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squeeze and then turned to the stage just as Beck entered.
Derek squeezed Scott's hand in return. Sitting in the back row
and cast in darkness, their hand-holding was furtive. The
excitement was electrifying even if he and Scott were the only
two who knew.
Derek had to admit the musical was the best one the
school had produced yet. As the cast came out to give their
bows, the audience cheered and applauded. When Beck came
out, the cheering rose to a roar of hoots and hollers and the
entire audience stood to show their adoration. Derek glanced
at the cast. Bryce had a huge grin on his face as the whole
cast took a bow together. He then pushed Beck out from the
lineup of actors and the audience began a new round of
rapturous acclaim. Derek saw that Malinda had a momentary
look of disgust on her face which she quickly replaced with a
beaming grin. Well, I'll give her credit. She may hate Beck,
but she can sure act like she's pleased as punch about Beck's
adoring fans.
As the auditorium cleared out, Derek and Scott hung back
to wait for Beck so they could go to the cast party together.
Although most cast parties only included the cast and crew,
Brampton prided itself on taking advantage of any
opportunity to party. As a result, the bulk of the senior class
would be present. It was going to be at George Davis' house
since his parents were leaving for a weekend trip directly
from the opening night of the musical.
About ten minutes later, Beck came into the auditorium,
face cleared of stage makeup and wearing black jeans and a
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bulky sweater. She was beaming. Derek ran over to her and
caught her in a bear hug. "You were fantastic!"
Scott concurred and gave her a peck on the cheek.
Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small gift-wrapped
box. "I got you something. S'nothing much, but..."
Beck grabbed the gift from Scott's hands and tore the
paper off. Opening the box, she pulled out a plastic keychain
in the shape of a star with the name REBECCA written on it in
bold black letters. "Scott, if that isn't the sweetest thing.
Thank you, come give mama a kiss."
Scott blushed. "I wanted to get one that said BECK but
they didn't have any." He allowed himself to be crushed by
Beck's embrace and she gave him a friendly smooch right on
the lips. Scott shuffled his feet.
"Oh my God, look at him Derek, he's embarrassed. That is
too cute." Beck flashed an elated grin at Scott and hugged
him again. "Thank you, Scott. I love it." Derek had no idea
that Scott had bought Beck a present. The fact that he had
didn't come as a surprise and Derek had to fight the urge to
push Beck aside so he could take her place hugging him.
The three of them left the school and headed to George's
house. Once there, they had to circle around a couple of
times looking for a space. Finally they gave up and drove a
couple of blocks down Mt. Auburn Street before they found a
place to park. Bundled in winter coats, they headed to the
party arm-in-arm. They could hear the music three houses
before they reached George's house, and when they opened
the front door, Derek could feel the bass from the stereo
rumbling through his chest. Making their way up the stairs,
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they were directed to put their jackets in George's parents'
bedroom.
The guys on the wrestling team were already there and
were congregated to one side of the living room. Derek and
Scott made their way toward the group as Beck excused
herself to join Bryce and a few of the other cast members in
the kitchen. The guys were talking about the upcoming meet
with Lexington.
"So, I found out that the team is going to be really strong
after all, even though they lost three players " Josh
interrupted his own speech when he saw Derek and Scott.
"Hey guys. C'mon over. You'll want to hear about this." They
joined the group as Josh continued. "So their three new
members are at the 135, 167, and 179 weight classes." He
turned his head towards Derek and Scott giving them a
meaningful look. "That's you guys and me. Kinda sucks that
they're our first meet because it would have been nice to go
and watch them before having to wrestle them." The other
team members began mulling over how they had performed
against the Lexington wrestlers the previous year. Scott,
being new and not knowing any of the Lexington team, was
very interested.
Derek, not really wanting to talk about wrestling this
evening, elbowed Scott. "I think I'll head to the kitchen and
hang with Beck for a while. I'm kinda done with the whole
wrestling talk for now." Scott smiled and nodded before
turning back to the team.
Derek left them and headed to the kitchen. Looking
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