The Story of a Friendship (Part 1)

Jesse smiled to himself as he saw her walk by again.  Bethany passed the hallway waiting for the tall ugly man to call her into the audition.  Her golden brown hair was pulled up away from her face in a pair of short pigtails.  She wrung her hands and bit her lip, taking deep breaths through her nose.  She was extremely tense.  Jesse just had to laugh.  He had seen this many times before.  This time wasn’t any different.  1

“Don’t worry Beth.  You’ll be fine!”  Bethany shook her head and ran her shaking hands through one of her pigtails.  2

“No.  I’m not good enough.  Someone else is going to get the part.  I know it.”  Jesse stood up straight, and walked over to her, wrapping her in a tight embrace.  She leaned her head on his shoulder as he ran his hand comfortingly over her back.3

“Don’t tell yourself that, Beth.  You’ll be great!  You do this ever time, and you know what happens every time.”  Bethany half smiled and pulled away from him a bit.4

“I know.”  The tall, thin and pale man opened the door and beckoned for Bethany to follow.  She nodded and turned to give Jesse one last hug.  “Wish me luck!”  Jesse smiled at her as she walked in.  5

“Good luck!”  She turned around and smiled at him before the door closed before her.  Jesse leaned up against the wall and slid to the floor.  He had to think.  Things were going through his mind that he had never considered before.  He thought about Bethany, lead actress in the area.  Sweet, kind, funny, and his best friend, Bethany.  He remembered how he had just held her in his arms, and smelt the sweet scent of her shampoo that still lingered from that morning’s shower.  There was a certain yearning that seemed to tug at his heart whenever she was near.  Jesse shook his head and laughed to himself.  Maybe it was just his hormones going crazy like he knew they tended to do.  That’s what it must be.  Just hormones.  As his mind made this final, the door opened and Bethany skipped out it with a wide smile on her face and open arms.  Jesse stood, just in time for Bethany to jump into his arms.  No, it wasn’t just hormones.  It was here to stay.6

“I did it!  I did it!  I think I got the part!”  Jesse couldn’t contain his happiness for her.  He picked her up and spun her around the hallway.  The door opened again, and that same man came out with a large packet of paper in his hand.  7

“Miss Bethany, I’m very happy to inform you that you have received the part of Christine Daane in this year’s play, The Phantom of the Opera.  Here is your script.  We expect you at first practice next Friday.”  The man turned on his shiny shoes and walked off down the hall toward the brightly polished glass door.  Bethany just stood there and stared almost reverently at the script in her hands.  When the man had finally left, Bethany let out a loud, high pitched squeal of glee as she again jumped into Jesse’s arms.  She hugged him tightly and stared into his eyes with a new look that Jesse had never seen before.  She touched a dark brown curl on the back of Jesse’s neck and felt him shiver under her touch.  Bethany leaned in close to Jesse’s face and blew an eyelash off of his cheek.8

“That has been bugging me all day!”  She said, meaning the eyelash.  Jesse put Bethany down and patted her on the back.  9

“How about we go celebrate by getting some smoothies?  My treat.”  Bethany smiled and placed the script in her small backpack.  Looking at Jesse slyly, and smiling.10

“I’ll race you to the car!”  She replied, racing for the exit.  Jesse had hardly enough time to think, before shooting after her, but as always, she beat him to his own car.  Jesse watched Bethany’s every movement, and saw energy and pure delight in being alive.  She was just so happy.  He envied every word and graceful movement she made.  He loved to watch her act, one of her many joys, and had never missed one of her plays, even since childhood.  There were just so many things that Jesse loved about this girl that he hadn’t seen before, or maybe had just taken as brotherly love.  They had been friends since as far back as he could remember.  He had helped her hide the flag when they played capture the flag with the neighbor kids, he had helped her put aloe vera on her back when she was so sunburned that she couldn’t move.  Jesse had lived his life with Bethany.  They were only 4 months apart.  In his whole 17 years, he had never known anyone like her.  Jesse hopped into the front seat and started his beautiful Ford Focus and rolled down the windows.  Bethany sat in the passenger seat, which had molded itself to fit her frame.  She stuck one arm out the window as they drove out of the parking lot of the community theater, and started down the quiet side street.  Bethany reached over and switched on the radio to their favorite station and jumped at the chance to sing when Jesse’s favorite song came on.  Her voice warmed Jesse all over, and made his smile and laugh.  She was always singing.  Jesse pulled up to the Jamba Juice with Bethany still running through his mind.  As he ordered a berry mix for her and an orange twist for himself, he felt fingers playing at the skin of his hand.  He looked over at Bethany and saw her hand grasp his as a look of remembrance crossed her face.  Jesse just couldn’t forget that feeling of having her skin against his and he thought things that he knew were wrong.  He couldn’t help it.11

“I’ve got to get home!  It’s mom’s birthday!”  Jesse then too remembered the day they seemed to forget every year.  After getting their drinks, Jesse sped down the road toward the store to help Bethany get a present for her mom, just like every year and then went back to her house for the surprise party that they had every year which had become anything but a surprise.12