Summer Sanders is going through it. The pressures of school are mounting, and her home life is completely falling apart. Feeling bored and lonely on a Saturday night, she decides to get buzzed and surprise her hookup buddy with her best lingerie. Th...
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I'M LEARNING LITTLE things about Summer as the days go by, like the fact that she likes to squeeze my hand when she's excited.
As we sit in the front row of the empty performing arts center waiting for Aleena and Darren to perform one of their songs, she smiles, absently squeezing my hand ever so often.
I squeeze her hand back and kiss her head to remind her how much I care about her.
Our date went better than I could imagine. It was a relief to see how understanding she was about my lateness and the changed setting.
I enjoyed helping improve Summer's shooting skills almost as much as I enjoyed completely demolishing her in a one-on-one. There were a lot of other things we did that night that I liked even more.
"Hey, what are you in such deep thought about?" She pokes my stomach and smiles at me.
"You, of course." I answer.
A smirk curls on her lips. "What about me?"
"Everything. Your face, your personality, your intelligence, your mouth."
"My mouth?" She laughs, leaning into me. "I bet you've been thinking about it a lot since last Friday."
"Almost as much as you've been thinking about mines." I lower my voice.
"Are you guys ready?" Aleena interrupts us by calling from the stage behind closed curtains.
It's Saturday morning and they've just finished a pivotal rehearsal session. Apparently it went so well they insisted we come down to get a sneak preview of one of their duets before we leave for break.
I've gotta say I'm interested to see what Darren has up his sleeves. He's always been a good singer and dancer, but the closest performance I've seen of his has been during karaoke. He's been promoted from stage lighter number two to the lead guy and he's been committed to it just as much as he's been committed to the season, so I want to see how it's all coming along.
Coach wants to see as well, so when the curtains are pulled open and the orchestral music begins, I whip out my phone and start recording.
The set looks bare with a half-done moveable brick wall and an elevated metal contraption that I realize is a balcony when Aleena hoists herself onto it.
She stands in her white dress and gives us a thumbs up as Darren waltzes on stage in brown slacks and a grey button down shirt. She breaks into song first, and hearing her voice pulls me back. It's light and airy yet high and perfectly pitched. She sounds like an angelic opera singer who's words I can actually understand.
"Only you, you're the only thing I see, forever." She sings to him.
Not only is her voice emotional but her face is as well. She looks at Darren with full adoration and I'm surprised with how he looks at her with the same longing. When he starts singing, it leaves me stunned quiet.
