Hiding in the Shadows

Chapter 2

"So, first we need a character list," Ross said.

"Yeah," Messiah responded.

"Got any ideas?" Ross asked after a short pause.

"No," she replied.

"You really don't talk much, do you?" he asked.

"Not really," Messiah mumbled.

The other pairs were jumping around the room, acting out skits, laughing, and making lots of noise. Ms. Hosier was trying to calm everybody down, but the excitment of being in control of the script was overwhelming.

"Well, c'mon then. Get up, and we'll figure something out," he laughed playfully, and stood up. He held out his hand and offered it to her.

She took his hand, and he pulled her up close. A little too close.Half the room turned and looked at them.

One boy, Alex, broke the silence. "What a cute couple!" That set everybody off.

"Are they dating?" one girl asked.

"That's so cute!" another boy said.

"Nice goin' bro!" one of his friends shouted.

Jeremy gave Ross a wide smile, and held out a thumbs up. Messiah's cheeks turned bright red, and she backed away from Ross. Ross looked at her worriedly.

"Are you all right?" he asked her. Tears came to Messiah's eyes. 

Why did Ross do that? No way he wants to date me, no way at all.

Ross gripped her wrist, and started to pull her away, dragging her out of the drama room, and in to the hallway.

"Are you all right?" he asked again. Messiah began to cry. Ross led her over to the stairs and sat down with her, wrapping one arm around her shoulders, rocking back and forth gently. Messiah put her hands to her face, trying to cover up what Ross already knew.

Ross pulled her hands away from her face. "What's wrong?" he asked,  his ice blue eyes staring in to hers.

She bit back a harsh reply, and said, "They were all staring at us, an-and they were laughing at us..." She was taking in big gulps of air between her words trying to calm down.

"They wern't laughing at us, they thought it was cute," Ross said, never taking his eyes off of her.

"I just h-hate when people stare at me," she whimpered in response.

Ross rubbed her shoulders. "It's not a big deal, really. They wern't making fun of you or anything," he said.

"Yeah, I guess," Messiah said, now a little more calm. "But now they think that you and I are dating."

"Yeah, about that," Ross said in a hushed tone.

"What?" Messiah wondered.

"Messiah,"

"Yeah"

"Will you go out with me?"