The Chemistry Test

prologue

"You don't have to be afraid." His voice rasped, fingers grazing my cheeks. "You can trust me."

I exhaled a shaky breath as I interlocked my fingers behind his neck, trying to ignore the chills running down the length of my spine.

"Show me," I muttered, inching my lips closer to his, "How to be brave."

His body leaned into mine, closing the space between us until-

"Cut!"

Mr. Gorveau, our Advanced Theatre teacher, leapt from his director's chair, a sour expression manipulating his facial features. "The hell was that?"

Zak and I happily removed our hands from one another and took several well needed steps in opposite directions, meanwhile the teacher's beady eyes flickered between the two of us.

Zak shrugged and stuffed his hands into his jeans' pockets as if beckoning me to speak for both of us.

"Uh..." I swallowed hard, searching for comfort in the 10 pairs of eyes of my classmates, all intently staring at us.

"The script says intimate." Mr. Gorveau deconstructed the last word into its three syllables as if I was just learning English. "Do I have to explain to you what that entails?"

My gut twisted and churned in the midst of the thick silence, as if performing somersaults would please our disgruntled Theatre teacher.

"I thought Zoe was good." Chimed the familiar voice of my best friend, Mark, from the first row.  I smiled in gratitude and glanced over at Zak, who appeared equally, if not more unsettled than I was.

"Did I ask for your opinion, Mr. Galassi?"

Mark turned his palms toward the ceiling in surrender. "No, you did not." He muttered, despite that the teacher's question was most likely rhetorical.

Ignoring the response, Mr. Gorveau glowered at the script in his hands before returning his attention to Zak and I.

"Have I taught you nothing about acting? Jesus Christ, you two, that was the worst trial yet. The lack of passion, chemistry, shazam. Just dreadful."

I'd be lying if I said his words didn't sting. Unfortunately, though, he was right. For the roles Zak and I were playing as Romeo and Juliet, our acting wasn't up to par.

The teacher sighed from below the stage, retreating to his old fashioned director's chair. He ran a hand down the side of his face, proceeding to scratch the salt-pepper scruff on the end of his chin as if in deep thought.

The harsh stage lights cast shadows across Zak's cheekbones and jawline as it pulsed, whether in fear or anger I wasn't sure.

A few Mississippi-paced seconds passed before Mr. Gorveau spoke again.

"Listen up, you two. The opening night of Juliet and Romeo is in two weeks. That's fourteen days until this entire place is filled with hundreds of people, all here to swoon over your sappy love-story. If your performance isn't believable, that's revenue, time, and respect gone for good. Not to mention your chances of matriculating to any prestigious university."

His words slapped me. He was right. There was no way I'd be able to get into a decent film school if the largest production of my high school career received bad reviews.

"What can we do?" Zak's tone shattered my train of thought.

"I have no choice." Mr. Gorveau sighed, his lips pursed as he crossed his arms over one another.

Fear tugged at my insides as the teacher's eyes flickered between Zak and I. The intensity of his stare made my knees wobble.

"No choice but to use the chemistry test."

Mr. Gorveau's chapped lips broke into a salty grin as a devious, raspy chuckle escaped his lungs. One by one, he climbed the stairs leading to the stage, where he turned his back to the rest of our Advanced Theatre class and stood in front of Zak and I. Shadows cast across the angles of his face, making him appear delectably sinister.

"I haven't had to use the chemistry test in quite a while, so this should be fun."

"The chemistry test?" Zak's eyes narrowed at the teacher.

"The chemistry test - an assignment I created a few years ago. Initially, it was intended for my students, Allen Young and Christine Palomino, Lord help those two basket cases." He muttered, shuddering at the mention of their names. He cleared his throat, retaining his thought process, and continued, "Anyway, they were in a similar situation. Both were seniors, leads in the spring play, their chemistry sucked, and they had to meet a deadline to pull off their shit show of a play."

Jeez, our chemistry was bad, but calling it a shit show was a bit harsh. Regardless, I dialed my focus as the teacher rambled along.

"I offered a simple proposal. If in two weeks they were able to pull some chemistry out of their pockets and gets their acts together, I'd pass them both with A's for the semester. But if they were unable to impress me during the last rehearsal, just a few hours before opening night, I'd fail them both, make them forfeit their lead roles to their understudies, and write a bad review about their acting, a review any and all Liberal Arts colleges would take note of."

I forced myself to swallow the lump in my throat. The proposal was heavier than I'd anticipated. With stakes that high, I'd either make it or break it. My grade in Advanced Theatre was currently sitting at a B-, and if I could raise it to an A, I'd make straight A's for the first time in my life.

"So what do you twinkies say?" The corners of Gorveau's mouth upturned as if he already knew.

I pursed my lips and met Zak's electrifying gaze. He nodded once, clearly up for the challenge.

I straightened my spine and forced my words to remain steady. "Let's do it."

"Excellent." Mr. Gorveau's smile widened further than I'd ever seen it. He clasped his hands together in front of his chest and purred, "Two weeks, children. Two weeks to determine your future. Good luck."