Read His Mind | ✓

Chapter 9

"We'll do it live," Benson decided for the both of us.

Even though I was planning on making the same decision as him, I was hoping that he would ask me about it before telling the teacher, and the whole class, that we were going to do it live. Did he like, forget we were partners?

"Right, Abbie?" he asked me loudly so everyone could hear.

"Yeah.." It's not like I could say no. My grade was on the line here. Both my parents would kill me if I got an F. But I wasn't mentally prepared for this. Up until now, I was thinking that we were just playing the video, not this. Acting it out live? In front of the 30 some people in our class? That's a lot of pairs of eyes watching us, watching me.

"Smart choice, you two. You guys wouldn't want to fail this project. It's 20% of your grade," Mrs. Park complimented. "Now can I have a copy of your script?" Benson came over to her podium, where I was standing, and handed her his copy. I picked at my dried lips nervously as she flipped through the pages. Everything was going to be okay as long as she didn't choose that scene, I told myself. Just not that scene, please.

"I would like to see Act 2 Scene 3," she said with a smile after she went through the script.

Out of all the scenes we had, why did it have to be this one??

I didn't need to look at my script to know what that scene was about. I knew what it was right away. Act 2 Scene 3 was one of the romantic scenes we had in our story. It wasn't a kissing scene, we didn't have any, but it was just as bad. It took me over 5 tries to get that scene right and now the class had the luxury of watching it live.

Benson went back over to the front of the class. He stared at me and waited for me to come over. I forced one leg in front of another and stopped next to him.

"Are you two ready?" Mrs. Park asked.

We nodded.

"Okay, 3.. 2.. 1.." she counted down. "Action!"

He turned to face me and I reluctantly did the same.

"Abbie.." he said softly. His usual expressionless face was gone. Benson and the Benson in our story had become one.

"Mhm?"

Benson held onto my hands and looked into my eyes. "I like you Abbie. From the moment I saw you, I knew that you were the one for me."

I didn't say anything.

"What's your reply?" he asked with a grin. "Your answer is?"

My character was suppose to say something, but I couldn't remember. My mind went blank. I couldn't remember my lines. The sincerity in his voice caught me by surprise. It sounded so real, so authentic. When we were filming it last week, it didn't feel like this. This time, it felt like he was actually confessing his feelings to me. Why was I reacting this way?

When I didn't say my lines like I was suppose to, Benson changed the script on the spot.

"I'll take that as a yes then!" He pulled me into a tight hug. My eyes went wide at our close proximity. I could hear my heart quicken.

"What are you doing?" I hissed into his ear.

"I'm saving our grade. You weren't saying your lines!" he whispered back with a smile still on his face.

We stayed like that until Mrs. Park called cut a few seconds later. The class clapped politely as we pulled apart. "Great work, Abbie and Benson," she praised. "I noticed that you didn't follow the script as it was written. I'll let it go this time since you weren't planning on doing it live in the first place. Now who's next?"

As I made my way to my desk, the girls nearby sent glares at me. Since we did make eye contact, I heard what they were thinking.

How dare she touch him...

I should've been his partner...

Did she seduce him...

She's so lucky to work with him...

I can't believe they were holding hands...

For the rest of the class, I kept my head down as the other pairs presented. I should've carefully thought out the script. Benson was so popular with the girls. Those girl won't stand still at what happened, not by the sound of their thoughts.

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The next day...

People were holding flyers when I walked into school. They pointed and laughed as I went past them.

Haha I can't believe she would do something like this...

What a loser...

I stuck my earphones in and kept walking toward my locker. They were probably talking about what happened in class yesterday with me and Benson. They will forget about it soon, I told myself optimistically.

I noticed something strange as I got closer to my locker. Was it what I thought it was? There was graffiti on my locker. WITCH. LONER. NO ONE LIKES YOU. LOSER. JUST DIE ALREADY. Insults were written on it in black ink. I pretended that I didn't see it and quickly spun the dial.

A bunch of papers came falling out. Some were folded and some were crumbled. They were in all different colors. Blue. White. Red. Green. Yellow.

I bent down and picked one up. I cautiously unfolded it and couldn't believe what I read. It was a photocopy of a diary entry. It read:

ABBIE'S DIARY- PROOF THAT SHE'S A MAN STEALER. SHE HUGGED BENSON CHANG YESTERDAY, TOMORROW SHE'LL BE KISSING YOUR BOYFRIEND. WATCH OUT FOR HER. SHE'S DANGEROUS.

Dear diary,

Don't tell Alice. I have a crush on the same boy she likes. Today was the day she goes to confess and I ruined it. On purpose. I like him first. She doesn't deserve him. So I went a little earlier and confessed first. Hehe.