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Singing. Dancing. Spinning.
All things that Ella loved to do and came so naturally to her.
Words that were said over and over again never lost meaning when she was in the zone. She didn’t care much for the attention that was thrown her way, but she was thankful that they considered her a right fit.
‘Okay. Now, walk more towards the front… More lights!’
The princess did so on her tiptoes, and waited for someone to arrive after a particular lyric.
When Sky finally did, the tiny athlete grinned in embarrassment, but did her part to finish their duet.
Ella could barely hear over the sound of her own heartbeat.
Sky ended the song by going down on one knee and holding Ella’s hands.
‘Anddd hold that eye contacttt… You’re in loooveee…’
No matter how many times they went over this scene, Ella was completely enamored.
They hadn’t even tried on their costumes yet. She knew that the moment she saw the other girl dressed as the knight of her dreams, she would melt into a gooey, pink puddle. With heart sprinkles.
Ella’s typically pale face was red, in conjunction to a goofy smile she didn’t even try to hold back. Sky took note of this, biting her lip before eventually cracking up as well.
“Ughhh. CUT!”
Topher shouted, making his way up the stage as everyone else took five before they reset the scene. “Cut, cut, cut!”
“This is practice for a play, not a movie shoot, dumbass.” A rebellious stagehand talked back at Topher for what felt like the hundredth time.
Irritated, Topher pointed at the other guy. “Don’t start with me again, stagehand!” Then brought a finger to his neck, threatening to decapitate him. The other guy just pretended to be scared before trying to make Topher feel stupid for doing that.
Back at the stage, Ella helped Sky up and lightly dusted her off.
Gosh, Sky was so small. Sure, Ella was on the taller and bigger side, but it only highlighted how opposite they were. It took everything for her to not just scoop her up whenever she saw her.
“I think that was our best practice yet, right?” Sky stretched her limbs.
A nod. “We just keep getting better and better! It was like, as Mr. Hatchet said, we were destined to be partners! …Scene partners, that is!”
Sky laughed airily, scratching behind her head. “Aw, I wouldn’t go that far. I’ve never performed or anything before… You didn’t have much of a choice anyway.”
“Nonsense! You got the part because-”
“ Because Sky was so good at being a stuntman that the main actor quit from the fragile masculinity of it all and she already just looks like a short guy from far away,” Topher interrupted. “That doesn’t mean Sky’s perfect , by the by. I have some notes. For starters, you’d think at this point you’d both be professionals and get over having the giggles.”
“Well… we’re simply having fun! Isn’t that what mat-”
“No.”
“Come on, man,” Sky lightheartedly rolled her eyes. “Like, sorry, but you got a real stick up your ass.”
Topher gasped. “I have a lot riding on this and you know that! I-”
“Yeah, yeah. Big names are gonna watch the play, you wanna be famous, I know.” Hearing a tune from her phone, Sky gave it a check before jogging off. “Shit, I got a test now. See you tomorrow!”
As she did flips and tricks to leave the auditorium, Ella gazed in awe.
“Wh-?! We also need to talk about your time management skills, missy! You hear me?!” Topher called out before groaning and running his fingers back through his hair.
Ella sympathised with him, as she often did with anything, but (pardon her language) he was being a bit of a jerk recently. But she knew he was stressed, he only wanted to put on as great of a show as possible.
That aside, she was glad she was told to not wear gloves during rehearsal because wow , she could still feel Sky’s gentle touch.
And remember when they locked eyes for an extended period, there might as well been hearts around Ella’s head. Oh, she could just melt in the athlete’s chocolatey brown eyes.
After exhaling deeply and tapping his foot to get some tense energy out, he turned to his leading actress. “And you,” he gestured at her with a rolled up script. “You said you’d get your ‘theatre kid stage crush’ situation under control.”
Pause. And then Ella brought a hand to her lips with a soft giggle.
She didn’t intend on letting him know, but he had been doing shows for ages and was able to pick up on actors having feelings for one another and confronted her about it. In the end, she was glad to have someone to confide in about this.
“My apologies, but I really couldn’t help it! Ahh, she’s such a little sweetie! And you heard her high note this time around! She’s been practicing at home, I can tell!” Hands over her heart.
“We haven’t even practiced the kissing scene yet, my god.”
Oh. Ella was about to short circuit.
“...I… may have forgotten about that...”
Breathing deep again, Topher let go of his anger and sat on the edge of the stage, offering Ella to be by his side.
It took him a moment to speak again.
“I don’t really… get how actors crush on their co-stars. Like, you know that’s all fake, right?”
“...Maybe so. But it feels real.”
“I still don’t get it. You make it seem so easy. Plus, it never lasts once the show is done.”
What was Topher going for here..?
“Well… The most fun I have with Sky is our moments outside of acting, if that makes sense. When she breaks character, when she stumbles but plays it off cool, when she says the nicest things to me…” She shrugged.
Again, more silence.
He muttered.
Ella tilted her head. “What was that, dear?”
“I said I’m kinda lonely, okay?!”
Registering that, Ella coed affectionately, making the frustrated director all the more embarrassed.
She wasn’t at all expecting the conversation to take this turn. But if she confided in her crush, then it was only fair for him to confide in his lack thereof, but hopeful change.
“Aw, don’t be so glum, chum,” Ella playfully intertwined her fingers with his. “I’m sure you’ll meet a nice guy soon enough. Why, who’s to say your true love isn’t already on this production, waiting for you to make the first move!”
“Doubt it.” Topher scoffed, taking his hands away from her and wiping them on his pants. “One; I like ‘em bad , two; I’m not even looking for ‘true love’, just… anything! And three; every actor here is some boneheaded jock that was forced into it for class credit. They have no love for the arts! No passion! How could anyone match my energy?!”
“That’s a fair question.”
Grumpily, Topher rested his chin in his hands “I am not getting with some actor here.”
“Hey!” A third voice called out.
They turned to see the same edgy stagehand guy from before, being the only one in the production crew they’d seen in ages now that they thought about it.
“ You’re still here?! I’d think you’d be the first to leave!” Topher yelled back.
“I was trying to fix the lights and change the colors during the song!”
Topher gasped again, getting up quickly. “You leave my darling lights alone, you monster!”
The guy– Danny– insisted that the scene called for softer, yellow lighting as opposed to the harsh headlights it was defaulting to. ‘It helped set the romantic tone’, in his words.
Also, pretend the lead up to that reasonable creative suggestion involved hurling swears and personalized insults at one another, until Topher finally let the vision sink in, a smug Danny saying ‘I told you so’ with his demeanor..
And when it did, he had stars in his eyes, not doubting this show’s success anymore.
“Okay! You. Me. Brainstorming session. Now!” Topher grabbed Danny’s wrist and brought him backstage.
Watching this unfold, Ella was utterly amused. “Oh, my. It seems Topher was right. Maybe he wouldn’t be pairing up with an actor here, exactly, but…”