RafexKiara Tangled Up in All Your Pieces // Riara

Chapter 25

Phillip Carlyle : "Anne, they're small minded people. Why do you care what they think?"

Rafe stated monotone, gesturing lazily with his hands and forcefully flipping the pages of the script.

He maintains his gaze locked on the script, his eyes traveling over the lines with apparent disregard for my existence.

Anne Wheeler : "It's not just them. You've never had anyone look at you the way your parents just looked at me. The way everyone would look at us."

I deadpanned a flat expression, peering over him, on the balls of my feet, eager for detention to end.

I'd be anywhere in the world doing anything, but here I was, standing across from Rafe.

Our bodies stiffened, due to how close we had to stand in front of one another.

I maintained my composure, knowing that Mr. Hull was in the room making sure we took this seriously and, as he puts it, 'become cordial with each other.'

I mean, all I had to do was follow through, right?

It'll be easy if you don't waste your time and energy on him.

I continued going over the idea in my brain.

After all, that is what theatre is all about.

You get to play a character, and step into their shoes.

I notice Quentin on the other side of the stage, giving me a thumbs up since he knows I need the motivation to get through this lesson without strangling Rafe.

Rafe scoffs, noticing Quentin's support.

In a matter of seconds, he tilts his head to the side, his face turning from boredom to seriousness.

Phillip Carlyle : "Before I met you, I had a name, an inheritance, and an invitation to every party in town. Now thanks to you, all that's gone. All I have is love, friendship, and a work that I adore. You brought joy into my life."

"Once more! Rafe, I want to hear the sincerity in your voice!" Ms. Manning exclaims as she walks to the front of the stage and looks up at us.

Knowing how passionate she was about theater, I felt sorry for her.

Casting the both of us as lovers, I didn't grasp Mr. Hull's vision of us facing each other through an act.

If we put on a show with our words, how much more difficult would it be to confront each other in real life?

Selfishly, I wanted to change his perspective, demonstrating to him that things would not work out, in fact, they would fail.

I admired his candor, but I would be mistaken to believe that a man like him wanted things to change.

He was the headmaster and a member of Charleston's town council.

If he actually believed what he claimed, things would have been different the moment he opted to take the torch 20 years ago.

With a sigh, I recognized that this was merely the beginning, and I'd settle with cooperating rather than fighting back.

But that didn't stop me from having the upper hand.

The dickhead in front of me was not going to get in the way of a little fun.

Follow their standards, you're on their turf.

Enough with the bullshit,

You're in my game, so play by my rules.

It was all for show.