Love Is Real

Chapter 30

~Intermission~

That first half of the play was perfect. Everything was correct, on time and just.. Perfect. I couldn't have expected it to be better.

The fake arm is.. well.. Easy to handle I guess. Even if it doesn't seem fake to the audience, it sure doesn't feel real to me. But as an actor, I have to pretend it does.

"Bro! YOU WERE AMAZING!" Matthew comes up to hug me. "YOU WERE NEVER LIKE THIS IN REHEARSAL!"

"Aww thanks. You're doing great Matthew." I let him know, he smiles.

Mr. Halbert lets us know that the intermission is over and we get to our spots for the second half of the play.

...
"I couldn't have done it without you." I tell Nash, holding his hands on stage in front of the audience.

"You have come so far. I never doubted you."

For a second I'm lost, but then I realize that we're acting..

"I don't want to leave you." I say to him.

"Hey. Who said anything about leaving?" He asks me, as I start to fake cry.

"This means-"

"Shh." He puts his finger over my lips. "I will NEVER leave you."

This is the part where he grabs my hand and kisses me. Oh god. Oh god.

The audience is motionless and silent.

Nash raises his hand up, bringing it closer to mine. But instead of grabbing my hand he grabs the fake arm. I gasp from the sting. His hands tighten on the cast and he yanks the plastic straight off my shoulder, as the wraps release. The cast pops out of the end of my arm and I can hear everyone backstage gasp. I try to hold in the pain.

"What are you doing?" I whisper while the audience looks around in confusion.

"If I love you, I love for for you are, not for who you had to become because of me." He tells me, screaming the last words as loud as he can. He smiles and slowly runs his finger down the end of my half arm. That's where he kisses me and the curtain closes, leaving the audience in shock. They clap, slowly, but it gets louder as the lights turn off.

Love isn't always real, but we can always find a way to make it real in our own terms. It has different perspectives, like looking into the different sides of a diamond. It's all difficult though, trying to figure out which angle to take your way from.

You meet someone you love, and all you really need is for them to love and want you back. Once they do, you gather strength and hope towards the love that you build together. There's always gonna be things that'll bring that created force down, but that's why the word "forgive" exists. People make mistakes, sometimes they don't even realize the outcome of their mistake. But in the end, if they get up after they fall, they're worth it.

Yeah, it's just 4 letters. But love isn't really as simple as it seems. There are so many layers to it, and you never know what you'll come across as you try to break down the layers. Some things will make you happy, and others will tear you apart. But that's what life is all about.

So many thoughts, so many feelings, and so many emotions from just a 4 lettered word.

Love is real.