Dare To Love

8 - Rehersals

"Maia," Louis called, knocking on the girl's door. "I swear, if you don't hurry, we'll be late for class."

It was Monday morning, and as usual, Louis was headed to class. Unlike the other times, Maia hadn't walked to Louis' dorm to urge him out of bed, she hadn't even gotten out of her room with ten minutes left before their Drama class. He sighed when no reply was heard, knocking harder onto the door. He knew that the girl hated to miss class, and even the thought of missing her classes made her anxious.

"I'm not going," a faint voice called from the other side, sounding hoarse and exhausted. "I'm sick."

"What?" Louis squawked, frowning in concern. "You can't be sick! It's rehearsal and everyone's gonna be stressed out if you're not there! You need to come, you can't just miss practice!"

"You sound like my dad," Maia grumbled, and the sound of shuffling and groaning followed before the door opened.

The door flew open to reveal Maia, dressed in baggy sweatpants and a ratty T-shirt, her eyes were rimmed with tears that threatened to spill, her nose was red and she held a box of tissues in her spare hand. The pair stared at each other for a moment, before the girl coughed into the crook of her elbow.

"You look great," Louis insisted, lying through his teeth and offering a strained smile. "You don't even look that sick! Now, come on. We have to hurry to rehearsal."

"Louis, I'm sick," the girl rose her brows. "Go without me."

"Maia, don't do this to me!" Louis wailed.

"You'll be fine, Sarah can play Juliet for today," she suggested, sniffling and groaning at the feeling. "She's my understudy, after all."

"Don't make me go alone!" He pleaded, pouting. "You know Sarah keeps trying to flirt with me! If you're not there, there's nothing to stop her!"

"You'll be fine," the girl soothed, looking over at her bed. "Now, go before you're late, Louis."

Louis sighed and nodded slowly, looking over the girl's shoulder and seeing Elisa, the girl's girlfriend, with her limbs spread like a starfish on Maia's twin-sized bed in nothing but boy shorts and a tank-top.

"Is Eliza sick, too?"

"I'm not," the other girl answered, sitting up into a sitting position. "I was looking over Maia, since she could've choked on her own vomit during the night. She puked her guts out half the night. I really don't think she's feeling good enough to go to rehearsal, Louis"

He sighed in defeat, grabbing the back of his neck. "I hope you feel better," he replied, taking a step back and staring at the time on his phone.

"Thanks," Maia said, the sound hoarse. "I think I'm gonna try to sleep it off now."

"Okay," Louis nodded. "I should probably go, too. If I'm late one more time, MacLean's gonna be up my ass and he might give my role away."

The brunette nodded, slowly closing the door as Louis hurried down the hall and down the stairs, dashing across campus towards rehearsal. He made it with a minute left, flashing a smile to his teacher as he settled onto one of the squeaking chairs and fished out his play.

He sighed. This was gonna be a long day, and he would need to practice with someone.

. . .

Four flights of stairs shouldn't have tired Louis as much as they'd just did, and yet here he was, trying to steady his breathing as he made his way to Harry's dorm. He was attempting to ignore the peeling wallpaper and the large, if somewhat, suspicious looking stains in the carpet of the hallway.