"I've sent him four texts, and he hasn't even bothered to reply." I hear my twin sister complain to Miss Keane and Mrs Carter as I come round the corner with Zain's hat/mask in my hands.
"Your boyfriend?" Miss Keane checks, "And you're letting him get to ya?"
"Don't always assume the worst in people, Missy." Mrs Carter tells her, as I decide to stay hidden round the corner and let our teachers deal with this, listening intently to their conversation.
"You're better than this!" Miss Keane encourages.
"Miss Keane's right." Mrs Carter agrees, "You are the star of this show."
"As if." Missy rolls her eyes in disbelief.
"Oi, don't sell yourself short!" Miss Keane scolds before motioning to Mrs Carter, "She only agreed to do this play cos of you."
"It's true. What you gotta do is channel this hurt into something positive." Mrs Carter instructs.
"Yeah, like making Cory believe you actually fancy him." Miss Keane jokes, and the two adults share a brief laugh.
"But Cory's with - "
"Missy!" I come out from round the corner, preventing my sister from saying anymore. "What you doing out here?"
"I were just telling 'em about you and -"
"You were just getting ready for the show and not worry about no silly boys, weren't ya?" I laugh nervously, as my teachers share knowing looks. "Go on, go in there."
"Yeah, show the rest of them how its done." Mrs Carter adds, as I shove the girl into the classroom, quickly.
"You need to learn to keep your mouth shut, you." I scold playfully, pinching her side as she laughs and struts over to Haylee. "Zain!"
"Yo!" The boy calls back, coming into my view almost instantly, and I happily hand him his new, altered hat so it can hopefully fit on his head now. "Thanks, Izzy."
"We're all dead nervous, Miss." Naz informs our English teacher as she walks into the room.
"What if we forget our lines?" "What if no one shows up?" A few students voice their worries aloud.
"Right." Miss Keane claps her hands once to get everyone's attention, "Come and stand in a circle, come on. Everybody." Gradually, a circle forms of the whole cast in their vibrantly-coloured outfits, and I simply stand back and watch. Miss Keane looks at me to invite me to the circle, but I politely decline, and she nods with a smile. "That's it, now I want you all to hold hands, come on, just for a moment, indulge me."
My eyes fall upon Cory as he attempts to hold Naveed's hand, who rudely does everything in his power to ignore him, resulting in a confused look from me. What's happened with those two?
"There are a lot of people out there that said we couldn't pull this off. What do a bunch of kids from Ackley Bridge know about Shakespeare?" Miss Keane states.
"He's a boss, miss." Mo comments, earning a few chuckles around the circle.
"Well, he's not bad for a dead white guy." Miss Keane jokes, "But, despite my best efforts to leave you all in the lurch, you've done an amazing job. You look brilliant, your costumes are fantastic, and I'm so impressed with you all. So I just want you to go out there and smash it! Go on!"
Everyone cheers and applauds Miss Keane's speech, and slowly, the circle disintegrates, and everyone readys themselves to go on stage, but not before Zain declares one that thing, "This is for Mr Qureshi."
♡♥︎♡
I gladly take my seat next to mum on the front row and see Aaron's still vacant, "Where is he?"
YOU ARE READING
I Like Me Better When I'm With You | Ackley Bridge
Teen FictionIsabella Booth is Missy Booth's twin and Cory Wilson's best friend. Cory and Izzy have been friends for as long as they can remember but last year Izzy and Missy dropped out of school. Cory and Izzy still stayed close and Izzy back at the new school...
