Singing Sight

AN: This was originally going to be with another chapter taking place at the show, but it just got too long. I swear, it\'s coming. Sorry this took so long- there was the computer issue and then I went on vacation for spring break. But here it is, a short, sweet chapter four. Enjoy!


Chapter Four: Only Completely


\"And she said she\'d come with us Friday?\" Trey asked on the patio the next morning in between slurps of his latte.

\"Yeah.\"

\"I call her, Harper, my turn for once.\"

\"Ha, like she\'d go for you.\" Jake scoffed in a joking manner, hitting Trey\'s arm playfully. I knew they were only kidding around and that I normally would have laughed, but for some reason they irritated me.

\"Shit, you\'re calling her like shotgun.\" I grumbled.

\"You ok, man? You look beat.\" Jake asked.

\"Yeah, I\'m okay. I didn\'t sleep very well last night.\" I admitted, running a hand through my hair.

\"Too busy jacking off to the sexy sophomore?\" Trey winked. Sad, but true.

\"Trey, not everyone wanks as much as you do. Some of us get the real thing.\" I retorted.

\"Touche.\"

I saw her then, getting out of a blue compact volvo. She waved goodbye to the man in the front seat and heaved her heavy
bag over her shoulder, flipping her long hair over the other. She was in a short blue plaid skirt that exposed those pale, shapely thighs. Old, heavy looking lace up boots covered her feet and went partway up her calves, giving her a good platform standing of taller than her petite normality. A black Save Ferris t-shirt with a low cut collar clung tightly to her frame.

\"Hey gorgeous!\" Trey called. She looked up with a start and rolled her eyes with a slight smile on her face.

\"Fuck, Trey, what the hell?\" I asked him as Aria walked toward us.

\"Hey guys.\" She greeted.

\"Hey.\" Trey replied.

\"Hey, good to see we didn\'t scare you off.\" Jake smiled at her.

\"Hard to do.\" She responded.

\"That\'s good.\"

\"Didn\'t crash your car, I see.\" She noted towards me, licking her pert lips.

\"Well, got to get the little sis to class. Car crashing is only acceptable when I have these two bums in the vehicle.\"

\"Love you too, man. See, he\'s mad jealous of my beautiful body so he feels the need to kill me off.\" Trey said, flipping out
the lapels of his sketchy corduroy jacket and doing a little Michael Jackson-like turn before flipping his long, hippie hair.

\"Weirdo.\" Jake pushed him as Aria laughed.

\"You\'ve got to be the most entertaining person on the planet.\" Aria told him.

\"I have a purpose. Kick ass.\" Trey said as the bell rung. \"You\'re coming Friday to the Boomerangs?\" He asked her.

\"Uh, is that the show at the Lion\'s Den?\" She asked me, pretty eyes squinting in the light.

\"Ja.\"

\"I\'m there. Parent approved and everything.\"

\"Do you need a ride?\" Jake asked her. No no no no no.

\"She\'s got one.\" I intervened.

\"Beat me to the punch, eh?\" Jake smiled, patting my shoulder. \"Gotta go to class. See you guys at break.\"

\"Bye.\" Aria smiled. \"Aren\'t you going to class?\"

\"Yeah, I probably should. Don\'t need an Interim report on day two; Mom and Dad would have me shot.\"

\"Well, I\'ll see you later, maybe?\" She asked, looking up at me hopefully. Was my mind playing tricks, or was she flirting?

\"Definitely. My friends and I usually meet up out here during lunch.\"

\"Well, maybe I\'ll run into them.\" She smiled. \"Science calls.\" She said as the second bell rung, and ran off, her little skirt
flying behind her.


~*~


After the bell of my fourth period class rang, I nearly dashed out of the building, dumping my bag by my locker. Everyone just kind of left their stuff all over the place, it was really relaxed. I tried to contain my excitement, but I couldn\'t. Caine. I\'d get to see Caine. Spend lunch with Caine. His name sounded so good... Caine Caine Caine Caine Caine. I\'m so bizarre. But he\'s so hot!

I passed the offices, the lobby, the theater, the student center, and opened the doors to the patio, the bright light of the afternoon sun and warm early autumn breeze tearing through my body. I squinted and brushed my hair back, looking around.

\"Aria, over here!\" I heard a low voice call. I turned towards the voice and saw Jake waving me over towards a group of kids sitting, standing, leaning, lying on a picnic table at all angles. I walked towards them. Jake and Trey were the only two I knew, really. Trey sat on the ground, leaning against a girl\'s bare, legs as she played with his hair. The girl had long blonde hair with blue tips and was very tan, wearing cutoff shorts and a white tank top with the theatrical faces on it. She was blue eyed and very pretty. Lying on the table was another girl, with her black t-shirt rolled up to expose her flat stomach to the sun. She wore sunglasses over a tan face and boy\'s camo shorts. Spiky cuffs littered her arms and she had a tattoo of the sun over her bellybutton. Reddish brown hair was cropped short and messy around her heart shaped face. Jake sat next to the girl on the surface of the table, his feet on the seat and another guy sat on the opposite bench, who had short, dark hair, wore khaki shorts and a gray Bob Dylan shirt.

\"Hey.\" Trey greeted. \"Guys, this is Aria. Aria, this is Julia,\" Trey said, pinching the blonde\'s legs.

\"Ow!\" She said. \"Hi, Aria, nice to meet you.\" She smiled.

\"That\'s Dana and Clay.\" Trey continued, pointing to the other two who I didn\'t know. Where was Caine?

\"Aria\'s theater, too. New sophomore.\" Jake pointed out.

\"Really? That\'s awesome.\" Julia said. \"Have a seat, stay a while.\"

\"Thanks,\" I smiled.

\"So what kind of theater stuff do you do?\" Julia asked as I sat next to her on the bench.

\"Well, I\'m going to do tech for the fall, but I do a lot of singing and dancing.\"

\"Ooh! You should try out for-\"

\"She already is.\" Jake smiled. \"I recruited her.\"

\"Awesome. What are you?\" Julia asked me.

\"I\'m a mezzo-soprano.\"

\"Perfect. It\'s so much fun.\" She smiled.

\"I love it. I\'ve been singing since I was four and dancing since I was nine.\"

\"What kind of dance?\"

\"Ballet, jazz, modern, hip hop, tap... you name it.\"

\"Sounds like you might be the next Julia Joss.\" Dana commented with a smirk.

\"Ha ha.\" Julia said, smacking her friend\'s leg.

\"You\'re the big deal?\" I asked her with a smile.

\"I wouldn\'t say that, but suck ups like Dana do.\"

\"What do you guys do?\" I asked Dana and Clay.

\"Sets.\" Clay replied. \"You want to be on my crew?\"

\"You aren\'t designer YET.\" Jake reminded him.

\"I know, but my interview with Quaile went well today.\"

\"Speaking of tech, where\'s Caine?\" I asked.

\"He\'s got his interview for lights designer.\" Dana shrugged. \"I have to go in next period for costumes designer.\"

\"Wow. You guys all seem pretty into it.\" I laughed nervously.

\"You\'ll get sucked in.\" Julia smiled.

\"Are you all seniors?\" I asked.

\"All but little Dana here.\" Trey winked.

\"I\'m a junior.\" Dana said, sitting up and rolling down her shirt. \"Trey, let\'s go have a smoke.\" He nodded.

\"I\'ll go with you.\" Clay said.

\"I want food.\" Jake commented, stretching. \"Jules, Ari, wanna join me?\"


~*~


We\'d listened to Ben Folds on the way back from lunch in Julia\'s car. I\'d been in the back, Jake got shotgun both times. I was younger and they probably thought I was stupid, but I felt so accepted and cool pulling into the school parking lot with two seniors. It was then I caught a glimpse of him, sitting on the patio in a grey t-shirt and jeans. He was talking to a few girls sitting near him and looking incredibly sexy. He laughed and pushed his long hair out of his eyes and I felt my stomach twist. Julia parked the car and we all piled out. Jake headed on up and Julie and I lagged behind. She nudged me with one tan elbow.

\"Who were you looking at just then?\"

\"When?\" I laughed nervously.

\"In the car as we pulled up. You were a beat away from drooling.\"

I bit my lip and pushed some hair behind my ear.

\"Nobody. I just kinda spaced.\"

\"No one just spaces with a look like that. I\'ve seen that look. I\'ve had that look.\"

\"Oh yeah? For who?\" I smiled with a challenge.

\"Same guy I suspect you were looking at. I never told him, he doesn\'t know, only Dana knows. She\'s my cousin, you
know.\"

\"I didn\'t, but now I do.\" We took a few more silent steps and were approaching the school when she asked me,

\"So I\'m wondering, is it him?\" I stopped and looked at her. Julie\'s shiny blonde hair was over her shoulder, a smile on her pink lips and sunglasses over those dazzling movie star eyes.

\"Who was yours?\"

\"Caine Cohen.\" I froze and met her eyes.

\"Is it obvious?\" i asked quietly.

She shook her head no. \"Only completely.\"

I must have looked puzzled, because Julie threw a long, thin arm over my shoulder. \"it\'s okay, because he likes your legs.\" She whispered as we walked towards Caine, Jake and the dissipating group of girls who saw Julia.

\"What? How do you...\"

\"He stares at them and gets his little half smile thing.\" I quirked an eyebrow. \"I\'ve known him since I was five.\"

\"Ah.\"

\"Hey guys.\" His soft voice interrupted.

\"Hey Caine.\" Julia smiled.

\"Hi.\" I said softly, the toe of my boot dragging on the concrete as I kept my legs together. Let him look.


~*~


She was doing this sexy little thing where the one toe of her boots was twisting on the pavement, her knees together and she kinda played with her rings on the left hand with her right, her pretty hair falling over her shoulder the way it did. That tiny skirt and those boots... she was simply adorable.

\"So, how did the interview go?\" Jake asked me, nudging my arm.

\"Well, it went well. Quaile pulled her little \"no guarantees till Friday post-ups\" shpiel.\"

\"You got it, then?\" Julia asked, sitting down on the other side of Jake. I shrugged.

\"No guarantees till Friday, Jules.\" I teased. She smiled at me, then at Aria, who still stood rather awkwardly in front of us.
What the hell was going on?

\"You wanna sit down, Aria? There\'s plenty of room next to Caine.\" Julia said, stressing my name. What the fuck was our
Yenta doing?

Aria shot her a glare. Did Julia know something? Did Aria reciprocate my feelings? That was impossible. I\'m ever the
optimist.

\"Do you mind?\" She asked me, motioning to the edge of the tabletop. I shrugged.

\"All yours.\"

She took a seat on the very edge farthest from me. She was practically falling off of it, her little boots on the seat of the
picnic table and her long, shapely legs bent. God, I loved those legs. She smoothed out that little plaid skirt with her hands, adorned with silver and I was jealous of that skirt for being so close to her body.

\"Hey, knock knock.\" Jake\'s voice interrupted my thoughts. \"Sir Stare-a-lot?\" Ohh, Jake, you douchebag. Wait, Jake? I\'m the pervert.

\"Yeah, sorry.\"

\"We hitting BUP today?\"

\"Yeah, man.\"

\"Ugh, Jake, you\'re going to ruin your voice.\" Julie scolded.

\"You\'re just jealous cause you can\'t smoke up without a cough for days. As resident techmaster, I\'m not obligated to sing.
But you, little miss Prima Donna, you have to get the lead for the musical in the spring. So you can\'t smoke pot, much as you\'d like to, you have to wait until someone takes the time to bake you a hash brownie. Poor little Julia.\"

Jake laughed at my comment and Aria smiled.

\"You wanna come, Ari?\" He asked her.

\"Oh, I\'d love to but I can\'t. Voice and all.\" She smiled.

\"Ha! I\'m not the only one, Jacob Harper. Hey, maybe we can do something without these stoner losers.\" Julia winked at
Aria, whose face burst into a smile.

\"Okay. Sounds great.\"

\"Just remember, if there\'s anyone getting naked, you film it for me.\" Jake smiled before getting jabbed in the chest by Julia.

\"I\'ll send you the URL. You know, it\'s the 21st century, we have webcam.\" Aria told him. Shit, she just couldn\'t be sweeter.

\"Deal.\" Jake winked.

\"And uh, if you ever decide you and Julie want a Y-chromosome around, you should call me,\" I smiled at her. She blushed
and laughed.

\"I would, but I don\'t have your number.\" She smiled. Smooth move, girl.

\"We should change that.\" I smiled.

\"Yeah, I need all of you guys.\" She said, pulling out a tiny Nokia.

We exchanged phone numbers, I got hers, she got mine and Jake and Jules, who got hers also. The bell rang as Julia and her finished up, and we headed inside together.

Jake patted my shoulder. \"After school, dude.\"

\"See you later, then?\" Julia asked.

\"Yeah.\" We both said as the two actors took off.

She turned to me, her pretty face looking up at mine. The height difference was incredible, even with those killer shoes.

\"Well, I should get to class.\" She smiled.

\"Yeah. What do you have?\"

\"Spanish. Room 214.\"

\"Well, have fun.\" I smiled down at her.

\"Yeah. You enjoy your class too. Maybe we\'ll run into each other later?\" She asked, a little hope in her voice.

\"Yeah. Good to see you again.\" I said. I had this urge to hug her, or kiss her, or just hoist up that little skirt and take her
in the hallway. Fuck, I\'m such a pervert.

\"You too.\" She smiled. She didn\'t move towards the stair, but stepped in closer and wrapped her soft arms around me. I opened mine up and held her to my chest, her soft head just above my shoulder. She felt so good, and her hair smelled like flowers.

She awkwardly pulled away, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

\"Well, see you.\" She smiled before darting off towards her backpack and further on to the stairway.

\"Bye.\" I could hardly say before she was off.

A hug. It\'s progress.


AN: Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think, chapter five should be up by Friday.