before he disappeared down the stairs that led outside to the teachers' lot.
"Huh." Stephen choked out, running a hand through his dirty blonde hair. "I wonder what's up with him."
Yeah, like you wouldn't know.
I still hadn't spoken a word and Stephen finally managed to catch on to that. He had known me for so long; when anything was wrong, he immediately caught on. Which was why he was trying to act too innocent right now. "Um, Kate. You okay?" he asked, gently putting the palm of his hand against my cheek. Upon contact, I quickly turned away and stepped back a few feet. He frowned and let his hand drop down to his side. "Alright, this isn't funny anymore. What the hell's going on?"
I looked down at my Adidas clad feet, before daring to meet Stephen's eyes. Those penetrating blue eyes I had fallen in love with stared right back at me, and I almost didn't want to say those dreadful words. But I knew I had to, no matter the circumstances.
"I think we should break up." I muttered quickly, wanting to get out of the school as fast I could. I couldn't bear seeing Stephen tonight; I wanted to be able to go home and accept the fact that he and Rachel were in fact together.
My words seemed to shock Stephen as he absorbed what I had just said. "What are…" he began, but realization dawned upon him. Suddenly, he let out a bitter laugh and leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms across his chest. "This is about Rachel and I, isn't it?"
Fuck yes it is, I wanted to scream. But nonetheless, I held back any desire to punch Stephen square in the face and managed to pour all my anger into a measly nod.
Effective, yes?
"You should know that-"
"There's nothing going on between you guys?" I bit back, quickly interrupting him before I could hear anymore lies coming from him. At my sudden bitterness, Stephen straightened up so that his six foot frame overshadowed me completely. But I couldn't let him win this easily. "Oh, of course not. I couldn't even take into consideration everything people have been saying to me, or the fact that the two of you started blatantly making out on stage!"
Stephen ran a hand through his hair before laying it on my shoulder. I cringed slightly and tried to pull back, but he kept a tight grip on my shoulder and pulled me closer to him. "I don't know who the hell have been saying shit about Rachel and I, but can't you take my word?"
"No, I actually can't." I hissed back. "As of right now, Becca, Eric, Mason and every other kid in our school are the ones saying 'shit' about you and Rachel. We all know it's true; I wouldn't doubt it if Mason and Rachel were talking right now about the same thing as us."
"I still don't-" Stephen attempted to protest, but I held up a hand to prevent him from talking.
"Just stop it, Stephen. Don't lie anymore; I'm sick of it. We're over with. You should've told me back in January and we could easily avoid all of this." I sighed and tore away from Stephen's grip. He didn't call back at me or anything and I wasn't about to turn around and see if he was going to be right behind me.
I knew he was guilty.
That look in his eyes… it was undeniable. And when I had asked him about the kiss on stage, he didn't say anything against it. It was his reputation that apparently mattered more to him; what people were saying about him and Rachel mattered more than trying to deny the fact they were making out.
I see the light now.
I walked out the back doors and pulled my keys out of my back pocket. I wanted to get out of here, and fast. I wasn't going to linger at some stupid cast party where I was going to probably confront both Rachel and Stephen simultaneously. Behind me, I heard the doors shut and other footsteps accompanied mine as I kept walking down the walkway.
I wasn't in the mood to turn around, but I didn't have to. Someone in a black and gray striped hoodie walked quickly past me, his hands shoved deep inside the pockets of his dark blue jeans. I would've ignored him, as I usually did in school, but today I felt like I could use some company.
"Mason." I called out to him, causing him to spin around. He probably thought it was another random person from our school wanting to ask him what the hell happened on the stage. But when he saw it was just me, he visibly relaxed and gave me a tight smile. "How's… Rachel?" I asked him, following his actions by pocketing my hands in my sweatshirt.
"Over." He grunted back, keeping his eyes on the space ahead of him. "She didn't even try to deny their relationship. She just said oh and walked away. How did Stephen take it?"
I shrugged, fiddling with the keys of my car. "He didn't try denying it. But he did imply that he wanted to hurt anyone who said shit about him and Rachel."
Mason clicked his tongue, but said no more. The two of us walked down to the parking lot together, neither of us saying a word the entire way. My black Audi A4 came into view first as I stopped next to it. I had expected Mason to keep walking, but he stopped as well. Finally, he turned to look at me, allowing the parking lot light to shine on him. "Look at us." He finally whispered, leaning against the trunk of my car. "Just look."
I tilted my head to the side, not quite positive about where he was going with this discussion. "Mason." I began, but he cut me off.
"We really thought we had it, didn't we?" he said, most likely referring to our relationships. "You and Stephen, me and Rachel. Everyone liked us together, yet we didn't even talk to each other until this entire fiasco. Now, it's just the two of us left to start again from where Stephen and Rachel left us. And here we are, probably going home to figure out where the hell we went wrong, am I correct?"
And with that, he spun around and walked down the lot without another word. I suppose I wanted to follow him, but something told me that he wanted to be left alone right now. I would have wanted the same.
A little bit of quiet is nice.
Note:
I know all of you are probably like... another story from this crazy girl?! What the hell is she thinking? But the reality of the issue here is that there's only going to be five parts. I've already finished four, so um. It's not going to be that much of a wait. I believe I'll be updating on these following days, so pay attention!
May 1. May 11. May 21. May 31.
Watch for them.
Anyway, this story is going to a MAJOR cliche! I wanted to just go with the freaking fluff and enjoy myself. So, here you guys go.