The Heart Fountain

Hearts At The Fountain (Chapter 5)

A few days later, on a cloudy afternoon, the girls waited for Andrea to enter the cafeteria as she was not as early as usual. When she did enter, she approached the girls, sporting a big bandage stuck on the side of her forehead.
"Hey, Andy," greeted Lizzie, once Andrea sat down in her spot of the table. "How's your head?"
"It's doing well," sighed Andrea. "I get a few headaches here and there. But I'm dynamite."
"You exploded on that stage like dynamite," said Skye.
Lizzie and Debra snickered.
"Well, you girls know I have a bit of a... anger issue," said Andrea, quietly.
"Then see a counselor," Madeline remarked.
"Madeline, I am so sorry for the way I acted," Andrea apologized. "I just didn't want my boyfriend to fall in love with you."
"But I told you: I don't want your boyfriend."
"I know. And I'm sorry. I should have never tried to ruin the play like that and embarrass you."
"You didn't just embarrass her," mumbled Lizzie. "You embarrassed the whole directory."
"Thank you, Liz'," Andrea said, sarcastically. "I'll remember to include that in the letter I'll be writing in detention."
"You got detention?" asked Debra.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I? I jumped on the stage unannounced and attempted to fight two guys."
"Then it makes sense."
"Are you truly sorry, Andrea?" Madeline questioned.
"Truly," Andrea responded.
"Then apology accepted."
"Aw!" Debra uttered. "You guys made up. Now we can move on."
"So what happened with Nicky?" asked Madeline.
"I told him we should stay friends," Andrea said. "The way I acted, I didn't think he would have wanted to stay with me for a long time. Plus, he wasn't caramel enough."
"I thought you said that 'caramelo' means 'candy'," Skye jumped in.
"Don't tell me how to speak English, either!"
"Maybe he was more caramel-flavored," Lizzie said.
"That's right."
"You guys are so weird," Skye muttered.
"It's kind of weird that you broke up with Nicky instead of the other way around," said Madeline. "Like he didn't say how he felt about the 'play-crashing'?"
"Yeah, he did," answered Andrea. "He said it was embarrassing, it was uncalled for, and a bit of idiotic. But it showed that I cared about him and I'm really attractive when I'm crazy."
"So he didn't like the act but liked the act at the same time?" Lizzie asked.
"Pretty much."
"Then you should've kept him," said Skye.
"Don't worry, Andy," said Madeline. "You'll find your dream guy one day. Y él será un dulce mirar."
"Mi propio pedazo de caramelo," Andrea responded.
Andrea and Madeline laughed together while the other girls looked at them with confused expressions, not comprehending a word they were saying.
"But seriously," Madeline stopped laughing, "see a counselor."

Hearts At The Fountain (Chapter 4)

"Y entonces el hombre dijo: '¿Me taco a mí?'" Madeline told in a perfect Spanish accent to a group of actors backstage.
The actors chuckled and clamored in Spanish, their main language.
Seconds after, Skye ran up behind Madeline in excitement. "Hey, Maddie," she captured Madeline's attention. "Are you ready to go out and perform again?"
"I was born ready," Madeline turned around. "I've done plays before but not in high school. So maybe this could be my breakthrough."
"Maddie, it's school, not Broadway."
"But it's practice. I mean the excessive lines, the costume changes, the emotions: it is hard work. Plus, I can be known as the girl who played Ashley from Hearts at the Fountain better than the other past girls who played her. That means so much to me."
"Well, if it means so much to you, then I am happy for you. Plus, the first three scenes you did were spectacular."
"Aw, thank you."
"If only Sunstreet gave me permission to change the music up a bit, I would have added some sparkle on you."
"Oh, well. Maybe next time. No matter what play is next, I'm getting a role in it and you will add sparkle on me."
"Cool. And can you do me a favor?" Skye turned around and pointed towards her hair. "Can you tell me if my bun is messed up?"
"Girl, you're the pianist. Nobody was looking at your hair."
Skye turned back around. "Gee, thanks," she said, sarcastically. "Well, I better go. We have less than a minute left. Go get 'em."
"Thanks."
Skye walked away to go down the stage steps back to the piano.

The audience applauded as the curtains opened up to start the fourth scene of the play, exposing Madeline and Nicky in their positions. Skye played the keys on the grand piano perfectly, forming a light, sentimental tune.
"Thanks for the book, Lee," Madeline said in a creamy voice, wagging the red book in her right hand.
"No problem," said Nicky, in a more gentle voice. "You will enjoy it."
"You know, I've never met a guy like you. You're different."
"Everybody's different."
"I know. But you're... special. As if you were some sort of god."
"Why thank you."
The audience chuckled.
Madeline stood up. "I mean it. It's like you were sent to me."
"Maybe you were sent to me."
The two walked slowly closer and closer to each other. Right when their faces were going to touch, they parted as they heard a call:
"Hey, guys!" Andrea grinned, walking towards the two; her thick heels making loud, dull sounds in every step on the stage.
The portrayed couple stared at Andrea in confusion.
"Hanging out by the fountain?" she asked, rolling her arms towards the cardboard fountain behind them.
Madeline walked closer to Andrea. "Andrea, what the heck are you doing here?" she whispered with clenched teeth.
"Oh, my name is not Andrea," she said loudly as her voice became more deadpan. "I'm Susie Palace and I'm new around here."
"Susie Palace?" Madeline continued to whisper. "Really?"
"Uh, welcome to Indio, Susie," Nicky played along. "How do you like it so far?"
"Oh, it's fantastic here," Andrea responded. "What is not fantastic is that you have been avoiding me for a long time before I came here."
"Okay, what?"
"I used to be Lee's girlfriend," Andrea faced Madeline. "Actually, I am technically his girlfriend since we didn't really break it off."
"Then break it off," Madeline responded.
"No. He should give me a 'hello kiss' before we even talk about us."
"Okay, I'm going to break character," Madeline shook her head, "because this is ridiculous. Why are you up here, Andrea?"
"You think you can take my man, Made-leen?"
"What?"
"Don't take my man away, Made-leen, just because you can!"
"What are you talking about? Why are you calling me that?"
"Calling you what?"
"Made-leen. You keep calling me 'Made-leen'."
"Oh, well, I was blacking out a bit. But you still can't take my man!"
"Andrea, I don't want your man."
"Andrea, I like you," Nicky jumped in, "but you have to leave."
"I'm not going to leave if she's going to plant one on you," Andrea shook her head.
"I have to, Andrea," said Madeline. "It's a play."
"Then play people who don't kiss!"
As Andrea continued to ramble on about her relationship with Nicky, two strong-looking men in black collared shirts walked on the stage towards her.
"Alright, miss, it's time for you to go," said one of the guards, grabbing Andrea's arm.
"Don't touch me," Andrea uttered as she pushed away the guard. Her push was so forceful that the guard backed up unsteadily and bumped into the cardboard fountain, knocking it down.
The other guard managed to grab both of Andrea's arms and hold them behind her back. But Andrea struggled so much that she and the guard walked idly and unsteadily on the stage, causing them to back up into the white bench that was in front of the fountain and trip over it.
Nicky and Madeline stared at the conflict with wide eyes and gaped mouths. Madeline looked at the audience, who were shocked as well.
She stuttered and walked frontwards a bit on the stage. "What's with crazy people, am I right?" she chuckled nervously.
A man in a black turtleneck and black glasses stood up from one of the seats in the front row of the auditorium and yelled, "Intermission!"
The audience witnessed the curtains closing in, soon covering the mess made by Andrea and the two guards along with the two lead characters.
"This would have seemed less awkward if there was some rock music," muttered Skye.

Hearts At The Fountain (Chapter 3)

"Ooh, Miss Sunstreet!" Skye called as she ran backwards after walking pass the teacher in the clear hallway.
"Oh, hello, Miss Carter," Sunstreet greeted. "How are you?"
"I'm doing well," Skye answered, stopping. "Just came out of the bathroom." She held up her orange bathroom pass. "Here's my pass."
"Well, good. Are you ready to play piano for the play in a couple of days."
"Yep. Super excited."
"Good, good."
"I just have a recommendation."
"Recommendation?"
"Just one. Just one."
"Okay. What do you suggest?"
"Okay, how can I put this together? Okay, I love playing the piano. The main reason for that is that I'm good at it."
"You are."
"I know. And there are ways you can play music on the piano. Other than Mozart and Beethoven."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Oh, how can I put this together?"
"Don't put it together. Just spit it out."
"I think we should choose some rock songs for the Hearts play."
"And what do you mean by 'rock'?"
"You know, rock. Alternative rock. Punk rock. Pop rock. Piano rock. Which is perfect because I'm playing the piano."
"And you're only going to play the songs on the piano?"
"Well, I also wanted to suggest some other instrumentation for the play. I have a friend who can shred on the guitar. And by 'shred', I mean 'play well'."
"Why are you suggesting so many things?"
"Why are you asking so many questions?"
"'Hearts at the Fountain' is about two young persons who fall head over heels in love with each other and it is all because of a famous fountain."
"Please, what is a fountain going to do?"
"Anything can make people fall in love."
"I think it's the people who make themselves fall in love."
"Miss Carter, I am not going to include rock music to our play. Show tunes are just fine."
"Uh, show tunes, show tunes, show tunes. Well, can you at least think about?"
"No."
"Why?" Skye uttered in a whiny voice.
"We're not going to deface 'Hearts at the Fountain' with your rock n' roll."
"Not rock n' roll. Rock! Like U2, Queen, Bon Jovi--"
"Bon Jovi?"
"Yes."
"No."
"Come on. Rock can really liven up the play."
"The play doesn't need 'liven up'. It is fine the way it is."
"It may be fine but it can be great!"
"Skye, for the last time, no."
"But Bon Jovi is awesome."
"No." Sunstreet started to walk away.
Skye walked quickly after her. "Can you say any word other than 'no'?"
"No."
"Was that your first word as a kid? No?"

Hearts At The Fountain (Chapter 2)

The week after, Andrea found herself walking idly backstage in the auditorium's stage with a basket of chocolate chip muffins wrapped in a baby blue bow. She rushed past the traveling students looking for her friend, Nicky, until someone surprised her by touching both her shoulders.
"Looking for me?" asked Nicky, smiling.
Andrea turned around as soon as she heard him. "Hey, Nicky-Nicky!"
Nicky bent over and kissed Andrea on the cheek. "These muffins for me?" he pointed to the basket.
"Oh, yeah. I wanted to congratulate you on getting the part in the Hearts play. So I bought a package of chocolate chip muffins and put them in this basket. I wrapped the bow by myself."
She handed Nicky the basket.
"Oh, thank you, Andy!" he said. "You are out of this world."
"Well, I'm thoughtful, so..."
"Hey, can you stick around? We're all going over our lines."
"Sure. I don't have anything better to do. Well, I have homework, but it's not like I got to put out a fire."
"Andrea!" shouted a girl.
Andrea looked beside herself, seeing Madeline running towards her.
"Hey, girl!" Andrea greeted.
Madeline jumped in front of Andrea and grabbed her arms. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see me my caramelo."
"It's great that you're here. I have good news."
"Spill it."
"I got the lead role!"
The girls jumped up and down while squealing.
Then Andrea stopped. "Wait, I thought Nicky got the lead role."
"He did. As Lee Hamilton."
"And Madeline got the role of Ashley Dawson," Nicky added.
"The play revolves around a couple."
"Oh, yeah, Skye told us that," said Andrea. "So you two--"
"We play the couple," Nicky responded.
"And we get ninety-five percent of the attention," said Madeline.
"Oh, okay," Andrea said. "So what do you two got to do in the play? Hold hands? Sing songs?"
"We can't sing songs," said Nicky, "because 'Hearts at the Fountain' is not a musical. But I think Madeline and I do have to hold hands. And I think... kiss a little."
Andrea slowly lost her smile and stared at Nicky. "Kiss?"
"A little," he added.
"So you guys... have to kiss?" Andrea said, holding her stare.
"Are you mad?" asked Madeline.
Andrea scoffed while starting to finally blink. "No, I'm not mad. It's a play. You guys are playing. It's all pretend. Make-believe."
Madeline giggled. "I thought you would get mad. Just know that nothing will change. It is only a play."
"Yes, a play," Andrea nodded. "I know. I know nothing will change."
"And Andy," Nicky started, "if you do start to feel a bit anger, just know that when I'm kissing Madeline, I'll be thinking of you."
Andy smiled her little-kid-smile.
"Aw, that's sweet," mumbled Madeline. "Come on, Nicky. Let's rehearse."
She pulled Nicky away onto the center of the stage as Nicky looked back at Andrea and smiled sweetly at her. Andrea sighed and lost her smile.
"Andrea!" another girl called.
Andrea's eyes followed the familiar voice.
"Can you come over here?" Skye waved from the grand piano.
Andrea walked onto the stage and down the steps. She walked quickly over to Skye and rested her hands on top of the piano.
"Can you help me rehearse?" asked Skye. "I got a lot of songs to do."
"What kind of songs do you have to do?" Andrea asked.
"Show tunes. Classical music. A bunch of songs that make me want to die. But, hey, if I play the piano to the school's most famous play, I'll get my picture in the yearbook."
"You care about that?"
"No. But I'm trying to convince Miss Sunstreet, the music director, to add more rock music to the programs. You know, to get teens listening."
"What about some Latin music?"
"It's not a Latin play. But I do know some songs by Enrique Iglesias and Shakira. Ooh! And Ricky Martin."
"Ricky Martin!"
"Yeah! Oh, you know the words to 'Jolene'?"
"Girl, I live for those words."
"Let's practice with that song together, shall we?"
"Sure, Skye."
Skye cracked her knuckles and position her hands onto the piano keys. She started to play the rhythm of the song "Jolene" by Dolly Parton; her fingers dancing lightly on the white and black keys.
Then the girls started singing on-key in their various yet sweet voices:
Jolene, Jolene
Jolene, Jolene
I'm begging of you, please, don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene
Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him just because you can
Skye continued to sing the song as Andrea stopped singing to look back at the stage. She frowned deeply as she stared coldly at Madeline and Nicky, who were laughing together while they went over the lines from their scripts.  

Hearts At The Fountain (Chapter 1)

"Oh, you're usually early," Madeline said to Andrea, who was just entering the cafeteria.
"You're going to give me a tardy slip?" she joked.
"Why are you late anyway?" Madeline asked.
"I was meeting up with my new 'boy-toy'," Andrea answered, sitting down in her usual spot at the lunch table, which is next to Skye in front of  Lizzie, Madeline, and Debra.
"Boy-toy?" Lizzie repeated.
"You never told us you had a boy," said Debra.
"Yes, I did," Andrea responded. "I said, 'Mamá consiguió un poco de caramelo!'."
"We can't understand that," said Skye.
"I can," Madeline admitted. "She said, 'Mama got some candy!'"
"How do you know?" asked Skye.
"My cousin Felicia had a boyfriend who was Mexican. He told great taco jokes."
"Okay, since you guys don't know about my candy," Andrea started, "I believe it's not too late to talk about him. His name is Nicky, he's six foot one, he has hair made from sunshine, and eyes like Valentine's Day bonbons. Hence the term, 'caramelo'."
"Shouldn't 'caramelo' mean caramel?" asked Skye.
"Don't tell me how to speak Spanish!"
"Maybe they're caramel bonbons," Lizzie added.
"Exactly," Andrea nodded. "Either way, he is so dreamy. I cannot take my eyes off of him."
"Talking about me again?" asked a tall, handsome, brunet boy, standing behind Lizzie and Madeline.
"Nicky-Nicky!" Andrea squealed.
She bounced off the bench and walked quickly over to her friend. She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed him, rocking side to side.
"His eyes don't look like caramel," muttered Debra.
"Girls, this is my friend, Nicky," Andrea introduced him, releasing from the hug.
"Hey, Nicky," all of the girls greeted.
"Hello, Andy's friends," Nicky greeted back.
"What are you doing here?" asked Andrea.
"I have lunch this period," he answered.
"The things I learn about you."
"You can sit with me if you want."
"No, it's okay. I have to talk to my girls about a bunch of stuff."
"Oh, well, that's fine. I got to talk to my bros about a bunch of stuff, too."
Andrea giggled as if she was light-headed.
"Hey, I've seen you before," said Madeline. "You have Miss Hall for second period."
"I sure do," Nicky said.
"I love Miss Hall. She's so wacky."
"And uproarious."
"Yeah!"
"Okay, enough talking," Andrea chuckled. "So what's new, Nicky?"
"Well, after school, I'm going to be auditioning for the play, 'Hearts at the Fountain'."
"Oh, I heard about that play," Debra said. "What is it about?"
"It's about a boy and a girl," Skye started, "who first meet at a public fountain and fall in love. They meet up every day by the fountain and share moments. Nearing to the end, construction workers try to tear down the fountain and the couple try to stop them."
"How do you know?" asked Lizzie.
"I'm playing the piano for the play," Skye answered. "You know, to add mood."
"That's great, Skye," commented Madeline. "You're really good at piano. And speaking of this play, I might audition myself."
"Oh, you act?" asked Nicky.
"A little here and there," she cracked her knuckles.
"I don't know what that means."
"It means I do sometimes. I've been in plays outside of school. I want to be an actress when I'm an adult."
"Oh, well, good luck auditioning."
"Thank you."
"Okay, enough talking," chuckled Andrea.
"You said that earlier," said Madeline.
"Well, I'm saying it again." She turned to Nicky. "Call me later?"
"I'll call you sooner," Nicky smirked.
He pecked her on the cheek, making Andrea coo and giggle like a child. She sat back down on her seat as he walked away.
"'Mama got some candy', indeed," said Debra.