Tainted Souls

Chapter Twenty

I understood why Maverick was so stressed to the point where he didn't feel like performing at the music competition. Luckily, he seemed to be back to his usual self again after a few days of recovering from those news. Days passed, and soon, it was mid-December. After all those class times being used for rehearsal practice, tomorrow was finally going to be the day of the play performance. It was a week before finals, which was one of the busiest times of the semester.

"Girl, I can't believe that Professor Langston told you and Maverick that you can choose to kiss for the ending of the play if you guys want to receive extra credit," Keisha grinned. "I say that you should go for it!"

"Are you nuts? Mav and I just got into this routine where he's comfortable enough to consider me a trustworthy ally. I can't break that bond by just kissing him and ruining everything. That one kiss could be my demise if he doesn't feel the same way. Besides, you already know about his haphephobia," I shook my head.

"I never said that you should kiss him first. I just said that you should initiate it with nonverbal cues," Keisha smirked. "Mav's fear doesn't have to do with initiating the physical touch, girl. I can't wait to see you guys kiss! I'll be getting front row tickets."

"No, please don't do that," I begged her. "I'm already mortified that it's going to be recorded and uploaded onto the SFCU website. Don't make things too obvious. You contributed to Taj finding out that I'm in love with Maverick."

"Girl, it's because Taj is more perceptive than anyone I know. You had to tell me that you were in love with Mav for me to even consider that it would happen, seeing how we were his sworn enemies. I mean, this is the guy that has won all of his debates in his Political Science class and got a fellowship at a prestigious law firm. I wouldn't worry too much. This is just acting, remember? Either way, I want a front row ticket because it's my awesome best friend performing as the lead character. Sorry to Mav, but it's mainly because of you that I'm showing up. Or else, I'd be making out with Taj during his break time at that law firm. Sorry not sorry."

I wrapped my hands around my shoulders. "Shush. I don't want to hear about it anymore. I'm way too embarrassed to even think about possibly getting him to kiss me. I'm horrible at flirting with others and communicating with them."

"You only live once, Aera. The fact that you're such a "good person" to Maverick now just proves that there is still a 50/50 chance that the boy could end up feeling the same way about you. Like Taj and I said, he's slow when it comes to love. But you're the awesome woman that's helping him overcome his trauma, day by day. It's more than just your social status or your financial state for him."

"Fine," I sighed. "But if it goes wrong, I'll just lie to his face and tell him that I'm just acting."

_______________

Before the play began, I did my best to avoid Maverick. I didn't want him to know how nervous I was at the possibility that I could end up going along with Keisha's suggestion. There was also the fact that I would have to pretend to be his lover. It seemed like ages ago that we first got the parts as Petunia and Rainier. Hunter, who was playing as Quentin, seemed to enjoy the fact that he would be in the spotlight.

"It's a shame that you think that just because your character gets the girl at the end, that you'll be in the spotlight, Medici. But just so you know, you won't actually end up being the star of the play," Hunter mocked him. "Why don't you just leave before the audience throws tomatoes at you?"

"Nobody fucking cares about the shit you say, Hunter." Maverick didn't sound the slightest bit bothered.

I was surprised that he wasn't lashing out and threatening Hunter. Or anyone else, really. Then again, he had started to improve after he chose to open up to Keisha and I and get support from us. We had convinced him to start seeing a therapist as well. It took a long time for us to find a therapist that wasn't overly fake and someone who acted like a copy-paste version of a robot.