Love, Eliot

Light My Candle

Ms. Wright barked the dance steps to us like a drill sergeant. Left, right, kick, spin, jump, no laughing! The progress we made, despite sharing the same splitting headache, was nothing short of award-worthy.

The only thing keeping me from dying from exhaustion was watching the main cast members practice their parts; if anyone had the right to drop dead from overexertion, it was Rosemary.

Her performance improved every time Ms. Wright commanded another run-through of La Vie Boheme. I imagined her feet felt heavier than mine did; halfway through rehearsal, she glanced back at me and begged for help with her eyes.

All I could offer was a sympathetic smile and a poor imitation of us eating post-release. Later, when she ran off the stage cupping her mouth, I realized that was the last thing she wanted.

Ms. Wright sighed at the loss of her Mimi and gave us five minutes to "regroup". Then, she disappeared behind the curtain to locate Rosemary.

I drifted around my hungover classmates. At least until one grabbed my arm, "We need to talk." I glanced up and saw my ex, Carter, staring at me.

I sighed, "I know."

"What the hell were you thinking with that stunt?"

"I wasn't." I grabbed my phone from the nearby pile of bags against the wall. One new message. "I shouldn't have said that in front of everyone."

He nodded, happy to receive an apology.

I continued, "But it also wasn't a lie."

Carter scoffed, "Fine then, how long are you going to stay mad at me?"

I tapped the notification and chewed the inside of my cheek. "Look, I really don't want to talk about this."

"Why not? We have plenty of ti-,"

Before he could finish, I grabbed my bag and headed off the stage, "Ms. Wright will be back any minute."

He called after me but I was already halfway to the bathroom.

I reread the message, the adrenaline already kicking in. "Go to the restroom and take off your underwear. Take a picture so I know you followed directions."

Eliot had texted me right after class started and I missed it. Hopefully, it wasn't too late to play along.

Luckily, the bathroom was empty except for me, spiraling out of control and stumbling out of my panties before I could be missed. After almost falling over a few times, I managed to tuck them away and take the picture.

"Hope you're happy," I said below the attached file and hit send before I could second guess the angle or the lighting.

I tugged my leggings on and tried to get used to the feeling of the fabric rubbing against me; dancing would be complicated.

I decided to hide in the back.

When I returned to the auditorium, Ms. Wright was still nowhere to be found. The class waited without complaint and sat on the floor, reveling in their needed break. Most of us talked to each other but some were on their phones, including Josiah.

He tapped on his phone, then smiled.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out.

ELIOT1980 IS TYPING...

I opened my message thread with Eliot; the green light stared back at me. I glanced back at Josiah as he typed.

A moment later my phone vibrated, "Very happy, actually. I hope you have fun without your underwear for the rest of the day."

My eyes widened. What were the odds?

"Busy day?" I needed to know more before saying something, anything to Josiah.

Before I could see if Josiah got a new message, Ms. Wright fluttered back into the room.

"Alright," She clapped, earning groans from everyone at the front of the stage, "Rosemary was feeling under the weather but that's no problem, " she said without any attempt to sound convincing, "We have understudies for this reason."

Oh no.

Ms. Wright motioned toward me, "Cassie will fill in for the run-through of Light My Candle."

I dropped my bag and phone; had I pissed the universe off in another life? I forced down a groan. If I didn't step up, I'd be lucky to ever get a lead role.

Ms. Wright rallied everyone, getting them to stand for act two of her torture show. She demanded I come to the front of the stage with Josiah.

He smiled at me, sending my thoughts into a spiral."Fancy seeing you up here."

I shrugged. "The view is pretty nice."

"Oh, I know." He said, tucking his phone into his pocket.

Ms. Wright handed me a plastic candle and directed us to our positions. The music started before I had reached maximum-level panic.

Did the lights dim? I think the lights dimmed.

Josiah dropped the smirk on his face. "What'd you forget?"

That's my cue, right?

I clutched the candle and stepped onto the stage. "Got a light?"

My mind raced while the scene blurred around me. Josiah followed my clumsy lead, somehow, and managed to save the performance.

I pushed away my nerves and dropped on all fours to look for Mimi's stash. I bit my lip, hoping I chose my not-so-see-through leggings that morning.

"They say I have the best ass below 14th street," I glanced back at Josiah. His mouth was hanging half-open. "Is it true?"

"What?" He laughed and stuffed his hands into his pockets. His eyes shifted away, and then back.

"You're staring again." Either he's a way better actor than everyone else or...fuck.

"Oh no." He looked away and place his hand on the back of his neck, " I mean you do... have a nice," A strained sound left his throat before he cleared it, "I mean, you look familiar."

My cheeks burned. "Like your dead girlfriend." Lucky her.

The scene dragged on, each line making me consider crawling under a rock. We couldn't stop. Ms. Wright would only demand we run through it again.

The show must go on.

****

Finally, after running through the first half of the song–three times, Ms. Wright took pity on me and my stuttering partner.

"Alright, that's good enough for today." Her clap signaled the end of my humiliation.

I scrambled to my feet.

"Hey, um," Josiah started a sentence I wouldn't give him the time to finish.

As soon as Ms. Wright dismissed us, I ran to my bag, grabbed my phone, and tapped on the waiting notification.

"Just a long class." The green light flickered on next to Eliot's username.

I turned, catching Josiah pulling out his phone and starting to type. My phone buzzed in my hands, "Having fun without those panties?"

I scoffed. "No."

Josiah put his phone away and the green light flickered off, but not before a new message appeared, "Good. I have instructions for you tonight too."

I swallowed a frustrated scream and glanced over my shoulder.

Josiah noticed, smirked, and gathered his stuff before walking out of the auditorium; leaving me with more questions left unanswered.