popularity || sanders sides [DISCONTINUED]

17 | Roman

Chapter 17: I Like-Like Him!
Roman Castillo

The party was lamer than anything. They didn't even have drinks, because apparently their parents were supervising the whole thing. Everyone stood around awkwardly; even though it looked fun from the outside, it was really dumb. It was worse when Veronica and I walked out about 15 minutes after getting in and I found out that the other three had decided to leave Veronica and I there.

"V, what are we going to do now?" I asked her, pretty much bored out of my mind. She shrugged, "We could always walk around and look for dropped candy." And that was the suggestion we went with.

We walked for a while, before making it to the park, where we decided to sit down. When we did, Veronica looked at me as if she had something to say, but nothing came out. That could only mean that I had to initiate the conversation, "Ronnie? What do you need to say?"

She sighed, "Roman...I do love hanging out with you during rehearsals, but since I don't really do anything since I'm not part of the cast, I figured I should try out for an activity that I would have fun doing. So I tried out for the swim team...but it turns out that most of the practices are on the same days as your rehearsals, so I won't be there for them..."

"Oh," I replied, mildly surprised. I knew she deserved to have her own things to do, so I decided to bring up a different part of the topic, "Why would they start swim up in the middle of fall?"

She smiled and shrugged, "School really is stupid sometimes."

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After that, fall break went by really quickly, and before I knew it, we were back to practicing Hamilton, with only five months until the big night. But there was something weird that hit me as I watched Virgil sing the beginning of Take A Break with Zyler.

I didn't have too much time to think about that, because Drew, who played Lafayette and Jefferson, reminded me that it was time for me to go on. We quickly ran through the song and took a break, how ironic, before moving on to Say No To This.

"Hey, Virge? I think you did really good back there," I decided to say, catching his attention rather quickly. He turned to look at me with a raised brow, "Wow, you're complimenting me about how well I did? And not talking about yourself? You deserve a sticker."

He turned back around to talk to Patton, but I grabbed his shoulder and made him face me again, "Virgil, I mean it! You did amazing! You're really good at hitting Eliza's notes, better than I could ever be."

I couldn't help but notice how his face and the tips of his ears began heating up, but instead of giving me time to comment on it, he just playfully punched me in the arm and said, "You're a dork." And walked away to try to talk to Patton again.

When he left, I found myself beginning to smile, and I felt my face warming up, but I didn't know why. I just shrugged and went back to the stage for Say No to This.

Once that was over, Peach walked over to me, a little too much confidence in her steps. I expected her to stop when she got to speaking distance, but she didn't. She kept getting closer until she was close enough to whisper, "You did great back there," in my ear and kiss my cheek, leaving a pink lipstick mark there.

"Peach, I think we need to—"

"No, no, shh...don't talk, Ro," she said quietly, taking my hand in hers and pressing a kiss to my lips. I almost gagged, but held it back, hoping something would make her realize that I wasn't into her. So yeah, I did in fact flat-face it.

Thankfully, there was a voice behind me that basically saved me from what was currently going on, "Hey, Peach, I don't think he wants you...or, like, likes you. At all." Virgil?

She finally pulled herself away from me and rolled her eyes, not forgetting to wink at me before walking away. I turned to look at Virgil, grateful that he was there to help out, "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Honestly I didn't want to help you, but you looked very uncomfortable and it was making me uncomfortable."

"Oh," despite the conversation not being much of a reason for it to be, I could feel my face getting warmer and warmer. Virgil just shrugged and walked away. I began wondering if his face had been warming up too and his foundation was covering it, or if it wasn't and I was just being stupid. But then I asked myself why I was wondering that, and when I couldn't think of a true answer, I gave up, letting the red warmth take over.

I then felt a hand on my shoulder, "I think someone has a crush on someone." And when I turned around, I saw not only Drew Gooden, who played Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson, but also Danny Gonzalez, who played Aaron Burr.

It was Drew who had put his hand on my shoulder and who had spoken first, and Danny who continued the conversation, "Yeah, it's kinda obvious, dude."

"What?" If I was being honest, I had no idea what they were talking about. Maybe it was just me and my oblivious self, but I didn't see me having a crush on anyone. The both of them raised an eyebrow, almost as if they were the same person, and Drew continued, "You obviously have a crush on Virgil."

"No I don't." Maybe they could've been right, maybe that's what was wrong with me when I was around him. But did I really have a crush on someone I used to despise so much? It's possible, I suppose.

They both weren't buying it, but yet they still walked away. I sighed, thinking about the possibility of me like-liking Virgil. I thought about how I had been so rude to him at first, talking bad about him when I thought he wasn't around, and then made it up to him by taking him to Hot Topic. I thought about how amazing he admittedly looked in his Rich Halloween costume I had picked out. I thought about rehearsing Hamilton with him, and how angelic he sounded, and how his eyes sparkled when he managed to hit a note.

Oh my...I like-like him!

We were called to continue rehearsal, and we finished up act two before calling it quits for the day. I remembered that Ricky had to work later today and wouldn't be able to pick me up, so I'd have to walk home. And then that's when Patton walked up to me, a giant smile plastered on his face, "Hey, Ro! Logan, Virgil, and I were gonna go to McDonalds if you want to join us!"

With the fact that I had nothing better to do and no ride home, I agreed to go to McDonald's with my friends. What could happen?

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I hate this chapter with a passion,, but also I haven't updated this in forever so take it. I'll edit it later.