"My accidental happily
(Ever after)
The way you smile and how you comfort me
(With your laughter)
I must admit you were not a part of my book
But now if you open it up and take a look
You're the beginning and the end of every chapter."
—Never Knew I Needed by Ne-Yo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ms. Thompson, they're already here," Diana announced as she and the other members of the costume team entered the room.

Ms. Thompson's eyes sparkled in delight. "Oooh! Let me see them, dear!"

Unfortunately, I was the first one who'd gotten out from the male restroom, so Diana pushed me inside. When I saw their reactions as I grudgingly entered the room, I wanted to jump off a cliff by the sea and let myself drown.

The girls cooed at me, saying I looked pretty and lovely, almost making me gag. The boys gave me sympathetic looks, like my pet goldfish had just died, even though I didn't own one.

Ms. Thompson hugged me tightly. "You are indeed Princess Aurora, Jesse Aarons."

I just laughed awkwardly. I was wearing a pink ball gown and long blonde wig with tiara. Never had I imagined in my entire life that I'd be in a situation like this.

"My Princess Aurora looks so beautiful and perfect."

I turned around. Leslie was gazing at me with an amused look and was refraining herself from laughing out loud. I should be glaring at her, but I wanted to puke rainbows instead after seeing she was wearing her prince costume: blue outfit, black boots, red cape, and a red hunting hat with a wooden sword that'd been painted gray. The latter was strapped around her waist. Her hair was tied in a ponytail.

Yep, my thoughts had been correct. She was so dang beautiful and ethereal, even with a costume for a guy.

"Shut up, Les," I muttered, also hoping she wouldn't notice my blush.

Leslie giggled, walking in my direction. "Your costume suits you."

"Your c-costume suits y-you more," I complimented, stammering.

She lifted up my gown. "I knew it! You're wearing running shoes."

"Put it down! The audience can't see them, anyway. Thank God. I don't want to wear heels or something much worse."

I saw Sarah was wearing the violet witch costume, and she was talking to Diana and Alice. After that she turned to me. We gave each other a friendly smile.

Ms. Thompson called for the cast. "Excellent job on the props, costumes, and playlist, dears. They're all perfect!" she said. "And our class will be the last one to present for the sophomore level. Now I know how the audience will really react."

My classmates gave a loud cheer.

Hey, hey, I thought with a deadpan expression on my face.

"So God bless us all," Ms. Thompson continued. "I'm sure we'll win this!"

After Ms. Thompson had delivered her little speech, I saw Leslie retreating to a side. I followed her.

"Hey." I reached out and lightly touched her elbow. She started. "You all right, Les?"

Leslie took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah," she said, a little too brightly. "I'm fine, Jess."

"You're nervous," I pointed out.

She smiled sadly. "Yeah, but for another reason."

Before I could ask what she meant, Ms. Thompson said that we should practice for the last time.

We practiced, and, after the second scene, Ms. Thompson announced that all of the sophomores should be inside the school's theater now.

"Don't worry. You dears already perfected scenes three and four," Ms. Thompson assured us.

I wanted to tell her: But Leslie and I only practiced the last scene once, and we didn't even get to finish practicing it.

We entered the theater through the backdoor where the performers enter. We heard from the intercom that the third freshman section was already done performing.

The topic for ninth grade was Fables, tenth grade was Fairy Tales, eleventh grade was Shakespeare's works, and twelfth grade was Broadway.

Most of the sophomore students were already here, preparing for their play.

"And what do we have here?"

Leslie and I turned around to find Conrad grinning at us wickedly.

"Hey, Rad," Leslie greeted while I just rolled my eyes. Great. Here comes more horrible teasing moments for me.

"Jesse as the Princess and Leslie as the Prince," he mused. "This will be a blast!"

"We'll surely win for the sophomore level," Leslie said.

"Yeah, Conrad. Just you wait," I said, agreeing with her. "What's your role, anyway?"

Conrad was holding a star wand and just wearing a plain blue suit with a red necktie, white pants and shoes.

He shrugged. "Modern Fairy Grandfather, I believe."

Leslie raised an eyebrow while I resisted laughing.

"Modern Fairy Grandfather? That's a first," I told him.

Conrad gave me his famous sassy look. "At least I don't get to wear a bloody fluffy pink gown and blonde wig with a tiara."

I hated it when he was right. "Whatever."

After Snow White—the play of the first sophomore section—Conrad's section was next.

"About bloody time," Conrad muttered and walked away from us. "Wish us luck!"

Leslie laughed. "How about no?"

"How rude," Conrad said with mock hurt.

"Leslie!"

Groban ran to Leslie and gave her a hug. I scowled and suddenly had an interest in the wall, like it was my long lost lover.

I don't care about them.

I heard her giggling and could see in my peripheral vision that she was hugging him back.

Don't care. Don't care. Don't care.

"Okay, so you're Prince Charming," Leslie said.

"Well, yours is more surprising. I mean, seriously, Prince Phillip? And Aarons is Princess Aurora?" He laughed. "Such a twist."

Clenching my hands into fists, I thought, Just you wait, Groban. Your section's going down.

I noticed most of the attention was now focused on them. Someone even whistled wit-wiw.

"I know, right?" Leslie said. "But, hey, it's fun!"

"Can you give me a kiss on the cheek? You know, for good luck."

As Leslie leaned in, I started to panic and wanted to throw my golden tiara at Groban.

No, no, no, nooooooooo!

"Oy, David Beckham Wannabe, we're next! Get your lazy butt over here!" Conrad yelled.

I sighed in relief inwardly, hiding a grin. Perfect timing as always, Conrad.

"Why does he always have to ruin the moment?" I heard Groban mutter as he passed me, not acknowledging my presence.

Ha!

╪ ╪ ╪

After many minutes, Cinderella was done. I could still hear the thunderous clapping from the audience and "We love you, Nigel Groban!" over and over again.

Ugh. Fangirls.

Our props team hurriedly prepared the stage, and then Jonas came back from the stage to give us a thumbs-up.

"This is it, dears," Ms. Thompson said cheerily. "Have fun out there! I'll just be in the front row to watch our grand play."

Our section did a group hug and cheered, "Let's do our very best!"

Alice's voice crackled over the intercom, introducing our class and play. Then there was a smattering of applause.

We watched from the side as the cast for scene one went to the stage, then Alice started narrating over the intercom. Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite" could be heard throughout the theater.

"Once upon a time in a faraway land, there lived a king and queen named Stefan and Leah. Their kingdom is a prosperous and peaceful land. However, King Stefan and Queen Leah have been without a child for a long time..."

The red curtain went up.

"And one day, the long-anticipated princess was finally born..."

The spotlight was now directed at Scott. He was wearing a gorgeous green gown and brown wig.

The celebration of the birth of the princess was being held in the castle. There were guests, servants, and guards—who were my classmates that didn't have roles.

"Today's the party celebrating the birth of my Princess Aurora," he said in a girly voice while carrying a baby doll wrapped in a blanket, which represented Aurora as a baby. "Everyone, please give the princess a blessing!"

I could hear some muffled laughter from the audience.

Ha-ha, I thought. What if I'm the one who's already on the stage?

Joenabie, Kezia, and Chaelly—wearing yellow dresses with glittering wings at their backs—walked forward.

Joenabie bowed down. "To the beautiful Princess Aurora..."

Kezia did the same. "From us fairies..."

And Chaelly. "We present her a gift..."

Michelle Corwin, who was the king, and Scott nodded at them while sitting in their thrones. "Yes," the queen said.

"From me," Joenabie said, "a beauty matching a brilliant rainbow..." She waved her wand.

Kezia also waved her wand. "From me, a shining voice as good as any bird..."

Their wands were stuffed with glitters, and every time they waved them, there was a glittering sound effect.

Chaelly said, "And from me—"

The music suddenly changed to Mussorgsky's "Night on the Bald Mountain," and Sarah appeared from the other side of the stage while laughing evilly. I must say she was doing an amazing job. The crowd went wild, shouting, "Wooo! Sarah Bradfield!" and "Be my girlfriend, Sarah!"

There were continuous flashes from the audience's cameras.

"My, what a party we have today!" she exclaimed. Yeah, what a party indeed, I couldn't help thinking."But it seems I didn't receive an invitation!"

"Maleficent!" Joenabie took a step toward Sarah. "Who would invite a wicked witch like you?"

"A wicked witch?" Sarah mused while raising an eyebrow. "I wonder who you mean by that."

"I...I apologize," Scott said. "I heard you dislike noisy gatherings like this..."

Sarah turned sharply to Scott. "Yes, yes. I do hate noisy gatherings." Her eyes narrowed. "But I hate being ignored even more than that!"

She walked to the center of the stage and looked at the audience. "Now, I shall give a blessing to the princess as well. She'll live a happy life with her beauty, pride, and kindness loved by the people of her kingdom. But, on her sixteenth birthday, she'll be pricked by a needle on a spinner..." The spotlight focused only at Sarah, and the audience went wild again. "AND SHE WILL DIE!"

There was a thunder booming sound effect in the background. Even the lights turned on and off continuously. Sarah laughed again wickedly as puffs of smoke appeared on the stage for her exit.

"Sarah, come back!" someone shouted from the audience.

I heard Joenabie saying to Kezia and Chaelly, "Sarah's amazing."

Chaelly nodded in agreement. "When we were practicing, she was always saying how she didn't want to be the villain."

"She's the type of person that gets into things when they actually happen, especially since Leslie's her number one enemy," Kezia replied with a chuckle.

"So, how was my performance?" Sarah asked me as she reached our side.

I grinned. "You were awesome, Sarah!"

She turned to Leslie, who was concentrating on watching the play. "Do you want me to tell you something you don't know, Burke?"

"Not interested, Bradfield," Leslie replied flatly without looking at her.

"Hey," I warned to Sarah, hoping Leslie wouldn't hear.

"I was just joking," she whispered. "But I'm sure you'll do great later, Jess."

I chuckled nervously. "I hope so. Thanks, Sarah."

Sarah winked.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt Leslie's piercing gaze on us.

The lights were back on as the smoke disappeared, and the queen walked down from her throne. "Oh, this is horrible!" Scott exclaimed. "My Princess Aurora was cursed by the witch!" He kneeled down and started sobbing.

Wow, even Scott was doing a decent acting. Maybe he wanted to impress Ms. Thompson.

The Three Fairies came near the queen.

"H-how horrible!" Kezia exclaimed.

The king put a hand on the queen's shoulder for comfort. "Is there a way to lift Maleficent's curse?" Michelle asked in a boyish voice, looking up to the fairies.

"I still have my gift," Chaelly said while waving her wand, and the spotlight focused at them. "The princess will prick her finger on a needle from a spinner on her sixteenth birthday. However, she'll not die; she'll just fall asleep. Princess Aurora will be awaken by the kiss of someone who truly loves her and who has enough power to break through the witch's evil powers." She frowned. "I'm sorry, my king, but that's all I can do; her curse is too powerful to lift."

"It's all right. We understand," Michelle said. "As long as there's an option. Thank you."

The lights turned off for the next scene. The members of the props team instantly prepared on the stage.

Now I really wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

A hand interlaced through mine. I turned to my left and saw Leslie smiling warmly at me. She squeezed my hand. I understood her silent message: You can do it, Jess.

I felt butterflies fluttering in my stomach as I smiled and squeezed back gently. For you, Les.

I went to the stage and sat in a chair in front of the vanity. My palms were already sweating. "God," I prayed, "please help me get through this successfully. Amen."

Seeing that everything was in order, Diana texted Alice, who was at the control room, that we were ready.

"Hearing the witch's curse, the king called out to burn every spinner in the kingdom. All of the countrymen followed his call, and all of the spinners disappeared from this kingdom. Sixteen years later, the princess grew up to become very beautiful."

Delibes's "Sylvia: Pizzicato" played over the speakers throughout the theater.

The lights turned on. Scott entered the stage and called, "Princess! Oh, Princess!"

This was it. If Scott could do it, then so could I.

I pretended to brush my wig. "Yes, Mother! What is it?" I asked in my girly voice. I could hear another batch of laughter from the audience.

Ignore them, Aarons, a voice in my head said. Just like what Leslie told you: Think that there's no audience.

Meh. Forget it. It was hard, especially with the laughter all around.

"Tonight's your sixteenth birthday. Hurry up and get dressed."

"Yes, Mother!"

Then Scott exited.

"Princess Aurora continues to prepare herself, when suddenly, she finds a spinner that was supposedly abolished from the kingdom!"

Here was the freaking line again, and I envisioned in my mind how Leslie had said and acted it. "My! I wonder what this is!"

I inwardly cringed and fought the urge not to run away from the stage and jump off a cliff. That had sounded so lame.

The music suddenly stopped. How dramatic.

I came near the spinner and accidentally looked at the audience. I saw my family in the middle row. Well, it was obliged that our parents should come to the event. I also saw Mr. and Mrs. Burke beside Dad and—wait, what? Was Mrs. Burke filming our play? Even Mom was taking pictures with a huge grin plastered on her face.

I mentally banged my head on the floor.

"That's my brother up there!" someone shouted, resulting in me to almost trip.

Shut up, Joyce Ann!

I slowly touched the spinner's needle, screamed "Aaaaahhhh!" and instantly flopped to the floor. I literally banged my head on the floor.

Accidentally.

This was now officially my most embarrassing moment.

Forever.

Another music, which was Mozart's "Lacrimosa," started playing.

Emmanuel had insisted that we should listen and memorize the musical pieces for the play. He'd played them every time we had our practice in literature class. Don't know why he'd found it important for us to memorize the playlist, but I'd still done it.

I could hear Scott's gasp. "Oh, no! My Princess is dead! My darling Princess Aurora!" He kneeled down and hugged me while giving sobbing sounds.

The Three Fairies came to our side.

"No, your Majesty," Kezia said. "Princess Aurora is only asleep..."

"Just like my gift from sixteen years ago," Chaelly continued.

"Now, all we can do is wait for the right prince who will awaken the princess," Joenabie finished.

The theater lights turned off.

Now for scene three.

The members of the props team instantly did their job.

"You did great, Jess!" Leslie exclaimed when I stood beside her.

I snorted, not believing her. "Right."

"Hey, I'm not kidding. I guess all those practices finally paid off, huh?"

I smiled lightly. It's because of you, Les. "I think so. Thanks, Les. You better brace yourself, though. You're next."

She grinned. "I'm already prepared ages ago."

"It must be so nice to be you."

Leslie punched me playfully on my arm.

Sarah, the five underlings, and the fairies were on the right side of the stage.

Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" started playing as the lights turned on.

"And many years have passed, a prince arrives at the kingdom..."

Leslie entered the stage with a determined look on her face, and the audience went berserk again, even the flashes of the cameras.

"I love you, Leslie Burke!"

"Can you be my girlfriend, Leslie?"

"Jesslie forever!"

What the heck is Jesslie? I wondered.

She looked up at the castle, trees and bushes surrounded it—just cardboard cutouts with stands at the back.

"This must be that mystic castle," Leslie said in a deep voice, and there were shouts again.

"We've been waiting for you."

Leslie looked around her sharply while unsheathing her sword. "Who's there?"

Joenabie, Kezia, and Chaelly appeared from the right and they bowed at the prince.

"We are fairies," Kezia said. "We have been waiting for a brave young lad to come to this castle."

"What?" Leslie exclaimed. "I don't understand."

"In this castle sleeps a beautiful princess," Joenabie stated.

"She continues to sleep because of a curse done by the Wicked Witch," Kezia said sadly.

Leslie put a hand over her heart and said, "That's a big problem! Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Marry me, Leslie!" someone shouted from the audience. I'd seriously hunt for that guy if he shouted something like that again.

"If you truly feel you want to save the princess..." Chaelly faltered.

Leslie raised her sword. "I have this sword and my courage. I, Prince Phillip, promise that I will dispel the curse from the princess!" She sheathed her sword.

Mozart's "Requiem Dies Irae" started to play as the witch appeared on the stage with her underlings from the right side.

Sarah laughed evilly again, her hands—the other one holding a black staff—raised in a grand way, like she now owned the world. "So, you're here, Prince!"

Leslie pointed her sword to Sarah. "You must be the Wicked Witch who made the curse!"

And the shouts from the audience intensified, I thought the theater would explode at any moment. This was the mightiest proof that Leslie and Sarah's rivalry was indeed famous in Lark Creek High. I wondered what Mr. and Mrs. Burke, and Sarah's parents thought of this.

"Go, Leslie!"

"Sarah all the way!"

"This must be put in Lark Creek High's history!"

"Defeat the witch, Prince!"

"Fight to the death! Like Hunger Games! Yaaay!"

"Witch versus knight! Heck yeah!"

"Brace yourselves! There'll be a nuclear explosion later!"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Well, duh! I believe I'm the only wicked witch in this land!" She turned to her underlings. "All of you, GET HIM!"

The fairies backed away as the underlings charged at the prince. "You can do it, Prince Phillip!" they cheered.

Leslie nodded at them, and then slashed at the underlings gracefully. She even did a somersault two times that the audience—including me—went "Whoa!"

All of the underlings fell to the ground within a minute.

"Argh! Useless servants!" Sarah cried in fury and charged at Leslie in record time. They dodged and slashed at each other for a few moments, I thought if they were still acting or not. The watchers gasped and shrieked.

And then Prince Phillip slashed Maleficent for the last time.

Sarah screamed in agony. "NO! Curse you, Prince Phillip!"

The Wicked Witch made a few gagging sounds, and then Prince Phillip sheathed her sword.

The music stopped playing, and there was complete silence in the theater.

Leslie breathed heavily. "I did it! I defeated the witch!"

The audience whooped as the lights turned off, and my stomach suddenly churned, but I swallowed my nervousness. This was it, the scene where Leslie and I would...gah!

After the props team had put the bed at the right place, I lay down in it and closed my eyes—the blanket covering my body. Yep, they still couldn't see my running shoes.

Debussy's "Clair de Lune" started playing in the background as the spotlight was directed at me.

I took a peek and saw Leslie coming near toward the bed, then quickly closed my eye.

Help! SOS! 911!

"Oh! What a beautiful princess!" she exclaimed dramatically. Even the audience fell deadly silent, holding their breath. I thought my eyebrows were twitching in nervousness.

"The only thing that can awaken Princess Aurora..." I heard Joeanbie say.

"Is a kiss from someone who truly loves Princess Aurora..." Chaelly continued.

"If you truly love her, then a kiss..." Kezia faltered.

"Yes..." Leslie breathed while I was already having trouble breathing.

A girl yelled, "I volunteer!"

There was also a commotion from the audience.

"No! Leslie shouldn't kiss Aarons! That should be me up there!"

"Shut your shuckin' mouth, David Beckham Wannabe! You're ruining the best scene!"

I felt Leslie leaning on my face, and my heart was ready to explode.

Without warning, Leslie kissed me.

Near. On. My. Lips.

Holy brown cow!

I suddenly opened my eyes, gasping, unaware I'd been holding my breath.

The chorus of Pachelbel's "Canon in D" was currently playing in the background as I sat up straight. Leslie immediately hugged me.

I slowly hugged her back, my face turning crimson. I hoped no one from the audience would take notice.

She kissed me near on my lips! No, Leslie did that just for the sake of the audience. Nothing more, Aarons.

"IT BROKE!" the Three Fairies cheered in unison.

"After the curse was lifted, Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip lived happily ever after!"

For a heartbeat, there was absolute silence. Then, like a dam breaking, a roar of applause swept over the theater, laced with whistles.

Turning to my left, I saw Sarah gazing at Leslie from the left side of the stage, pain and misery washing across her face. But when she noticed I was staring at her, she glanced away with a sad smile. I thought I even saw a single tear drop from her face.

The curtain closed, and our class positioned in a horizontal line. As the curtain opened again, we took a bow with the crowd's continuous applause.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

This chapter was mostly inspired by Card Captor Sakura. Episode 42, anyone? :D