“Sarah?”
“Brian!”
“Sam?”
“April!”
After Julie had finished her dance, wild guesses were thrown around. Obviously nobody had a clue, who she was portraying. Except for Scarlett. She still stood in shock and awe at the performance but she knew exactly what this dance was about. Herself. But not Scarlett the Starlett, that everybody at Keaton knew, no, just Scarlett Dunn and her deepest insecurities. How on earth could Julie come up with all this about her? No one would or could know her so well. Even if Kit had talked (which she knew that wasn’t going to happen ever) why would Julie bring such a heartfelt performance in front of everyone about her? Scarlett always thought that in Julie’s eyes she would at best blend in with all the other year tens and the rest of the school that admired her to no end, or, more possibly, that she annoyed her with her over the top persona. But here she was, feeling the piercing gaze of Keaton’s most talented girl on her. “It’s Scarlett”, Julie said, looking down again.
Scarlett had been looking forward to this. She always liked seeing Julie dance, it was incredible to watch her do basically anything, visual arts, singing and also dancing. It was pretty unfair how Julie could excel in almost everything without even trying. Not that she wasn’t a hard worker, on top of it. Really, Scarlett should hate her out of jealousy or something like that but instead, right from the start she had just felt incredibly infuriated with her classmate. She almost felt stupid for it. Not that she needed a gay awakening; that was all handled in year 8, before Keaton with the help of her asexual sister, Kit. But it almost seemed as if the whole school had a crush on Julie (even when they were still freshmen) and now Scarlett found herself in one category with all the pining, new Year Nines like that overdramatic music boy Miles. And sure, Scarlett wanted to serenade Julie too but then again that girl always rolled her eyes when she was walking around singing so that was probably not a good idea. Besides that was a bit overdramatic and Scarlett could be just fine with being friends, or rather acquaintances with Julie. It was a miracle that she got even noticed by her.
Or so she thought. What a shocking reveal, that Julie not only noticed her but also saw a side of her that no one else just discovers by being her classmate. Now three things were pretty clear to Scarlett. One: This project wasn’t that bad but she had to put way more effort into it than expected. Two: Her crush on Julie was getting even worse, after Scarlett had accepted that nothing would ever happen. Three: She had to talk about this dance, with Julie.
When Julie had finished her dance, she felt a bit shaky inside. Although she was pretty confident most of the time, she was scared how Scarlett would react. If she was furious, Julie would totally understand that. She wouldn’t know what she would do if the person who got assigned to portray her found out about her own secret. What she just did was huge and probably a bit too personal but Julie always had the tendency to be honest and she wanted to make this something special, not just a boring imitation of Scarlett’s first layer.
So she went all in, like with all her assignments. But Scarlett had always just piqued her interest. Sure, she had a big personality and undeniable talent and her Starlett behaviour was in an annoying way kind of cute but somehow Julie had sensed that there was more than that. And during the two weeks that she took to study her classmate, she discovered an entirely new side of Scarlett Dunn. She saw a Scarlett that helped a new student face her fears and defend her against a bully. She saw a Scarlett that was thoughtful and quiet while experimenting with melodies. She saw a Scarlett that whole heartedly protected and supported her rebellious little sister. But the things that touched her the most were the hidden insecurities. She saw Scarlett standing in front of a bathroom mirror, studying the back of her throat and panicking while muttering “No, no I can’t lose my voice, please it’s the only thing I have” She saw Scarlett mustering up all her strength before going in to school and pulling up a façade just to hide her insecurities and fears. She saw a girl that was so worried about not being enough, about not being accepted about being left behind that she fought every day, a girl that didn’t want anyone to see her weaknesses and buried them so deep inside just so she could keep her front. When Julie found the new Song by one of her favourite artists on the internet, she immediately thought of her project and started to choreograph her dance, a dance for Scarlett. But she was also worried because on her Journey through those two weeks, Scarlett and the feelings Julie had for her, developed into a distraction that she absolutely didn’t need. She was sure she couldn’t pull of falling in love with the most amazing singer in the whole school without having her heart broken. Sure, she wasn’t totally oblivious; lots of people did have a crush on her, but Scarlett?
When she stood up and the class was dismissed, Julie dared another glance at Scarlett and found herself completely caught off guard by the wondering stare that she got back. Scarlett seemed frozen in her place. Slowly Julie walked over to her. “Um…Scarlett? Hey, Scarlett, I’m sorry if I was… if you didn’t like that, I didn’t want to…” “No, no it’s fine…” Scarlett responded, still entirely stupefied. “But how did you… why?” “I just watched you… I really looked, I guess. It’s hard not to, I mean, it’s you, so…” “Nobody ever did something like that for me, I mean, about me”
Both girls just looked at each other for a while. Scarlett was the first one to snap out of it. I’m sorry. What I should have said, what I wanted to say: Thank you. That was amazing.” And with that, she gave Julie just a quick, bold peck on the lips and dashed for the door. There she turned around. “You coming?” Julie shook her head and a smile spread on her face. “Sure!” She went caught up with her and laced their hands together. “Let’s get lunch”