I don't want a duck...

"Hey, Peggie," Rita said when she entered the room. Peggie grunted, in the same position Rita had left her in. "I've got great news! Gaetano has this friend who wants Theo and me to try out for his play." She peered around the corner to gague Peggie's reaction. She turned over slowly.
"He wants you to try out. Okay," she took a deep breath, "When is the play?"
"End of August," Rita said casually. Peggie laughed, and changed the channel.
"I guess you told him no, then." She sounded so sure, Rita was hurt. Does she think I have no mind of my own?
"Actually," Rita leaned against the wall, and braced herself, "I said yes." She was surprised that Peggie didn't start yelling right away. She just laughed oddly.
"You'd better hope you don't make it in, then, because I'm leaving when I said I was, and you're coming with me." Rita sank into a nearby chair. The fabric of the royal blue cushions sighed as her weight hit them.
"Why, Peggie? You can go home early without me, you know. I won't be hurt."
Peggie whipped her head around, the pigtails Nicole had insisted on putting in slapping the side of her neck. "You care more about them than you care about me," she accused, glaring. "You've been galavanting around with them, and don't even notice me anymore. If you make it into that play and decide to join, I'm out of here." She glared at Rita. "I thought you were my friend, but I guess I was wrong."
"Peggie, that's not i-" The Backstreet Boys drowned her out as Rita's best friend turned the sound up and ignored her. Rita sniffed, and locked herself in the bathroom. Nicole didn't come in until a while later, and by then Rita's eyes were no longer pink with held in tears.

Friday afternoon came. Rita was petrified. If she made it in, she was staying and losing Peggie. If she didn't, she had to go home. So much was riding on this one tryout, and she wasn't even sure if she wanted to succeed or not. Peggie hadn't come along to wish her well, and Nicole and Gaetano were trying hard to fill her place, but it just wasn't the same. There were other people trying out as well, and Rita felt lost in the crush of confusion and excitement of the other actors. Theo found her sitting in one of the hallways of the backstage area, knees tucked into her body, sitting against the wall.
"Hey," he said tenderly, sliding down the wall to have a seat next to her. His black shirt made his hair look even darker than it was. "Don't worry about Peggie, all right? You'll go back to being friends in no time. She's just upset." Rita nodded. Peggie hadn't spoken to her at all within the past few days, and the 18 year old was dazed.
"I know." She tried to believe it, but couldn't quite. She'd always gone along with Peggie in the past, how would she know what Peggie did in the face of resistance?
"I was just thinking, um, if we make it in, how about we go out for a celebration dinner, just you and me. We could go to that great pizza place, and get some gelato afterwards, if you want." She looked up at him and smiled.
"You don't have to take me to dinner to make me feel better. And why not take Nicole and Gaetano? And Peggie, if she's still here." He looked at her seriously, then chuckled.
"Because I just want to be with you." He took her hand in his. "And I'm not asking to make you feel better. I'm asking because I finally got up the courage. Please say yes." He gave her puppy dog eyes. Her jaw dropped.
"You mean you're asking me out?" Her voice grew higher with nervousness. "As a friend?" Her voice dropped again as she asked this. He can't really mean anything more. Calm down, Rita.
"No." His deep voice made her heart thump loudly. "I mean as more than a friend. If you'll let me be." He looked down, then up at her through his eyelashes pleadingly.
"What if we don't make it in?" She asked, mock seriously. He laughed, and his forehead cleared of wrinkles.
"We'll go anyway, but don't tell anyone. I'm sure one of us will make it, anyway."
"Well, all right then. Let's go out there and kick some butt." She stood, her heart feeling lighter than it had since Peggie said she was going home early.

She hadn't been expecting the director to be so young. He was only in his 20s, and good looking besides. He had classical features, and a plesant, musical voice.
"So you're the one Gaetano was telling me about. He was right, you are beautiful! Such pretty hair." He looked admiringly at her, but she didn't feel uncomfortable. He wasn't looking at her like men usually did. He was admiring her like an artist admires another artist's work.
"Thank you, but I'm not really pretty, sir. It's mostly the hair." She bit her lip.
The director laughed heartily. "I've rarely met a girl who'd disagree with me about her looks! But you are wrong nonetheless. It isn't your hair, or your face, or anything else. It's your vive. You have life, and you are conveying emotion with every ounce of your body. Read these lines." He stood up out of his seat in the audience, and handed her a paper. She took them.
"Thank you. Um," she paused, looking at the piece of script. "What should I call you, sir?"
"Enough with the sir, I'm only a bit older than you, I think. My name is Dov. That's what you can call me. Now go on, actress. Be Juliet." Juliet? Is this Romeo and Juliet? She looked at the script. It was, kind of. Except modern. And in America. She began to read.
Her voice changed. It filled the room, and was filled with so much emotion she began to feel like she was Juliet. It was the balcony scene, and though it was hard to act to an invisible Romeo, Rita began to hear his voice when she stopped, could almost see him. She read two pages before Dov's voice called her back into reality.
"That's very good," he said. She stopped, shrinking back into her own body and her own place reluctantly. She expected him to be indifferent, but there was a tear in his eye. "I have never seen anything so beautiful. I can tell you right now that you have the part if you want it. I only regret that this little theater will have to suffice for your performance. If you still want to be involved, come back here on Monday when we start rehearsal. I can only hope that whoever gets the part of Romeo can live up to your standards. You are free to go." He took the papers from her, and watched Rita walk off the stage. He shook his head a few times before calling out the next name.

Theo, being an actor, must have been able to tell that she didn't want to talk to him about the audition as she walked off of the stage and into the backstage area. His left eyebrow raised questioningly recieved no response, and he just sat next to her. After ten minutes passed in silence, his name was called. He looked shaky, and stood up slowly. Rita patted his hand.
"You'll do great," she said, looking up at him. He nodded, and cleared his throat.
"I'm living for the dinner tonight right about now," he said, and left. Rita smiled, and squeezed her knees tightly against her chest.

Theo came to get her after his audition with a spark in his eyes. "That wasn't half as bad as I thought it was going to be," he said cheerfully. "After seeing your expression, I thought the guy was going to be a bear. Dov was great! Are you ready to go home? You'll have to face Peggie, but I don't think she's half as determined as she seems to be. She's probably just a little homesick." Rita hoped so, and felt her heart constrict at the thought of Peggie going home without her. If Pegs left, who was to say they'd still be friends when Rita got back? Who says you're going back, she thought.
"I do," Rita muttered.
"What was that?" Theo said, exuberant enough to have missed her gloomy mood. He looked at her closely, eyes resting on her downturned mouth and drooping eyes. "Oh no! Don't tell me you didn't make it!" He put a hand over his mouth. "That's awful! Why didn't you tell me right away? I would have left with you-" Rita managed a smile.
"No, I made it. I was just thinking about Peggie." She unlocked her car door, and climbed in the driver's seat. Theo drove too fast for comfort.
"Well don't," he said promptly. "It's much too worrysome. Worry about it when you're talking to her. Right now, we can just talk. Did he tell you what part you got?"
Rita nodded. "You?"
Theo shook his head. "He told me I was in, but he didn't know which part. What did you get?"
Rita turned the steering wheel distractedly, reliving her audition. "Um, Juliet." She didn't look at Theo, but adjusted the rearview mirror instead.
"I knew you would." He smiled smugly and crossed his arms.
"Well?" she asked, waiting for a better response. This was not the stuff of dramas. This was hardly even exciting.
"Well what? I knew you would make it." He looked pretty pleased with himself, and Rita was slightly annoyed.
"It isn't like you trained me or anything. You don't need to look so... so... cat like. Feline." She tossed her hair, whipping him lightly in the face. "I flip my hair at you."
He turned his head. "I know I didn't. I can still be proud of you, can't I?"
"No. I'm the only one allowed the dubous honor." She honked at a car, and swerved with an air of experience. The palm trees whipped by with much more speed than they usually did, and as the yellow green trunks blurred in her vision, Rita thought of how slowly and carefully she had driven just a few short weeks ago. She wanted to laugh at her former self. The hotel, which was close by the theater, came into view. Rita felt ready for whatever Peggie would throw at her.

Except for a note.
"A note?" Rita asked Nicole upon having the yellow paper thrust at her. "She left a note? Where is she?"
Nicole shrugged, and blew a green bubble with her bubblegum. It popped, leaving a sticky residue on her cheeks and lips. "Read the note." She snapped her gum.
"'rita and nicole,'" Rita read, "'going out for a bit. will be back soon. in florence. -Peggie' Well, that's great. I'm glad she's so specific. Florence. That's a pretty big city, you know. Where were you when this happened?" Rita slipped into the role of a worried parent easily. She began to pace.
"I was with Gaetano. He was showing me the laundry room. It's really cool." She tried to scrape a piece of gum off her face.
"Is that supposed to mean something else?" Rita asked, still playing the parent, now pulling at her hair, now raising her eyes and hands to heaven, muttering prayers.
"No. Other than there was this big vat of clothes, and also chutes where the dirty clothes came down. It was pretty nice." She blew another bubble, but sucked this one back in before it could pop.
"Okay, well, Peggie shouldn't do this to me. I'm going to dinner with Theo tonight, and I won't be able to concentrate at all if I'm worrying about her." She touched her fingers to her forehead.
"Whoa, what? You're going to dinner with Theo? When did this happen?"
Rita blushed slightly. "Earlier. Before tryouts. It's to celebrate. We both got in."
Nicole nodded, and said innocently, "Of course, you couldn't invite all of your friends to this dinner, could you?" Rita bit her lip until Nicole smiled, and elbowed her. "I'm just kidding. I think it's great that you're going out with him."
"We are not going out!" Rita said indignantly. "It's just because of the play."
"Did he ask you to go to dinner with him?"
"Yeah."
"Then I'd say it's a date. What else would you call it?" Nicole was looking out the window, as if she didn't really care about the answers Rita gave her anymore.
"A meeting between friends?"
Nicole said nothing. Rita went into the bathroom. She came back out, looking more refreshed and less frantic. Her hair was tied back, which always made her feel less haphazzard, and she'd washed her face. It was so hot there compared to her climate in Illinois she had to wash her face three times as often to keep breakouts from occurring. She smiled at Nicole, who didn't look up from her magazine. Rita peered at the cover.
"Why are you reading Italian magazines?" she asked, eyebrows bunched.
"Hmm?" Nicole looked up. "Were you talking to me?"
"No, I was talking to the coat rack." The raven-haired girl looked blank. "Yes, I was talking to you!" Rita exclaimed. "Why are you reading an Italian magazine?"
"Because I'm learning Italian." She spoke as if this were the most natural thing in the world. "Besides, Gaetano told me he thought I would like this one." She looked back at her magazine, but was interupted from her perusal when Rita spoke.
"It's so hard to think of leaving here, you know?" Her head was perched on her fists, and she was looking at the cover of a travel brochure sitting on the coffee table. It showed picturesque scenes of Florence. Among them was the statue of St George that had transfixed Rita on their walking tour of the city.
"I know what you mean." Nicole folded her magazine. She followed Rita's gaze to the photos. "I almost don't want to go back home."
"I'm sure I don't," Rita said, a little too loudly. "Back home I don't have my own life. I thought I did, but I'm not so sure now. I mean, here I can do what I want! I'm in charge of myself, and I'm doing fine!" She bit her lip again.
"You aren't paying bills," Nicole reminded her gently. "And you don't have a job."
"But I do, now! Theo and I both do. Acting. That could pay. And we could find a cheap apartment in the city. We are learing Italian from Gaetano, after all, and he says we're doing really well for beginners. Maybe I'll get good enough at it that I don't need only english plays. I'll be able to speak the native language!"
"The vernacular," Nicole muttered. Rita ignored her.
"I think I could do it."
"Your mom is still sending you checks, though. She'll stop if you don't come back. Even I know that."
"I can handle it." She folded her arms over her chest.
"Rita, you're sounding more and more like you aren't leaving, not that you think it would be cool to live here." Nicole peered into Rita's eyes. Rita looked back, and sank into the embroidered chair with a sigh.
"I think I do want to stay."

"You what?" Theo nearly spat his wine out over the table. Rita handed him a napkin.
"Not so loud! This is a nice restaraunt! People don't want crazy teenagers yelling."
Theo wiped his mouth with the white cloth napkin, not taking his eyes off of Rita. "You want to stay here? As in living?"
"Well," Rita cut a piece of chicken and chewed it delicately. "Not here in this exact spot, although I admit the view is charming. I mean Tuscany in general." She lost her jocular tone as she continued, and Theo managed to close his mouth. "I feel so alive here! I'm surrounded by art and culture, and I make my own decisions. Do you know what kind of decisions I was allowed to make back home?" Theo tried to break in, but Rita kept talking. "I'll tell you what kind. What ice cream we were going to have for desert. What color toothbrush I wanted to buy. I didn't even get to decide what subjects I wanted to take in school. Mom decided all of it. I never even got to see my choices! I love my parents, but I'm realizing more and more that if I don't get out of the house I'll be smothered. Absolutely smothered. I'm just now realizing how many choices there actually are in the world, and I'm ready to make some of them. Whether they're wrong or right, at least it's my mistake and my success. Having someone else run your life isn't living, even if they love you." She cut another piece of food, and looked down at her plate. She was afraid to look at Theo's face. She knew it sounded crazy, and to see Theo looking at her like she was insane while wearing that suit and tie, and sitting in the elegantly dark dining room was too much for her. She stared at her burgundy plate, her crisp white napkin contrasted against the dark green of the tablecloth, and the bronze colored candlestick stitting in front of her.
"Rita, are you sure you want to be here, or do you just want to get away from your parent's control. You can do the same thing in the US. You can even do it in Illinois. You don't need to leave the country. Besides, you need to do a ton of paperwork if you want to stay here. It's not entirely practical." She looked up hastily, and caught a hint of condesention in his features.
"Who said I was entirely practical?" she said, and smiled blithely. "Besides, I can handle all the paperwork." She looked Theo in the eye, thinking capable thoughts. He laughed a little, and slumped slightly.
"I know you can," he said in a more intimate and less lecturing tone. "I know. You can take care of stuff like that. But are you sure you want to stay here because of the location, or because of the location in reguards to your parents?" He leaned forward, and their faces were close together.
Rita nodded slightly, not looking away from Theo's eyes. "I'm sure."
"Then maybe I'll stick it out with you." He leaned back again, and Rita wasn't entirely sure from his smile if he was humoring her or not. She had a feeling he didn't think she would actually stay when the time came to leave.

Peggie threw another shirt onto her rapidly growing pile of clothes. "I can't believe you would do this to me! We are supposed to be friends, remember?" Rita put a hand on her friend's shoulder, but Peggie shrugged it off. "I don't want any of your persuading speeches. Reminding me of good times isn't going to make this thing blow over. You said you were going with me, and now you say you aren't even going home at all? What do you think your parents will say when they find out. How do you think you'll live with no job, no house, and no prospects whatsoever?"
"I'm not planning on telling my parents right now, and Nicole and I are going to look for apartments as soon as we can. Gaetano's going to help." Rita tried to get Peggie to look at her, but Peggie only turned her back to the blonde and shoved a pair of shoes in her suitcase.
"What about Theo? You sure seem enamoured with him lately," Peggie said cruelly. "I didn't figure you as the type who would throw away a friendship for a guy, but I guess I had you figured wrong. I guess you don't really care about me at all." She pulled her hair back roughly, and Rita remembered that was what Peggie did when upset or excited. She had a pretty strong feeling that Peggie wasn't excited in this instance.
"Listen, Peggie-Sue-"
Peggie turned her head sharply. "Don't call me Peggie-Sue," she said shortly, eyes narrowing. "You think you can just charm people out of anger, but it's not working, Rita."
"And you," Rita said, finally losing her temper, "think you can control people by threatening them. You used to do it all the time when we were little, and I never noticed that you still do. You tell me that you won't hang out with me if I don't go with you to your concerts, so I go. You act like your joking, but I never let you go alone."
"Yes you-"
"No, I haven't." Rita cut her off. "I always go, even if I'm miserable. But you never ever go with me to look for new clothes. Why? Because you hate to shop. The only time you've ever been shopping with me we went to Goodwill. Goodwill is great, but that was the only time. If you want to leave, go. But I'm not making you do this. I don't want you to leave, but I'm not going to give up my dream to humor you. I hope we'll stay friends, Peggie." She turned away, too angry and determined to cry. She heard Peggie sniffle.
"You dumped me for your new friends. I knew you would. I'm not staying where I'm not wanted." She latched the suitcase and picked it up. "I'm getting Gaetano to drive me to the airport." All traces of tears were gone from her eyes, which looked cold and flinty. "He'll bring back the car. I got the tickets last night. I knew you weren't going to come with me." She pushed past Rita, and strode purposfully down the hallway and into the elevators. Rita didn't cry, but felt sick to her stomach.