It wasn't long after that whole fiasco that Violet, Duncan and Klaus turned up. We said our good mornings and chatted about pointless things but there was only one thing that was really on all of our minds: the play. There were no lessons today. Carmelita had demanded that everyone's full attention should be on her production, even if it didn't start until this evening. I thought she would be working hard to ensure everything went well, but now it became apparent that she just wanted a day off school to pamper herself before her on-stage appearance.
"This is crazy," I muttered to myself as Carmelita's accomplices rushed through the cafeteria with plush cushions and pots of carrot sticks, seemingly to give to her to make her life even more cushy.
Violet nodded, "That's Carmelita for you. Always going the extra mile to remind everyone that she's more fortunate than us."
We finished our breakfast quietly, observing the controlled chaos that the school seemed to be in, before heading outside. The dead grass had dried after the torrential rain a few days prior, so most of the student body, that weren't helping Carmelita, were hanging around outside.
There seemed to be an overhanging feeling of confusion shared between everyone. It wasn't often that anyone had a day off, as school ran as normal on Saturdays and Sundays, so this amount of freedom came as a shock and it seemed like no one really knew what to do with their time.
Duncan, Klaus, Violet and I went and sat on a rickety, old, wooden bench that overlooked the field and the gate beyond that. Other groups of students had sat on the grass, some were walking around, exploring. It was nice to see everyone just relaxing and having fun for the day. I, however, was the complete opposite of relaxed.
Today was the day I would see my best friend, my crush, kiss my worst enemy and, even though he wasn't doing it willingly, it didn't feel any less heartbreaking. I had stayed awake trying to figure out a solution to the whole thing but my mind was as blank as the ceiling I spent all night staring at. Sure, I could try one of the things I'd done before: pushing Carmelita out the way, or putting something between them, but surely if Carmelita had half a brain she would have something in place to stop those things happening. And since it was the actual performance tonight, would any of those things actually stop the kiss completely, or would Carmelita laugh it off and just try again? After all, I doubt she would abruptly end her own play because of me. She would want everything to go perfectly so there was nothing I could do that would make her just forget the end scene completely. Unless I locked her in the dressing room or pushed her off the stage or something, but I knew deep down that I couldn't do something like that, not even to Carmelita. Even though we hated each other, I would never find it in me to hurt her, although sometimes I wonder if she felt the same. I would hope that her schemes would never put anyone in danger but I wouldn't put it past her. Maybe it would be safer for me to stay out of her plans for tonight, let the kiss happen and just forget about it.
That was easy for me to say, though, I wasn't the one kissing her. Klaus would forever have the memory that Carmelita took his first kiss. Your first kiss is meant to be special, but it seemed like there was nothing Klaus and I could do to stop it going to Carmelita.
I sighed and looked out across the field. The sky and everything under it was painted a dull grey but it wasn't cold. It was surprisingly mild which is why I think a lot of people retired to the field and courtyard instead of hanging around the halls or the library.
It was peaceful; the calm before the storm.
That is, until Carmelita Spats herself made a grand entrance. I heard her snooty tone as soon as she burst through the cafeteria doors and it grew louder and louder until she had passed our bench.
"Put it there Geoffrey!" She demanded, pointing at a very specific piece of grass. A boy who refused to make eye contact, swiftly spread a towel on the ground, only stopping when Carmelita screamed, "Not there Geoffrey!"
He tried again and it must've been right because Carmelita shimmied out of her robe to reveal a sparkly swimsuit, and sat down.
"Sunglasses!" She shouted and a girl who was carrying a sequinned beach bag, pulled out a pair of oversized, bedazzled shades and handed them to Carmelita.
It was definitely not the weather for sunglasses, nor was it the weather for sunbathing, mostly because the sun wasn't even visible behind the thick layer of cloud that coated the sky like a thick blanket. I didn't think it was wise to point this out to Carmelita.
"Cushion!" Another shrill shout took me out of my thoughts. Carmelita had laid down now and was demanding that a pink, velvet cushion be put beneath her head. Then she visibly relaxed and was still.
The two students that were with her shared a glance and Geoffrey began to slowly make a break for it. He only made it a few steps before:
"Geoffrey! Where do you think you're going?"
He cleared his throat slightly, "I was...going to get your fan. You er- left it inside."
Carmelita, unmoving, gave a short, mocking laugh, "Is that so? Well, listen here Geoffrey. I don't forget anything, especially not my Gucci fan, that you very much. Kaitlin has it."
The girl with the bag, Kaitlin, sheepishly pulled out a handheld fan and passed it to Geoffrey, who sighed and began to fan Carmelita unenthusiastically. I rolled my eyes and decided to ignore the situation.
"What's going on?" Asked Violet, and I was about to give her a play by play of Geoffrey's many mistakes when I realised she wasn't talking about that. Her attention was actually on the school gate.
Through the twisted iron, a sleek car was visible on the usually empty road. I watched as the door clicked open and out stepped the tallest women I'd ever seen, followed by possibly the shortest man I'd ever seen. They joined hands to create the oddest couple I'd ever laid eyes on. If the man's face hadn't been a picture of experience, laced with deep set lines and wrinkles, they would almost look like a mother taking her son to daycare.
They stepped through the gate and made their way across the field, stopping only when they reached Carmelita's towel. Carmelita didn't move a muscle.
"Carmelita dear," I heard the lady say softly, "It's so lovely to see you."
"Glad you could make it mother," was Carmelita's emotionless response. But that seemed to make her mother's day, as she giggled to herself and said something I didn't quite hear to her husband.
The short man scratched his head and adjusted his fluorescent orange bow tie before speaking, "We're really looking forward to seeing your production, Carmie-dear."
Carmelita huffed and sat up a tad, "Go wait inside, Gary."
The couple didn't waste anymore time and headed towards the main door. It was only when they walked past us that I heard the man say: "Why won't she just call me Dad?"
Carmelita's parents were nothing like I expected but I didn't have time to be too surprised before another fancy car pulled up, followed by another and another. More and more parents and miscellaneous family members arrived, greeted whatever student they were associated with, and headed towards the main school building. It took me a second to realise that they were all here for the play. It just didn't make sense that they had arrived now when the play wasn't for a good few hours yet.
The four of us tried to make sense of it but to no avail. In the end we decided to let it go over our heads, like we did with most of the questionable things that occured at Prufrock.
Lunch came and went and was uneventful except for the extra random people and small children roaming around. Then it was time to get to work. Duncan and Violet were sent to help get auditorium ready and decorated accordingly, as well as to help prepare and serve snacks and drinks to all the extra guests in the building. They seemed less than happy to do it and they wished both Klaus and I good luck before heading off.
That left the two of us to follow Carmelita and go to a seperate room to do the final preparations. I made sure to quickly copy all of my lines into the plain black notebook that was my prop and served as what I assumed to be a bible or some other holy book. I was glad that I didn't really need to learn anything for the role and could get away with just reading from a sheet. Klaus, however, had his head in his script. I was sure that he had already learnt everything, considering he was usually so prepared, and assumed that he was just trying to distract himself from the situation. I didn't know what to say to comfort him so I didn't say anything at all.
Then, even after waiting around all day, the time seemed to come so quickly: it was almost time to go on stage. Klaus and I stood and followed everyone towards the auditorium, sharing a concerned look. It was showtime and there was nothing we could do about it. We didn't have a plan or an idea or anything. We had nothing, and even though Carmelita was ahead of us and I couldn't see her face, I knew she was thriving off our discomfort. She always was.
