Work Text:
Much Ado About Nothing
Cast list
Gina Porter-Beatrice
Nina Salazar Roberts-Benedick
That’s as far down as Gina’s gaze goes, as soon as Ms Jenn finished stapling the cast list to the board she ran down to see, her eyes immediately going to the top of the list. She’d taken a moment to gush about her success, then her eyes roamed down to see who else she’d be working with.
But it could not be her
Maybe she was mistaken, she may have incorrectly remembered her name, her actual name may be Natalie for all she knows. Yes, that’s probably the case, the girl she met at auditions had been clumsy and tripped over her words, surely she could not know how to recite Shakespeare, not enough to score a lead role.
Gina made her way out of the room, trying to not accidentally shove someone from the crowd that had already gathered, she was about to go through the door when she heard someone gasp.
“ Nini , you got the role! ” she turns around just in time to see a girl turn around squealing and hugging…
Oh, you have got to be joking.
She keeps noticing her the next day between classes, Gina thinks she may have been staring at her too. When they get out of Biology Nini grabs her by the shoulder and guides her to the side of the lockers.
“Hey, can we talk?”
Gina scoffs“Shouldn’t you have asked me that before you brought me here?”
“Right, well, I’m Nini we talked yesterday at-”
“Auditions, yeah I remember”Gina interrupts her, looking her up and down” What do you want?”
Nini frowns “I just wanted to say that I’m happy that we get to work together on the play, and I was thinking that maybe you could come over to my house after school to run lines tomorrow?” she finishes up with a wince
“You don’t seem so certain of your offer” Gina retorts “although you certainly need the practice”
Nini stands up straighter “Excuse me? what are you implying?”
Gina ignores her harsh tone “I’ll admit I didn’t get the chance to see your audition, but I did see you before and I can tell when someone doesn’t have theater experience”
“I have theater experience!” Nini answers
“As tree number four I think, that’s definitely not enough to do Shakespeare, let alone the lead”
Nini raises her eyebrows “You’re wrong, and I have a class to get to” she goes off, turning around at half the hallway “And you’re no longer invited to my house!”
“I gathered” Gina screams back
“Gina! I’m so glad you’re here” Ms Jenn says “You know, since the moment I saw you I knew you were the perfect Beatrice”
Gina smiles “I’m glad to be here”
Ms. Jenn smiles again, grabbing Gina’s forearm and guiding her to a set of desks that were arranged in a circle “Come here, today we’ll read the script, this is just so everyone can get familiarized with the text so don’t feel pressure to put on a performance”
Gina smiles again, Much Ado was one of her favorite plays, so she’d read it a fair amount of time, still there was no harm in sounding it out.
Ms Jenn guides her to the seat next to Nini, who scowls when she notices her.
“Alright” Ms. Jenn took a seat once everyone else was settled “Join hands”
EJ extends his hand out to her, she takes it then turns to Nini and extends her hand out to her.Nini scowls but takes her hand all the same.
Ms Jenn smiles “Now close your eyes, take a deep breath, we’re gonna do this exercise i found yesterday on YouTube, hear everyone breathe, tune in to your senses. We’ll keep on like this until everyone is breathing in and out at the same time”
They almost get it a couple of times, but first Big Red sneezes making everyone burst into laughter, the second one happens simply because Nini drops Gina’s hand, making it thump on the table, the glare Gina shoots at her was only answered with another scowl.
“Alright, I think that’s enough,” said Ms Jenn “Now if everyone could be so kind as to open your scripts”
After a few mishaps, Big Red clears his throat and reads “Scene 1, Enter Leonato, governor of Messina, Hero his daughter, and Beatrice his niece, with a messenger”
“I learn in this letter that Don Pedro of Aragon comes this night to Messina” says Ricky in a nonchalant voice
A freshman Gina hasn’t really talked to responds “He is very near by this. He was not three leagues off when I left him”
Ricky and the freshman go back and forth, the freshman only tripping on his words once until it’s Gina’s turn, she straightens her shoulders, puts on a smirk, and says
“I pray you, is Signior Mountanto returned from the wars or no?”
Ms Jenn smiles brightly at her and they’re able to continue on while Gina starts to take notes in her mind. The freshman seems to be getting the hang of it already and Ricky is saying his lines with more feeling and eloquence each time, Gina has half a mind to wish he would’ve been casted as Benedick instead.Kourtney, much like Gina, enjoys putting up a performance even when is not necessary. Big Red still stutters reading the directions but it won't matter much during opening night, Maddox voice is firm and clear, but her overall attitude makes it come out more warm which is good for the role of the prince and
Nini gives a chuckle “Were you in doubt, sir, that you asked her?” the mirth is palpable from her voice, Gina turns to look at her just to discover that Nini is already looking at Gina, an eyebrow raised.
It wasn’t a clumsy string of words for sure, still it was very easy to act amused, Gina doubted that she could pull off the more heavy scenes.
Once Nini is done remarking on Hero’s and Leonato’s similarities Gina prepares to speak, she’s just opening her mouth when Ms Jenn stops her.
“Gina, honey, wait a second” she smiles then looks at everyone “You’ve all done great so far, i have no doubt this play will be amazing” Then she fixes her eyes on Gina and Nini “Right now Benedick and Beatrice are about to interact for the first time. This is a magical moment, you have to show the audience their familiarity with each other through their banter and capture their yearning…”
“Yearning” Nini interrupted “There’s no yearning, they’re fighting each other”
“They’re communicating the yearning through the quarreling, don´t forget the “I know you of old” line”
Ricky scrunches an eyebrow “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that they’re exes Ricky” EJ replies
“Not necessarily!” Nini cut in
“Why does that matter right now anyway” Gina says, looking at Ms Jenn “I thought you said this was only to feel the text”
Ms Jenn blushes “Well it was just a note” she waved a hand “Anyway, let’s go back to it”
Gina nodded, taking a deep breath, even if she put it weirdly Ms Jenn was right,Benedick and Beatrice have a connection that has to be palpable in order for the audience to understand their dynamic. So she turns to Nini, who’s again, still looking at her.
She puts on a condescending smile on her lips “I wonder that you will still be talking, Signior Benedick, nobody marks you.”
Nini raises her eyebrows and huffs “What, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living?” she sneers when she finishes and Gina realizes that Nini may not be purely acting.
Gina tilts her head “Is it possible disdain should die while she hath such meet food to feed it as Signior Benedick? “ she gives an obviously fake laugh “Courtesy itself must convert to disdain if you come in her presence.”
Nini’s eyebrows furrow, it’s replaced by a suave smile in a flash “Then is courtesy a turncoat. But it is certain I am loved of all ladies, only you excepted; and I would I could find in my heart that I had not a hard heart, for truly I love none”
“A dear happiness to women. They would else have been troubled with a pernicious suitor. I thank God and my cold blood I am of your humor for that. I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me”
Nini smirks “ God keep your Ladyship still in that mind,so some gentleman or other shall ’scape a predestinate scratched face.”
Gina scowls and turns closer to Nini “ Scratching could not make it worse an ’twere such a face as yours were.”
Nini gets closer to Gina too “ Well, you are a rare parrot-teacher.”
“A bird of my tongue is better than a beast of yours”
“I would my horse had the speed of your tongue and so good a continuer, but keep your way, i’ God’s name, I have done.”
Gina gives her best try at a sharp smile, before turning her expression earnest “You always end with a jade’s trick. I know you of old.”
“That was wonderful!” Ms. Jenn claps enthusiastically
Gina turns straight in her seat and Nini does the same “Well I just do the best I can, it’s such a challenging role I’m not even sure if I have the acting abilities necessary for it”
Ms Jenn is about to open her mouth, surely to give a reassuring compliment but Gina’s “You do it well enough for a first timer, although I’m glad this is just a reading” beats her to it.
She sees Nini’s fist clench on the table and smiles.
“What did I do to her?” Nini whines “I mean seriously, she’s so mean and for what “I can’t tell when someone doesn’t have theater experience” and still I'm the only one she criticizes. Ricky hasn’t done acting since the pantomime in fifth grade and she still talked to him after the reading!”
“Maybe she’s nervous” Kourtney offers
Nini scoffs “She didn’t look very nervous to me”
In fact she looked like the perfect picture of ease, of someone at home, each expression on her face and tone in her voice already calculated, saying the lines like she has studied them since she was three.
Nini loved the play, certainly enough to have Beatrice and Benedick’s first interaction memorized, the acting part was more difficult than she expected, trying to keep up with Gina’s sudden change in tone, worrying about if her expressions actually looked like she wanted them to, if she smirked one too many times.
There was also the fact that Gina seemed to be teasing her, and obviously Nini had teased right back.
Kourtney sighs “You’re her co-lead, a lot of the play relies on your dynamic with each other, she might not have said it in the nicest way but I think she was just trying to make sure everything was perfect”
“Then she should’ve taken up on my offer or running lines together! wouldn’t that have helped?”
The slight frown on Kourtney’s face disappears and she giggles “Killer way to ask someone out by the way”
“Shut up” Nini retorts, fighting the embarrassment. So she may have misread her interaction with Gina at the auditions, and the fact that she had been looking at her all day. It didn’t matter, now she’s learned how Gina acts.
“Look, maybe you should talk to her, it’s alright if you guys don’t like each other, but if it ends up affecting your performance then everything would be for nothing”
Nini smirks “I’m sure the play will go well even if Gina and I don’t get along, i still have to pay her back for insulting me in front of Ms Jenn”
“Nini no”
“ Oh c’mon Kourtney, it’s just one small thing” and the gears in her brain were already working, trying to figure out how to make Gina hate her even more.
Their first proper rehearsal is actually pretty good, all things considered. Carlos, who was pretty bummed that Ms. Jenn had rejected his idea of turning the play into a musical, seemed to pick up his spirits when Ms. Jenn told him that he could still choreograph a dance number for the masquerade ball scene, so that was what they had set to do.
“Everyone I want you to get in your places,” he says taking Nini’s arm and guiding her to the right corner of the room, right next to Maddox and Ashlynn. Once everyone was in their place he strode to the center of the room.
“Ms. Jenn said that while we will be staying true to the original setting of the play a few anachronistic elements would do no harm”
“What’s anachronistic?” Big Red asks
“That it’s from the future” EJ shoots back
Big Red nodds and Carlos continues
“So I have been brainstorming some ideas and I think our best bet will be to do a fairly modern choreography that’s more centered in the party than on the dance moves, set to some vintage music, maybe Abba”
“Oh” Ashlyn snaps her fingers “like Mamma Mia”
Carlos nodds “Yes, exactly! so” Carlos goes to where Nini was “Pedro, Claudio, and Benedick burst through the entrance, accompanied by other folk” he extends a hand outward, motioning for them to do what he was instructing. Maddox advances a few steps and everyone follows suit “Now the music starts, and you do this”
Carlos performs a series of dance moves that Nini could barely keep up with. Then he tries to explain the steps to it, and that’s when Nini learns that swaying in a tree-like manner at the back of the stage did not give her the dance skills needed for this.
“Then the prince whisks Hero away” Maddox goes off to join Kourtney, Gina, Ricky, and the others at the corner of the room “and Beatrice and Leonato come into the dance floor”
Once Gina and Ricky had been positioned Carlos starts to explain the rest of the dance moves. Once again Nini struggled to keep up, especially once she became distracted watching Gina dance. Did she really have to be so perfect at everything?
Ms Jenn enters the room “Sorry for being late, I was on the phone with my mother taking care of some things” She looks around the room “I see you’re practicing the masquerade scene, have you rehearsed the prince and Hero’s conversation yet?”
“We’re only doing the choreography for the dance Ms” Carlos replies
“Well there’s no reason to not go all the way, Maddox, Kourtney come here”
Carlos's shoulders drop but he does not protest. Instead, he tries to give pointers in the dance while Ms Jenn is occupied supervising the scene. He spends around two minutes talking to Nini and trying to get her to do the steps correctly until he declares that her performance was “good… for now”
After he’s done with her he steps in front of Gina “I have no notes, you’re doing great!”
Gina smiles at him “Thanks! it must’ve been the six years i’ve been practicing every day after school”
Carlos laughs “Well, maybe then you can help me with this one” he signales to Nini “I’m sure you can spend some of your time practicing to practice those dance moves”
Nini gives him a small smile and looks to Gina, who was wearing a smug grin on her face “Oh don’t worry Carlos, I’m sure I can get the moves on my own. Even if I’m not the best right now dedication can get you a long way”
“You’ll need a lot of dedication, Nini, although maybe I can help you if you can lend me your script for a second, I think I’ve lost mine”
“ I can lend you my script,” says Ricky, stepping to Carlo’s side “or if you don’t want to I’m sure Ms Jenn has a spare one somewhere”
“Thanks, Ricky, but it’s alright,you still need your script after all, I’ll definitely ask Ms. Jenn tough!”
Nini keeps rehearsing the dance steps until Ms. Jenn calles her and Seb to do Benedick and Margaret’s scene. It was pretty short and simple so they got it in no time, besides Seb was a pretty good actor. She wouldn’t have minded if they had gotten cast as Beatrice.
Then she and Gina are called again. When Ms Jenn notices that Gina did not have her script she promptly offers the one she had.
“It’s alright Ms. Jenn, I think I can go off-book”
“However you feel comfortable dear” Ms Jenn replies
Gina turns to Nini “Will you not tell me who told you so?”
Nini looks down at her script “No, you shall pardon me” She looks down again, trying to memorize her few next lines in a couple of seconds, thankfully they were very simple.
Gina smirks “Nor will you not tell me who you are?”
Nini shakes her head, smiling “Not now”
“That I was disdainful, and that I had my good wit out of The Hundred Merry Tales! Well, this was Signior Benedick that said so”
“Who’s he?” Nini replies
“What’s he?” Ms. Jenn interrupts
“Right,” Nini clears her throat, looking down at her script “What’s he?”
They continue and Nini rapidly realizes that trying to memorize her lines as she goes is not her best idea and gives up. It may have been her imagination, but she thinks that Gina looked pretty happy when she said the “Jester’s fool” bit.It was hard not to notice when Gina was staring so intently at her.
“Well, I’ll say that was a pretty productive rehearsal,” Ms. Jenn says “I will see you all tomorrow, have fun”
Nini could not get out of the classroom faster, except maybe she could because Gina catches up to her pretty quickly.
“Nice try, although personally I would’ve gone for something more subtle, or that caused more problems”
Nini sighs and digs into her backpack, retrieving Gina’s very carefully and thoroughly annotated script and placing it in Gina’s hand.
“Then you should be grateful I’m not you, I certainly am”
Gina’s wide smile did not disappear “ You should probably spend more time practicing instead of trying to come up with ways to annoy me” She puts the script in her bag “Did you ever hear of letting your work speak for yourself?”
Nini watches as Gina walkes away, and later, when she gets home she swears that the fact that she had practically forced her mothers to run lines with her for two hours had nothing to do with Gina. Trying to prank her was kind of pointless since Gina was getting such a kick out of it anyway
“We’re having a party!”
Gina frowns “What’s the occasion?”
Ashlyn shrugs “Isn’t it a thing for casts to have parties’”
She nods “And most notoriously they occur after the premiere”
“C’mon Gina,” says Ahslyn “there’s nothing wrong with a little get together”
Gina raises an eyebrow “I’m getting confused here, is it a get-together or a party?”
“It’s not like we’re gonna get black-out drunk or play really loud music, I think that brings those two concepts together a bit” Ashlyn sits down next to Gina in her bed “Besides it’ll be good for the cast to get more familiar with each other” she nudges Gina’s shoulder “ it’ll be good for you to finally get some friends”
Gina gasps “Excuse me, I have friends”
“The only person besides me with whom you have more than 30 seconds long conversations is EJ, and that’s because he practically lives here”
“It’s not my fault everyone besides you and EJ is boring” Gina shoots back
“Gina” Ashlyn grabs her arm “this is it, ok? You and you’re mom are staying”
“Say that once we passed the eight-month mark” Ashlyn sighs and Gina’s shoulders drop down “I’m sorry Ash, I know this is it, I mean I’ve never seen my mom as smitten with anyone as she is with your dad “ Ashlyn chuckls and Gina allows herself a small laugh too “ I guess a part of me just needs some time to adjust to this, permanency”
Ashlyn smiles again and grabs her hand “And I have a hunch that the party is gonna help that part adjust”
All the time spent running lines with her moms did pay off if Nini says so herself. Ricky (because obviously Kourtney had told him everything when he asked what was up with Nini and Gina) had said it was more like she finally put all the hours she spent into scheming/thinking about Gina into running her lines.
Ms. Jenn had asked her to improvise Benedick’s reaction to Beatrice’s love for that first rehearsal and they could flesh it out together afterward and despite the initial nerves, she had been sure she could pull it off. At least enough to not look like a total idiot.
Not to say she didn’t look like a clown squealing and jumping while Ashlyn, Ricky, and Maddox pretended not to hear. At least she thought she can see Gina stifling a chuckle.
“No, nor I neither, but most wonderful that she should so dote on Signior Benedick, whom she hath in all outward behaviors seemed ever to abhor” says Ricky
Nini slightly pulls off the hand that was covering her mouth to giggle “Isn ’t possible? Sits the wind in that corner?”
Maddox, Ashlyn, and Ricky keep speaking while ignoring the fact that Nini is about a foot away from them now, her whispers turning more loud the more she speaks.
Once the other three are set aside by Ms Jenn, Nini plants her feet on the ground and looks at everyone else, her audience for now. Her eyes find Gina’s in the middle of her monologue, arms crossed on her chest as Nini wonders about how Beatrice could love her, half in awe, half in self-deprecation. Once the scene ends Ms Jenn claps enthusiastically.
“Could do some work, but we’re definitely on the right path” Nini smiles at her, then goes to where Gina was standing.
“Better than I expected,” Gina says to Nini’s raised eyebrow “Can tell you’ve been practicing”
Nini smiles smugly “ I take my castmates' input seriously”
Gina chuckles “Well here’s some more input, some of the humoristic parts were overdone”
Nini scoffs “Overdone? the whole audience is supposed to be laughing out loud at Benedick, I don’t think there’s a way you can overdo that scene”
“There is, and you just did it” Gina gives her a small smile “Look, you did well, but it could be better. You don’t have to shove everything into the audience’s face, let it come to them”
Ms Jenn calls them both to the other side of the room “C’mon, you’ll see”
Nini sees what Gina means as soon as they start the scene. Beatrice moves and acts exactly how you expect her to, with a sharp tongue and quick remarks that are certainly amusing.Still, Nini only sees a missed opportunity to do more when she thinks Gina sees a moment to rein it in, make the expressions on her face less cartoonish and the tone in her voice a bit more even. They make a strange duo like this and Nini wonders what Ms Jenn saw in them that made her think they could ever match.
When the rehearsal is over Ashlyn blocks the door and announces that her and Gina will be hosting a party tonight, Nini doesn’t even have to look at Kourtney to know she’s already planning what they’re gonna wear.
Gina opens the door for the third time that night (she, Ashlyn, and EJ had decided on taking turns) and greets Big Red and Ricky into the house.
“The kitchen is that way,” she says, signaling to her left “There are rootbeers on the fridge and cupcakes on the counter”
“You bought cupcakes?” asks Big Red
Gina shrugs “I made them”
Big Red smiles “Awesome”
She suppresses her smile and leads them to the living room, they greet Ashlyn, EJ, and everyone else who is already there, but Gina notices that when they’re done they sit by her feet on the floor.
“You like Fallout?” Ricky asks all of a sudden, Gina follows his line of sight to the pile of Ashlyn’s videogames piled on the top of the shelf.
“ I haven’t heard of it actually, I think it’s Ashlyn’s, so maybe you should ask her”
“You haven’t heard of it,” Ricky says
“ Just said I didn’t”
“Dude” Big Red intervenes “ Now you’re gonna hear about it from us”
And that’s how Gina finds herself hearing Big Red and Ricky talk about vaults and wastelands, for around 15 minutes,she doesn’t get all of it, but they try to answer her questions as much as they can.
“You definitely have to come over so we can play someday,” Big Red says
Gina smiles “I think I will”
There’s a ring from the doorbell and Ashlyn separates herself from Maddox (Gina will have to ask her about that later) and leaves to get the door, seconds later she comes in with Nini and Kourtney trailing behind her.
They sit next to Gina on the sofa, meanwhile, Ashlyn pulls out a gameboard and says “Wanna play Guess who ?”
“Isn’t it like a two-person game?” Carlos asks
“We can make teams!” Ashlyn says.
After a few minutes, it’s decided that Gina, Maddox, Jet, Nini, EJ, and Big Red will be on Ashlyn’s team. And even though they are the larger team they somehow lose the first round ( Unless having a larger team made it more difficult actually). By the second round they get closer to winning and in the third, after consulting absolutely no one first Nini goes out on a limb that makes them end up winning after question four.
Once they’re done Gina gets up to go to the bathroom, after she wipes her hands on a towel she decides to go the kitchen for some rootbeer, only to find Nini perched on the counter eating a cupcake.
“Hey,” she says “I’m just gonna grab a rootbeer”
“It’s your house, no need for an excuse” Nini gives another bite of the cupcake and does an appreciative hum “These are pretty good”
“Thanks” Gina answers
Nini frowns“You made them?”
Gina comes to stand in front of her “Why does it surprise you?”
“Just never thought someone who said what you did the day after auditions would make cupcakes for a party”
Gina bites the inside of her cheek “I’m sorry about that by the way”
“Oh, it’s fine, I won’t say it didn’t sting but I think I needed the push “ Nini smiles “and I’m sorry for stealing your script”
Gina laughs “That was a small inconvenience at best, do you need me to give you a push in that field too?”
Nini laughs, then her eyebrows furrow “Props on you for somehow having that memorized though, could not have been me”
Gina feels her cheeks blush “Well when I noticed that my script was missing I suspected you had something to do with it, I had a hunch on which scenes we would rehearse the next day, so I pulled up the script on my computer and memorized them”
Nini laughs again “I should’ve thought of that”
They fall into silence again until Nini finishes her cupcake, she jumps off the counter, and without thinking Gina grabs her wrist.
“About what I said earlier today, it was true. You’re good, and you care”
Nini smiles “And you’re not too fond of my comedic skills”
Gina involuntarily winces “Well, yeah, but I could probably convince you to drop the overtness before opening night”
“All the fun lies in the overtness!” Nini shoots back “Have you never seen David Tennant and Catherine Tate’s production?”
Gina shakes her hand and Nini’s eyebrows raise.
“Seriously, you haven’t?” Gina shakes her head again and Nini scoffs “Well that’s changing, come over to my house tomorrow, we’ll watch it and you’ll see my vision”
“And maybe we could run lines together after?” Gina asks
Nini smiles “Sounds like a plan”
“I don’t think this was made for me,” Gina says while she and Nini sit on the couch and watch David Tennant cover himself in paint “I can see where you drew the inspiration from though”
“I’m pretty sure this is everyone’s thing” Nini replied “It’s not supposed to be prim and proper, you can have fun too”
Gina tries to stifle a laugh after the Love me? why? bit “Just because something is subtle doesn’t mean it’s not funny, hell, a good part of the humor in Shakespeare’s plays is just evolved dick jokes. Deciphering the joke is a part of it too”
Nini just gives a non-commital hum, so Gina turns to watch the TV “Although credit where credit is due, they’re giving a great performance. How did you find this production anyway?”
“Oh,” Nini says “My moms showed it to me when was thirteen”
“ I didn’t think your moms would be the type to make their kids get into Shakespeare”
“It’s not like they forced me” Nini replies “They just told me it was a thing because I was obsessed with Doctor Who at the time”
Gina’s eyebrows furrow “What does that have to do with anything?”
Nini frowns “That David Tennant and Catherine Tate are pretty important characters in Doctor Who, you know, The Doctor and Donna” She turns to look at Gina “You haven’t seen Doctor Who?”
Gina shrugs “It’s not that strange to not have seen it, it just never caught my attention” She turns to look at the TV “We can watch it if you want”
“Really?” Nini asks
“Why not? I’m sure it’s good”
“It is”
“Well, then we’ll watch it”
After the play ends Nini queues up an episode of Doctor Who, Gina instantly asks a bunch of questions and Nini happily answers them. They watch a couple of episodes until Gina’s mom comes to pick her up, and Gina invites Nini over to her house to actually run lines since they had gotten sidetracked. Nini thinks she and Gina are on a good path to becoming very good friends.
“So,” Gina says as she closes her bedroom door “which scene should we do first?”
Nini shrugs “The first one, then we could just make our way from there”
Gina nods and reaches for the script on her nightstand while Nini pulls out from her bag, they both sit on the bed and Gina starts saying her lines.
It’s certainly different than the read-through, for once Nini and her aren’t trying to insult each other through the dialogue, now it feels more like they’re just moving in sync.
They practice for a long while, at least enough for them to have covered a good portion of their scenes.
“I do love nothing in the world as well as you, Is that not strange?”
As soon as Nini says that the rug is taken out from underneath them.From this point onwards Beatrice and Benedick are nothing but devoted to each other and Gina doesn’t really know how that’s supposed to look like.
Still, she may have some ideas “Can you put your hand on my cheek when you say that?” Gina asks
Nini nods and repeats the lines, this time with her hand on Gina’s cheek and she tries to not lean into it. Gina says hers and traces Nini’s jaw in return.
Once they are done for the day and Gina is walking her out the door Nini starts to say something, only to stop herself at the last moments.
“What’s up Nini?”
Nini bites the inside of her cheek and asks “Why do you live with Ashlyn? Why did you move here?” before she can answer Nini speaks again “Not that it’s my business, I was just curious”
Gina didn’t evade telling people about her mom, it was just something that happened. Once she realized it though, she wasn’t very keen on fixing that.But Nini was looking at her so earnestly and Gina knows that she can trust her.
“My mom and I have been practically on the move since I was six, it was just part of her job description.Then Ashlyn and her dad went on vacation where we were staying and it was practically love at first sight. Flash forward and now we’re living with them, we’re supposed to stay here until my senior year”
Nini nods “I hope you do stay, I like having you here”.
After that Gina becomes a part of Nini’s daily routine, they talk at school, they run lines together about once a week ( as per Gina’s request), and try to watch Doctor Who whenever they can.
Another thing that becomes a part of her routine is the revelation that her fascination with Gina did not fade away, and neither did the romantic aspects of it.Although to be fair to Nini, it wasn’t like Gina was trying to help her get over her crush.
Around two months after the party at Ashlyn and Gina’s she ask Nini to dress nicely and says she’ll come pick her up at three.
“It’s a surprise” is all she says when Nini questions her.
The surprise turns out to be a trip to the theater. One to go see “As you like it” in fact, they go search for their seats while Nini tries to not think about how pretty Gina looks in the blue dress she put on, or about how much this looks like a date from an outsider's perspective.She fails spectacularly.
“What gave you the idea to do this?” Nini asks after they get out of the theater
“Well I was just looking around on the internet one night and saw the ad, obviously I immediately thought of you” Gina blushes and Nini willfully ignores it.
“That really is so nice, thank you. And I’ll pay you back for the ticket obviously”
Gina shakes her head “Don’t worry about it really, it was my pleasure”
Yeah, Nini is screwed.
The day after Gina goes to the theater with Nini she’s in Big Red’s house, trying to play Fallout with him and Ricky.She never really was one to play video games, so it’s taking her some time, but the guys help her along the way.
They’re interrupted when Nini bursts into Big Red’s room “This is impossible! you will not believe what she did- Gina!”
Gina waves at her “Hi”
“What are you doing here?” Nini asks
“Well I was just playing some games with Ricky and Big Red” she says “Are you alright?, you seemed pretty alarmed”
That’s when Ricky chooses to interrupt “Yeah Nini, what did she do?”
Nini blushes “My mom uh, she threw away some of my old toys accidentally and they had some sentimental value, so”
Gina stands up and walks up to Nini, gripping her hand “That really sucks Nini, do you think maybe playing some games would make you feel better?”
Nini blushes even further and nods, so Gina pulls her down to the floor so she can sit next to her.
Gina knows that she probably wouldn’t have cared that much if it happened to anyone else, she would’ve thought it was a bit silly actually, but Gina had to admit that she had gotten attached to Nini, maybe more than she ought to.
A part of her was scared of letting Nini know just how much she cared for her, but Nini’s smile when Gina had told her that there was no one else she would rather have as her co-lead a few nights ago while they were watching Doctor Who made it all worth it.
“We should probably practice the kiss scene”
Nini looks up and Gina panics “ I mean, obviously we’ve practiced the scene, but not the kiss, and I really think it would be better if we got to practice it on our own instead of with Ms. Jenn, that way we’ll be more comfortable”
Nini nods “ No, I get it don’t worry, we should”
“Right now?” Gina asks
Nini eyes widen “Was that not what you meant?”
“We can practice right now,” Gina says
“Ok” Nini answers, she bites her lip “ A miracle! Here’s our own hands against our hearts. Come, I will have thee, but by this light, I take thee for pity”
Gina scoffs “I would not deny you, but by this good day, I yield upon great persuasion, and partly to save your life, for I was told you were in a consumption”
Nini raises her eyebrows, then she smiles “ Peace! I will stop your mouth” Before Gina knows it Nini’s lips are on her.
She cradles Nini’s cheeks with her hands and tries to ignore the butterflies in her stomach when Nini puts hers in her waist. She also tries to ignore her scent, and how soft her lips are, she tries to ignore the fact that she wants to do this forever.
The kiss comes to an inevitable end, and without thinking Gina pulls away when Nini tries to kiss her again.
“That was good,” She says, hoping her cheeks aren’t as red as Nini’s are.
Nini looks down at the floor “Yeah, totally. My mom’s are waiting for me back at home so, I guess I’ll just go”
Gina nods, “I’ll lead you out”
When the door shuts close Ashlyn comes out from the kitchen “Did Nini leave? I didn’t get to say goodbye”
“Yeah she did” Gina sighs “Ashlyn, I think I messed up”
Ashlyn pulls her to the couch and Gina tells her everything.
“I was so panicked that she would notice the kiss was real for me, I didn’t even notice she tried to kiss me again”
Ashlyn nods “You didn’t mess up that bad, I’m pretty sure you can fix it”
Gina frowns “How?”
“Just tell her how you feel” Ashlyn answers “ I know it’s scary, but you have to open up to the chance”
Gina knows Ashlyn is right, so as soon as she thanks her she gets to her room and starts writing.
For the record, Nini does try to act normal around Gina the next day, she’s not so sure she’s pulling it off.She’s either staring at her too much or avoiding her gaze, thankfully Gina takes pity on her and leaves her alone.
She can’t really avoid Gina at rehearsals though, especially not when they’re rehearsing the end of the play.
“They swore that you were almost sick for me,” Nini says
Gina huffs “They swore that you were well-nigh dead for me”
“’Tis no such matter. Then you do not love me?” Gina certainly doesn’t Nini thinks bitterly.
They go on about the scene, and Kourtney eventually hands her Beatrice’s note, a smile that Nini can’t decipher on her face. She unfolds the paper and it’s very much surprised when it’s not blank.
Nini
First of all, if I read this wrong i’m really sorry. We can just pretend this letter doesn’t exist.
I’m really sorry about last night. I freaked out, i freaked out because I thought that I had given myself away and I was not prepared for it.
I have feelings for you Nini, I don’t really know where they started or if it’s always been there, but I know it’s here now. At first i was scared because I thought that I would end up being hurt, that if you somehow returned my feelings it would all inevitably end and I would end up getting my heart broken.
Then I realized that even if I never confessed my feelings to you I had already let you in, my heart was already in your hand.I realized that I’m ok with the possibility of a broken heart if I had you.
Nini looks away from the note and looks at Gina, she was biting her lip, then she gently smiled. Without thinking she took Gina’s hand and took her to the hallway.
“This is not some kind of prank right?” She asked as soon as they were alone
Gina shook her head “It’s true, but what I wrote at the start it’s true too.We can just forget about it”
Nini smiled “ I definitely don’t wanna forget about it, because I have feeling for you too”
Gina took Nini’s hands “ I’m glad to hear it”
“I’m gonna take you out on a date” said Nini “ It might not be as good as our trip to the theater, but i promise I will do my best”
“As long as you’re there it will be perfect” Gina put her hands on Nini’s shoulders “Do you think maybe we could have a re-do of last night?”
“You’re asking if you can kiss me?” Nini asks, a smile on her face
“Well, now that you mention it”
Gina kisses Nini and Nini kisses her back.