Kartlen's School of Fine Arts

Chapter Two ✨ Drama in Paradise

"Hey, Julie!" I hear being called from behind me as I approach the school. I turn around and I see Sam walking quickly to catch up. "Hey, Sam," I answer as he smiles. We walk up to the school and we make our way to the cafeteria. "Hey guys," Sam says as we sit at a table. I sit between him and Luke as they start talking about the movie on Friday. "So tomorrow after school, we can meet up at the theater at about seven, then we can go get ice cream or something afterwards. Sound good?" Sam asks. We all agree and the bell rings for first period. We depart from the cafeteria and I walk with Sam to calculus. "So, did you talk to your mom about tomorrow?" Sam asks. I nod, "yeah. She's okay with it. She has somewhere to go tomorrow night though, so I'd need a ride."
"I could take you. It wouldn't be a problem."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. It would be fun. Hey, so rumor has it that we have a partner thing for ice skating and it's a grade. Care to pair up if that's the case?"
"Sure. As long as I'm not around the senior guy."
"Don't worry, coach doesn't tend to pair seniors with younger students."
"I hope that's how it works. If not, I hope she lets us choose our own partners."
"Me too. There's the rink around the corner from my house, if you want, we can go there tonight if we get assigned the project today."
"Alright. I don't think my mom would mind. I'll check with her though." Sam smiles and we walk into calculus.

During Ice Skating...

"Okay guys, gather up." Coach Eckers says, "So we have a project for this class; it is due in two weeks. You guys will choose a partner and create a skating routine to perform on the 26th." I look over at Sam and he nods. "Find partners and begin your routine," Coach calls. I skate over to Sam, and he says, "partner." I smile and nod. Jack says, "coach, team me up with new girl." I look up at Sam and I shift uncomfortably. "Sir, I already have my partner," I say the the coach softly. He shrugs it off and says, "figure it out amongst yourself." "She just wants to pair up with the only person who'd put up with her," Jack snarls. "At least someone wants to be her partner," Sam says softly.
"What'd you say?" After a minute or so, Jack is throwing transphobic comments and threats at Sam and Sam's laying on the ice with a red eye.

In the Nurse's Office...
"Sam? What happened?" The nurse asks and she seems familiar. I realize it's Sam's mom and I get nervous. Sam's in too much pain and shock to speak, so I explain to his mom what happened. Mrs. Knowles scoffs and says, "that is ridiculous. This school has a zero tolerance policy for bullying here." She buzzes the office and a principal comes down to the nurse's office.

Back on the ice...
"Jack Peters?" Mr. Jenkins calls across the rink. He skates over, "yes sir?" I sit on the sidelines with Sam and the principal takes Jack down to his office. Coach comes over to me and Sam and tells us we can sit out today but we should be back in practice tomorrow.

After school...
Sam and I decide to go to the skating rink near Sam's house to work on our duet. We start to do some of the moves we want to incorporate and we create quiet a romantically dramatic duet. We get it put together, and we're both giving it our all. We do our final lift with the music and we can both feel the weights lifted off of our shoulders. He sets me down, and I look up at him, our faces inches away from each other's. My body's intoxicated with adrenaline and before I realize it, Sam presses his lips against mine. After a few seconds, we pull apart and both of our faces are blood red.