Wherefore Art Thou, Chase?

Author\'s Notes: Ask and you shall receive! I dedicate this chapter to you, Zarah, my first reviewer on this story because, well, you asked for more and VOILA! ^_~ Keep \'em comin\', people! ^_^
~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 4: Chemistry and Electricity


Janelle paced impatiently by the phone, feeling like a caged animal.

“Relax, ‘Nelle,” Lily told her, poring over blueprints of a room in the living room. The blonde was majoring in Interior Design, and the plans were part of her latest assignment: take a small room and make it look bigger.

“But Professor Curtis is notorious for deciding things quickly. She gets projects and papers one day and the next day they’ll all be graded and passed back!” Janelle shouted, arguing because she was frustrated, nervous, anxious, and tired. She’d been riding on an adrenaline buzz for the entire night after that kiss and her mind had been occupied with thoughts of Chase. If he stage-kissed like that, what were his real kisses like? Or what he made love like? Just imagining him kissing her again made Janelle hot and hungry for so much more. If he ever kissed her again, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to resist him.

A shrill ringing snapped Janelle out of her thoughts. She snatched the phone up out of the cradle and held it to her ear. “Hello?” she said, suddenly nervous. Her anxiety was short-lived, though.

“Janelle?” was the answer from the other phone. The voice sounded surprised, as if the other person was caught off guard “This…This is Huey Kent,” said the voice. “Where are you?” it asked, sounding very nervous and lost. As if he were uncertain how she would react to him calling her. Janelle felt a myriad of emotions, including disappointment, confusion, then sudden understanding and guilt.

“Omigod, Huey…I completely forgot about the tutoring thing!” she apologized contritely, slapping her hand against her forehead. That explained the lost tone in his voice. People a lot cooler and that he liked much more than me have probably stood him up before, Janelle realized. “I’ll be right over…I’m so sorry,” she informed the genius, before hanging up. Shoving her feet into her shoes, grabbing her math stuff, and her keys, Janelle briefly informed Lily where she was going.

“Uh-huh,” was the blonde’s distracted response. She didn’t have time to make sure Lily had heard, so Janelle made a mental note, as she was going down the stairs, to call home from Huey’s place.

**********

Chase frowned at Huey, who was hanging up the phone, as he walked into the house. Instead of an apartment, Seamus, Huey, and another guy had found a house in a suburb near the city. The other guy had moved out during the summer, though, which was when Chase had transferred back home. Tracking down his old friend, who he’d still seen frequently after the first move, Chase had asked if he could crash for a few days until he found a place. After asking his younger room mate if it was okay, Seamus invited him to stay, at least until graduation. Chase had accepted and had applied for jobs all over the city, insisting that he help pay the rent and the bills like their old roommate had. Seamus had covered him for the first month because he was still getting readjusted, but Chase had promised to pay him back, when he could.

“Who was that?” he asked Huey, who shrugged.

“Not that its any of your business, but that was the girl I’m tutoring,” the eighteen-year-old kid told him, smiling. “She was running late and I called to see if everything was okay.”

Chase grinned and shucked his shoes before moving anywhere inside the house. It was hard to keep clean, but it was spacious enough for three. And the rent was lower than anything they’d find in the city. Not to mention that the landlady was this sweet, little old lady who made them cookies when she came to collect the rent.

“Is she hot?” he teased, going over to the fridge and searching it for something to drink. He settled on a lemonade, cracking open the can and taking a long swig.

Huey blushed from his hairline to the collar of his shirt. “I guess,” he muttered, not really having thought about it. He supposed Janelle was pretty, but compared to Erin, she was plain and boring. Still, it was embarrassing to tell Chase, who had the air of experience, that a girl was “hot.”

Chase laughed softly, and ruffled Huey’s hair amicably. “I’ll be in the other room watching TV, so you don’t have to worry about me interrupting you two,” he teased, waggling his eyebrows suggestively at the boy. Huey turned even more crimson, if it was possible, which made Chase laugh harder as he went into the other room.

**********

Janelle pulled up in front of the address that Huey had given her and stared at the house. It was like all the other houses on the street, which was what threw her for a loop. It wasn’t every day that you saw three college-attending guys getting a house, especially when one of those guys had just turned eighteen.

She shrugged it off, though, climbing out of the car and rushing up to the front door. She rang the bell then waited, looking around at the well-mown lawn and garden. For a moment, she wondered who their landscaper was and how they could even afford a landscaper, then Huey opened the door and welcomed her into the kitchen.

“I’m really sorry, Huey,” she apologized again, feeling weighted down with immense amounts of guilt until he laughed and waved it away.

“Hey, as long as I have a date with Erin, you can be as late as you want,” he told her jokingly, though his gaze held something more. Anxiety, Janelle realized, as she took a slip of paper out of her pocket. Janelle had never been the type to carry around a purse, opting instead to stuff everything into her pockets. It was just more convenient for her.

“Erin told me to give you this,” she said, handing the paper over to Huey, smiling.

The paper had large, loopy writing that entailed the whens and where of their date. Saturday, 7:00 pm, at the movie theatre. Huey grinned widely, eagerly anticipating the next evening.

“You know,” he began, looking at Janelle, who was still standing by the door, “I haven’t been on that many dates, but I’m told that the man usually does the planning.”

“Yes, well, when you’re a man, you’ll get to do the planning,” Janelle retorted, grinning widely so he wouldn’t take her seriously. Huey laughed, and an instant bond was fashioned between tutor and student, which would make it easier for Huey to teach her.

Janelle slipped her shoes off and placed her math things on the table while Huey searched the fridge for something to drink for the both of them. Suddenly, the phone rang and Huey placed the sodas he’d grabbed on the table hurriedly before picking it up on the second ring.

“Hello?” he answered, there was a short pause on what Janelle could hear of the conversation, then Huey nodded. “Uh-huh…I’ll get him right away,” he said, then covered the bottom half of the receiver with his hand. “Its for my room mate,” he told the brunette, before booming, “CHASE! PHONE!” over his shoulder. Janelle jumped, startled not only because of the sheer volume of Huey’s voice, but of the name he had called.

“Chase?” she repeated, feeling very light-headed all of a sudden.

“My room mate,” Huey clarified, unaware of the inner turmoil he was putting Janelle through. Just then, Chase stepped through the doorway, scanning the kitchen for Huey and, instead, his gaze zeroed-in on Janelle.

“Janelle?” he questioned, unsure that what he was seeing was actually what he was seeing. After all, he’d spent half of the night staring at his ceiling thinking about her and the other half dreaming about her. The scenario seemed intensely familiar to Chase, but he couldn’t remember ever feeling this way about any of his ex-girlfriends. Then again, Janelle wasn’t like any of the women he’d ever dated. Maybe that’s why she’s so intriguing? he wondered as she nodded her head in frosty acknowledgement. His heart sunk as she looked down at her textbook, seeming to have had no reaction to his entering, besides the fact that her cheeks were bright red.

A reasonable reaction, Janelle rationalized, sneaking glances at Chase out of the corner of her eye. He was half-naked, for God’s sake! Broad, tan shoulders led to that same well-muscled chest she’d seen through his undershirt at the party…Was it only two nights ago? she wondered as she took a long peek at his abs. It seemed like so much longer a time, but it was true. It was only Wednesday when he’d re-entered her life and now it was Friday.

“I’m tutoring Janelle in math,” Huey remarked quietly, feeling the thick unease that hung in the air. Lucky bastard, Chase thought as jealousy stabbed him in his stomach. He looked at Huey, then lifted a questioning brow and held out his hand for the telephone. The eighteen-year-old handed it over with a shrug. With one last look at her, Chase went into the other room to take his phone call.

Janelle let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Looking up, she met Huey’s questioning gaze and gave him a weak smile.

“You two know each other, don’t you?” he asked, making her laugh and dissipating the tension with his jesting tone.

Huey chuckled, too, walking over and pulling out a chair to sit next to Janelle. “Now, where should we begin…?”

**********

Janelle and Erin entered the theatre they’d auditioned at excitedly, chattering like squirrels. After Janelle had gotten home from her tutoring session the night before, Erin had practically ambushed her and told her that they’d both gotten a call from Professor Curtis telling them to come to the theatre Saturday morning. This was when they’d all find out what parts they got and they’d probably do a read-through or two of the script.

Janelle recognized Tobias and Heinrich from their auditions and pointed them out to Erin, who in turn pointed out other people they could recognize from the audition. They seemed to be the only ones from their class, though. Could we really have been the only people in our class who got parts? Janelle wondered as they climbed onto the stage, where the rest of the cast was congregating.

“CAST!” came a shout from the audience. Every head turned to look at Professor Curtis, who had entered from the audience entrance, this time. The graying blonde woman strode to the front of the stage, carrying a large canvas bag over her shoulder. Pulling out a clipboard and a copy of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, she set the bag down and held the script up. “When I call your name, please step forward and grab a copy of this script,” she said, making sure everyone knew what was going on. “Any questions? No? Okay, moving on,” she asked in one breath, not bothering to pause and wait to see if anyone did have questions.

Suddenly, the audience doors burst open and a silhouette stood in the sunlight streaming in through the door.

“Sorry, I’m late!” said a voice that, by now, Janelle could recognize from a country mile away.

“Chase Nicholson, I expect my actors to be prompt,” Professor Curtis scolded him as he strode forward hurriedly, though a smile played on her lips.

“Sorry,” he repeated, not offering an excuse of any sort as to his whereabouts. As he climbed on the stage, Janelle noticed that he wore a white T-shirt and jeans that had a hole across each of his knees and were ratty in a stylish way. The holes seemed authentic, though, and Janelle doubted Chase would ever actually rip his pants on purpose. Chase walked around the throng of people in order to hang in the back.

“As I was saying…” Curtis began to list people, those with small parts, first. Both Janelle and Erin listened for their names, sure that, because they were only college students, they’d get tiny parts.

“Tobias Schmidt…Tybalt…Erin MacPherson…Nurse…” Curtis announced as the redhead stood forward excitedly. Janelle was excited for her friend, but she couldn’t help feeling envious of the other woman. She got to be the comedy relief, while Janelle was sure she’d be Juliet. If the prettiest woman on stage wasn’t Juliet, then who would be? And what extremely miniscule part had she gotten that it hadn’t even been announced with the other smaller parts?

“…Heinrich von Austerschwitz…Capulet…and Juliet will be played by–drum roll, please–Janelle Scott,” Curtis proclaimed.

Janelle was sure she’d misheard the professor. She couldn’t be playing Juliet. It was a laughable idea, really. A practical joke, of sorts. But, the director called her name a few more times and Erin pushed her forward to accept the script.

“There must be some sort of mistake…” she began to whisper to Curtis as she took the script gingerly from the professor. But she was paying no attention to Janelle, already scanning the list to announce the next name.

“Opposite her will be…Chase Nicholson as Romeo,” Professor Curtis declared, finally looking up at the rest of the cast. “Anyone here I didn’t call? You are probably assorted background actors without lines,” she stated. Janelle walked back to Erin, stunned.

I don’t know why I’m so shocked, Janelle speculated wryly, pretending to flip through her script and listen to what Professor Curtis was saying. This seems to be the way my year will be going until graduation, she mused, pulling out a highlighter, then plopping herself down on the stage and highlighting her lines.

**********

Chase was thrilled, but not too surprised, that he was playing Romeo opposite Janelle’s Juliet. Unfortunately, she didn’t look quite as thrilled. She kind of looks…well, for lack of a better phrase, dazed and confused, he thought. He knew it wasn’t his place to ask, but Chase wanted to know what was wrong. Glancing to the front of the stage, he noted that Professor Curtis was telling them to get ready for the read-through. He smiled and strode over to his leading lady, flopping down next to her.

“What’s wrong, Janelle?” he asked, smiling at her. The woman in question lifted her head and noticed that he could make his eyes sparkle and one dimple show up in the most adorable way when he smiled like he was doing now. Perfect, she thought sarcastically, feeling her pulse flutter under his chocolate brown gaze.

“Nothing, I’m just…surprised,” she told him. It wasn’t a complete lie, she reasoned with herself, trying to focus on her script. Poor Lily was probably going to have to help both Erin and Janelle with their lines from now until January/February, when the play would be performed just in time for Valentine’s Day. They’d have to work hard and long, and things would probably get tight, as far as money, back at home.

But this would be worth it, Janelle was convinced of it.

“About what?” Chase asked, seeming genuinely curious.

“That a plain girl like me would get the part of Juliet,” she murmured as the Chorus began his “Two households, both alike in dignity,” monologue.

Chase wanted to argue, but he could see Professor Curtis staring at them in that strict, knowing manner of hers. Thus, he fell silent, listening for his cues and hoping he didn’t make a fool out of himself because Janelle was less than a foot away from him and already he could feel the hairs on his arm standing up on end.

**********

“Professor Curtis, with all due respect, I just don’t see why you picked me to play Juliet,” Janelle told her director. “After all, many of these girls are much prettier than I am–”

“Janelle, I don’t care about beauty. I care about two things when I’m casting leads,” Curtis informed her steadily and firmly. “First, talent. Then, chemistry. You have oodles of the first one. And you and Chase have chemistry like I haven’t seen for…a very, very long time.” Curtis’ eyes glazed over and she looked off into the distance for a moment, as if remembering something very fondly. Finally, she snapped back into reality, becoming her crisp, business-like, director-self once again. “I’m not taking either of you out of the roles because if it had one without the other, the play would go down the tubes. You two have too much electricity between you to let that go,” Curtis informed her, before hefting her bag over her shoulder and turning to leave Janelle to her thoughts.

“Electricity?” she murmured, touching her lower lip like she had in the car on Thursday. Don’t I know it, she added sardonically, shaking herself out of whatever it was she’d been in. It was odd to think her co-star would be coming over her house the next day to catch up in a class. Hell, it was odd to think that she even had a co-star.

“Ready to go?” Erin asked, her green eyes sparkling. She had a date that night, and that always made the redhead perky and hyper. Something about the thrill of something new, Janelle thought. The brunette merely nodded and allowed Erin to drag her to their car.

**********

Erin stared at her hands in her denim-clad lap, having had to endure silence for much longer than she’d ever felt comfortable with. Huey had just pulled up to her apartment building for the end of their date, and they’d both been sitting in complete silence for a very, very long time. Finally, Erin couldn’t take it anymore.

“Don’tcha wanna kiss me?” she blurted out, turning in her seat to look at Huey, who was staring at the steering wheel like he was being hypnotized by it. The eighteen-year-old merely nodded, still not looking at her. “That why don’t you?” Erin purred, leaning across the car and tipping her head up to offer him her lips. This was how every date had ever ended for her.

“Because I’m trying to get up the nerve to ask you for another date,” he admitted, clutching the steering wheel until his knuckles were white.

“Easy, Kent. You don’t want to make the steering wheel spontaneously combust with your laser-vision, do you?” she teased, uneasy with the way he was staring directly at the wheel, instead of anywhere else. Huey, in what Erin thought to be an attempt at smiling, grimaced and clutched the steering wheel harder.

“So…Will you?” he asked. “You know…Go on another date? With me? Same time next week?” he asked. Upon closer inspection, Erin could tell Huey was sweating bullets and blushing furiously. It was endearing, even the sweating, and there was no way Erin could say no.

“Same time next week,” she agreed, still waiting for a kiss. When a few minutes of silence followed, she made a loud sound of frustration. “Aren’t you at least gonna kiss me good night?” she asked him.

At long last, Huey turned his head to look at Erin. A smile lit his features and he shook his head. “I think we’ve done enough kissing for, at least, five dates,” he informed her matter-of-factly, reaching out and touching her cheek reverently. “I want to get to know you better, Erin…Beyond the kissing.”

There is no “beyond-the-kissing” part of me! she wanted to argue, but Huey was being so sweet, Erin couldn’t find her voice at all.

“Good night, Erin MacPherson,” he whispered, before retracting his hand. Erin, confused beyond belief, stumbled out of the car and up to her door. She could feel Huey’s gaze watching her, protecting her, as she went up the walkway and inserted the key into the lock. She climbed the stairs, frowning slightly. When she entered the apartment, she saw Lily and Janelle were still up, watching a movie. Once they caught sight of her, they both fumbled over each other, trying to make space between them for Erin, while still asking, “What happened?” and “Tell us all about it! Leave out nothing!” The redhead shook her head dazedly, focusing on them both.

“Nothing,” she replied, obviously miffed.