fake (b.t.c.)

twenty six

"i'm pulling a julia."
•••
the first act of the show consisted of ben trying to catch me to talk backstage, and me running off, telling him i had a quick change even when i didn't.
the second act was a different story, there was a lot more "together onstage" time.

ben grabbed my hand just before we walked onstage in one of our school hallway crosses.
"so, are we gonna talk about that, or just pretend it never happened and make ourselves unhappy?" he said in a low voice. by the time i opened my mouth to answer, he was already off to change for whose house.

i stood there in the wings for a second before i remembered there was still a show going on, and i had to do another change. i went into my booth and put on the miniskirt and crop top i'd picked out for whose house. while what's wrong with me played on stage, i silently took myself through the choreography and ran through my crosses in my mind.

then, i ran onstage as the bass started to pump. i helped pull a table on, then grabbed a red solo cup, which was quickly discarded, as i had to dance.
barely thirty seconds in, the part i was most scared for came. ben slid across the front of the stage towards me, then swiftly picked me up.
"we really need to talk." he whispered as he set me down and spun off in the other direction.
i honestly wasn't sure how he was thinking about anything other than this ridiculously complicated dance. then again, i was used to doing it nine other ways, so i had a lot more to remember.
there came a section where we faced each other, and he raised his eyebrows at me while he dropped, and i mouthed a subtle "later."
ben rolled his eyes at me.
i jumped up on the couch for the last section of the dance, and, like my track sheet said, ben lifted me off the arm of the couch and pretended to kiss me on the button of the song.

except he didn't pretend.
everyone was frozen in place, and i was making out with ben cook on a broadway stage. erika let out a tiny gasp, and the lights started to go down, but ben was still kissing me.
i grabbed his hand that was planted on my waist and tugged him offstage, where he kissed me one more time.
"i'm pulling a julia." he said, then turned around and left.