Behind The Scenes: A Play to Remember

☆𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑☆

After the school day ended, I headed straight home to get ready for work. I work at a small library down a couple blocks from my house and the old woman who runs the place(Mrs. ScarPelli) is pretty lenient with me about being late. However, out of respect, I like to be on time.....

Okay, maybe I liked going there early because I would have thirty minutes of uninterrupted reading time to preview the new books that got brought in. Who could blame me though? It was a bit predictable of me to work at a library to get easy access to books. Anyway, I pinned my hair up into a messy bun and headed over to the library. I was almost there when I got a text from Dylan. It read: Hey Madelyn, you busy?
I replied back to him that I was getting ready to work but asked what was up.

You think you could call off? You should come to see my band practice.

I thought about it for a minute. That would be cool and I'm glad he invited me. I'm sure Mrs. ScarPelli wouldn't mind, I work overtime every chance that I get. My thoughts were interrupted as Dylan texted me again: Please Mady? I'll pick you up 😉

I giggled at my phone and shook my head. He was cute. I got over my thoughts and decided to just come. Who knows, it could be fun to watch him play and I would get the chance to talk to Liv. I'm not much of a fan of rock music and the only song that I enjoy in that department is 𝐒𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭. Nirvana wasn't just heavy metal rock music. It had meanings throughout every song. Their music was the one rock band I could actually enjoy.

I headed back to my house to change out of my work clothes. I put on a cherry red dress that had sunflowers all over it. At the top, there were these pretty ruffled sleeves and the skirt material was soft and sort of wrinkled. I clipped my hair up into a red claw clip to match the dress and sprayed my favorite perfume, 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫. I never understood why it was called "little lavender" if it smelled like vanilla cupcakes and roses. Either way, the scent was so me. Finally, I touched up my makeup a little bit and hopped into my brand-new pink and white Converse shoes. I took one last look at myself in the mirror before I got a text from Sebastian. Hmm? What could this be about? I thought. I checked it and it read: Hey Oriley, what's up?
I had a confused look on my face as to why he randomly texted me. My eyes then shifted to the mirror and then to my outfit. To save time from typing, I just took a picture of my outfit and sent it to Sebastian. Within two minutes, I got a reply: Wow, a dress. Why am I not surprised? Where are you off to?

I rolled my eyes. Of course, he had to make fun of my dress. He was so agitating. I replied with the middle finger emoji and told him not that it was any of his business, but that I was going to see Liv and Dylan's band practice. Before I could check his reply, I turned off my phone and went outside to wait for Dylan to arrive. Of course, I had to call and let my mom know where I would be at once she got home. She worries about me. I don't know why but she does. I guess it's just because I'm her only kid and she loves me. I can understand that. We've been through a heck of a lot. It's been tough watching her go through it as well which is why I've always been protective of my mom in a way. I have her back and she has mine; and not just because she legally has to. 

Anyway, I waited for Dylan for almost half an hour and at this point I was getting irritated. Maybe he forgot to come get me or had something up with his car. Regardless of what happened, I didn't have time for it. At the same time, I was upset. I was excited to see their band practice. I mean,  Liv usually never invites me so this was kinda my chance. Just as I had gotten lost in my thoughts, once again, Dylan pulled up in his black Kia. I crossed my arms as I saw his face. He got super red and said, "I'm sorry, seriously. Your bestfreind was hassling me with criticism every time I tapped on my drums." He rolled down the window and yelled out to me. I laughed in my head because that was something Liv would do. I kept my arms crossed and squinted at him with a smirk on my face. " You can be forgiven if you prove you are as good at playing the drums as you are at acting," I said walking towards the car. He chuckled a little and did the "tongue cheek'' thing. You know, the thing guys do when they stick their tongue on the side of their cheek and laugh. You know what I mean. Anyways, he hopped out of the car to properly greet me, with a hug, and I noticed his hair was extra messy. He must have been working his soul out while playing those drums. It made me laugh. I smiled up at him as he took a good look at my outfit. "You look..." He started before I interrupted saying to him,"Too much?". "Pretty." He said while looking me in my eyes. I won't lie to you, I definitely felt butterfly jitters when he looked at me but I couldn't be delusional. I just smiled and brought him in for a hug over the shoulders as his arms wrapped around my waist. I could feel his heart practically jumping out of his chest. It was so cute how nervous he got around me. He smelled good. It wasn't a generic smell or the smell of musk cologne like most guys. It was more like the smell of nothing but clean. I'm not sure how to explain it but I smelt it everytime we were around each other. After about five minutes or so, we broke from the hug slowly as his hands stayed on my arms. He looked down at me with a smile, showing off his adorably cute freckles. God, he was such a ginger. "Ready to head out?" He asked still holding on to me as I nodded quickly. He went over to open my door and from there we headed down to his house. Apparently, the band practiced in his garage. His parents were divorced and his mom moved to Florida so he lived with his dad. His dad was pretty chill, or so I've heard. Luckily, today was the day I'd get to meet this so-called chill dad of his. As we drove there, the car ride was a bit silent. I looked out the window at the sky most of the time pretending to be interested in the "clouds'', knowing darn well that I see clouds every day. I don't know why the ride was so awkward. Was it because of how long we hugged? Was it just the fact that we were alone in a car together? No, it couldn't be. We have had to be alone together plenty of times before and it has never been awkward. Finally, getting over my fear, I spoke up and tried to start a conversation. "So Dylan, what's one goal you have for this school year in drama club?'' I turned to see his answer as he looked to me and then back on the road switching concentration. "For sure, hands down, getting the lead in Romeo and Juliet. That's supposedly one of the plays we'll put on this year. " He said getting amped up about the thought of it. I thought about it, that is a pretty good goal. "What about you? What do you wanna do this year, huh?'' He asked looking over at me as he placed his hand on the back of my seat, driving with one hand. I thought about it but for some reason, I couldn't think of a goal this year. I genuinely didn't. I couldn't figure out why because Dylan and I always make it a plan to think of one goal we look forward to for the year in theater. I squinted my eyes in deep thought before saying, " You know what, I don't know." I, was obviously bothered by the fact. I guess Dylan noticed, because after a couple of minutes of him looking at me, he said," Alright, so how about we say this; whatever challenge or option is brought to you this year, conquer it and go for it." He said with an encouraging tone. I looked at him while still squinting as my mouth slowly curved into a smile. He always knew what to say. He was a good friend to me." Whatever comes my way." I said nodding at him. He turned his head to smile at me before looking back to the road. I decided to ask him another question. I asked him if I could ask him one more question to which he replied with a super hot, "Mhm." 

"What's something your most excited about getting to do this year?" I asked resting my arms on the middle console and placing my face in my hands to look at him. He looked down at me, then to the road, then to me again before saying, " Honestly? Being on stage. Rehearsing lines. All alone. With one girl." He said all of this very slowly. In a softer voice, I said, "Oh? Who's the girl?". He laughed a little and looked back to the road, shaking his head. "No one. Nothing." He said smiling and looking at the road. I made a confused face with a smile. But I wasn't confused at all. I knew exactly who he was talking about and it was obvious. I smiled to myself and continued to go back to looking at my mysterious, "never before seen" clouds out of the window.  We got to his house and stepped inside. I stuck by him as he called out to his dad. "He's cool, I swear. Don't sweat it." He said looking down at me as his dad emerged from the shadows of the kitchen. He was tall and seemed to be pretty strong, unlike Dylan who was more on the skinny side. He had olive green eyes, nothing like his son. After basically examining him, I started to think Dylan couldn't be his son at all. I mean at first glance, you wouldn't be able to see the resemblance. But then, once I looked longer, I realized what made them similar. Whenever Dylan was happy or excited, his eyebrows would jump one small time. When his father came into the room after doing whatever he was doing in the kitchen, he looked at Dylan and his eyebrows did the exact same thing. They had the same nose, not big or small. But somewhere in the middle. They both had these smile lines that formed when they squinted. "Hey, who's this?" His dad asked as he made his way to shake my hand. I used my most polite smile as I waited for Dylan to introduce me. "Dad this is..." He said making a face at his dad that said, "You know who". His dad looked back to him as if the two of them were speaking through their eyes. His dad smiled in a smirky way before saying," Oh, this is Madelyn. He won't shut up about you." Dylan's eyes wide at this comment as if he was saying, "Dad!!" without even opening his mouth. I giggled and blushed a bit. "It was nice to meet you hun. You are very pretty and I hope my son won't bore you with his nerdy antics." He said patting Dylan on the shoulder as his cheeks turned bright red out of embarrassment. His dad then walked away to do whatever he was doing before and disappeared. I smiled and looked up to Dylan as he watched his dad walk away. "I don't know what was up with him. He's so embarrassing around certain people." He said leading me to the garage and stuttering as he spoke. "So you talk about me?" I asked still finding it amusing that he was getting so nervous. He stayed silent for a bit before putting his head down. I just laughed and tucked my hair behind my ears.