Gregory Girls Gone Wild - Chapter 41: Chapter 41

As soon as the words escaped her mouth, Rainey realized that she had made a mistake. Fiona's expression turned frothy.
"Why?" Fiona demanded suspiciously. "Do you want to play the role of Commander Sam?"
"Uh, well, no," Rainey said, flustered. "I'm just saying that I'm the only person who hasn't tried out yet."
"Aren't you in a relationship?" Jessica asked obnoxiously.
"So is Nakir," Rainey said, irritated. "What does that have to do with an audition?"
"Nothing, I guess," Jessica said slyly, glancing at Fiona.
Fiona clutched her clipboard tightly, her fingers turning pale. Rainey was baffled.
"I don't know why you would want to act all of a sudden," Fiona said stiffly. "But you can read from a script if you'd like."
"Never mind," Rainey changed her mind, bewildered by her hostility. "I didn't really want to audition."
"No, really. It's fine."
Rainey sat back down. "It's alright, Fiona. I was just kidding."
Fiona pursed her lips. She turned around to the rest of the group, her pink hair ruffling against her back. "Okay, everyone, that's it for today! Callbacks will be sent by next Thursday. Thank you for coming out!"
Rainey sank into her seat, bothered. She had just wanted to take part in the fun. Why was her girlfriend acting like she had committed a crime? Was there something wrong with what she had said?
After Fiona's dismissal, a few people loitered at the back end of the auditorium. Jessica stayed behind to chat with a group of friends, discussing the acting style of one girl who had performed in an opera singing voice.
"Sorry, Rainey," Nakir said sympathetically. "Maybe Fiona thinks you're a bad actor."
Rainey bristled. "I think I see Mariah over there."
"Where?" Nakir bolted under the retractable seat, his butt sticking out sorely in the aisle.
Rainey made her way to the stage. For some reason, Fiona hadn't wanted her to audition with Danika. Rainey didn't want to think badly of her girlfriend but she couldn't help but suspect that the kissing scene had something to do with it. She frowned. Had Fiona been jealous? She recalled what Fiona had said earlier,
"Actresses don't care who they kiss,"
And she shook her head. Fiona, who had put her blood and soul into the play, wouldn't be jealous of simple kiss scene. She was the one who had casted Danika in the first place. There must have been another reason why she had been excluded from the audition. Perhaps Nakir was right—her girlfriend really did believe her to be a bad actor. That sentiment didn't make her feel any better.
Onstage, she approached Danika and offered her a spare water bottle.
"Had one of these lying around," she said grumpily. "You alright?"
Danika took it gratefully. "Yeah, thanks." She tilted her head and sipped the water, her throat slightly moving up and down.
When she was finished with nearly half the bottle, she said, relieved, "That took longer than I expected. There were so many people."
"I tried to warn you," Rainey said ruefully.
Danika was quiet for a moment, her hair covering her face. She looked unhappy. "This sounds weird, but I got the feeling that everyone was making fun of me. Did you get that feeling too?"
Danika's large eyes were uncharacteristically gloomy, waiting for an unkind answer.
Rainey hesitated and then shrugged. "When have you ever cared what other people think?"
Surprised, Danika smiled at her self-consciously. "I suppose you're right."
"Look on the bright side," Rainey suggested. "At least the light didn't fall on you this time."
Danika laughed, despite herself. "Wow, Rainey. That's the bright side? At least we didn't die?"
Rainey grinned. "That's the best I've got."
Danika shook her head in disbelief. "So how did I do? Was I a convincing Rapunzel?"
Rainey stretched her arms. "Yeah, you were okay."
Danika fake-gasped. "Just okay? Don't you know it's practically law to compliment the lead actress after a show?"
"I mean, obviously you're a great actress," Rainey said quickly. "But this is only an audition after all. Of course, you're not going to hit all the points."
"Ouch." Danika pretended to wince. "So you're saying I was terrible?"
"Not terrible!" Rainey said quickly. "Honestly, forget it. I don't know anything about theater."
Danika's eyes twinkled. "No, please, Director Rainey. Bestow your advice on me."
Rainey was embarrassed. "I don't have advice—"
"C'mon, there has to be one little thing that nagged you, or else you wouldn't have said anything."
Rainey pulled at her collar sheepishly. She hadn't meant to interfere in the acting side of the show at all. "Well, I guess, you play the princess rather...boldly."
Danika blinked.
"Bold...yeah." She raised an eyebrow. "Fiona gave me notes to play Rapunzel as bold and feisty. Princesses aren't all damsels in distress, you know."
"Of course not," Rainey frowned. "But the princess, she's been locked away her whole life, right? She has no idea what the real world is like or how other people interact. If she were real, she'd be a lot more shy with a stranger like Commander Sam."
"Shy, you say?" Danika repeated blankly, as if she couldn't comprehend the meaning of the word.
Rainey wracked her brain for any of Fiona's late night musings. "Uh, to Rapunzel, Commander Sam represents the outside world and the bad things it can bring. She's never felt attraction of this kind before, so she's intimidated. Frightened. After all, the Commander is this unknown element in her life, whose presence can either save her or destroy her."
She looked up to find Danika's gaze fixed curiously on her.
"Why don't you show me then?" Danika asked quietly.
"What?" Rainey said incredulously. "No, I'm not an actor."
Danika positioned herself on the stool again, crossing her legs. "You don't have to be an actor. Just practice with me."
Rainey squinted at the script dubiously. She shouldn't, especially after Fiona's weird reaction to the whole idea. She looked offstage and saw that the rest of the group had gravitated to the back of the auditorium, not paying attention to them in the slightest. Fiona was busy chatting animatedly with an actress who had done well during her audition.
Rainey cleared her throat. "You want me to be Commander Sam?"
"Yes, please."
Rainey smiled nervously; she felt silly auditioning for a part she would never get. But Danika seemed so earnest that she felt like she couldn't deny her.
Rainey read the script.
Lonely face I do see, in the reflection of every river I wade beneath," she stumbled slightly.
Danika, who had memorized every line, stared into her eyes intensely.
"What much do you have to be lonely about? Is the world so frightening for a brave young commander?"
Rainey tore herself from Danika's eyes.
"How can it be that there is one who knows not my disgrace? Come down, sweet lady, and brave the world with me."
Danika lowered her gaze shyly. "I cannot leave this tower, nor can anyone enter."
"Who dares to you keep in?" Rainey demanded.
"An evil witch who stole me from my dear mother and father."
An electrifying feeling rushed down her back. Acting with Danika felt natural, like they were having a regular conversation.
Her voice deepened on its own accord. "Then I shall climb its walls and penetrate its secrets."
"No!" Danika cried out. "Oh, curse the commander who tries his hand at my rescue! How can I stop such a strong will?"
"Perhaps a glance of your bosom shall satisfy my eyes for now," Rainey grinned devilishly, raking her eyes up and down Danika's body.
Danika gasped, her plump lips forming a perfect O. Rainey was in awe of her talent, thrilled by it. The sophomore was better than any actress who had tried out by miles.
The scene unfolded itself.
"Back again, devilish rogue?" Danika teased.
"My sweet princess, your insults are my only sustenance these forsaken days. Will you not come outside?"
The words spilled out of them like honey. The outside world seemed to fade away; only they and the stage remained.
"Dear Commander, will you hurt me if I let you in?"
Rainey involuntary frowned, completely in character. She would never hurt her princess.
"It is I that will be hurt, princess, for the glory of your presence will blind me."
"Then use my hair as rope, Commander, and I will be your eyes."
Rainey kneeled next to her, one knee on the ground, the other leaned against Danika's thighs, like how the others had done. Danika's skirt gently brushed against her arm.
Danika seemed to tremble.
"Are you a man or woman, Commander?"
Rainey paused to adjust her stance. Danika quickly took ahold of her hand and slipped it between hers, as if to steady her. Their hands remained intertwined on her lap.
Danika stroked her palm in achingly slow circles. Rainey found it difficult to focus on her lines. No wonder so many girls had messed up their parts.
"I am your humble servant, my lady," Rainey said, looking up. She couldn't remember being so close to Danika's face before, close enough to count the sunspots scattered across her nose. She wondered if Danika expected her to kiss her at the end of the scene.
"You are a flatterer of the worst kind," Danika whispered. Rainey felt her breath against her mouth. The dizzying smell of cotton candy overwhelmed her.
Rainey whispered,
"Does not a flatterer gather around beauty? I am overcometh by glory—your lustrous hair which hath saved me. So shall my lips save you."
She flipped the script over.
"That's the end of it." Rainey looked down, deciding against the kiss.
She glanced up and was caught immediately by Danika's searing, possessive gaze.
She leaned in imperceptibly, against her will. Danika's eyes were hooded, glazed with lust. Rainey's knees felt weak suddenly.
Dani, what are you—
Danika kissed her hard, melting into her lips. Rainey gasped, the surprising warmth parting her mouth slightly. She felt a burning heat rise in her chest and throat.
She broke the kiss for a second, and Danika's eyes fluttered open, distressed. As if a dam had broken, they collapsed into each other once again. Rainey slid her arm across Danika's waist and tugged her towards her, kissing Danika like she desperately needed her. She did need her; she had always needed her. But not like this. This was an overpowering hunger traveling up her body, seeking to claim her mouth for the taking. Danika's soft lips parted, and Rainey captured her mouth further, pushing her tongue in and silencing Danika's surprised whimper. At the noise, Rainey felt weak.
Rainey's knees buckled, but Danika held on fast. She grasped Rainey's lapels in a death grip and pulled her violently towards her. Not that Rainey cared—she deepened the kiss, unable to think or breathe, the intoxicating smell of cotton candy overtaking her senses. Their teeth clashed against each other ferociously, a shudder running through Rainey like a stream.
They broke off, gasping for air. Danika's dewy lashes, heavy with need. Her shirt, disarrayed by their embrace, exposed her cleavage, her heaving chest.
What did we just do?
They stared at each other, shocked. Rainey looked offstage, and it was like her brain short-circuited. They had an audience. Everyone in the auditorium were stopped mid-conversation to watch their performance. Hazily, she spotted Nakir sitting in the front row, his expression riveted in jaw-dropped horror. There were whispers bouncing around—from which direction, Rainey couldn't tell. Her hearing was off-balanced.
Amidst the painful silence, the width of her gaze shrank, as if searching for someone. Please let her have left. Let her have not seen that kiss.
Finally, the face she wanted to see the least in this moment stood out to her: the wrenched and heartbroken face of her girlfriend, Fiona. Guilt ripped her gut into shreds.
Fiona began to run, pushing past the auditorium doors in clear tears. Stumbling, Rainey blindly tore herself from Danika and dashed down the steps.
"Fiona, wait!" she cried. She could explain...she could explain...
"Rainey!" A voice from behind her.
Rainey recoiled, but she didn't look back. She needed to make things right first. Damn Rapunzel, damn Theater, damn the whole freaking thing.