Act I, Scene III

Oh no.

Oh, no no no no!

Oh God!

I didn't mean to! I was just reading along! It's not what you think!

Of course, the excuse was beginning to form in my head. There is no way I could refuse the prince of the school and the nuclear heat I was getting from the stares in the auditorium. Haruka pushing me down the aisle with her chair like a cattle prod didn't really help much either.

“What are you doing!?” I hissed. I was desperately trying not to lose my footing. Falling on the steps in front of everybody wasn't going to make the embarrassment I was feeling any better. “I can’t… don’t!”

“I hate this just as much as you do! But if Ren wants you, then you need to go, those are the rules unfortunately. She grinned playfully. “Besides, you can’t just hang out with me all your life. What are you going to do if I meet a handsome playboy that likes to take care of the unfortunate? Or get hit by a bus?”

“Haruka!”

“You deserve this, Shu.” She was uncharacteristically forceful in her tone, her stare fixed on me. “Isn’t this why you came to Seishun? Didn't you talk about random opportunities like this? Didn't you say they would never happen? Well, it's happening! So man up and deal with it! And if any of those fashion magazine bimbos laugh at you, I'll kill them.”

“Yeah, but…what if?” My face turned a soft pink.

“What if he decides you’re a terrible actor and declares he never wants to talk to you again? Well then, you're no better than you were yesterday. Big whoop. You can do this, Shuichi, I believe in you.

With one final shove she pushed me in the leading lady’s direction. Taken by surprise, I wasn’t able to regain my footing after tripping on the bottom step. Closing my eyes tightly, I prepared for the inevitable thud.

But the fall did not come.

Instead, I felt something soft underneath my waist. Cotton? Silk? I opened my eyes to find the deep blue eyes of Ren Miyano looking back at me.

Wow, okay. I wasn't about to start writing fluffy love poetry, but up close even I had to admit he was attractive.

“Why hello there! My little bird.” His wink set off a chain reaction of gasps in the room. We kept our conversation at a low enough volume. We didn't want anyone suffering a heart attack.

“Ummmm yes! Hello! Bird! That is me! I am…yes!” I couldn't get my words out. Not that I expected to, given that most of my social skills atrophied years ago. “Hello.”

“Oh? I didn't expect you to be so embarrassed. You always seem so confident when I see you out and about with Miss Kanbara over there.” He waved daintily in Haruka’s direction. She melted into a puddle. “I thought you were going to come back at me with a sarcastic quip! Maybe even, dare I say, a naughty word or two? He put his hand to his mouth, the very picture of a blushing maiden.

“Yeah that…that's different.” Had he been spying on me? I guess it's not that difficult to do when you know pretty much everyone in the school. But why would he know my name, better yet, why would he take an interest in me? “I don’t know what you’ve heard, but it’s wrong.” I detached myself from one of his arms.

Ren looked confused, his brow furrowed. “So you're saying your ability to recite plays from memory is false? Can you not do it?”

“No, it's true. I wonder what else you've heard though? You guys seem to enjoy collecting rumours.” I didn't want to be rude to somebody that everyone loved, especially since he was being so kind to me. The emotional whiplash this situation was causing left me feeling vulnerable. Even if he was being kind, I wasn't going to let him hurt me.

“What? Shuichi, my dear, I assure you that while the school as a whole likes to gossip, we're all thespians at heart, let's not delude ourselves. I have zero interest in other students’ private lives or goings-on. In fact, my darling, ever since I heard about your little gift I've wanted to come and talk to you. However, the few rumours that I did pay attention to have led me to believe you to be somewhat…unapproachable.”

“Yeah, well, you get to be unapproachable if you spend most of my life being picked on for not being able to talk to people and having…”

“Poor eyesight? Oh, you adorable, precious thing!” Ren placed a gloved finger on his eye.

A contact? He quickly put it back in.

“Now, I don't know what you think I am, or what you think this school is. All I can say is that I can give you my solemn vow, as the lady Roxanne, that no emotional harm will come to you during this performance. I know it's why you want to be here, so just let me do this for you. Okay? Baby cakes?”

What the hell was this guy's problem?

Girl’s problem?

What the hell was Ren’s problem!?

He deliberately put me in this trap. He knew I couldn’t walk away without the whole school knowing about it. I would look stupid by refusing or I would look stupid performing. I was annoyed, but I already knew the answer to the question. I had to do this! If not now, when? If I was bad, I could just go back to appreciating theatre from afar.

But I didn’t want that. I wanted what Ren had.

Minus the dress.

“All right! I’ll do it!” Adrenaline running through me, I stomped to my place beneath the balcony. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Ren was smiling. Not a calculating smile, nor a sympathetic one. He was genuinely beaming.

Why?

This was me now. A wink from Ren told me we were ready to go. Again, he thrust his arms theatrically to begin Roxanne’s opening line. “But why do you speak so haltingly? Has your imagination gone lame?”

He was a high energy performer, that much was obvious. I had to match his energy. I stamped my foot on the floor and thrust my arms, mirroring him. “Hush! It is... it is the darkness. In these shadows, my words must feel their way to your ears.” I returned the wink.

“But my words find their way to you easily enough.”

We were both smiling now, and I could see that I had his trust. Behind me, I could hear a few murmurs from the audience. It seemed my acting had caught them unawares.

Good. I easily flowed into my next line, “That is because they fall! I must climb to reach you, but your words descend like a weight of honey. Besides, my heart is so large, and your ears so small... and your words come down to me fast, but mine must take time to rise.”

“They seem to be rising better now.”

Ren seemed almost shocked. He must've heard that I was good, but the surprise on his face was obvious. He expected me to be good, he didn't expect me to be me. “They have caught the rhythm of the climb!”

Ren paused. I waited for him to say the line, but he was late by seconds. This wasn't like him. Granted, I didn't actually know that seeing as this was the first time I had seen him perform, much less performed with him. Still, I could tell he was off. I could hear hiccuping sounds above me. When Ren showed his face again, he was crying.

A method actor? No. The way he was looking at me was different. His eyes, as clear as they are, became clearer, and even I could tell he was seeing me in a new light. His next line was full of emotion.

“It is true... you speak with a new voice.”

You bet, Ren Miyano. “Yes, a new voice, for in the protective dark I dare to be myself. I dare to... I do not know what. Forgive my trembling. This is all so stra-”

I was so engrossed in the performance that I didn't notice when Ren left the balcony; I did not hear the loud patter of his high heel shoes, I didn't even notice when he pulled me towards him.

The thing that finally shook me from Cyrano, the thing that transformed me back into Shuichi Kondo, was the feeling of the prince's lips against mine. He pulled away bashfully, as did I. We didn't really have time to process the moment as a loud excited yell erupted from the crowd behind us.

What.

What was…

Oh no.

Oh, no no no no!