Three's Company

2.14 | Trying to Stop It

Trying to Stop It

exclusive: [ik-skloo-siv, -ziv]; adjective; shutting out all others from a part or share.

"That was marvelous. Simply marvelous. How about we end rehearsal early tonight?"

Two weeks since Nova had declined his offer to run lines together and Ethan was ready to wring her neck. He couldn't explain what had gone so terribly wrong to make her want to ignore him constantly, and yet there they were, running lines with the same amount of chemistry Ethan had with the frog found in his backyard the night before.

Mrs. Freedman hadn't said anything about the lack of emotion between her two leads in the past two weeks, but Ethan could tell that she felt the strange vibe coming from the stage. He was pretty sure that everyone could feel it, and yet he was just as in the dark as everyone else. Nova was the only one who knew what was causing this, and she had yet to share her insight.

"Attention everyone!" The student director, Norme Kline, stood up on the stage. Ethan had made fun of Norme for as long as he could remember; he had wiry glasses that made his large nose look like the size of Mount Everest, his hair consistently had the texture of a wet mop that had just cleaned up a spill on aisle 5, and his voice hardly ever reached a volume above a whisper--until he was in the theater department.

Everyone turned to look at Norme, who seemed shocked to have everyone's attention--the cast hardly ever listened to the student director.

"So, I was thinking that it would be fun to go out for a cast dinner since we're getting off early." Norme called, "Like get a pizza or something?"

Everyone exchanged glances before nodding in unison. Norme looked shocked that people actually took him up on a social offer before climbing down off the stage.

Ethan drove himself and one of the ensemble members to the town's most popular pizza place, parking next to Ryan Fowler's car in the lot. He looked over and saw his character's rival talking amicably to Nova, who was sitting in the passenger's seat and nodding along, looking like she was paying him absolutely no attention.

At least her sour mood wasn't directed only at Ethan.

Ethan hopped out of the car and ignored the "thank you" offered to him by the ensemble member whose name he wasn't even aware of--he had only offered to drive her to appear like a good person to Nova, who had seemingly not even noticed the effort.

The pizza place wasn't as packed as it usually was, seeing as it was only 5 o'clock and the regular crowd usually showed up around 6:30, consisting of basketball players, cheerleaders, and other jocks who were of lesser importance. Ethan was sincerely hoping that they would be able to eat and get out before all of his friends showed up and saw him actually hanging out with the theater nerds outside of rehearsal.

"Is someone sitting here?"

The voice caught Ethan by surprise as he sat down with his three sausage and bacon pizza slices, knowing he would finish them in a matter of minutes. Nova Desai stood above him, holding a single slice of cheese pizza and looking like she would rather be anywhere than where she was currently.

"No, no one." Ethan lied, remembering an ensemble member leaving the seat to get a drink just a few seconds earlier. "It's free."

Nova nodded and sat down next to him, her eyes trained straight ahead as everyone around them chattered excitedly.

"Can I ask you something?" Ethan finally broke the silence, determined to have this strange feeling vanish.

"I guess."

"What's your problem?"

He had clearly caught her by surprise, since her head snapped around to face him with wide eyes and raised brows.

"Excuse me?"

"What's your problem?" Ethan repeated, "I mean, I thought we were cool. I thought we were good friends, but then all of a sudden you're cold as ice. You don't say a word to me outside of rehearsal, you don't do anything unless it's by yourself, and you make the rest of the cast uncomfortable and no one even knows why."

Nova sat in silence for a moment.

"I just have a lot going on at the moment." She began, her eyes softening slightly as she looked Ethan in the face, "I'm sorry if I've been rude to you, I sincerely didn't mean to be. Sometimes it's just easier for me to close myself off than risk getting hurt by someone."

"By me? We got along so well before this, and we always had a fun time together. You can trust me you know."

"I know." Nova nodded, a smile finally showing itself, "I'll try to be better."

"Thanks." Ethan grinned, "I appreciate it."

"No problem." Nova responded, take a bite out of her pizza. "Now real talk...am I the only one who's never heard the student director speak before today?"

<><><>

Nova arrived home just a few minutes before six o'clock, having gotten a ride from Ethan from the pizza place. She had forgotten completely about Ryan, who had driven her there in the first place, but evidently he wasn't deterred, since the second she stepped in her door she got a text from him.

Nova opened the message to find an invitation to dinner on Saturday, something they had discussed in the car but never came to a conclusion on. It would be their third date, and after revealing a bit more than she had wanted to with Ethan, Nova was dying for anything to make it seem like she wasn't interested in him.

When of course, she completely was.

There was something about Ethan that struck a chord with Nova whenever she saw him, and she couldn't help it; it was either the body or the face or the stellar personality that simply made her want to do anything she could to be around him.

Which was precisely why she had avoided him for two weeks.

Nova looked down at her phone, at the question from Ryan, and tried to think of one good reason to go on this date with someone she wasn't attracted to in the slightest. She couldn't think of one, and yet her answer remained the same.

Yes.  

A/N: Sorry that this update is a day late, but I had freshman orientation all day yesterday and it was exhausting by the time I got back to my dorm. But the update is here now, so I hope you guys like it!

-Katherine