They're Not That Bad

35 - What A Plank!

Chapter 35

What A Plank!

The Winter production of Beauty and Beast was in full swing. Surprisingly, a bunch of people had signed up for the play. (Maybe it was because a certain Headmaster had mentioned that being part of a production looked good in university applications and on your CV).

Auditions hadn't been held yet so currently, time and effort were going towards making sets, costumes and props. About 30 odd people had signed up so far and Mrs Danes goal was 50. Among those 30 were both members of Four Nations and The Aces which was surprising for many students to see.

What was quite funny though, was the effect they were having on the rest of our classmates who signed up. Most of the people who joined to be apart of the production were being quite timid and scared as usual of the gangs. Some (mostly the girls) were flustered when people like Blake gave them a hand with something. And then you have other girls swooning at people like Zack when he gave them a flirtatious wink. Of course they were scared of Axel who stayed pretty much to himself and didn't help much sitting on the stage with Zack and Corey.

I caught Zack in action as he was painting the the set of the the ballroom when he looked up and gave a smoldering smile at a passing female who blushed a furious shade of red and dashed out of the great hall clutching her burning cheeks. I shook my head in disappointment, Zack shouldn't be messing around with people's feelings like that.

He saw me observing and decided to give me a 'sexy' smile and a flirtatious wink. To be honest, my heart did flutter a little and Zack seemed to notice as he smirked. However, he wasn't the only one as Axel who was sitting on the stage with Zack, threw a ragged cloth and covered his face.

"Get back to work Hart."

After the night at my house, Axel and I hadn't spoken properly. I realized he did this quite a lot. One time we'd be fine and talking and then the next he'd go back in rude bad guy mode.

As I watched him I thought, I really hoped he wasn't going to be production supervisor and boss everyone around. Most people would be scared and submit to his authority. Axel glanced up at me and glared. I quickly turned back to gluing paper leaves to the cardboard tree. I guess he was in moody mode.

Right at that moment Mrs Danes came up to me.

"Rose dear, could you go grab some wooden planks from the ground floor? I asked the caretaker for some for the set and he said he'll leave them in the store cupboard."

I automatically offered to do it as I needed a break before the smell of PVA glue started to give me hallucinations. I dropped what I was doing and headed from the exit, although not before Corey decided to follow in Zack's footsteps and give me a cheeky wink rather than a flirtatious one. To this I winked back and laughed at the look of astonishment on Zack's face that I'd given Corey a response and not him.

Before I exited I watched as Axel silently came up behind both of them ready with his rag as his weapon. I left the hall not before hearing an echoing 'thwack' followed by simultaneous sounds of agony.

Having both the gangs participate in helping with the Winter Production sure was interesting and maybe even a way to get them to remember the good old days and have them reunite. So long as they remained focused on the present and not recall what happened in the past.

I mean, Axel bonding with Corey was a sure sign that the barriers they'd put up were crumbling. So far I hadn't seen Blake and Axel interact but they had remained civil. I remember when I first started here, when they couldn't last five minutes in the same vicinity without some kind of fight breaking out. Things had changed.