Dedicated to.  lbbrookes65 

And to  Call-me-Daisy 

Thanks for your helpful opinions♥️♥️

Not  many friends care about the progress of your book. I really appreciate you

______________________________________

“Mark! No mistakes this time. Go over your lines again,” Mr. Quinn ordered

“Yes sir.” He replied. They have been over the same scene again and again, and  at every trial, Mark had felt so unsure of his acting skills. And Mr. Quinn had not suffered a smile of encouragement at him.

“Amanda, are you ready?” Mr. Quinn asked.

“Yes, I am,” She replied; whispering her lines to herself, to be sure she was indeed ready.

“Very good then, let’s begin.”

FERDINAND

Oh most dear mistress,
The sun will set before I shall discharge
What I must strive to do

MIRANDA

If you’ll sit down,
I’ll bear your logs the while. Pray give me that;
I’ll carry it to the pile.

FERDINAND

No, precious creature.
I had rather crack my sinews, break my back,
Than you should such dishonor undergo,
While I sit lazy by.

MIRANDA

It would become me
As well as it does you, and I should do it
With much more ease, for my good will is to it,
And yours it is against.

“Bravo, bravo.” Mr.Quinn yelled impressed, clapping his hands. “I’m proud of you Mark. You see, it wasn’t that hard. Keep it up. Including you, Amanda”

Amanda smiled at Mr. Quinn comment. Moment later, she spotted Samuel leaving the theater. Has he been standing there for long?

“May I be excused?” She asked politely but interrupting Mr. Quinn while he was asking Alfred to retake his Prospero line.

“Sure, but don’t wait till I send for you,” He warned then went back to addressing his other student.

“Thanks Mr. Quinn, I’ll be back in a jiffy,” She yelled and hurried out of the theater.

She stood just outside the door, scanning the hallway. Just around the corner of the hallway, she sighted him. "Hey, Samuel," she called out.

He turned around to see who it was.

“Hey,” he said awkwardly.

“Hey” she replied. “I noticed you were at the theater, why did you leave like that?” she asked watching as he avoided making eye contact with her.

Samuel was not a new kid in school but the other students often mistook him for one. He mostly kept to himself and was quiet. But boy when he did speak, his voice had a lovely deep tone about it. Plus he had a body that reflected a repetitive visit to Amanda's dad's gym every day. Ok, maybe not her dad's gym, but somebody's gym.

He was tall, dark-haired, and had a beauty mark at the right-side top of his lips that made his face look more handsome.

And standing in front of Amanda was a young handsome boy, who she barely ever noticed except from that one time in class. Wearing a white sneaker, blue jean trouser, white polo and a jean jacket; still wondering why she stopped him as he stood there.  He thought of what to say then voiced.
“I wanted to see Mr. Quinn.”

“Oh, ok. I know you must be surprised I stopped you. But,  I have to ask. Why did you reject the role of Ferdinand?”

“Huh, nothing really, acting is not really my thing.”

“Are you sure because, the role really would suit you well,” she said smiling. Trying to ease the tension building up around them

He fidgeted a little when he tilted his head upward and and met her gaze. She's smiling at me,  he thought, and then another flew from his mind right afterward, I hope she didn’t notice that.

“And I heard that you are a good actor,” she said interrupting his thought

"Who did you hear that from?”

“I have my sources.”

“Maybe,when I was in middle school but now, I’m not really into it.” he said finally

"Well." Amanda's shoulders shrugged. "I thought you bailed because you hate me, just like everyone else."

"No one hates you, Amanda," he said in a gentle tone. His face softened and a small smile appeared around his mouth.

“I’ll assume you pretend not to notice anything that is happening in school or hear all the nasty things they say about me, especially after you rejected the role of Ferdinand”

Samuel stood still with his mouth slightly ajar. His eyebrows rose higher on his forehead, but his mouth remained frozen in place.

“I have to go back before Mr. Quinn starts screaming MIRANDA! and not AMANDA! It’s nice talking to you, Samuel.” she said putting her hands in her pocket, as if controlling it from stretching out to him.

“Yeah, me too.”

“Ok, bye.” she said smiling as she left for the theater. Samuel stood for a while watching her leave before he took a step

********

“I told you but you wouldn’t believe me,” Elena said sitting opposite to Bridget

“I know don’t rub it in,”

“I understand it is dangerous, but we need a plan.”

“Elena, this is going to break Amanda.” Bridget said.

“I know.”

"But I have a plan" Bridget drew closer to Elena and then whispered something to her.

************

Dropping a poetry collection,  ESSENCE

please  check it out,  vote and leave a comment or two.
Thanks

1luv
#staysafe#