Four letter word

31. The play.

The lights went out and not a minutes later they came back on with the whole crew of the play standing on the stage, hand in hand, bowing at the audience as everyone clapped and cheered. A few roses were thrown on the stage by the close friends of the cast. In the middle were the actors and on the sides everybody else as they went to introduce themselves and thank the audience for coming to the play.

AJ quickly said her full name and hoped she had spoken loudly enough. Dana was standing next to her and proudly introduced herself to everyone. She radiated confidence as she spoke. Someone in the audience whistled. AJ looked to see that it was Riley. And Lindsey was on the other end, far away from Riley. She cheered loudly on AJ's part and had a proud smile on her face. It made AJ blush a little. Her and Dana had also helped with the costumes. Dana had done most of the work behind the scenes so she deserved just as many cheers as the actors. As for herself, AJ didn't understand why she was even on stage with them, she hadn't done much work, just followed Dana's orders.

They bowed one more time as the curtain went down and the audience cheered even louder. Twelve minutes later the whole stage room was empty and everyone involved in the play was backstage changing out of their costumes or helping others change out of their costumes.

Lindsey ran in and hugged AJ, "you looked beautiful on that stage!" She shouted.

"You know I wasn't actually in the play, right?" AJ chuckled and pulled away. She was helping one of the actresses remove a bazillion pins out of her hair.

"Still! The way you said your name was astounding" Lindsey nodded.

"Okay" AJ laughed then turned to the other girl, "You're all done, Tess" she said

"Thanks!" The girl said and got up from the chair. The dressing room had mostly cleared out as well. Dana came in.

"Hey, Dana. Good job with the play. It was really interesting" Lindsey grinned. Dana looked up at her with a bored expression.

"Thanks. Have you seen Riley?" She asked. AJ shifted away awkwardly and started packing up all the makeup supplies.

"No. Why would I have seen her?" Lindsey asked stubbornly.

Dana rolled her eyes, "ugh, are you two still fighting? Grow up. It wasn't a big deal" she said and went for the exit, "I'm gonna go find her. Bye, AJ"

"Bye..." AJ replied awkwardly and looked at Lindsey. The blonde looked back at her.

"Come on... let's go. You're probably hungry. How does Poppy's sound? They have a good menu"

"Sounds good" AJ smiled and the two left.

AJ drove them to the diner and Lindsey insisted on paying. A gift for putting on a great play. AJ tried to convince her that she really hadn't done much, but Lindsey kept praising her.

"So? Have you decided on what you wanna do on your birthday?" AJ asked.

"I don't wanna celebrate. Maybe we can go bowling and treat it like a date" she shrugged and sipped the chocolate milkshake she ordered.

"Okay... we could do that. But are you sure you don't wanna throw a party? I'm okay with forcing myself socialise for one night. We could play your favourite music... speaking of... what music do you listen to?" AJ asked, genuinely curious now. She had ordered waffles and a strawberry milkshake.

"Hmm... well I've liked ABBA since childhood. Oh, do you know Alanis Morissette? She has a really strong voice, and Bowie's cool too" Lindsey went on, trying to remember artists. It was hard answering that question. You'd forget every song you've ever heard the second someone asked about your music taste.

"Ah, so older artists? I like it. You have nice taste" AJ smiled.

"What about you?" Lindsey asked, then her eyes widened, "wait! Can I guess?"

"Sure, go ahead" AJ giggled and straightened up in her seat. Lindsey did the same.

"Okay. I'm pretty certain about this" the blonde said confidently and AJ raised an eyebrow, "you listen to... Taylor Swift"

AJ laughed.

"Is it that obvious?" She asked and Lindsey cheered in victory, "yes, Taylor is number one on my playlist. I also like Lana and a bit of Clairo. That's all I can remember for now"

"You look like your music taste" Lindsey said.

"Really?" AJ raised her eyebrows in surprise, "actually now that you mention it, you give off similar vibes as your music taste too. Huh"

"Are people that obvious?" Lindsey asked.

"It seems so" AJ replied, "how disappointing... I think I need to add the element of surprise. How do you feel about Metallica?"

Lindsey looked up at her awkwardly.

"What?" AJ frowned.

"Nothing... it's just... Riley would love it if you started listening to Metallica" She shrugged awkwardly.

AJ looked at her for a second. The blonde looked so saddened.

"You know you have to make up with her at some point, right? She's your best friend, Lin" AJ said in a soft tone, careful not to offend her.

"Yeah, I know... I'm just not ready yet"

"Okay" AJ smiled.

A moment of silence passed until Lindsey sighed and forced a smile.

"You know what? Maybe a party is not a bad idea. As long as you play my music"

"I'll get right on it" AJ grinned.

~*~

A/N: sorry for the short chapters, finals are coming up soon