Finding My Way
Song of the Chapter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOjdXSrtUxA


Chapter 42 Part 1: Ben's P.O.V.

Tonight was the night. The performance for Romeo and Juliet, and I wasn’t nervous; I was only nervous to see Aly.
It broke my heart to see her talking more with Danny, but I just pushed it to the back of my mind and tried to focus. If I was going to get through this, then I couldn’t think of Aly as Aly: I had to think of her as Juliet. I had to remember that we were playing parts of people who were in love; we weren’t actually in love. Well, I was in love with her, but she didn’t feel the same way. I needed to understand that and face reality: we would never be together.
I gave up hope that we ever would be anything more than friends, which I knew was partially my fault for pushing her away. But I couldn’t bear to be with her and have her tell me it was all a mistake and that she was with Danny.
I got dressed and took a deep breath. I made sure all of my costumes were lined up for my quick changes, and then I walked into the main backstage area. I looked over and I could see Roxy helping Aly secure her dress and I couldn’t help but think about how strikingly beautiful she was.
It was going to be a long night.

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The curtains closed and I lifted myself off of Aly. I stood and reached my hand out to help her up. Despite the darkness, she found my hand and I lifted her easily. The prop people came and quickly removed the bottle of poison and dagger off-stage, and the rest of the cast came onto the stage silently, lining up with Aly and I.
The curtains opened and the applause was overwhelming. We each took our bows and the audience clapped especially loud for Aly and I. I was happy for her; she completely deserved it. I hoped the scouts were interested in her. I looked over at her as she resumed her place next to me and saw the tears in her eyes.
I looked out and saw there was an empty seat in the front row that said “reserved;” it was the seat where Loretta used to sit every production. I felt like such a jack/ss for not realizing how hard tonight would be on Aly. But she did a phenomenal job at not letting it affect her performance.
Even now, she was grinning widely, and I realized they must be happy tears. She must be happy that she was able to perform without Loretta. She knows that she would have made her proud.
 
Val’s P.O.V.
My eyes were watering, but I knew no one would be able to tell underneath the stage lights. I was sad that Loretta couldn’t be here to see me, but I was also happy. I was able to push past the grief and perform. And I performed to the best of my ability. Loretta would be proud. I knew she would. I was smiling from the memories of her sitting in the front row of previous productions, when she would run up on the stage and hug me. She was so young and didn’t understand she wasn’t supposed to do that.
The curtains closed again and we all made our way off-stage, hugging each other and congratulating each other as we did so. 
The skirts of my gown swooshed around me as I walked swiftly towards my bag to go change.
“Aly.”
My heart stopped and I froze in my place. I quickly turned around and took in the sight of him. He was closer than he had sounded, about an arm’s length away.
“Hi.” I spoke quietly.


A/N
Check out part twoooo!