…And Then…I Kissed Her
By: Jamie Sommers
Email: jamiesommers23@hotmail.com
Rated: P/G13 for language
Synopsis: Landon Carter needs help with his lines and
Jamie Sullivan has agreed to give him a hand on one condition…he has to promise
not to fall in love with her.
“So tell me about this
‘dream girl.’”
“I…I…don’t know where to
begin. She had this face that was so
perfect so…angelic almost. She was…” ‘okay
now this is the line you’ve been having problems with so just concentrate
Landon. Pretend you’re looking at that
big booty girl from Selena.’ “…she
was a lot like you.” ‘Now look at
her and say it like you mean it.’
“You’re beautiful.” ‘Yeah…that
sucked.’
“What else happened in your
dream?”
“I really can’t
remember. It’s like one of those dreams
that haunt you at night, but in the morning it’s gone. Can you help me to remember?”
“How?”
“In my dream this angel,
she sings to me… Will you sing for me?”
“Wow, Landon! That was really good except…”
‘She’s gonna tell you
that the, ‘you’re beautiful’ line bit.’
“…you really haven’t
memorized as many of your lines as I had hoped you would.”
“Oh…ummm…right. I was gonna try and memorize more of them
last night, but it was after 7:00 when I left here and it was my night to cook
so…”
“That’s okay, Landon. You don’t have to make up an excuse, I’m not
going to keep you after school or anything.”
“I’m not making up an
excuse. It really was my night to cook
then I had to do some laundry so I really didn’t have much time to memorize my lines.”
“Laundry? Okay.”
She looked at me like I had just flat out lied to her.
I wanted to just scream out
at her, ‘why do you do that? Why do
you infuriate me so easily? I was doing
laundry. I was making dinner. I’m not lying!’
“So you wanna work on some
of the scenes you have with Sally?”
“Yeah, sure.” I know my tone was clipped, but she really
pissed me off.
“Okay, how about Act II,
scene 1?”
“Sure, you wanna start?”
“Ummm. You have the first line Landon.”
“Oh, yeah. Right.” ‘How the hell does she do that? She didn’t even open her script up and she knows that I have the
first line. I don’t even know what Act
II, scene 1 is about and she’s telling me I have the first line.’
I quickly found the page we
were starting on, looked it over and said, “I’ve decided to break my
connections with Johnny Barbarino and start my own little import/export
business.”
“But Tommy, I thought you
were getting out of the business completely.”
“Get out? Is that what you thought? Nah…I can’t kid. I can’t leave this racket while the going is good.”
“ But Tommy, the going
isn’t good. You haven’t made enough to
cover the girls wages for two weeks now…”
“That’s why I’m doing
this! Look me and Carmine have a plan.”
“But Tommy…”
“Pour me a drink Joey.”
“You promised me
Tommy. No more of your no-good-nick
schemes. You promised me we’d go to
Paris.”
“I’m not gonna sit on my
kiester and watch all the fat cats in this town get rich, okay? Trust me this is a sure thing.”
“That’s it. We are through. Go ahead and run your booze ya big dope, and I hope you drown in
it. Soooo…you must be the new girl he’s
hired. The singer? Want some free advice about this one? Stay far away he’s nothin’ but trouble and
cheap spats.”
“See ya around kid.”
“Well you seem to have that
scene memorized. You didn’t look at
your script at all.”
“Yeah…so now what?” I asked since we were done with that scene.
“How about the one in the
beginning between you and Sally’s character, Caroline.”
“Ummm…which one?”
“The one that starts with
‘when did you know Tommy.’”
I began rifling through the
pages again when she leaned closer to me and said, “Here.” Her fingers brushed up against my hand as
she turned the pages of my script. Her
hair fell across my arm and the scent…
‘It smells like flowers.’
“I know it’s here
somewhere. Oh, here it is.” She found the page and turned to me and
said, “When did you know, Tommy?”
“Know what?” She was looking at me so intently it was
hard for me to keep focused on my lines.
“That we were in love.”
“Love?” ‘No way…not with Jamie Sullivan. You don’t even like her.’ “Baby, believe me. You don’t wanna go fallin’ in love with a guy like me.” ‘Okay…so who’s doing the talking
here? Tom Thorton or Landon Carter?’
“It’s too late Tommy. I’m crazy about you. I’m breathing it, drinking it all in. Aren’t you?”
The only thing I was
drinking in at the time was the sound of her voice, it was so soft, so
gentle. Her smile was so innocent and
that mole… that damn mole. I bet she had no idea how sexy that thing
was? ‘SEXY? Jamie Sullivan? Snap out of it Landon!!
Better not let her father hear you say…’
“Did you forget your lines
Mr. Carter?”
It’s like the guy was
reading my every thought. He just
appeared out of nowhere whenever I was thinking something I shouldn’t have
been. ‘Maybe he really does have
connections with a higher power?’
“Ummm. I’m sorry sir.”
“What for?”
“Ummm…” I had no idea why
this guy intimidated me so much, but he did.
“I believe your next line
is, ‘I don’t know what I’m drinking doll face, but if this is love…pour me
another glass.’ Am I right Jamie?”
“Yes daddy.”
I just looked at the two of
them. ‘What’d ya guys do at night, rotate between reading the bible and this
stupid play?’
“Thank you sir.”
“Don’t mention it.” Then he
looked at Jamie and said, “Don’t you have homework you need to get done
tonight?”
“I did it in study hall.”
“I didn’t know you had
study hall,” he said.
“Well, I went there instead
of gym today.”
‘I didn’t know that was
an option, but if it is, I’m gonna have to look into that.’
I noticed Jamie’s father
giving her this really curious stare and it made me feel sort of
uncomfortable. “Are you feeling all
right?” he asked her.
“I’m fine daddy.”
“Jamie?”
“Daddy. I’m fine.”
They exchanged this really weird look then he nodded and went back into
the house.
“Hey?” I asked, “Is
everything okay?”
“It’s fine. Wanna go on with the rest of the scene?”
“Sure.” I don’t know what happened out there between
her and her father, but there was something more than what she was letting
onto.
“I don’t know what I’m
drinking doll face…”
Coming Soon…
Chapter 5