Affinity

Chapter 8: Affinity

When Pam congratulated Nastia in English class, the strawberry blonde was surprised to hear news of her unopposed secretarial run had circulated that fast. But it turned out that wasn't the news her best friend had heard.

"Of course, I heard! I looked at the cast list. You got a part in the play!" Pam beamed.

Oh. She had forgotten about that.

"I haven't seen the cast list. Did you get a part?" Nastia asked hoping she'd say yes since drama club was her thing first.

"Yeah. I got the mom, Helen Cooper. You got Judy, the teen girl."

Nastia didn't think she did that great and she hoped there wasn't too many lines to memorize. Nevertheless, she went with Pam after class to Mrs. Trailbridge's classroom to pick up the script and was told the read through was after school and they'd get their rehearsal schedules then.

Nothing exciting happened for the rest of day. At lunch, Reina complained about her boyfriend as usual. Savannah was excited about the easy victory and Pam already had her nose buried in the script. Anastasia felt a stare on her back and turned to find Ivy looking at her. She turned back to her lunch convincing herself that the other girl wasn't actually staring at her, she just happened to be looking in her direction at that time. And the next time she checked a few minutes later as well....

On the way to Mrs. Trailbridge's classroom after school, Pam walked beside Nastia and admitted that she was a bit jealous about Nastia's part.

"Do you want to trade?" Anastasia asked.

"Nash! We can't do that," she chuckled. "Don't get me wrong. I'm happy for you and it's not really about the part itself but more about--"

"Hi, Pam.... congrats on your parts," AJ said as he came from an adjacent hallway and matched his step to the girls' to walk on Pam's other side. Nastia silently praised the distance. Yesterday at church he was too close for comfort. Still the strange feeling surged inside her.

"Congrats on your part, too! I'm not surprised you got it cause you were great." Pam rambled this out so fast she made it sound like a tongue twister.

"Thanks."

There was a lull in the conversation. Pam's hands tightened on her backpack straps, her gaze turning to the floor. Though Nastia was not interested in talking to him, she wanted to help Pam who she could tell was trying to think of anything to say to keep talking to AJ, so she asked him, "What part did you get?"

AJ just cleared his throat and turned his attention to some of the other guys in the classroom when they crossed the doorway. It was now she realized he was back to avoiding her. She told herself she didn't care, and it was for the best. He may be have grown into a stud, but he was still the same obnoxious jerk that he was back in grade school!

"He is your boyfriend," Pam answered. She probably assumed that her idol just didn't hear her friend, but Anastasia knew better. "In the play, I mean," she added unnecessarily.

"Great...," she replied.

Mrs. Trailbridge taught Life Skills and Home Economics. Instead of the standard desks, there were white tables and the classroom also featured four kitchen stations. They sat at a table towards the back of the classroom, saving seats for Savannah and Reina.

"He is so hot. You're so lucky," Pam sighed in defeat as they sat down.

"Lucky, yeah sure. Who's your pretend husband?"

"Kevin." Pam made a face and as if summoned from a pentagram circle, bespectacled Kevin spotted them across the room and moseyed on over with a big grin.