CHAPTER EIGHTEEN (PROLOGUE)787Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTGDSuibd1c
(Seth’s PoV)
Where the hell are you? The play is starting!787Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq53G8YUfgo
Don’t bother texting Shantee because I’ve787Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhiBN0qPz6
confiscated her phone so she could focus.787Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp64gsp52BQ
-L 787Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Woe0MTE8E
Sorry, I fell asleep! But I’m on my way.-S
787Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIFnlCinF5
Hurry up! Or I’m going to kill you! Everything is787Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡna6kNbmOea
ready. -L
787Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8d7ZjUESTL
I threw the phone on the passenger seat and I zigzagged through the traffic. Parking my car into the first slot I saw, I dashed towards the auditorium of Ashantee’s school. Sarah, Nick and their parents was already inside. Even Aunt Jenna came to watch the play. She had loved Ashantee the first moment she saw her.
When I entered the auditorium, the lights darkened and the spotlights focused on the stage. I saw Liz and the rest of the DevilSaint sitting with my family. I ran towards them and took the chair they saved for me. Liz gave me the thumbs up and smiled her goofy smile.
I nodded at her and turned to watch the show.
Apparently, the play was about a princess who was forced to marry the son of the neighboring kingdom to avoid a war. The princess have refused and she fell in love to a man, who happened to be the prince.
And I think I’ve fallen in love with Ashantee all over again the first time she came out to the stage. She was wearing a sky blue ball gown that complimented her features. Her hair was fixed to a braided bun that brought out the color of her blue pools.
Even the boys in the audience agreed with me and I felt a pang of anger when I saw them looking at her like they wanted to make a move at her. But I controlled that anger and just watched the play.
“Please! Father!” The princess cried. “I don’t want to marry a man I don’t love.”
“My daughter, a princess must take care of her people. And this is the only way we can to avoid a war.”
“But father!”
“Enough!” The king shouted and the princess took a step back. Afraid of her father. She cried and ran away from the throne room.
Some of the audiences were crying. Moved by Ashantee’s tears and the feeling that welled in her actions. She have clearly portrait a princess-in-distress.
By the end of the play, everyone was holding their breathe for the final scene. The prince and the princess, on their way to the prince’s kingdom were attacked by bandits. The prince had fought and vanquished the bandits but not without receiving wounds of his own.
The princess knelt besides him and cried his name. Asking him to stay strong for her. Asking him to live.
It kind of reminded me of her past but when she started to lean for a kiss, I jumped to my feet. Liz and Sarah pulled me down on the chair and held me in place. My eyes widened in shock when her lips met his.
“Relax!” Liz whispered “They are not really kissing.” Then, she turned to the others. “Get ready. Once that curtain open again for their final bow, we raise the tarp, okay?”
Everyone nodded and I felt my heart racing in nervousness and excitement.
(Ashantee’s PoV)
“My prince!” I screamed in agony as he fell to the ground and blood pooled around him. I knelt besides him and ran a hand down his hair. “My prince, please. Please don’t leave me alone!” I cried. Tears started streaming down my face. “Please be alright! I cannot live without you, my prince.”
He reached one bloody hand and touched my cheek. He smiled softly at me. “Don’t cry, my love.”
I leaned in to kiss him and I had to stop the laugh that wanted to escape my throat when I saw, from my peripheral vision, that Seth had jumped to his feet. I leaned more closer to my prince. We could feel each other’s breathe but we were positioned to trick the audiences that we were really kissing.
As we were ‘kissing’ the curtains slowly closed and the sound of clapping filled the air. As soon as it was close, we stood up from the stage floor and quickly went to clean ourselves of the fake blood before it open again for the final bow.
The thick red curtain opened up and all the lights were turned on. We held each other’s hand and bowed together. I gasped when we stood straight. Because at the highest point of the benches, raised by my friends and his family, was a tarp with the words:
Be my girlfriend?
My hand flew to my mouth and I didn’t know why, but tears started steaming down my face. My heart was welling with joy and happiness. It was racing so fast that I was afraid it would be ripped off my chest. But I couldn’t see him. I squinted and scanned the sea of people who came to watch but he wasn’t there.
My heart fell and I started to return to the back stage when a voice spoke behind me, making me jumped.
“So, what’s your answer?” His warm voice asked.
“Seth!” I breathe.
“Don’t leave me hanging, beautiful.” He asked as he gave me a bouquet of blue roses, my favorite. “Everyone’s waiting.”
I turned back to the audience and saw everyone watching us carefully. Especially my friends and co-actors. I turned back to Seth again and laugh.
“As if you needed to ask!” Then I kissed him. Holding the bouquet with one hand, I had my arms around his neck.
He deepened the kiss and he held me on my waist to pull me closer to him. Everything become a blur as our heart started to beat in sync. I could hear the faint sound of clapping and cheering. And in this time and place, I was in my own heaven.
Seth.
After the play, and the show Seth have planned, I excused myself to change. Everyone congratulated me and I couldn’t help the smile on my face.
“You guys go first.” I said with a smile. “I just have something to take care of.”
“Okay, then. Come out soon or lover boy might get worried.” They said with a laugh.
I waited ‘til they were really gone and I picked my phone up and dialed the number I knew like my own. It started ringing and I waited to hear his voice.
“Hey! Thank you for calling but I am currently unavailable. Though you can leave a message after the beep!” Leon’s quirky voice spoke.
I smiled. “Leon! The play was a success and Seth just asked me to be his girlfriend.” Then I paused. “I know that I haven’t let you have the peace I should have given you four years ago. I just wasn’t ready to let go. But being with Seth taught me that you don’t need to see anyone to know they are there for you. Because as long as you have them in your heart, they will always live. And you shall never vanish from mine.”
I took a deep breathe and spoke the words that I have refused for four years. “Goodbye, Leon.”
~oOo~ THE END ~oOo~
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