Time jump. They're about 16 now.
Ellen's POV
I walk into Patrick's house without knocking and head toward the kitchen.
"Good morning dear." his mother says to me. I smile at her.
"Good morning Mrs. Dempsey. Is Pat up?" I ask while grabbing a pop tart from the cupboard.
"I sure hope so. Would you mind finding him for me?" she asks. I nod and walk out of the kitchen and up the stairs toward his room. I open it and find him sitting at his desk, reading a newspaper.
"Morning El." he says without looking up.
"How did you know it was me?" I ask, sitting on his bed.
"I can smell your perfume from a mile away." he says, smiling slightly.
"Well it's better than smelling bad like you." I tease. He looks up at me, smelling his shirt.
"I don't smell bad." he says, getting up to head toward the bathroom.
"Pat I was joking. You don't smell bad."
I follow him into the bathroom and see him looking through cabinets.
"You don't necessarily smell good though. You know, boys who smell good are more attractive." I tell him. I grab some of his father's cologne and hand it to him. "Here."
He grabs it and puts a little on.
"Good?" he asks. I step toward him and out my hand on his neck to pull him closer to me. I take a big whiff and smile.
"Groovy."
I pull him down the stairs and toward the kitchen.
"El my newspaper is upstairs. Can I go grab it?"
"No! You don't need that silly paper."
We sit at the table and I finish my pop tart as he stares at me with a bored look on his face.
"You're going to get frown lines." I tell him. He glares at me and then softens his face.
"Time to go kids." his mom tells us before handing the keys to Patrick.
I run out the door and grab the keys to my car and my bag. I throw my bag in my car and start it, pulling out of the driveway.
I follow Patrick all the way to school as I jam out to some music. Once we get to school, I immediately look for my friends.
"El! I saw you talking to Dempsey the other day. Why?" my friend Megan asks. I shrug.
"I don't know, Meg. He's cool."
"Actually El, he is the opposite of cool. Do you know what he could do to your cred?"
I roll my eyes and look over to Patrick who is juggling in the courtyard. I sigh and walk over to him. I pull his arm back, making him miss a pin.
"Hey! Come on El!" he says, picking up the pin.
"You gotta stop juggling in public. People make fun of you."
"So? It's what I love to do. Why should I care what other people think of me?"
"Because it's affecting the way people think of me too. Since we hang out sometimes, people think I'm a nerd too!" I tell him. He looks down.
"So you think I'm a nerd?"
"Oh, Pat come on. I didn't mean it like that. You took it the wrong way."
"Well what other way was I supposed to take it?" he asks, putting his bag on and walking away.
I sigh and walk back to the big group of people.
"Way to go El! You made him stop." Meg says.
"That's my girl!" The quarterback of the football team, Ryan, pulls me in for a hug.
He releases me and I smile.
"I'm gonna go to class now. See ya." I wave and they all wave back.
I enter the chemistry room and find my seat next to Patrick.
"You can move if you want. I wouldn't want your cool cred to diminish just because you're sitting by me." he says quietly as he doodles in his notebook. I sigh.
"Pat. I didn't mean it that way. We're best friends." He shrugs. "Have you heard what the school play is?" I ask, trying to cheer him up. He smiles slightly and nods.
"Tarzan."
"You gonna try out for Tarzan?" I ask.
"Yeah but there's no way I'm gonna get it. Especially with my dyslexia." I smack his arm.
"Patrick stop doubting yourself. You're an awesome actor! You'll get the part."
"Are you gonna try out for Jane?" he asks. "The role is perfect for you."
"Yeah. Hopefully I'll get it."
The bell rings and class starts. I meet up with Patrick again at lunch and we eat in our usual spot in the courtyard.
"Pat! I managed to snag a script from Mr. Compton. We can practice now." I say, pulling the script out of my bag. He smiles and we get to work. We work straight through study hall and by the end of school, we both have the whole thing memorized.
"Ready?" I ask, walking into the theater with him. He shrugs.
"Nervous." he says. I squeeze his hand.
"Me too." He smiles at me and we find a seat.
***
It's 10 at night and I'm up, refreshing my email to see if Mr. Compton has emailed me about the part I got. I sigh and throw myself into my bed.
My phone rings and I quickly answer it.
"Hello?"
"Ellen! I got the part! I'm Tarzan!" I hear Patrick say. I gasp and jump out of bed and run to the desk. I click refresh and see a new email from Mr. Compton. I click on it and read the cast list.
"Patrick! I got Jane."
"I know! I knew you would get the part." he says.
I run over to my window and open it to see Patrick who is walking around shirtless. I blush as I see his bare chest. He has some muscle, not a lot but I can see some. I go back behind the wall.
"Wanna talk through the window?" I ask.
"Sure. Just a sec." I hear him out a shirt on.
"Alright."
I walk over to the window and slide it open. Patrick is waiting for me.
"Are you excited?" I ask through the phone. He shrugs and smiles.
"Yeah. I guess."
"Rehearsals start tomorrow. Wanna carpool?" I ask. He nods.
"We can switch off cars every other day." he says. I nod.
"Patty guess what."
"What?"
"I'm getting my eyes checked tomorrow. My dad says I might need glasses."
"You're gonna be four eyes like me!"
I giggle and involuntarily yawn.
"Goodnight, Ellie."
"Goodnight, Patty." I hang up the phone and shut the window. I climb into bed and turn my lamp off.
Patrick's POV
I wake up to a light shaking. I moan and nudge the shaking away.
"Patrick Galen Dempsey. You need to get up right now!" I hear Ellen say. I moan and grab my glasses from the nightstand, placing them in my face.
I see Ellen, ready to go, looking pissed. I check my clock and jump out of bed.
"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" I hiss.
"I did! You fell back asleep! I didn't think I would have to babysit you until you got out of bed." she says as I rush around. I run to the bathroom and brush my teeth. I run back to my room, gently push Ellen out, and get dressed.
Running down the stairs, I trip and tumble the rest of the way down.
I quickly get back up and grab a banana, my keys and my bag and run out the door.
Ellen is already waiting by my car. I run to her side of the car and unlock her door, opening it for her. She thanks me and I run to the other side while throwing my bag in the back of my truck.
I start the car and quickly whip out of my driveway.
"Whoah! Slow down, racer! We have enough time now." she tells me while holding on to the handle on her door.
I do as she says and take my time. She giggles.
The school day goes by slower than normal. When the final bell rings, I grab my bag and quickly make my way to the theater. When I get in there, I am immediately grabbed by Mr. Compton who is rushing me into the dressing room.
"Costumes already?" I ask. He nods.
"Your costume is so unique that we need you to learn your lines with it on so that it isn't a problem during the show. You'll be more comfortable with it." he says as he pulls out a small, torn up, brown looking skirt.
"Put this on and we will do your makeup." I awkwardly change in front of him and pull the skirt on.
"You forgot to give me my shirt." I tell him.
"No I didn't. You don't have one."
He pulls me into a chair in front of a mirror and orders a young girl to start my makeup. The girl is very pretty. Blonde, tall, big boobs.
"Hi. What's your name?" I ask. She smiles at me.
"Jennifer. I'm a junior." I smile at her and nod. She starts putting brown stuff all over my body.
"What is this?" I ask.
"It's supposed to look like dirt. I'm going to put fake cuts on you too." I nod. Half an hour later, she is done with me. I look in the mirror and gasp. There's twigs in my hair, a scratch along my cheekbone and dirt all over my face. I didn't even look at the rest of my body before I leave the room.
I enter the theater and feel very insecure about my self. I'm barely wearing any clothes other than a small leafy skirt.
I see Ellen smiling at me. She walks toward me and looks me up and down.
"I like the look."
"Alright. In order to prepare your characters, you need to get comfortable with your fellow actors. Patrick. I want you to hang out with this group of people. They are your gorilla family. I want you guys to go to the zoo and study the gorillas. The way they move. How they act." Mr. Compton pushes me toward a group of strangers.
"Ellen. I have found a student in this school with a British accent. I need you to hang out with him and have him teach you how to speak." Ellen nods. Mr. Compton pulls in a very handsome boy.
"This is Riley."
"Hello Riley." she says, sticking her hand out. He takes her hand a places a kiss on it, causing her to blush.
"Hello, Ellen." he says in a thick accent. "When would you like to hang out and study?"
"Well you could come to my house tonight."
He nods and smiles.
I roll my eyes.
