TWO FOR THE SHOW

As I look at the door shut from a distance, I could hear the others leaving in a rush for our lunch break. I slowly started to panic. It was currently 95 degrees Fahrenheit here in the Philippines and this building had no air conditioning unit.

“Oh no! No, no, no, please tell me this is not happening,” I said in anger as I could feel the temperature in the room rise.

“You are such an idiot; how could you get us locked in here?” asked Ella.

“It’s not my fault, the crew locked us in and took the key without noticing!” I replied.

We had one more scene to finish filming and our lunch break had arrived. The crew must have forgotten we were still in the film studio set inside the school that only had one way out. We usually all leave together, but today felt almost instinctual. Everyone knew Ella and I didn’t get along and they all found it hilarious that our acting mentor would often pair us up for two person scenes to get the most drama out of it. I wasn’t about to starve and my sweat my ass off in this Filipino heat wave with a person I couldn’t stand. I had to do something. I ran towards the window and started to bang on the glass, yelling for help as I can see the others leaving, but it was sealed shut.

“I swear why don’t you use your head? We are literally stuck in here until they get back genius.” Ella said with a snooty tone.

“Oh, I am so, so sorry to ruin your day, Miss. Privileged Spoiled Brat,” I said.

“Are we really gonna go there? Honestly? Mr. Perfect? Ahh!” she said.

“You know, I could never really figure out what your problem is with me. I’ve never done anything to you. You came programmed like that since the first day of class and all I must ask you is, why?” I asked.

She started to look down and then innocently back at me in way I’ve never seen before. As the temperature in the room began to rise, I could feel the sweat trickling down my face, as my mouth began to dry up, I closed my eyes as I waited for a response. I just wanted this feud to be over. They say some people on sets stay in character to make their roles more believable, but this was how it was on and off camera and even on the stage. As I stood there waiting, I could only think of one possibility.

“Why do all those girls always come to the shows with you?” she asked.

“Well, for one, they’re nice unlike you. They let me know they’re interested and come simply to support me. Does that bother you?” I asked.

Suddenly, it all started to make sense. My revelation was accurate. I remember asking her out the first week of class, but she refused, and I just let her be. As the semester went on my popularity grew with the females inside and outside of class. I suppose it got to her.

“Oh, you’re one of those who like to be chased. Let me guess, you do like me, don’t you?” I asked.

“So, what if I do? It doesn’t change anything. You’ll always have all your groupies on the side waiting for you. It’s not like you pay much attention to me anymore anyways,” she says.

In that moment, she slowly wiped her sweaty streaked blonde hair away from her face as she continued to give a look of longing for comfort and forgiveness. She held her head back with her chin in the air but had watery eyes. I honestly didn’t even know how to take it. I just thought to myself, is this really happening? I guess I never would’ve known if it hadn’t been for this situation we’ve been stuck in. As we both moved closer into each other, the more we started to sweat profusely. I could feel everything that was about to happen, I just wasn’t sure if I was ready for this sudden change. She still smelled like the Dolce & Gabbana that she loved to wear to class every day. It used to drive me nuts. As we move in closer breathing heavily, suddenly, the door swung open.

“We did it! We did it everyone! We got them to admit they like each other,” the crew shouted and laughed.

We both turned back at them in disbelief.

“Oh, what the hell? Are you serious?” we both asked.

We looked at each other and quickly concluded.

“You know what? I asked.

“Yeah, let’s not.” she said.

“Exactly, I agree.” I spoke.