~Melody~ [Chim]

Chapter 10: Little White Lies

After lunch, it was off to the drama studio for some theatre. Not that anybody in this place needed anymore encouragement to be a drama queen. I walked there with Kimberley, and she didn't stop talking the entire way. Not that it was a bad thing. She told me about all the gossip ("The girl with black hair and chokers went goth after her boyfriend dumped her here 2 years ago") and chirruped on about all the performances she had done ("We did Sound of Music last year and I wanted to be Maria but I got the part of a nun and it was actually great") whilst I listened, smiling secretly at how happy she was. There was no trace of the scared girl that had cried in my arms about an hour before that. Now I thought about it, it was strange that she had regained her composure so quickly. I shook the thought though as my grin grew a bit wider. My kissing skills probably helped.

The theatre was truly massive, with row upon row of seats with bottle green velvet coverings. I walked silently down the aisle towards the stage, stroking delicate fingers along the seats. Kimberley seemed unfazed and truly at home in the large hall. She skipped freely past the orchestra's pit, up the stairs onto the stage. I sat down on a seat on the front row, intrigued as Kimberley acquainted herself with her home. She closed her eyes and faced the seats, and a smile spread across her face, imagining a spotlight and an audience. She opened her eyes in surprise when I started clapping, and laughed at me. "Encore encore!" I shouted, and she curtsied and blew me a kiss. I blew her one back and even from this distance I could see her blush as she curtsied again. More people came into the theatre then, so Kimberley nimbly slipped down the stairs and took a seat next to me. Sarah and Nicola sat behind us, and Sarah ruffled Kimberley's hair, and then leaned over the chair and kissed me on the cheek. She laughed at my surprised expression, and Nicola sniffed. Kimberley just glared at Sarah, then accusingly and questioningly she glanced at me. I shrugged slightly at her, then quickly looked away, as Nadine's friends settled herself in the seat on the other side of Kimberley. Kimberley turned to face the bitch squad, leaving me isolated on the front row.

The bubbly Stan from the previous day flounced onto stage from the wing and greeted us all with a cheery wave. Everybody settled down quickly and turned attentively to Stan. I suddenly realised in a panic I hadn't got my script that Steve had given us all yesterday. Luckily, Stan started with: "If you've brought your scripts then there's no need for them today, this afternoon we're going to do some work in groups, because in Wicked you'll be working in groups a lot as an ensemble, and it's also a good opportunity to get to know your fellow stars" he beamed. I knew instantly that despite her fiery hair, Nicola wouldn't be warming up to anybody on my row anytime soon, and to be honest I couldn't quite see myself doing so either. The Bathroom Incident was still fresh in my mind.

I glanced over at Kimberley, and to see her looking so excited to be in the theatre, and the glint of steely determination in her eyes and I knew she was going for a top role. Her simple beauty, the sheen of her soft skin and her almond shaped eyes were endless, transfixing me. I didn't hear much of what Stan said as I fazed between the reality of Kimberley sitting next to me, the memory of our kisses and the daydream of even more intimacy between us.

"...so I want you in groups of 6 to begin with" Stan finished with, only breaking me from my daydream because he was standing a few feet away from me. I blinked a few times, then I jumped as everyone started moving, grabbing people for their groups, and Sarah clapped one hand on my head and one on Kimberley's. "I dibs you two lovelies and my favourite little ginger here" she said, gesturing her head to Nicola. "Now just two more fiiiiine specimens needed" she said, winking at two lads across the aisle. One of them had blonde hair in a quiff and was wearing an adidas shellsuit. I raised my eyebrow slightly. I thought they went out of fashion in the 80s, and I was from Newcastle. Serious case of Chavitis. The other lad was tall, with stubble and good cheekbones. Him and Chavitis sauntered over, not making it very conspicuous that they were checking us out. I leant towards Kimberley in revulsion. I didn't like dick anyway, no need to have a similar personality. 

"Afternoon ladies" the sleazeball said, waggling his eyebrows at all of us in general. I heard Kimberley snort behind me in disgust. Relief washed over me though, that these two males weren't appealing to her. Sarah appeared to by very, very friendly with both of the boys, introducing us all and giving the tall one her seat, only then to promptly park her arse on his lap. The chavvy one looked at me, obviously expecting the same treatment, but before I could tell him where to shove any ideas, Kimberley said "How about no you sleazeball" giving him evils, laying a possessive arm on mine. The tall one laughed at his mate's failure with the ladies, and not one to be humiliated obviously, the chavvy guy raised his hands up and said in a thick London accent. "A'ight then, what are you, both lezzos?" and I heard Nicola bark one short laugh, and I flinched from the word lezzo. I looked at Kimberley, sighed in defeat and turned back to the chav with my sickliest fake smile. "Err, no." I said, rolling my eyes and standing up so he could sit in my seat. I could feel Kimberley's eyes boring into the back of my head as I lowered myself onto his bony legs.

Nice.

Luckily, the horrifying experience didn't last for very long, because we were moving to different practice rooms to do our group work. As soon as we were allocated our room I sprang from his lap like a scalded cat and gestured for him to go ahead, smiling sweetly at him. He grinned back, showing nicotine stained teeth then ruffled his over-gelled hair and walked ahead with Nicola, Sarah and the tall one. Me and Kimberley followed behind, and I could see Kimberley glare at his adidas tracksuit like he'd just insulted the entire showbiz world. "If it helps you calm down, I'm now less attracted to men than I was before" I whispered to her, and she giggled. "Rather you than me though" she replied through her giggles. "Especially with your arse." I said, gesturing to her voluptuous behind, and she elbowed me, and I laughed openly at her. Nicola turned around and looked at both of us, and I could see her trying to put 2 and 2 together and work out what was happening between us. I shook my head slightly at her, and she turned back around. Kimberley looked at me, suddenly serious, and demanded "What was that?".

I shrugged at her. "Dunno" I said, smiling at her. She smiled back then looked away to ruffle her coppery hair. My smile fell and I felt really uncomfortable. 

One little white lie wouldn't hurt, but how much could more than one hurt?