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Longer than the previous two chapters combined
Title: A Joke, Chapter Three
Original work: Malory Towers
Pairing: Alicia/Darrell
Rating: PG
The next day after the meeting, Alicia was ready to fulfill her promise and help Darrell and Sally in rewriting the pantomime’s script. Neither Darrell nor Sally seemed too happy about the prospect of so much additional work, but neither of them was the kind of girl that would go back on her word.
When the three of them finally sat around a table, the first thing Alicia had to do was to read the parts of the script that were already written. It was good, but not what she had envisioned for her trick on Gwen. A whole lot of changes would be needed, but with her doing them, it would take no time and the script would be much better than before.
“So,” she began after she finished reading, “This is a good script, but it’s not what we need. It needs to be more comedic, especially the opening part.”
“No, not at all,” said Darrell, “If we make beginning the funniest part, everything after it will be a letdown.”
“Darrell’s right. Pacing is important in this. I understand you want to have fun at Gwen’s expense, but you need to wait for it,” said Sally.
“I suppose you’re right, Darrell,” said Alicia, “But that opening is dull. It needs special attention.”
“Well then,” said Sally, “Why don’t you write it, if you think that what Darrell wrote is so bad?”
“Why not?” said Alicia, “I think the plot is good, it just needs to be made funnier. Let’s get to work.”
They started working. Darrell and Sally were working together on the rewrites, leaving Alicia to concentrate on her own part. It suited her just fine, but the situation seemed, as if Darrell and Sally did not want her working with them and that was irritating. After all, she was just keeping her part of the bargain. If they did not want her to be there, they could have just turned her down at the very beginning.
After an hour later or so, the time they could spare for writing that day had ended, so they swapped their respective works to check it. Alicia was appaled. The script was dull, lifeless and nothing like it should have been. She shook her head and sighed. “It’s no good,” she said, “This is boring.”
“What?” said Sally, “All of it?”
“Yes,” said Alicia, “Pretty much. There are good parts, but the bad ones drag them down.” She pointed at a particulary bad part. “This is just bad. It is forced and the worst part of the entire script.”
“What? I thought it was the best,” said Sally, “I put a lot of effort there.”
“Effort is wasted if you don’t have talent,” said Alicia, “And it seems you have none. At least for writing comedy.”
“Alicia!” said Darrell, “Don’t be so harsh. Sally tried her best.”
“She may have, but what she wrote is worthless,” said Alicia, “She should just stick to correcting mistakes.”
Darrell stood up, eyes blazing. “Take that back,” she said.
“You know it’s true,” said Alicia and prepared herself in case Darrell lost control of her temper.
“Stop it, both of you!” cried Sally.
“Sorry,” muttered Darrell, “Alicia, you were too harsh, but I have out of line too.”
“Alicia,” said Sally, “I understand. I’m no good at writing comedy, so I’ll leave you two alone. I think Moira could some more help coaching the kids, since most of us are busy with the pantomime.”
Everybody was silent as Sally gathered her things and left. When the door closed, Darrell spoke, “Now you’ve done it. Without Sally’s help, we won’t be able to finish in time.”
“Don’t worry,” said Alicia, “I’ll work for two. Remember, I’m almost a genius. Well, when I’m not sick.”
Darrell sighed, but did not argue. The day’s work was mostly wasted, since Sally’s contributions would have to be redone from the scratch. However, weekend was approaching and with Sally taking up coaching duties, Alicia and Darrell could devote almost entire two days to rewrites.
On Saturday, they managed to rewrite all the parts of the script that had been already done. On Sunday, they changed their writing arrangements. This time, Darrell was doing all the writing, with Alicia sitting next to her, offering suggestions and criticism.
After the weekend ended, more than half of the script, including the parts they rewrote, had been finished. Feeling generous, Alicia asked Sally if she would like to join them again, but Sally declined and Alicia did not mind in the slightest. The time spent alone with Darrell would be like years before, when they were much closer than now. True, Alicia had Betty, but she was from the West Tower and sometimes, Alicia thought Betty did not really understand things like Darrell would.
The script was getting along just fine and during one of the writing sessions, Alicia suddenly got an impish idea. Darrell was completely focused on writing, only stopping to brush away any hair that might have fallen into her face. After she decided, it took Alicia only a second to grab Darrell’s writing hand and kiss her as soon as she turned to ask Alicia what she was doing.
Darrell was rigid with shock and when Alicia drew back, she saw that Darrell’s cheeks were burning bright red and her eyes were widened with surprise. “A-Alicia,” she stammered, “What are you doing?”
“I just felt like it,” said Alicia, “You looked awful pretty just now, you know.”
“What are you saying?” said Darrell, “Whatever, we have work to do.”
Darrell started writing again, but Alicia noticed that her hand seemed a little shaky and that her cheeks sometimes reddened again. Apart from that, time went by as usual. However at the end, Darrell turned to Alicia. “Alicia, what you did today… Why?”
Alicia smiled. “Like I said, you looked awful pretty.”
“But why?” said Darrell, “Bill and I thought that maybe you and Betty, but…”
“No,” said Alicia, “I like Betty a lot, but you’re much prettier.”
“And what do you want to do now?” said Darrell.
“I don’t know,” admitted Alicia, “It was a silly thing to do.”
“Well, I felt like I was somehow betraying Sally,” said Darrell, “I think I should tell her.”
“Darrell,” said Alicia, “I know I said it was a silly idea, but it was nice, wasn’t it?”
Darrell blushed again. “It was,” she said.
Upon hearing this, Alicia stepped closer to Darrell, took hold of her hands and kissed her again. This time, Darrell wasn’t surprised. When the kiss ended, Darrell was faintly smiling. “I think I should tell Sally. This seems like there’s room for growth.”
Alicia laughed. “Then I’d better tell Betty.”
They packed up the script and went to look for their respective friends.
Alicia found Betty just as she was leaving the North Tower common room, as she was apparently looking for Alicia as well.
“Betty, can I talk with you for a bit,” said Alicia.
Betty nodded and they found an unused classroom and said down on the empty desks. “Alicia,” said Betty, “I think that Gwen may have found out about the trick. I saw her sneaking around the room where you were writing the script. It seemed as if she was trying to listen at the door.”
At first, Alicia didn’t pay mind to this. Both she and Darrell were careful not to let anything suspicious slip. Still, if Gwen overheard what happened today… No, that probably did not happen. “Don’t worry about that, we were careful,” she said, “Listen Betty, there’s something more important. I’ve… kissed Darrell.”
“What?” said Betty, “But why?”
“I guess I just wanted to,” said Alicia, “Don’t worry about this. I just wanted you to know, since we’re friends, but I’ll deal with it on my own.”
“Then why did you tell me?” said Betty, “Now that I know, I can’t help but worry.”
“You’re my friend, my best friend and I wouldn’t exchange you for anything or anyone in the world,” said Alicia.
“I… thank you,” said Betty, “But I wasn’t worried about that. Please, Alicia, be careful. You were serious when you told me, right?”
“I was,” said Alicia and then she smiled, trying to look as confident as she felt. “Don’t forget, I’m the smartest girl in the the school. If I can’t think of how to avoid getting in trouble because of this, then nobody can.”
“I don’t know,” said Betty, “Anyway, if you need help, I’m here for you.”
“I know that,” said Alicia after a pause, “Thank you.”
It seemed as if Darrell’s talk with Sally went over as well as Alicia’s talk with Betty. During the dinner, Darrell was uncharacteristically quiet and Sally was staring daggers at Alicia. The entire athmosphere of the meal was tense and even the uninvolved girls seemed to notice. When it was finally over, Alicia went to the dormitory, hoping that Sally would not want to force a confrontation, but Sally caught up with her.
“Alicia,” she said, “We have to talk.”
Alicia just nodded and they went into an empty classroom. She wasn’t afraid of Sally, because while Sally was jealous, she did not possess Darrell’s temper and even if she had tried to attack Alicia, Alicia was confident that she could hold her own.
“You planned this,” said Sally immediately after closing the door, “All this, insulting me and driving me away, just because you wanted Darrell for yourself.” Her voice was trembling, but Sally was keeping her calm and was speaking in her normal tone, not even raising her voice.
At first, Alicia did not know what to make of this, but she soon realised that from Sally’s point of view, looking at the entire thing like that made sense. “No, that’s not true,” said Alicia, “I did not plan anything, it was all on a whim.”
“A whim?!” said Sally, “You did something like this on a whim? Oh, this is just the limit, Alicia. I can’t believe you’re… a whim! Goodness!”
“Sally! Calm down!” said Alicia, “Either you can trust Darrell or you can’t, but that’s got nothing to do with me. Really, I thought you two sorted this out years ago.”
“This is something completely different!” said Sally, “You know you’ll be a bad influence on Darrell, just like before…”
Alicia cut her off. “Sally, I don’t want to listen to your tirades. This is between Darrell and me, and Darrell and you. It does not concern you and me, so don’t make a scene.”
“Make a scene!” said Sally, “What would you do, if Betty was kissing someone behind your back?”
“Wish her well,” said Alicia, “She’s my friend, not my exclusive property. Now let me go.”
Alicia tried to walk over to the door, but Sally stepped in front of it, preventing Alicia from leaving. “No,” said Sally, “first you make that ridiculous proposal, then you cheat your way out of keeping the deal and the you do this?”
“Yes, I did it,” said Alicia, “I kissed Darrell. Twice. And I liked it. Now let me go.”
“Remember this, Alicia: I won’t let you take Darrell away from me,” said Sally and stepped away from the door.
Instead of replying, Alicia sighed and left the classroom. Sally did not follow her, so she arrived in the dormitory by herself. Everybody except Sally was already there, mostly getting ready to slip under the warm covers, even though there was still some time before lights out for the Fifth Form.
“Have you seen Sally?” asked Darrell as soon as Alicia entered.
“Yes, I did,” said Alicia and tried to not betray any of her feelings about that meeting, “She shouldn’t be far behind.”
“I’m going to talk to her,” said Darrell and left the dormitory.
When Sally entered the dormitory together with Darrell, it seemed that they have reached some sort of understanding. Sally looked much calmer, even though Alicia noticed that she had been crying. Darrell smiled at Alicia, but did not say anything and a little while later Alicia saw Bill and Clarissa exchanged what seemed to be a knowing look.
Just before lights out, Sally approached Alicia and whispered into her ear, “I’ll trust Darrell, but I don’t trust you.”
Alicia nodded in acknowledgment and that was her last interaction with anybody that evening. Soon, she fell asleep and her sleep was calm and without dreams.
The next day when Alicia and Darrell went into the room they used for writing the script, they found that Sally was already there. “Chaperone,” she said.
At first, Alicia was annoyed at the thought of Sally watching them, but then she decided to tease Sally just a little bit. She drew herself a bit closer to Darrell, taking and holding her free hand with one of her own. When she looked at Sally out of the corner of her eye, she had to admire Sally’s self-control. Nothing of yesterday’s anger showed on Sally’s face which looked impassive.
After waiting a few minutes, Alicia decided to escalate matters. Making sure that she was in Sally’s full view, she lightly kissed Darrell on the cheek. This time, there was definite reaction from Sally who clenched her fists and started to open her mouth, but Darrell spoke first, “Not now, Alicia. We have work to do.”
Rebuffed like that, Alicia was frustrated. True, she had aggravated Sally a little, but immediately after that she gave Sally the satisfaction of seeing Darrell’s reaction. She swallowed her disappointment and set to work, trying to ignore the satisfied smile she imagined on Sally’s face. Still, she did not let go of Darrell’s hand and Darrell did not make even the slightest attempt to free her hand.
The time for writing the script had passed quickly. In the days after that, the writing process was exactly the same: Alicia and Darrell working together with Sally watching them like a hawk. However, as Alicia did not mothing more to arouse Sally’s suspicion, her vigilance slowly faded and one day, she didn’t show up at all.
Wary of Sally hiding behind the door or opening the door and surprising her, Alicia kept her distance from Darrell. Only after the day’s work was finished, Alicia gave Darrell a quick kiss on cheek. This time, Darrell smiled.
“Well, the day’s work is finished, so I suppose there’s no harm,” said Darrell.
Encouraged, Alicia kissed Darrell on the lips, but Darrell quickly drew away. “No,” said Darrell, “First, we have to talk. The last few days, we were too absorbed by the script and Sally was around, so we did not clear things up.”
“Speaking of Sally,” said Alicia, “Where did she go today?”
“Moira caught her and made her help coaching the First Form,” said Darrell, “But don’t avoid the topic, Alicia.”
“I don’t know what is there to talk about. I made up my mind,” said Alicia, “I like you, you seem to like me, there’s no problem.”
“But there is,” said Darrell, “I don’t want to disappoint Sally.”
“I don’t care about Sally,” said Alicia, “She just wants you to be a goody two shoes like her and never have any fun.”
“That’s not true. It’s loads of fun being with Sally,” said Darrell, “Not everybody has fun only by having wild ideas like you and Betty.”
“Don’t bring Betty into this,” said Alicia, “She trusts me enough to let me be alone with you. The problem is Sally, not her.”
“Maybe she is, but you don’t have to insult her,” said Darrell.
Afraid that Darrell would lose her temper, Alicia took a step back, both literally and figuratively. “Sorry, I said too much,” she said.
“I’ll talk with Sally,” said Darrell, “She’s a good, sensible girl, so she’ll understand eventually.”
Alicia just leaned in and kissed Darrell. When they separated, she spoke, “Does that mean you’re not going to object to more kissing?”
“I’m not,” said Darrell, “But not now, we’re almost late for dinner.”
That day, Alicia accompanied Darrell and Sally when they were heading to the dormitory. Just before they entered the dormy, Alicia and Darrell shared a quick kiss and Alicia was happy not only because she saw the sour look on Sally’s face.
It did not take much more to finish the script, even though Darrell had become more accessible to distractions. Two days later, the script was finished to both Alicia’s and Darrell’s satisfaction. Ecstatic Gwen was presented with the role of Cinderella and she took the bait both line and sinker. The rehearsals could finally begin. Alicia, full of anticipation for the joke, did not even mind Moira’s demands that much, especially with Darrell’s encouragement. Even Sally seemed that she had got used to the idea of sometimes seeing Alicia and Darrell kiss, hold hands and generally fool around. When the day of the pantomime arrived, everything was ready.
Original work: Malory Towers
Pairing: Alicia/Darrell
Rating: PG
The next day after the meeting, Alicia was ready to fulfill her promise and help Darrell and Sally in rewriting the pantomime’s script. Neither Darrell nor Sally seemed too happy about the prospect of so much additional work, but neither of them was the kind of girl that would go back on her word.
When the three of them finally sat around a table, the first thing Alicia had to do was to read the parts of the script that were already written. It was good, but not what she had envisioned for her trick on Gwen. A whole lot of changes would be needed, but with her doing them, it would take no time and the script would be much better than before.
“So,” she began after she finished reading, “This is a good script, but it’s not what we need. It needs to be more comedic, especially the opening part.”
“No, not at all,” said Darrell, “If we make beginning the funniest part, everything after it will be a letdown.”
“Darrell’s right. Pacing is important in this. I understand you want to have fun at Gwen’s expense, but you need to wait for it,” said Sally.
“I suppose you’re right, Darrell,” said Alicia, “But that opening is dull. It needs special attention.”
“Well then,” said Sally, “Why don’t you write it, if you think that what Darrell wrote is so bad?”
“Why not?” said Alicia, “I think the plot is good, it just needs to be made funnier. Let’s get to work.”
They started working. Darrell and Sally were working together on the rewrites, leaving Alicia to concentrate on her own part. It suited her just fine, but the situation seemed, as if Darrell and Sally did not want her working with them and that was irritating. After all, she was just keeping her part of the bargain. If they did not want her to be there, they could have just turned her down at the very beginning.
After an hour later or so, the time they could spare for writing that day had ended, so they swapped their respective works to check it. Alicia was appaled. The script was dull, lifeless and nothing like it should have been. She shook her head and sighed. “It’s no good,” she said, “This is boring.”
“What?” said Sally, “All of it?”
“Yes,” said Alicia, “Pretty much. There are good parts, but the bad ones drag them down.” She pointed at a particulary bad part. “This is just bad. It is forced and the worst part of the entire script.”
“What? I thought it was the best,” said Sally, “I put a lot of effort there.”
“Effort is wasted if you don’t have talent,” said Alicia, “And it seems you have none. At least for writing comedy.”
“Alicia!” said Darrell, “Don’t be so harsh. Sally tried her best.”
“She may have, but what she wrote is worthless,” said Alicia, “She should just stick to correcting mistakes.”
Darrell stood up, eyes blazing. “Take that back,” she said.
“You know it’s true,” said Alicia and prepared herself in case Darrell lost control of her temper.
“Stop it, both of you!” cried Sally.
“Sorry,” muttered Darrell, “Alicia, you were too harsh, but I have out of line too.”
“Alicia,” said Sally, “I understand. I’m no good at writing comedy, so I’ll leave you two alone. I think Moira could some more help coaching the kids, since most of us are busy with the pantomime.”
Everybody was silent as Sally gathered her things and left. When the door closed, Darrell spoke, “Now you’ve done it. Without Sally’s help, we won’t be able to finish in time.”
“Don’t worry,” said Alicia, “I’ll work for two. Remember, I’m almost a genius. Well, when I’m not sick.”
Darrell sighed, but did not argue. The day’s work was mostly wasted, since Sally’s contributions would have to be redone from the scratch. However, weekend was approaching and with Sally taking up coaching duties, Alicia and Darrell could devote almost entire two days to rewrites.
On Saturday, they managed to rewrite all the parts of the script that had been already done. On Sunday, they changed their writing arrangements. This time, Darrell was doing all the writing, with Alicia sitting next to her, offering suggestions and criticism.
After the weekend ended, more than half of the script, including the parts they rewrote, had been finished. Feeling generous, Alicia asked Sally if she would like to join them again, but Sally declined and Alicia did not mind in the slightest. The time spent alone with Darrell would be like years before, when they were much closer than now. True, Alicia had Betty, but she was from the West Tower and sometimes, Alicia thought Betty did not really understand things like Darrell would.
The script was getting along just fine and during one of the writing sessions, Alicia suddenly got an impish idea. Darrell was completely focused on writing, only stopping to brush away any hair that might have fallen into her face. After she decided, it took Alicia only a second to grab Darrell’s writing hand and kiss her as soon as she turned to ask Alicia what she was doing.
Darrell was rigid with shock and when Alicia drew back, she saw that Darrell’s cheeks were burning bright red and her eyes were widened with surprise. “A-Alicia,” she stammered, “What are you doing?”
“I just felt like it,” said Alicia, “You looked awful pretty just now, you know.”
“What are you saying?” said Darrell, “Whatever, we have work to do.”
Darrell started writing again, but Alicia noticed that her hand seemed a little shaky and that her cheeks sometimes reddened again. Apart from that, time went by as usual. However at the end, Darrell turned to Alicia. “Alicia, what you did today… Why?”
Alicia smiled. “Like I said, you looked awful pretty.”
“But why?” said Darrell, “Bill and I thought that maybe you and Betty, but…”
“No,” said Alicia, “I like Betty a lot, but you’re much prettier.”
“And what do you want to do now?” said Darrell.
“I don’t know,” admitted Alicia, “It was a silly thing to do.”
“Well, I felt like I was somehow betraying Sally,” said Darrell, “I think I should tell her.”
“Darrell,” said Alicia, “I know I said it was a silly idea, but it was nice, wasn’t it?”
Darrell blushed again. “It was,” she said.
Upon hearing this, Alicia stepped closer to Darrell, took hold of her hands and kissed her again. This time, Darrell wasn’t surprised. When the kiss ended, Darrell was faintly smiling. “I think I should tell Sally. This seems like there’s room for growth.”
Alicia laughed. “Then I’d better tell Betty.”
They packed up the script and went to look for their respective friends.
Alicia found Betty just as she was leaving the North Tower common room, as she was apparently looking for Alicia as well.
“Betty, can I talk with you for a bit,” said Alicia.
Betty nodded and they found an unused classroom and said down on the empty desks. “Alicia,” said Betty, “I think that Gwen may have found out about the trick. I saw her sneaking around the room where you were writing the script. It seemed as if she was trying to listen at the door.”
At first, Alicia didn’t pay mind to this. Both she and Darrell were careful not to let anything suspicious slip. Still, if Gwen overheard what happened today… No, that probably did not happen. “Don’t worry about that, we were careful,” she said, “Listen Betty, there’s something more important. I’ve… kissed Darrell.”
“What?” said Betty, “But why?”
“I guess I just wanted to,” said Alicia, “Don’t worry about this. I just wanted you to know, since we’re friends, but I’ll deal with it on my own.”
“Then why did you tell me?” said Betty, “Now that I know, I can’t help but worry.”
“You’re my friend, my best friend and I wouldn’t exchange you for anything or anyone in the world,” said Alicia.
“I… thank you,” said Betty, “But I wasn’t worried about that. Please, Alicia, be careful. You were serious when you told me, right?”
“I was,” said Alicia and then she smiled, trying to look as confident as she felt. “Don’t forget, I’m the smartest girl in the the school. If I can’t think of how to avoid getting in trouble because of this, then nobody can.”
“I don’t know,” said Betty, “Anyway, if you need help, I’m here for you.”
“I know that,” said Alicia after a pause, “Thank you.”
It seemed as if Darrell’s talk with Sally went over as well as Alicia’s talk with Betty. During the dinner, Darrell was uncharacteristically quiet and Sally was staring daggers at Alicia. The entire athmosphere of the meal was tense and even the uninvolved girls seemed to notice. When it was finally over, Alicia went to the dormitory, hoping that Sally would not want to force a confrontation, but Sally caught up with her.
“Alicia,” she said, “We have to talk.”
Alicia just nodded and they went into an empty classroom. She wasn’t afraid of Sally, because while Sally was jealous, she did not possess Darrell’s temper and even if she had tried to attack Alicia, Alicia was confident that she could hold her own.
“You planned this,” said Sally immediately after closing the door, “All this, insulting me and driving me away, just because you wanted Darrell for yourself.” Her voice was trembling, but Sally was keeping her calm and was speaking in her normal tone, not even raising her voice.
At first, Alicia did not know what to make of this, but she soon realised that from Sally’s point of view, looking at the entire thing like that made sense. “No, that’s not true,” said Alicia, “I did not plan anything, it was all on a whim.”
“A whim?!” said Sally, “You did something like this on a whim? Oh, this is just the limit, Alicia. I can’t believe you’re… a whim! Goodness!”
“Sally! Calm down!” said Alicia, “Either you can trust Darrell or you can’t, but that’s got nothing to do with me. Really, I thought you two sorted this out years ago.”
“This is something completely different!” said Sally, “You know you’ll be a bad influence on Darrell, just like before…”
Alicia cut her off. “Sally, I don’t want to listen to your tirades. This is between Darrell and me, and Darrell and you. It does not concern you and me, so don’t make a scene.”
“Make a scene!” said Sally, “What would you do, if Betty was kissing someone behind your back?”
“Wish her well,” said Alicia, “She’s my friend, not my exclusive property. Now let me go.”
Alicia tried to walk over to the door, but Sally stepped in front of it, preventing Alicia from leaving. “No,” said Sally, “first you make that ridiculous proposal, then you cheat your way out of keeping the deal and the you do this?”
“Yes, I did it,” said Alicia, “I kissed Darrell. Twice. And I liked it. Now let me go.”
“Remember this, Alicia: I won’t let you take Darrell away from me,” said Sally and stepped away from the door.
Instead of replying, Alicia sighed and left the classroom. Sally did not follow her, so she arrived in the dormitory by herself. Everybody except Sally was already there, mostly getting ready to slip under the warm covers, even though there was still some time before lights out for the Fifth Form.
“Have you seen Sally?” asked Darrell as soon as Alicia entered.
“Yes, I did,” said Alicia and tried to not betray any of her feelings about that meeting, “She shouldn’t be far behind.”
“I’m going to talk to her,” said Darrell and left the dormitory.
When Sally entered the dormitory together with Darrell, it seemed that they have reached some sort of understanding. Sally looked much calmer, even though Alicia noticed that she had been crying. Darrell smiled at Alicia, but did not say anything and a little while later Alicia saw Bill and Clarissa exchanged what seemed to be a knowing look.
Just before lights out, Sally approached Alicia and whispered into her ear, “I’ll trust Darrell, but I don’t trust you.”
Alicia nodded in acknowledgment and that was her last interaction with anybody that evening. Soon, she fell asleep and her sleep was calm and without dreams.
The next day when Alicia and Darrell went into the room they used for writing the script, they found that Sally was already there. “Chaperone,” she said.
At first, Alicia was annoyed at the thought of Sally watching them, but then she decided to tease Sally just a little bit. She drew herself a bit closer to Darrell, taking and holding her free hand with one of her own. When she looked at Sally out of the corner of her eye, she had to admire Sally’s self-control. Nothing of yesterday’s anger showed on Sally’s face which looked impassive.
After waiting a few minutes, Alicia decided to escalate matters. Making sure that she was in Sally’s full view, she lightly kissed Darrell on the cheek. This time, there was definite reaction from Sally who clenched her fists and started to open her mouth, but Darrell spoke first, “Not now, Alicia. We have work to do.”
Rebuffed like that, Alicia was frustrated. True, she had aggravated Sally a little, but immediately after that she gave Sally the satisfaction of seeing Darrell’s reaction. She swallowed her disappointment and set to work, trying to ignore the satisfied smile she imagined on Sally’s face. Still, she did not let go of Darrell’s hand and Darrell did not make even the slightest attempt to free her hand.
The time for writing the script had passed quickly. In the days after that, the writing process was exactly the same: Alicia and Darrell working together with Sally watching them like a hawk. However, as Alicia did not mothing more to arouse Sally’s suspicion, her vigilance slowly faded and one day, she didn’t show up at all.
Wary of Sally hiding behind the door or opening the door and surprising her, Alicia kept her distance from Darrell. Only after the day’s work was finished, Alicia gave Darrell a quick kiss on cheek. This time, Darrell smiled.
“Well, the day’s work is finished, so I suppose there’s no harm,” said Darrell.
Encouraged, Alicia kissed Darrell on the lips, but Darrell quickly drew away. “No,” said Darrell, “First, we have to talk. The last few days, we were too absorbed by the script and Sally was around, so we did not clear things up.”
“Speaking of Sally,” said Alicia, “Where did she go today?”
“Moira caught her and made her help coaching the First Form,” said Darrell, “But don’t avoid the topic, Alicia.”
“I don’t know what is there to talk about. I made up my mind,” said Alicia, “I like you, you seem to like me, there’s no problem.”
“But there is,” said Darrell, “I don’t want to disappoint Sally.”
“I don’t care about Sally,” said Alicia, “She just wants you to be a goody two shoes like her and never have any fun.”
“That’s not true. It’s loads of fun being with Sally,” said Darrell, “Not everybody has fun only by having wild ideas like you and Betty.”
“Don’t bring Betty into this,” said Alicia, “She trusts me enough to let me be alone with you. The problem is Sally, not her.”
“Maybe she is, but you don’t have to insult her,” said Darrell.
Afraid that Darrell would lose her temper, Alicia took a step back, both literally and figuratively. “Sorry, I said too much,” she said.
“I’ll talk with Sally,” said Darrell, “She’s a good, sensible girl, so she’ll understand eventually.”
Alicia just leaned in and kissed Darrell. When they separated, she spoke, “Does that mean you’re not going to object to more kissing?”
“I’m not,” said Darrell, “But not now, we’re almost late for dinner.”
That day, Alicia accompanied Darrell and Sally when they were heading to the dormitory. Just before they entered the dormy, Alicia and Darrell shared a quick kiss and Alicia was happy not only because she saw the sour look on Sally’s face.
It did not take much more to finish the script, even though Darrell had become more accessible to distractions. Two days later, the script was finished to both Alicia’s and Darrell’s satisfaction. Ecstatic Gwen was presented with the role of Cinderella and she took the bait both line and sinker. The rehearsals could finally begin. Alicia, full of anticipation for the joke, did not even mind Moira’s demands that much, especially with Darrell’s encouragement. Even Sally seemed that she had got used to the idea of sometimes seeing Alicia and Darrell kiss, hold hands and generally fool around. When the day of the pantomime arrived, everything was ready.