Plié and Clout

Chapter 16: Gun Duel

give me the night - des rocs

-rabid

***

AUGUST: 

"Hey, I'm here because I want to see him." Gabby pops her head into the studio as we're packing up to go.

"Huh?"

"I want to meet him, that's all." She raises her eyebrows at me. Steph and I have texted seemingly nonstop for the last two days. Tetanus, dinosaurs, serial killers, fish breeds, rocks at the ocean, homework, trigonometry, the expansiveness of the universe. All very wholesome, but I'm terrified to see him today because texting is one thing, talking is different.

"What?" I walk behind the counter and wave to every mom and dad that's taking their kid home for the day.

"I just want to see the guy you've spent the last forty-eight hours talking to about why or why not Pluto is in fact a planet."

"He should be, late. He's always late."

"Why?"

"His boss doesn't let him out until five, and then he has to get here." I stare at the door and Jilly walks over to us.

"Jilly, this is Gabby, my friend." Gabby shakes hands with Jilly, introducing each other.

"I was there when Steph texted her for the first time, making sure she didn't pass out or say 'tis me' in the first-ever conversation." Gabby raises her eyebrows and Jilly just laughs.

"They ended up talking about tetanus, which was weird anyway." Jilly snorts.

"That's what I told August."

"Then this morning they were talking about the soviet union, I'm a little horrified to see what else they end up talking about." Jilly leans back on the counter and I see Steph, finally. My heart leaps into my throat.

"Steph!" Jilly laughs, he closes the door behind him and grins.

"Tis me." Jilly snorts at this and I take a minute to stare at him now that I have a better understanding of what goes on in his head. It just makes him so much cooler. I have to cover my laugh when he looks over at me, his eyebrows up like he knows he just said tis me.

"You need a Shakespeare outfit." I lean forward on my elbows on the desk. He grins. "You know, wander around like 'tis me and 'to be or not to be'."

"Absolutely." He tips a fake hat. "Two households, both alike in dignity."

"In fair Verona where we lay our scene, where ancient grudge break to new mutiny."

"Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean, from forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life." Steph smiles. "I had to memorize that for a project in senior year, I don't know why I still know it."

"What project?"

"We had to play characters for the play? I don't know, but I got Mercutio, which was great because I was a hooligan for like fifty pages and then I died and didn't have to do anything for the rest of it."

"You were in a play?"

"No, my English teacher was crazy." He winks. "AP lang was torture." I'm flipping out on the inside, that wink was so wholesome for this oh holy crap father son holy spirit those legs are making me think things that aren't in the bible holy shit. Our father who art in heaven, holy shit.

"Alright, Mercutio," Jilly pulls Steph's sleeve. "I'm hungry and I'm going to need math homework help."

"Bye August and I would assume you're Gabby." He looks at Gabby and she nods.