Story, An Untitled

Copyright Julia Bydulia

Part IV of an unfinished story.

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Humanities. The longest class of Michelle's day. Ryan always talked to her at the end. Vincent would talk to her during. Vincent sat right next to her and made the class bearable.

Michelle sat with two notebooks open on her desk, one for class and one for recreation. In the second notebook, she doodled a cake with seventeen candles for no reason at all. At the front of the room, the literature teacher was announcing a new assignment. "You will either have to make a movie about one of the myths or do a recitation. Groups for the movie can be up to four people. Recitations must be done alone. The assignment sheet goes into more detail," she finished as she started handing out the assignment sheets.

The idea of a recitation excited Michelle. She could memorize things fairly easily. She took a quick look at what she would have to memorize. A monologue by a character in one of the myths they had read. Suddenly, she felt a light bulb switch on just above her head. She could use the recitation for Humanities as her monologue as well. It was a woman scorned by a former lover. Passion and anger! It sounded perfect.

Vincent, John, and Terrence all looked at each other at once. Michelle could tell they were planning a movie, and by the look on John's face it would turn out epic. Michelle tapped Vincent's shoulder. "I guess you guys are doing a movie?" She whispered, laughing at the look on his face.

"I guess we are," Vincent answered, turning back to John and Terrence. It was as though they were all communicating thoughts for a movie telepathically. None of them spoke.

Michelle smiled and watched Vincent's back for a few moments before pulling out the monologue she would have to memorize and staring at it, half listening to the teacher as she read the assignment sheet out loud. There were some words she would have to look up, and for the class she would need a costume, but, as long as she could find a song, her audition was covered. The monologue was the perfect length. Please earn me a good part, she begged the paper with the monologue that was sitting in front of her on her desk. Please.

At the end of class, Michelle actually got to walk out with Vincent, John, and Terrence. She listened to them plan out a movie and make jokes to each other, each one talking faster than the other and making the other two laugh harder. She laughed, too. She felt quiet compared to them, even though she knew she was loud. Vincent's jacket had a hole near the elbow. As she laughed and smiled, she stared at it, peeking at the skin she could see through it. Dry elbow skin. It made him seem more like a human and less like a dream.

She and Terrence and Vincent walked to biology together and she listened while they talked again, not wanting to interrupt and risk them stopping. Their laughs and their clever remarks were like music. She listened closely, not wanting to miss a beat.