A Rose and A Kiss in the Rain

Lilibeth

I move my shirt towards my chest with discomfort. I swear. I feel like my chest has been growing bigger every passing day. And it hurts. The cramps are gone so I think it's almost time for my lady time of the month.

Oh whatever. I won't let it change my mood. So I enter the dance studio with a smile. I recognize some people from school and others from the facility. But when I can't find Charity, my eyes immediately fall on Cassie by the side of the large room.

"Hey Cassie!"

She looks up from her phone at the sound of my voice and gives me her sweet smile. "Hey Lilibeth!"

I sit close by her side on the small bench she's sitting at and put my head on her shoulder. She giggles and lightly touches my head with hers to show affection as well. "Whatcha doing here, Cassie?"

"I heard that our dance department will be checking some students to pick out here. So I had to come and see!"

"Charity invited me. If she invited me, then it must be good. I can't wait to see her."

"I hear that they've been practicing hard for this moment. I just hope they choose Charity. She deserves to be on our stage."

"Yeah. She will. I bet the professors aren't that bad."

Cassie does a scoff at this and I furrow my brows. She looks at me and says, "You think? He's horrible."

"What do you mean?"

"He's so mean! If he thinks you did well, he will just say that you look ugly. Like what does that have to do with anything?!"

Fear runs through my heart for my best friend. But as I watch her come out with her dance outfit, I prefer to stay quiet. There's no use in scaring her now.

"But there's another professor that's like his second. He's the nice one. They both look over the whole Performing Arts building at our local university, and I am so glad that I have the nice one look over the Strings Department most of the time."

"So he's that bad, huh? Who's the one in charge of the dance?"

"The mean one."

"Oh god."

We both stay quiet and give Charity a wide smile as she comes over. "Hey ladies! I'm glad you came over."

"Duh," Cassie says with her gentle attitude. "I came to cheer you on!" She puts her fingers around her mouth to make a megaphone and yells, "Whoo! Let's go Char!"

When I see Francesca start towards us with Mark, I playfully copy Cassie's megaphone. "Whoo! Let's go Mark and Frannie!"

"Hey guys," Francesca says in her sweet voice. Her cheeks with a natural blush that beautifully puffs up when she smiles. Her hair is down, making her bangs slightly cover her eyebrows and fall just down on her shoulders.

"You two here to see some talent?" Mark playfully stretches and we all laugh with him. He also wears a similar outfit as Frannie. Charity's outfit is more tighter with leggings while theirs is a more loose outfit with sweats. They honestly look more like siblings than a couple with the same contagious smile and the same brown-blonde hair. He even has a bit of bangs among his messiness with hair that falls just at the middle of his neck. They even have the same eye color of blue.

"We'll just have to see what the professors have to say to that comment," Cassie says with a hint of tease that leaves him frowning.

Frannie chuckles at this. "So much for confidence, right?" She looks over at Charity and says, "We're gonna practice in the other room in a few minutes. We'll wait for you there."