Baby Steps

Chapter Three

Chapter Three 

I should be good at drama, I've been pretending I'm fine since Logan passed away. I'm not great at handing in forms because home ec filled up quickly and I ended up having the choice of drama or art. Logan is, well, was the only artist in the family. Some of his paintings are still hanging in the art room.

Drama hasn't been too bad and it's another class I share with Blake. We have a performance at the end of the year and I don't know if I can stand up in front of many people and act. I don't know if I could remember a whole heap of lines and scene ques either.

I bunch the fabric of my cotton skirt to the side of my legs and hurry down the veranda to drama. A cold gust of wind swooshes past me, sending a chill down my spine. I yank the door open and sigh as the warm air touches my cold skin.

Students hang out in groups chatting about play and the roles they hope to be selected for. I make a dash for the back of the classroom and slump against the brick wall.

"Hey, Ava."

Blake sits beside me with a charming, carefree smile.

"Hi, Blake." I smile. "I think you have drool on your shoulder."

He shakes his head and brushes his shoulder, but the mark doesn't move from his blazer.

"I didn't realise how messy babies were." He chuckles.

"Just wait until she starts teething, they don't stop drooling and it's gross."

Blake wrinkles his nose which makes me laugh.

"How is London? Have you tried the bottle trick?"

"She doesn't realise it, but she's living her best life. Fed on demand, naps whenever she wants." With a smile, he shakes his head. "Thank you for the suggestion, it's saved me time and energy during the night. I think I'm sleeping a little better because of it."

"That's awesome!"

The siren rings and the class settles. Mrs. Sharn collects a pile of papers from her desk and stands up to address the class.

"Good morning everyone! I've finalised the roles for the end of the year production. Your main role and understudy role are marked on the front page."

Mrs. Sharn wanders around the room handing out the scripts. One person loudly groans at their role which subtly makes her chuckle.

"The performance will be presented at the end of the year to your parents and peers," she says. "We will be working with the art students to create some of the props for the performance."

Mrs. Sharn approaches us with a smile.

"Your audition was wonderful and I think you'd be perfect for this role. I'm excited to see your acting grow over the next semester." She hands me the script and scribbled on the page is the maiden with the understudy role for the princess.

My mouth drops but I quickly smile.

"Thanks."

She hands the script to Blake and the pair grin at each other.

"I hope no surprise here, Blake. If the role is too much, please let me know and I can sort something out."

"Thank you, Mrs. Sharn," he says.

With a hopeful smile, she moves towards the next cluster of students eagerly waiting.

"What part did you get?" he asks.

"Maiden and understudy to the princess. What about you?"

"The prince."

"How many plays have you stared in now?" I tilt my head to the side and smile.

"I'd have been happy with a tree," he admits.

"A bright green face and tights sound terrible." However, I internally smile at the thought of Blake wearing the tights. I bet he'd look really good in them.

He rolls the script up and fiddles with it.

"Do you want to come to mine on the weekend and practice lines?"

"Um, sure." I nod. "I do need to learn the role of the princess."

Mrs. Sharn claps her hands and captures our attention.

"Please use your time today to go over the script and start practicing your lines. Next week will start working on blocking the scenes on stage."

Blake and I look at each other, then Megan approaches us with an innocent smile. She looks down at us and her brown hair brushes over her shoulder.

"Hi, Megan." Blake is dry with his greeting which doesn't seem to phase her.

"We're co-starring in the production. I got the leading role of the princess." She grins.

"Okay." He nods.

"You should come with me so we can practice our lines." Her gaze moves to me and her smile falters. Blake looks between us and shakes his head.

"Have you heard from Tori recently?"

"You know Tori better than I do, Blake." She sighs.

Blake turns and says, "I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see you later." I nod.

Blake reluctantly follows Megan to her group of friends while I'm left alone. Oh, the joys of having no friends in the same class as you. Hell, I could be cooking cupcakes if I'd just handed the stupid form in sooner.

I flick through the pages, my eyes falling upon random words, but nothing more than that. Shaking my head, I try to focus on the page, but even that doesn't work.

I'm drawn back to gazing at Blake.

He's in the middle of the group half enthused about something. Everyone else seems drawn to his energy, like a moth to a light source. Blake waves his arms in the air which makes Megan's eyes grow wide with excitement. I don't know how he does it, but he knows how to draw people in.

Blake is like the hot fiery sun; heats you up by the radiating glow from his presence, but as soon as he leaves, it feels cold. Blake's beginning to feel like the sun, and I, a planet senselessly orbiting without a known cause.

Blake Rivers, what are you doing to me?

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