Beneath and Beyond

Chapter 8

I know this book didn't start out the best way but its getting better so thanks to all of you who stuck around to read it. it means a lot to me and i couldn't go on without showing a lil appreciation.

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Seated in literature class they were all dressed up in their 19th Century finery waiting for their turn to enact a play that had been retold so many times that the real version might have been lost in history.

Kiedi sat and fidgeted with her hair and dress for the umpteenth time. She felt nervous beyond compare. Her stomach was in knots and her breathing was in rushed gasps. She hated being stared at by people and even though she probably knew her lines better than anyone else in the class she feared that she would go up in front of the class and make a mistake... or even worse: forget her lines completely.

Her breathing was getting louder and faster yet she felt like she was suffocating. A hand covered hers and an arm went around her shoulders and she heard Luke's voice whisper in her ear

"Relax."

That's all he had to say and Kiedi felt her breathing slow and she could actually feel the air in her lungs again. She looked up at him and mouthed thank you. He was so close to her Kiedi could feel his breath on her forehead; she felt her heart racing when his mouth formed into a smile. She quickly dropped her face before he could see the reaction on her face.

Even though she hid her face from view Luke could hear her heart racing and it mimicked his. Oh what he would do to hold her like this forever, where there was no burn and the sound of her heartbeat was a soothing sound to him; where he had such an enigmatic effect on her, but one day when she knew the truth he suspected she wouldn't even look at him. Until he told her, however, he would treasure these little moments.

"Janice, your group is up," the teacher announced and reluctantly Luke let her go so they could stand. They stood at the door and waited for their parts.

As Kiedi waited she tried to avoid Alicea's cold glare but even when she turned her back she could feel little pricks on her spine. Kiedi assumed Alicea had just seen that little episode with her and Luke and it had sent her into a fit of temper. As nervous as she had been before Kiedi was eager when it was her time to go out on stage.

"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun," Luke as Romeo was saying as Kiedi walked onto stage.

"O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, who monthly changes in her circled orb, lest that thy love prove likewise variable," Kiedi said and they settled into their lines just like they did at practice.

"If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this. My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."

"Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, which mannerly devotion shows in this. For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss."

"Have not saints lips, and holy palmers, too?"

"Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer."

"Well, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do. They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair."

"Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake." Kiedi breathed. They were actually going to do it this time; there would be no interruptions, nothing to hold them back. Oh please let me not do something stupid! She prayed.