Chapter Five: On The Stage

Chapter Five: On the Stage

**Lilah's POV**

After a huge discussion with Jared and Lena about how giving my cellphone number to the boys really did happen, Lena rushed Jared and I out of our room, reminding us that we have class today.

When we get to the giant theater building, we're ten minutes late and Jared is very much out of breath.

"Jesus! You-" heavy breathing," did sports-" more heavy breathing," in high school!" Jared bends over, his hands on his knees. "I was just attractive!"

"You really should work out then," I say to him. My breathing is already under control.

Jared laughs and stands up, putting his hands on his hips. "I'm thin, I don't need to work out. I have the metabolism of a champion!" He exclaims with a wide smile.

I just roll my eyes and pull him along. "Come on, we're already late."

"Like Scott is ever going to punish anyone. He's too cute to do that," Jared sticks his tongue out at me and hooks arms with me.

"Oh shut up." Scott is out teacher's aide for the class and since it is college, the aides are usually the ones teaching. Scott, being one of the older UCLA students studying to become a professor or actor himself, is of course extremely attractive, but very much off limits. Besides he isn't part of One Direction!

When we get to the actual theater, the lights are already dimmed and Scott's on stage, looking out at the student filled audience. Jared and I grab each other's hands and sneak into a couple chairs in the third row. Hopefully we haven't been caught.

"So today I expect you and a partner to practice stage combat and a staged kiss. Partners are your choice so make sure you choose wisely," Scott, looking every bit of six feet tall, smiles at the audience, his blue eyes shining in the stage lights. Oh god and that brown hair of his that is so stubborn sometimes is acting really stubborn today. Instead of his neat teacher-like hairdo, his brown hair flips up at places. He looks as if someone has just run their hands all through-

"Lilah! He's talking to you!" Jared's elbow connects with my side, breaking me out my trance.

"Sorry! Sorry what?" I'm thankful for the dark room, hiding my blush across my cheeks.

"Sounds like Miss Mckinley has been daydreaming again," Scott clucks his tongue in my direction, his eyes not quite meeting mine but looking in my direction. I know from experience that the lights on stage are blocking out everything else. "Don't think I didn't notice you and Mr. Coles sneak in," Scott says with a slight smile on his face.

"Sorry Mr. Thustle," Jared and I say simultaneously. We like to call him Scott behind his back but address him as Mr. Thustle.

"No matter. Delilah come up here. Everyone else pair up," Scott says and already people are moving around to try and find a partner.

"Sorry for ditching you," I say to Jared.

"Oh shut up, I'd so switch you places for a chance to work with Scott," Jared giggles and pushes me towards the stage. "Enjoy!"

Rolling my eyes at Jared, but holding my breath as I get on stage, I walk over to Scott. I examine him discreetly as I approach him. His white button up, long sleeved shirt is tucked into his black straight suit pants, showing off his brown belt very nicely. His black leather shoes shine in the lights and I notice one of his shoes are untied. I can't help but stare at his chest and the way his shirt can't hide his very obvious muscles beneath it. God someone pinch me if I kiss this guy. I don't care if he isn't part of One Direction. He's hot and touchable.

"You called me up here Mr. Thustle?" I ask sweetly, stepping up beside him. Like to Jared, I only stand to about his chest.

Scott nods and smile at me, showing off his perfected teeth through his god-modeled lips. If this was one of my fanfictions...well, let's just say it would be a predictable one.

"Did you get that?" He asks suddenly and I widen my eyes at him. Oh shit he was talking?!

"I'm sorry I was dazing off," I say, feeling heat fill my cheeks again. I can only hope the lights are bright enough to flush out my color, hiding my heated blush.

"Miss Mckinley, you're my best student. I need you to start paying attention," he says amused, his blue eyes sparkling. I nod my head furiously, mentally dumping out my files of teacher-student fanfiction ideas running through my mind. That could wait until later.

"I'm sorry. You have my full attention," I say, focusing on him.

"Alright, as I was saying, you are my best student. You've been trained through your years in theater and, I'll admit it, you're a very believable actress," he smiles at me, putting his hand on my shoulder. I try not to show my mental cartwheels show as I stare up at his eyes. "So I'm asking you to give up choosing a partner today and instead, work with me to show the others how to do it all. Is that alright with you?"

I took a small breath, making sure to not answer to quickly. I nod. "Sure, I can help out," is what I say, but in my head I'm screaming,"HELL YES BABYCAKES!" This has to mean I'll be kissing him.

"Excellent," he drops his hand from my shoulder and walks back out to face the class. "Alright listen up everyone. Your classmate Delilah has now agreed to help teach you what I would like to see today. Stage combat and a stage kiss. Both take some practice but I'm sure after today, you'll all be better in those two subjects. Any questions?"

"Do we actually got to kiss them?" A girl asks in the audience. Shut up! Yes we do actually kiss them.

Scott chuckles and raises his hands. "Okay I know that some of you may be skeptical as to kissing someone, but this is theater. A stage kiss is exactly like a regular kiss, but planned out. Talk with your partner and decide just how serious your stage kiss is going to be."

"Give her the slip!" A guy yells, followed by a large howling of laughter.

"Mr. Thomas, is that you I hear?" Scott looks out at the audience.

"No sir!" Thomas so very obviously shouts back, another roar of laughter following his outburst.

"Mr. Thomas please join us on stage," Scott says and I feel my heart stop. Noooo! I want to kiss Scott! Please tell me he's just in trouble and not making Thomas my partner...I don't want to pass up the opportunity of kissing Scott!

Thomas walks on to the stage, pumping his fists into the air, gaining a roar of howls from his friends. I will still never understand what a couple of jocks are doing in theater.

Thomas walks over to me and throws his arm around my shoulder, the weight of just his arm has me leaning a bit. Stupid football players and their non-stop workouts. Thomas is the quarterback of our football team and one of our main actors. It's something I appreciate but also question.

"Hey Lilah! How have you been?" Thomas smiles widely at me, his brown eyes looking down into my green ones. We used to go to high school together, his girlfriends always hated me for some odd reason. Perhaps it's because we usually had to be acting partners and spend hours together.

"Fine. Could be better," I mutter. It would be a lot better if I could just kiss Scott. "You? How's Abi doing?" Abi, or Abigail, is Thomas' current girlfriend and head cheerleader. Extremely pretty, but not too great in the head if I'm being honest.

"Broke up with her about a month ago Lilah," Thomas chuckles. "She cheated, didn't you hear about it? It was all over campus for the past month! Everyone just won't shut up about how "the perfect couple" split 'cause of a couple nights of cheating. Of course no one knows the real story, but I tend to not care," Thomas says without sounding the least bit upset. He's either really great at masking his feelings or she didn't matter to him, either way it's none of my business.

"Okay folks, time to get things started," Scott walks back over to us. "You two will act as my example."

Damn. It. "Alright that's cool," Thomas says. "It'll be like high school days when we had to study our lines together."

"Yeah but there was no combat or kissing," I say.

"Well now there is, so I need you two to warm up before I show you the combat," Scott says.

"Aiiiight," Thomas drawls out and starts shrugging his shoulders. I roll my eyes and stretch my arms across my chest.

We both stretch across from each other and Scott excuses himself to change into more decent clothes. When he's disappeared, Thomas grins at me knowingly. "You are so disappointed aren't you?" Thomas teases, smiling wider when I ignore his question. "I knew it!"

"Shut up Thomas!" I glare at him and bend down to touch the floor, my blonde hair creating a barrier between us.

"Lilah, you can't be serious! Mr. Thustle?! The guy's like thirty!" Thomas exclaims and I stand back up, stretching to the side.

"He's twenty-four."

"You're nineteen!"

"And?!" I glare at him as I stretch my other side, he mirrors me. "What is your point?"

"The man is practically half a decade older than you," Thomas muses on, standing straight to stretch his arms. "Besides isn't he married or something?!"

"No, he's not," I say. I know this detail extremely well. Scott has been single for almost a year now. I'm not about to mention that to Thomas though. No way.

Thomas just laughs and walks over to me, turning me so he can stretch my arms behind my back. "You need to look in different places for a boyfriend," Thomas says amused, dropping my hands after stretching out my arms.

I turn to face him and he turns his back to me, holding out his hands for me. I stretch his arms behind his back like he did to me. "Stay out of my business."

"Well learn to hide it Lilah," Thomas chuckles and steps out of the stretch. "You're face gives you away."

If I could pale any more under the stage lights, I probably would. If it's that obvious to Thomas, it's probably like a flashing neon sign to Scott.

"Breathe Lilah, I've known you for years. I can read you like an open book," Thomas smiles at me widely.

"Oh shut-"

"Alright are we ready?" Scott comes back towards us and my jaw almost unhinges from what he's wearing. Or should I say not wearing.

He's switched his long-sleeved button up for a bare chest and threw on some basketball shorts. His feet are bare except for some socks. Oh god, the way his chest-

Thomas coughs purposely and I turn back towards him. He opens his mouth and closes it again with his hand, motioning for me to do the same. I shut my mouth immediately. Thomas smirks at me before throwing his own shirt off, revealing perfect muscles and a very appealing v-line. His jeans, held up by a belt, hug his hips nicely and I find myself staring.

I shake my head. Stop it Lilah. You've seen Thomas shirtless before. Hell, he's seen you shirtless. When you're acting in plays and have to change before certain scenes, you really don't care about who sees you change.

I can practically imagine the thoughts running through Jared's mind right now. Jared's always been a tad bit partial towards Thomas.

"Alright let's get started," Scott says and stands in front of us. "Class, watch carefully and try to follow along." There's a murmur of okay's through the crowd, mostly from the guys, the girls probably distracted as much as me.

Scott stands in front of everyone and shows the certain moves he wants done for partner A then does the same for partner B. Since I'm the girl, I'm partner B like every other girl in here. It doesn't take me long to memorize the moves that Scott presents us. They're all very simple when broken down.

~~~~~

Thomas stands across from me. We're upstage along with two other partners. Everyone's spread out somewhere on the stage so that we can all practice the moves before presenting them.

"Ready?" Thomas asks, getting in the ready stance.

I nod and ready myself as well. "Okay. Go!" I cue us and fly towards Thomas, throwing my fist out to swing just an inch away from his face. He reacts simply, clapping his hands secretly and dipping backwards, making it look exactly as if I've hit him. When it comes to stage combat, Thomas and I do really well.

We execute each and every move perfectly, jumping and swinging as directed. Scott walks over and watches us practice with a pleased smile on his face. When we finish, I'm held against Thomas's chest, facing away from him, and his arm under my chin in the choking position. I can feel him breathing heavily and my own chest rises quickly but steadily.

"Great job you two," Scott claps and Thomas drops his arms from around me. I step away from his bare body, ignoring the slight glisten on his chest from the sweat. "And now the kiss. After he chokes you Delilah, you jab him in the ribs and he lets go of you. Thomas bend over and make it look painful. Then Delilah, I need you to spin on your heel," Scott demonstrates the spin,"and then slap Thomas across the face. Then before he can react, grab his face and kiss him. Make it believable," Scott directs strictly.

Thomas and I both nod. "Alright."

"I'll come check up on it in five minutes, I've got to help Kaylee," Scott frowns across the stage at the small blonde struggling to stage slap Jared. Jared looks flustered as he attempts to show her that she doesn't actually slap him but just comes really close.

Scott leaves Thomas and I, and I turn back to Thomas. "Alright, so lets just go from the choke," Thomas says and I nod. I step back into his arms, ignoring his bare flesh, and he puts his arms around me. "Ready?"

"Yup," I say, trying to keep focused on the directions Scott gave us. Choke, jab, spin, slap and kiss. Sounds simple enough.

"Now!" Thomas yells and I hit my elbow backwards, not hard but enough to look real. Thomas makes some kind of oomph noise and drops his arms. I spin around, facing him and "slap" him across the face, my hand missing just a couple centimeters away. He reacts and before he can look back up straight, I grab his head and pull him down to me, kissing the side of his mouth.

"Good job! Except that the kiss didn't look believable at all," Scott's voice is accompanied by his clapping and I drop my hands from Thomas' face, stepping away from him. "I could see you weren't kissing his lips and, neither of you looked like you were enjoying it." Scott says and I hear Thomas' quiet snort.

"The kissing was all her doing."

"Me?!" Oh this was so not going to be on me. "You twisted!"

"Did not," Thomas glares at me. "You just-"

"Enough you two. You're going to do it again, but this time there will be a kiss. This piece is supposed to show the hate and love in a relationship, the pain that a couple goes through, and there's that powerful love between them that can't be changed from fights. And you will be doing it in front of the class."

I can't even protest or ask for more practice time when Scott walks away briskly and tells the other students to take a seat in the audience again. Thomas walks over to me and squeezes my shoulder. "Just kiss me like I'm one of your One Direction boys," Thomas smirks at me and I slap his arm.

"Oh shut up, if you were one of them, I wouldn't just kiss you."

Thomas laughs and shakes his head at me. "Can't believe you just said that."

"I can't believe you're still shirtless," I mutter.

"You like it," he says and moves in front of me. "I see you checking me out," he smirks at me and gets closer to me with his bare skin. I ignore him and his toned body.

"Thomas stop it!" I push him away from me, my hands pressing into his hot skin.

"Ah! Your hands are freezing," Thomas exclaims and moves away from me.

"Oh shut up Thomas."

"Thomas and Delilah, please come center stage," Scott's voice rings out but he's no where to be seen. He's probably seated in the first row of the audience.

Thomas and I walk center stage and face out. "Ready?" Scott asks.

"Yes," we answer.

"Good, now keep in mind I'm grading your guys' performance-that goes for everyone- and this is one of your final grades for this grading period." I internally groan. This means we have to do well. "Okay, whenever you're ready," Scott says and then the room goes silent.

Thomas and I face each other and he nods discreetly. We begin.

My mind is on automatic as I duck and react accordingly to every single move. I groan and gasp when needed, screaming in rage when I shove him away from me. He's completely focused as his body moves gracefully for a football player, perfectly in sync with mine. We match each and every move, and I hear the audience gasp when I "punch" Thomas in the face. It's so believable that I almost forget it's all staged and not real. I love that feeling of getting lost on the stage, losing yourself to the character you're playing.

Thomas throws me into his chest, pinning me with his arm. He's actually pressing his arm into my neck, cutting off my breathing just a bit. I jab him in the stomach as rehearsed and soon I'm out of his grasp. I spin, and slap him. Only this time, my hand connects with skin and the audience gasps in shock. I gasp as well but before I can react, Thomas grabs my waist, pulling me to him and kissing me on the lips.

We're both breathing heavy from the combat but this kiss takes whatever breath I have left. Thomas kisses me hard, my eyes shut as I try to make our kiss as believable as possible. I run my hands up his bare chest to his brown messy curls, pulling them as I kiss him back.

The sound of applause has us breaking apart from each other. I'm breathless and pleased to see Thomas is too. We join hands and take our bows.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how it should be done!" Scott yells triumphantly and I smile widely and proudly with Thomas. We did great.

"Great job Lilah!" Jared yells and I turn towards his direction, the stage lights blocking him from my view. But I see it.

The bright red dot that tells me Jared has just recorded Thomas and me. And I know just where that video will go.

Just great. Another thing for One Direction to see. From the kiss between Thomas and I, they'll probably assume we're a couple. Just what I need.

**A/N** Comment please? (: