�No! Stop, you�re upstaging him again,� Elise was trying to help one of the characters with their position. �That�s much better and be sure to remember where the trellis ends and the house begins you guys� you�ve walked through the wall twice.�
Everyone went to inspect where the trellis was and then walk to the edge of the stage where Elise was standing. �Now let�s start at the beginning of Act two. You guys are doing great.�
It was only the beginning of December but Elise had insisted that everyone knew their lines so they could concentrate more on the performance in case she went into labor early. �Ma, I don�t want to grow old. Why�s everybody pushing me so?� Aaron began his lines in the wedding scene. He had begun to notice that when they got to the scene he became shaky and extremely nervous.
They almost go to the end of the act but the girl playing Mrs. Soames, the comic relief in the scene, missed her cue. �Laura, why aren�t you paying attention?�
�I�m sorry Shorty,� everyone had begun to call her that, �I was distracted.�
�You can�t let anything distract you.�
�I�m sorry.�
Aaron looked down at his watch and signaled Shorty to look at hers. �Well everyone, it�s time for you all to head home. No practice the rest of the week unless you all want to show up and practice without Aaron and I.�
Everyone laughed at the thought and started packing up. �Hey Aaron!� Jess called from her car as Aaron walked by.
�Yeah Jess?� Aaron leaned down into the window of her car.
�Happy Birthday Carter,� Jess smiled and handed him a box.
�Aaron come on! Kristin and Grace are waiting!� Elise called to him.
�Thank you Jess.�
�No problem,� Jess hugged him and gently kissed his cheek, �I�ll pray for you.�
Aaron�s heart skipped a beat and he just nodded. �AARON! Come on!�
�Bye Aaron.�
�Bye Jess.�
�Aaron! I love ya man,� Jess yelled with a laugh as he ran away.
�Right back at ya!�
Aaron helped Elise into the car and they set off. After about an hour Elise spoke to Aaron. �Are you going to open your present Aaron?�
�Huh? Oh yeah,� he slowly unwrapped it and opened the box. �Oh Jessie, I almost forgot,� he pulled out a collage of pictures of them together. In the middle was the picture of them from the night they met.
�That�s really sweet of her.�
�Yeah,� he hadn�t even realized she never gave him the pictures. As he stared at them he felt his heart tighten. He ran his hands over the glass and studied each picture, at each one the lump in his throat got bigger and it was harder and harder to hold back the tears he felt coming. �Shorty, why does it hurt?�
�What hurt? What are you talking about?�
�I�m falling in love with my best friend.�
Kristin looked over surprised, �Aaron�� she set her hand on his shoulder.
Aaron shrugged it off and curled his knees up to his chest, �I�m sorry, I never should have said anything. Just forget it.�
�Aaron�� Kris set her hand on his shoulder again.
�I said forget it!� he yelled, turned away and stared out the window.