In The Spotlight - Solangelo

Chapter Twenty One

"Is there any possibility that we could make this gayer?"

I blushed. Will and I were sitting in our Performing Arts class, reading through and rewriting the script. It was awesome already, but we both thought it could do with a couple of changes, specifically to make it more romantic. It had been a couple weeks since I came out to everyone. Since then, I had become a lot more comfortable around my friends. I had finally admitted to Percy that I used to have a crush on him (I like to say he took the information well). Everyone knew that I liked boys rather than girls. I had no secrets.

Well... no secrets, apart from the one about Will. I still hadn't told him that I was in love with him. I didn't know exactly why. I knew that he had a crush on me as well, and if I asked him out he would probably say yes. We both knew we were in love with each other. But... I just couldn't say anything. A small part of me still had doubts as to whether or not he was actually in love. I was afraid that if I asked and he said no, our friendship would end.

"Well... We already have them hugging, so why don't we just go all out and make them kiss?" I suggested.

Will thought about that for a second. "Kinda like episode seven of Yuri On Ice?"

I blinked. "What?"

Will shook his head. "Never mind. It's an anime. Basically, what I am suggesting is that as you jump on top of me, you also kiss me. As we fall to the ground."

He wanted me to initiate the kiss. I had never done that before. Still, it made more sense for the story. "Yeah, that's a good idea." He quickly scribbled down a strange direction, and changed a bit of the dialogue. "Ok, this looks good, I think we are done." Will nodded. "But we, uh, still need to sort out the extra voice."

"I asked the teacher earlier, and she said if we recorded it we could use it. We just need someone to be the voice."

"I could... I could see if Hazel would do it."

"Cool, we're sorted then."

Later that night, I was sitting on my bed, browsing through Tumblr, when someone knocked on my door. I mumbled,"Come in," and watched as Hazel slowly opened the door, and came to sit on my bed. Over the past week or so, I had become a lot closer to her. All of my initial anger towards her existing in general had disappeared. It was nice to have a sister back, almost like a replacement for Bianca and... For Thalia, I suppose. Although, Hazel was younger than me. That was a change, which is gladly accepted. I finally wasn't the youngest in the household.

"I, um, I need some advice," she said, barely above a whisper. "A-about a boy..."

I closed my laptop, and looked her in the eye. "You're in love?"

She blushed. "Yeah. It's a guy in my class. Frank Zhang. He's, well..."

"Tell him," I advised, without hesitation. "Trust me on this, if you keep it a secret it will eat you up inside. Don't make the same mistake I did. Even if he doesn't like you back - which, by the way, cannot be a possibility, because I'm sure he loves you just as much, who wouldn't? A-anyway, if for some reason he doesn't, I promise you will feel a lot better if you both know how you feel."

Hazel raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like you are speaking from experience."

I nodded. "Yeah. I hated myself for years because I never told this... this guy how I felt. About him. And now that he knows I used to have a crush on him, I feel a lot better. So... trust me on this, ok? Just tell him."

"Ok, I will." She started to head towards the door. "Thank you for the advice."

Just as she was about to open the door, I remembered. The voice overs! "Wait, Hazel!" She turned back around. "I, uh, I need a favour, if that's alright with you..."

"What is it?" She sat back down.

"Uh, are you any good at voice acting?"