na•ive
adjective
(of a person or action) showing a lack of
experience, wisdom, or judgment.
"the rather naive young girl had taken a
risk"
•
in which an uprising star juggle...
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( moments later )
•
rylee's knees were shaking as she climbed a flight of stairs to reach the boys' dressing room. it was loud, as per usual, with mamma mia thumping through the thin walls. rylee laughed lightly to herself, almost forgetting that she literally wanted to puke.
she stood outside of the door with her knuckles resting against it. she just had to find the courage to knock.
rylee stepped back and rubbed her sweaty hands down the front of her jeans. she hadn't thought of what to say. obviously, she knew the whole point of this was to tell him that she loved him. so, she had to center a speech around it. she could not just come straight out and say it.
she mumbled a bit to herself, pacing in front of the dressing room. her throat was getting knotted up from stress tears threateningly welling up in her eyes. rylee pressed a hand to her forehead and turned around to face the steps.
she couldn't do it right then.
rylee's feet bit the first set of steps when the door opened and, "rylee? rylee, hey! what're you doing up here?"
she swallowed tightly and turned around. her fingers clenched the railing, causing her knuckles to run bright white. ben grinned in front of her, hands in the front of his costume pockets. he looked so good, her knees went weak again.
rylee took a few steps to stand directly in front of her best friend. "ben, hey."
"hey," ben chuckled, rocking on his heels. "what're you doing up on this floor?"
"i-" rylee's voice caught in her throat. "ben- i-"
"yeah?" he gently interrupted, urging her in his mind to say what he hoped she would say.
"i- uh, i l- god. i can't do this right now. i'm sorry. have a good show." rylee stumbled down the steps, tears streaming down her face at this point. she couldn't do it.
no matter how many times every told her that he felt the same way, she still couldn't get it out of her mind that he would reject her. and that she'd lose his friendship, his love. whatever kind of love it was.
but, when she was halfway down the steps, ben caught her hand and tugged her around to face him. ben pressed rylee's back against the stairwell railing. they blinked at each other for a moment before he cupped her cheek so gently and she tugged him into her by the shirt.
"ladies and gentlemen, this is your thirty minute call. thirty minutes until places. thank you."
rylee gasped, ben's tongue barely slipping past her lips before she let go of him and tumbled down the steps. she wasn't in costume yet.
