My phone goes off with a sound like a doorbell. "Again?" Blair groans. "Sorry!" I say. "I could've sworn I turned it off." I grab my phone and turn the sound off, then open the text from my boyfriend. Just thinking those words gives me chills. "Ugh, the idiot." I say affectionately. "He's asking what time rehearsal is." Becca speaks from the corner where she's stretching. "Ignore it," is her advice. "He knows. He just wants to talk to you again. This is girl time!" "Right," I say, but I tap out a quick message anyway. "What did you say?" Becca asks. "I just said to ask Connor about rehearsal time and that I'll see him at 5:00." I wink. Becca and Blair groan in unison. "Guys, I'm sorry!" I say. "I promise I'm done." They don't look convinced but I start talking about other stuff and we finish eating without mentioning any boys. I have to work hard to do it, but I ignore my phone as it buzzes repeatedly in my pocket. I need to keep my relationship from being annoying to other people.
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I find myself glancing at the clock much more than usual as 5:00 nears. Blair and I are helping with the battle scene rehearsal that's between our rehearsals, and I'm definitely not in top teacher form. It's 4:53 when Tyler walks in (Zach and Connor are with him, of course, but I have eyes only for Tyler). I see him walk over to Becca, who points through the glass towards me. His eyes meet mine and I smile, a smile that is fueled by complete happiness. Blair pokes me in the ribs. "Go on," she says. "What?" I say in surprise. "Get out there," she answers. "You're of no use in this condition, and in any case I've got it covered." "You sure?" I ask, already leaning towards the door. "Go!" Exasperated, she pushes me in he direction of the door. That's all I need. I run out into the lobby and grab his hand. We don't even need words, we both head towards the seldom-used staircase leading out the back of the building. We run down the steps to a landing halfway down and sit down. "Hi," I say a little breathlessly. "Hey, you" is his response. He leans in and kisses me gently, his left hand cupping my neck, the other still entangled with mine. After a minute I pull away, and blush when he looks disappointed, although there's no way he can tell because the light is so dim down here. "It's not that I dislike kissing you," I say. "But we do have rehearsal." "Oh yeah," he says, checking his phone. "But we still have 3 minutes." His eyes glint at me in the darkness as he pulls me in again. A few seconds later my phone goes off with a "boing!" We break apart and I sigh. "It's Becca. She's probably warning me to get up there." I open the text and sure enough it says "enough spooning. You have 1 minute!" I shake my head and look at him apologetically, but he's already standing up, pulling me to my feet along with him. We climb the stairs and head out into the lobby. Kristy, one of my "daughters," comes bouncing up to us. I hug her and ask how she is. "Good," she says, then looks at my hand, which Tyler still has clasped firmly. "Can I ask you something?" She looks at me curiously. I stifle a laugh. "Of course," I say. "Go on, Tyler. I'll be right there." He squeezes my hand, then walks over to where Becca and Connor are standing by the doors. I look at Kristy. "What is it?" I say, even though I'm pretty sure I know. "Is he your boyfriend?" She asks, her brown eyes wide. I smile. "You could call it that," I answer. "Wow! My mommy and daddy are actually together now!" She's referring to last year when Tyler and I were paired together in party scene and she was our kid, which of course was way before my crush started. I laugh along with her. "Yup," I say cheerfully. "Is that all?" "Wait!" She says excitedly. "Has he kissed you?" I wink. "Really? Wow!" She says, and starts to walk away. "Kristy!" I call after her and she turns back. "That's our secret, okay?" "Okay," she says, trying to wink back at me. Some people might be worried about trusting a little kid, but this eleven year old isn't a gossip like most girls her age. I watch her skip away, then find my way over to where Tyler is standing with Connor and Becca. I sneak up behind him and slip my hand into his. He starts slightly, but when he sees it's me he just smiles and tightens his grip. I turn my head away from him with some difficulty and make an effort to pay attention to the conversation Becca and Connor are having. Before I can make sense of what they're saying the doors open and all the battle scene kids troop out. Once they're all out the four of us head in. I look at Tyler and I can tell he already knows what I'm going to say. "Bye," he says, kissing the top of my head. "Bye," I say, a little dizzy in the spot he touched me. We go our separate ways, me to play the maid, him to play Torrey's husband. After the first cast's run through we receive our corrections, then have a five minute break before the next cast. All the "adults" converge at the edge of the room, Becca, Zach, Hannah, and Tyler sitting in some chairs lined up there and the rest of them standing in a group around the chairs. I walk over and stand in between Blair and Tyler's chair. Tyler reaches out and grabs my hand, pulling me into his lap. I sit down quietly, trying to keep our PDA to a minimum. He starts toying with my ponytail, and I let him. It's not worth arguing over and I actually like it. Neither of us is making any effort to pay attention to the conversation, so when Blair nudges me, I start. Everybody's looking at me. "What?" I say. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." "I know," says Blair mischievously. "That's what I just said, and you confirmed it." I blush slightly. "Sorry, guys." Everybody laughs. Tyler wraps his arms around me and whispers in my ear. "Want to go somewhere where we can be alone?" Just then, the teacher calls for the next cast to go. I stand up and give Tyler an apologetic look. He looks disappointed but lets me go. "Hey, Zach." Tyler calls. "What?" Zach asks. "Be careful with my girlfriend," Tyler answers with a grin. I poke him. "I think I can handle Zach," I say. "I know, Bec. But it won't hurt for him to know that I'm keeping an eye on things." I roll my eyes. "See you after," I say. "Time for me to go be a snob."
