A Rose and A Phantom (Descendants of Classics Book 1)

Chapter 16: A Rehearsal of "The Little Mermaid"

Chapter 16:
A Rehearsal of "The Little Mermaid"

The following days to the kiss went by normally for the two. Rosabella had been at school and attending rehearsals in addition to her lessons from Derik. Meanwhile, Derik was composing composition after composition. Since their kiss, Derik had been flooded with musical inspiration and he had been smiling non stop. This smile did not go unnoticed by his companions. Gretchen and Jeanette had noted that he had been in lighter spirits as of recent but had no notion as to why. The only explanation they could think of was Rosabella.

It so happened that she was currently at one of her rehearsals. They were practicing the blocking for the rescue scene in which Ariel brings Eric to shore. Rosabella and the man playing Eric, Carlos, were listening tentatively to the director's instructions. Derik was watching the encounter and couldn't help but have a wave of jealousy wash over him. He couldn't stand the thought of Rose being so close to another man, especially not after their kiss and when she had been assaulted. He swallowed his pride and took to ignoring the familiar emotion so to perceive how to help Rose practice this scene later in their own practices.

Rosabella followed her instructions to the tee as she had wanted to leave a good first impression on the director. She asked questions when she needed clarity and acted out the motions with the director so as to get familiar with the movements. This left the director very impressed as he hadn't really worked with the girl before, even when she had smaller roles. It was unfamiliar territory for the girl and she was taking it like a veteran actress. As for Carlos, he had been a lead many times over and was behaving like a stuck up person would. He got annoyed with all the questions and couldn't wait for the show to come so that they wouldn't be just stumbling around at that point. The director did not appreciate this and threatened to give to role to someone else. This quieted him.

They then began rehearsing the "Kiss the Girl" scene. Rosabella's old nerves returned as she would have to have her face close to her pompous counterpart. She shook her head of those thoughts and remembered her kiss with Derik once again. A smile once again graced her lips and she got into character. The man playing Sebastian, Harold, was added to the scene as he was needed during this. They blocked the scene and then practiced it with the ensemble. They performed their parts well and they then rehearsed the entire scene with all the actors needed for it along with the instrumental. Rosabella remained silent as her character needed to be and imagined that it wasn't Carlos she was sitting across from in the prop boat. She imagined it was indeed Prince Eric and that she herself was Ariel. This eased her mind and they performed the scene perfectly. The director applauded them and they began to rehearse another scene.

The scene that they decided to rehearse was the contest scene in which actresses playing Ariel's sisters would portray the princesses competing for Prince Eric's heart. They blocked the scene and had the girls practice the blocking while singing. This was done without the instrumental and they succeeded. They then practiced it with Rosabella and Carlos there along with the actors portraying Carlotta and Grimsby. They did the blocking and then added the vocals and lines. They successfully completed it and then practiced it with the instrumental. This was completed with minor errors but was overall very well done. They then began the scene of which had caused Rosabella great anxiety only a few days prior. Her nerves from that day returned but not as strong as before.

They blocked the scene and the director had them practice their lines once before they began with the blocking. Rosabella pretended that it wasn't Carlos she was practicing with but Derik so that she could actually complete the scene. Carlos and she said their lines and the actor playing King Triton said his line to signal the moment when Ariel kisses Prince Eric. Rosabella used the image of Derik in place of Carlos and was able to do her part in the scene. The practiced scene was completed with little to no error. Once the scene was done, Rosabella separated completely from Carlos and wiped her mouth as she had not enjoyed the interaction.

During this scene, Derik had to use every ounce of strength within him in order to keep himself from an outburst. He was outraged that the fop of an actor was supposed to kiss her. Only he had kissed her and he did not want her to kiss anyone else. This feeling of jealousy was new to him as was his possessiveness towards her. These feelings shocked him as well and scared him. He knew he shouldn't be feeling those feelings that are normally associated with a romantic relationship; and yet the feelings excited him at the same time. His thoughts revolved around this for the rest of the rehearsal. He was so enraptured within his own thoughts that he didn't notice that the rehearsal had ended. It wasn't until a hand was placed on his shoulder that he realized Rosabella was standing next to him. He jumped with a start and looked up to see her.

"You gave me quite the start, Miss Deiner," he said clutching his chest where his heart resided.

"Forgive me, Mr. Derik, it was not my intention to give you such," she replied with a hint of a giggle and playfulness in her voice. As she spoke this, she wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders whilst sitting in the seat beside him. "What did you think of the rehearsal?"

"You had been spectacular, meine Rose," he said softly with exuberance in his voice. He had whispered the last part into her ear which resulted in her shivering once again at his term of endearment.

"But what about the rehearsal as a whole? Was the blocking appropriate? Did you notice something that was out of place," she attempted a response as to regain the composure that he had absconded with via his words.

"My only critique would be that the man playing Prince Eric should be recast as he was too overbearing with his performance," Derik said in thought. He took the theatre seriously and could not comprehend why the director could cast such an imbecile in a leading role. Rosabella laughed at his words and smiled widely.

"That's a relief to hear; I'm glad that you agree that Carlos shouldn't be an actor if he's going to act all high and mighty," she said holding back her laughter.

They then took one another's hand and left the theatre box that they were in and headed to the attic for another practice session. This went similarly to their practices prior to their kiss. The only thing that had changed during this one was that, although they weren't conscious of it, they had begun to develop feelings for one another. This did not go unnoticed by Jeanette nor Gretchen, for the two were grinning like cheshire cats at the young couple's blossoming potential relationship.