Chapter 38

"What fire is in mine ears? can this be true?" Holding her flushed cheeks, Beatrice stole another glance over the hedges, where a moment earlier her cousin and her gentle attendant unwittingly confessed Signior Benedick's love for her. Dazed by this shocking development and now her cousin's remarks of Beatrice's suitability for him, she moved her hands to her feverish forehead. "Stand I condemned for pride and scorn so much?" Then, a smile crept onto her face, before she raised her chin against the sun. "Contempt, farewell! and maiden pride, adieu!" She hugged herself in pure feminine glee. "And, Benedick, love on, I will requite thee."

"Cut!"

Thrust abruptly back into the twenty-first century, Mimi blinked and finally let herself squint against the blinding stage lights.

"Great job, troop," clapped Mr. Branagh, their drama teacher and director. "Let's pick it up from here on the morrow. So, be ready with Act IV and the beginning of Act V. Opening night, twill be here in less than a fortnight, thespians." Their director's smile fell, as a stagehand suddenly dropped down from above, dangling by his foot, and flew screaming across the stage, his head inches from the ground. "Saints preserve us," muttered the belabored Mr. Branagh, "Not again."

Meanwhile, laughter echoed throughout the auditorium, as human pendulum Laurence Haywood swung back across the stage, reassuring in between screams, "Really, I'm ok, Mr. Branagh. Oh, Jesus!"

Mimi tried her best to suppress her giggles, but it couldn't be helped. Larry had a slight to moderate fear of heights but loved to work tech in the rafters. Determined to follow his passion, he always doubled-knotted a rope around his ankle, before he ventured out above the stage. Sometimes, however, a dangerous combination of vertigo and gravity seemed unavoidable.

"Oh, God!" Larry called out again, as his fellow techs tried to get a hold of him, only to scatter like bowling pins, when he swung passed. "Sorry, guys! Sorry!" Like always, he'd just wait, until the momentum came to its natural end.

"Later, Mr. Branagh!" said a now high-spirited Mimi, "I'll see everybody tomorrow!"

Her fellow Drama Club members waved goodbye to their comrade, before they turned back to enjoy the show.

Still smiling, Mimi pushed against the heavy door of the auditorium and headed for her locker. It was midweek and things were making their gradual way back to normal. Students had returned to school on Monday. Instead of their scheduled classes, however, trauma counselors and psychologists were assigned to every homeroom.

For all of Monday and some of Tuesday, students were encouraged to discuss their feelings, perceptions, and adjustment to last week's shooting. All were welcome to make appointments for private sessions, if individual students wished to discuss their feelings further without an audience. Some were evaluated onsite and referred for individual counseling and therapy. Particularly those, who had known Andrew Auerbach. Especially those who'd witnessed the violence and experienced the trauma firsthand.

Mimi sighed. Her first appointment would be next week. As she zipped up her bookbag and closed her locker, she wondered what she'd even say to this perfect stranger. Yeah, she'd never been so scared in her life. Yeah, she'd seen Andrew aim the gun directly at her friends. Yeah, one of her friends had been shot and carted off to the hospital, where she'd waited, terrified that he would die. Another had been like a zombie for two days and disappeared the day after that. But, other than that, she was just peachy.

She shook her head and continued her walk toward the exit. Who knew what the heck to make of all of this? All she knew was that she was alive. And so were all her friends. Belle was back to cheerleading. Jason was back to baseball and philandering. Philip brought home a weary but unharmed Chloe from the pier, to the relief of Chloe's family and friends. And shrugging off his stitched temple and bandages, Shawn was back to his mischievous grin and teasing.

Now, it was Wednesday. Exactly a week after all sense of security and well-being had been literally blown to smithereens. The sun again rose. Students again walked these halls. She again was to cram as much Shakespeare garble into her head before opening night. Thus, by all appearances, life was as it was before.

If only it were, she wished wholeheartedly, before she pushed open the bulky metal door and walked into the sunlight. She paused a moment, angled her face upward, and watched the clouds drift across the deep blue sky. She closed her eyes. With a deep intake of breath, she could smell the sweet scent of pine nearby. A moment later, she heard the distant echo of a metallic clunk and then an eruption of cheers.

Eyes flickering open, she turned to the sounds and smiled. Life indeed went on, even if it wasn't the easiest thing to do. Ah, what the heck, she thought. Shakespeare wouldn't mind, if she held him off for a little while longer. After all, what was more inspirational than fine male tushes in action? So, she moseyed on over to the field and came upon the Salem High baseball team in its first week of official practice.

Peering through the chain-link fence, it was hard not to spot Philip. He stood tall, tanned, and sweaty on the pitcher's mound, winding up no doubt for the notorious Kiriakis rocket curve. A split second later, the ball appeared in the catcher's mitt along with a string of curses from the struck-out batter.

"Shake it off, dude," chuckled Jason good-naturedly and appeared with his own aluminum bat in hand. He patted his frustrated teammate on the shoulder. "You just gotta relax on the bat and keep your eyes on the ball, instead of looking at him." He casually approached the plate and hollered across the field, "Hey, K-Man, stop making goo-goo eyes at Webster. You're distracting him." He hopped back a couple of feet to avoid the retaliatory fast ball to his head. "Ball!" chuckled Jason, before the coach could make the official call, and laughed even harder, when Phil jovially gave him the finger. Jason tapped the bat on his dusty cleats, before he approached the plate again and established his stance. "Come on, Kiriakis. Bring it on!"

"Foul!" called the acting ump, as Jason's hit ricocheted high into some trees.

Mimi laughed, as Jason huffed a bit at his own folly. He rotated his shoulders and neck and seemed to give himself a pep talk, before he approached the plate again. This time his eyes narrowed and his face set.

Philip nodded to the catcher's signal and then wound up once more.

Clank. The ball sailed high but deep into left field. Wearing his cockiest grin, Jason rounded first and made it to second base. Then, as graceful as a lame chicken, he jiggled into his wild endzone dance. His teammates busted out laughing.

"Wrong freaking game, Welles!"

Meanwhile, Captain Philip only shook his head, while he removed his cap to wipe the sweat from his brow. Then, he turned to look into the giggling crowd, scattered across the bleachers, and gave an obvious wink and dimpled gleam. Mimi followed it and found Chloe sitting serenely in the shade. She smiled in return and blew him a shy kiss.

Down in the dugout, his teammates snickered, "Awww. I love you, Philly. Mmm-wah, mmm-wah, mmm-wah."

Philip only chuckled, as his teammates swooned melodramatically into each other's arms. He couldn't feel the slightest hint of embarrassment, when he saw that the jolly ribbing made Chloe laugh. In the stands, she sat in a perfect picture of loveliness in her aquamarine dress and open-toe sandals. And she was happy today.

"Alright, alright," shouted Coach Lipton, "Next up to bat. First game's in less than two weeks, people!"

Mimi began to make her way toward her friend. It was no surprise to find Chloe here. Choir rehearsals resumed yesterday and usually ended a while before baseball practice. However, ever since Philip brought her back from the pier that day, Chloe made sure to keep close to Philip whenever possible, it seemed. Especially when she passed a certain stretch of hallway.

Everyone knew that Philip Kiriakis and Chloe Lane were more than just a high school crush, more than just going steady. But Chloe had always been fiercely independent and definitely never clingy. Mimi sighed. Considering everything her friend had been through, Mimi couldn't really blame her. Plus, after Philip had brought her back that day, she was talking and even smiling a bit. Philip had a way with Chloe that no one else had. If Mimi ever found a connection like that with someone, they'd need nothing short of the Jaws of Life to peel her off of him.

"Hey, Chloe," she greeted, before she settled down beside her friend.

"Hey," answered Chloe with more spirit than when she saw her last. "How's rehearsal going?"

Mimi smiled. "Pretty good. Especially when we get in-house entertainment."

Chloe grinned. "Larry?" When her friend giggled and nodded, she gave a soft laugh as well.

Mimi watched, as the next batter struck out again. "So, have you seen Shawn anywhere? Thought he wanted to watch practice."

"He was here a little while before." Chloe gasped, when Philip dove onto his side to catch a punt. From his odd position in the dirt, he quickly threw the ball to home, in case Jason tried to make it. Chloe watched with some amusement, as her boyfriend stood and casually dusted off his now brown practice uniform.

"So, where did Shawn go?"

"Oh," said Chloe, turning back to Mimi, "He left to get something from the soda machine and probably check on Belle."

The coach blew his whistle and called the day's practice to an end. "Get your butts here for practice tomorrow, asap. Got that, gentlemen? We don't have time for anymore dilly-dallying."

His team grunted in the affirmative and filed into the dugout to gather their gear. It was tacitly understood that they were behind several days and would have to make up the time pronto before the first game. They'd also have to make up for lost players. Shawn and another teammate were out for the season with injuries. While one other was…

With his bat in hand and mitt tucked under his arm, Philip sauntered over to the base of the bleachers. "Hey, ladies."

Mimi followed Chloe down the steps to lean over the railing. "Hey, Philip," greeted Mimi, before a sweaty Jason trotted up behind him. "Hey, Jason."

"What's up, Meems? Hey, Chloe. You guys hungry?"

Philip laughed, "Meaning Jase is." He looked up at Chloe, his hand unconsciously reaching under the railing to caress her ankle. "Up for some grub?"

Chloe nodded meekly and turned to Mimi. "How about you, Mimi?"

"I dunno," she sighed, "Still got Act V to get down before tomorrow."

"Come on, Meems," said Jason, cooling himself with his dusty cap, "Beatrice's basically got two parts in that. Nothing to it."

"Easy for you to say, Shakespeare reincarnated," grumbled Mimi.

"You could help her, Jase," suggested Philip, while slanting Chloe a secret wink. "Come on, guys. We're starving here."

The teens laughed, as Jason's stomach growled noisily in agreement.

"Ok," grinned Mimi, "I mean, if it's ok with you, Jason."

He gave his cavalier shrug and then performed a comical bow. "Lifeline at your service, m'lady," before his stomach rumbled again, "Now, let's eat, dang it."

Philip gave Chloe's ankle a squeeze. "Give us a sec to wash up, ok, beautiful?"

"Ok," she smiled, "We'll be outside waiting."

Chloe and Mimi chatted on the bench outside of school, while they waited for the boys to emerge from the double doors. Within minutes, the sky had darkened, the scenery softened by the light damp mist, which threatened to become rain at any moment. Luckily, the girls were sheltered by the lush outstretched tree branches overhead. They'd begun to wonder how they'd make it to the Pub in the impending downpour, when the double doors opened and two figures raced out. A blink later, the girls realized through the fuzzy mist that it was actually a boy chasing after a girl.

"Shawn!" laughed the petite blond, weaving this way and that in hopes of escape, "See? It's raining. You would've gotten wet anyway-" She screamed and giggled uncontrollably, when he caught her by the waist and swung her around and around.

"How about a little trip to the pond, Perfect Girl?" laughed Shawn with his hair and face still sopping wet from the sudden high-pressured spurt of the water fountain spigot. "We'll see how you like being dunked."

Belle laughed and laughed. "Shawn, put me down! I'm getting dizzy-" She visibly stiffened then. "Shawn, put me down. Right now!" she said with desperate tears thickening her voice.

He quickly set her down. "Hey," he said with concern and stroked her cheek, "What's wrong? You know, I was only kidding-" He quieted, when she grasped his shirt front.

"Are you ok? Do you feel dizzy at all?" Her eyes darted to his bandages. "Oh my gosh. You're in the rain. They'll get wet." She took hold of his arm and quickly pulled him under a tree.

"Hey." His hands raised her face, so that he could look into her eyes. "I'm ok."

"But you're not supposed to strain yourself," she said, crying now, "The doctor said-"

"Shhh," he shushed her softly, "I'm fine, Belle." Then, he pulled her into his arms. "I'm Tough Boy, remember? It's alright," he assured, "It's all over now."

Chloe and Mimi looked back at each other then and wondered what was going on there. Then, Philip and Jason finally appeared from the school. Jason jabbed Phil in the ribs and indicated to the couple, which, he deduced, were having a serious make-out session in the drizzle. Just for fun, Jason let out a howl of encouragement.

Shawn and Belle looked up, before she quickly swiped her eyes and fixed a smile on her face. Shawn, nevertheless, kept a protective arm around her. "Hey, guys," he greeted his buddies standing in the wet, "Practice done?"

"Uh-huh," grinned clueless Jason, "Sorry for interruption. Carry on, dude."

Philip chuckled, "We're grabbing a bite to eat with the girls." At his direction, Shawn and Belle finally noticed Chloe and Mimi who waved to them from across the street. "You guys wanna come?"

Shawn looked down at Belle and prepared to decline, when she said, "Sure. I'm starving," and squeezed his hand, letting him know that she'd be fine. To be safe and for her own peace of mind, she pulled out an umbrella from her bag and shielded him from the increasing downpour.

Philip, meanwhile, jogged over to Chloe and hugged her. "Hey, beautiful." He noticed again the thin dress and immediately slipped off his spring jacket to cover them both under it. He wished he'd brought his car today. But a Kiriakis was never one to miss an opportunity. With some amount of privacy now, he stole a kiss and grinned into those glowing cat-like eyes. "Come on, guys!" he called out behind him, "Before we drown out here."

Mimi sighed, as the group broke into couples again. Two couples and a pair of singles. But before she could feel sorry for herself, she was enveloped in Jason's open jacket and directed forward. One hand flew to his back, the other to his abdomen to keep from tripping, since small Mimi couldn't see through the opaque fabric. Jason, who didn't really mind the rain so much, let the drops fall upon his face and said to the lump in his jacket, "Can't have our leading lady catching a cold, now can we? Come on, Meems."