Sealed with a Kiss | ✓

january 15th

Mia couldn't get Cass out of her mind. She was jittery all day, and her mind kept wandering back to her, no matter how much she tried to focus on French verb conjugations or analysis of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. When the time eventually came for Angie and Mia to go to the auditorium to find Cass, Mia felt like she was ready to explode with nerves. Angie seemed to pick up on her anxiety, but didn't comment on it.

When the pair entered the auditorium, Mia spotted Cass almost immediately. She was sprawled out across a couple seats with her feet on the row in front, her head resting on the lap of a girl with delicate wire glasses and her hair in a braid. Both were reading from scripts and ignoring whatever scene was being blocked out on stage. As they approached, the girl nudged Cass, who didn't look up from her script. When she was nudged again, she huffed in frustration and looked up.

"What? Oh, it's you two. What do you want?" she said disinterestedly. Angie leaned forward.

"We want you to date Mia." Angie said.

"What?!" Cass yelped, sitting upright, suddenly a lot more aware of what they had to say. Mia grimaced at Angie's brashness and tried to backpedal a bit.

"You know you were joking yesterday about how I should get a fake girlfriend to get back at Max for cheating on me and breaking up with me over text? Well, Angie thought maybe you could help me with that?" Mia said.

"Yeah, I didn't mean me though!" Cass said indignantly.

"I told you this was a stupid idea Angie, let's go." Mia said, tugging on her sleeve. Angie shook her arm out of her grasp, not taking her focus off of Cass.

"Come on Frost, please?" Cass looked at them both for a moment, before sighing. "It's to get back at Max for being a cheating piece of shit." She pressed.

"I'll think about it. Valentine, meet me here after rehearsals, we'll talk about it then. I've really got to focus on this right now." Cass gestured to the script in her hand. Mia nodded, but Angie frowned.

"Since when have you been into drama anyway Frost?" Angie said. Cass pursed her lips tightly together and stuck her chin out in defiance.

"None of your damn business, Stevens." Angie narrowed her eyes, but didn't say anything before walking off to leave the auditorium, leaving Mia to mouth a quick "thank you" to Cass and jog to catch up to Angie.

"Angie, you go on ahead. I'm going to stay and watch the rehearsals, if you don't mind?" Angie softened.

"Of course I don't mind; you don't have to ask for my permission. See you later?" Mia nodded, making Angie grin. "Good luck. I don't expect you to return unless you have a girlfriend, understood?" Mia laughed and hugged Angie.

"See you later."

Mia made her way back into the auditorium, and settled down in one of the seats further away from where the majority of the cast and ensemble were sprawled. Miss Holloway appeared on the stage with her clipboard and started reading out instructions that Mia didn't really understand, so she zoned out a little and started fiddling with her phone. Once Miss Holloway finished talking, students started getting up and clambering up onto the stage and disappearing into the wings. Only Romeo, a student called Robbie, was left stood in the centre stage. He started talking, reciting an impressively long soliloquy, when Cass entered, with a sword in hand, as Mercutio. Mia sat up a little in her seat. She hadn't considered that Cass might have a main role; she had just assumed that she was part of the ensemble. As Cass had filled in for David on Sunday, Mia realised that she never saw what Cass was playing. Or, for that matter, the role her roommate was playing in the production.