Resilient

Chapter 30

Stone's Point of View

Today is Georgette's big debut, and then after this weekend, she's home for two and a half weeks. The creepy guy she told me about earlier, really did just want to interview them for the play. I even checked him out, and he came up clean. The police department is building a case against my father and Joey's dad. Also, in good news, they brought Olive back home safe and sound. They arrested the guys responsible for her disappearance. They're part of the case that'll hopefully bring mine and Joey's fathers to justice.

"You nervous to see her?" Wendy ask me, as she holds Ellie on her hip. She has gotten big over the last few months.

"I'm excited," I tell her.

"Stone and Georgie sitting in a tree," Andy begins to sing. I nudge him playfully and we laugh. The gang is all here to support our girl. We walk into the auditorium and take our seats. Ready for the show to begin. Finally, the lights dim and the first song begins. It's I Can't Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon, sung by the guy playing Wilson.

Further into the play, I realize, it's about us. Wilson is Joey, the character Garrett is me, and then there's Ethan. The third party, the hero. Who swoops in and saves our heroine, Katherine, from the love triangle that she's caught in. Georgie is playing Katherine, and she's in the middle of singing I Don't Love You by My Chemical Romance. I look over, and see Eli. He's staring up at her. And the look on his face, I know what that look is because it's the same one I've been wearing, since I've met Georgette. He's in love with her. He's suppose to be Ethan.

We finally get to the last song, the original piece Georgette wrote. Her and the guy playing Ethan are singing it as a duet. It's the epic finale, to their love story. The pride of knowing that the girl on stage is my girlfriend, overrides my rage towards Eli right now. When the curtains close, there's a standing ovation. I wait for Georgette our in the hall, and she runs up to me with a smile on her face. She runs into my arms, and I give her the biggest hug I can manage. Behind her, I notice Eli looking at us. He doesn't see me looking at him, with a look of longing on his face. He wishes he was me.

"What'd you think?" Georgette asks me.

"It was us," I say.

"Yeah. Write what you know right," she jokes.

"It was fantastic. You were fantastic. And, the fact you found a way to include the song Jessie's Girl was the cherry on top," I say with a laugh. She laughs along with me.

"I'm really glad you liked it," she says and kisses me.

"You're brilliant Georgette," I say.

"The song I wrote, it's about you," she tells me. I smile and kiss her forehead.

"I love you," I tell her.

"I love you," she responds.

"I do have one thing to say," I tell her.

"What is it?" She asks.

"Eli, he wrote it about you," I tell her.

"I don't follow," she says.

"Eli's in love with you," I tell her. She laughs.

"No way. Eli's with Cara. We're just friends," she says.

"Ethan is Eli, Georgette. Trust me, I know the look he was giving you while you were on stage because I was him," I tell her. She bites her lip, and looks over at Eli, who is talking to some people from the audience, then back at me.

"Doesn't matter," she says. "I love you, Stone Keller. Nothing is going to change that. Not after everything we've been through." I take her in my arms again.

When I first met Georgia Rae Collins, she was a mess. She had a black eye, from an abusive ex, and was in love with our best friend Joey, but wouldn't admit it. She was a beautiful disaster. I didn't want to fall for her, in fact, I tried like hell not to. My best friend was in love with her. He had been in love with her for almost his whole life. Who was I to ruin that? To come between, what I thought at the time, were two soulmates. I couldn't be selfish when it came to Georgette. That's how I knew, I loved her. That's how I knew, I was in deep shit.

The Georgia Rae Collins before me now, is a strong and beautiful woman. Who has overcome more obstacles than she should've ever had to. She's had more shit thrown her way than she deserves. And she's come out the other side, tougher than anyone I know. She's resilient. And she's everything to me.