Maya skims the cast list that had been posted just minutes earlier, her finger fumbling past letters a, d, g, until it finds H - Hart. She runs her finger horizontally, stopping at the character's name beside her own. She had to double and triple check to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her. She had gotten the lead!
Riley had talked her into auditioning ("Come on, Maya, you're an artist! Theater is an art! Plus, I'll be there.") and she had gotten the female lead. She knew Riley would be happy for her because Riley had already gotten the lead in previous years. Plus that meant they'd be together all the time. Riley runs over to Riley, who is beaming.
"What'd ya get? I got Miranda!" Riley is absolutely glowing. Miranda was a good part, if she didn't get the lead, that's the part Riley had wanted.
Maya looks down, her smile softening. "I got Lucille." She looks up, biting her lip. There's a gleam in Maya's eye that Riley's never seen. She lunges at Maya and they hug each other tightly.
"I'm proud of you." Riley says as she pulls away.
"Yeah? Why don't we go home and read our scripts together?" Maya asks, locking elbows with her best friend.
---
"This script is pretty good, although I wish we would've done Hamlet." Riley comments, turning the page.
"Yeah, but if we did a 'better' play we wouldn't have as good a chance at getting big parts." Maya says, her eyes scanning the page.
"There are no small parts," Riley says dramatically, "only small people!"
"Right..." Maya trails off, about to reply with a comeback, when she reads something that causes her to end up falling off the bed. She sits up, holding her script up, her mouth open and brows furrowed.
"What?" Riley asks, leaning off the bed to where Maya is sitting. "Did you read that line about the dog and the-"
"There's a kiss!" Maya interrupts. She slowly gets back up on the bed, still pouting, "I've never kissed anyone before. I've barely even had a boyfriend and now- A kiss." It wasn't just kissing someone that freaked her out. If she'd done it before, she supposes she wouldn't mind. But she didn't want her first kiss to just be for
"Hey, kissing isn't so hard." Riley says. She'd only done it a few times with Lucas, and they still weren't a couple, but she definitely knew how to do it, even if she wasn't the best kisser in the world. She looks at Maya, taking her head in her hands.
"You just take them like this," she demonstrates. "Lean in and-"
There's a long pause where they're just looking at each other. Faces just got Inches away. Maya glances at Riley's lips, wondering if she should just... Go for it. Riley wasn't backing away, so Maya leans in. Finally, Riley does too, and their lips meet. Maya closes her eyes and tangles her fingers in Riley's hair.
Kissing Maya was such a foreign concept to Riley, yet it felt so right. She had never felt this way with Lucas before, and maybe it's because she'd known Maya for so long and felt safe with her but... Riley liked it.
Riley's hands move from Maya's face to her neck, deepening the kissing but keeping it innocent all the while. Finally Maya is the one to pull away, her face flushed. She swallows, her eyes scanning Riley's face.
Riley is looking at her with that face she always used on Lucas, her head cocked to the side, eyes wide. She looks just as flustered as Maya feels.
"Whoa." Maya finally speaks, letting out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.
Riley blushes.
"I don't think you'll have any problems with that kissing scene."