All throughout dinner, Michael was continuing to think about his feelings for Janelle and how he should tell her.
'How am I gonna tell her? I'm so shy and nervous that she might not like me like that.' He thought.
He was staring off into space and Janelle looked at him.
"Michael? Michael..." She asked, waving her hand in front of his face.
He didn't budge. So she tried another alternative. She held her hand up and snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. He quickly got back to reality.
"H-Huh?" He asked, a little shaken.
She rolled her eyes. "Michael, wewe were staring off into space."
"I was? Woops. Didn't mean to." He giggled a little.
She giggled as well. 'He is silly, a daydreamer, a perfectionist...just about everything I really look for in a guy. But...is he the one for me?' She thought.
Once they finished eating, they tipped the waiter and left the restaurant. Janelle could walk a little, but she would stumble still.
"Do wewe need help?"
She shook her head. "I'm alright. Thanks, though. I just need to get use to walking again. I'll be fine."
Michael nodded and kept a hand ready for her just in case she needed to grab onto him for support. She managed to get to the limo with him without stumbling and he helped her in. He got in himself, after her, and Bill started to drive them back to the hotel. Michael went back to thinking about his feelings.
'Oh what am I gonna do? I don't know how to tell her that I like her.'
In Janelle's mind...she was thinking the exact same thing. She didn't know how to tell him either.
Returning To The Hotel
Bill stopped the limo and Michael got out and helped Janelle out. They kept a firm hold onto each other’s hands and walked into the hotel and into the elevator. They didn't know that they had a firm grip on each other. It apparently didn't have a sense of feeling to them. But...Michael felt something when he would even touch her hands.
'Was...was that a spark?' He thought. 'And that kiss on my cheek...was...was that one, too?'
Janelle was literally thinking the exact same thing. She thought she felt a spark when she had kissed his cheek last night and when he would hold her hand in his.
Once they got to their floor, they got out of the elevator and walked down the hallway to the back two suites. Janelle looked at her watch and saw that it was almost 9. She looked at one of the bodyguards and he peaked through the peep hole to see that Coraline was still asleep. Kids need zaidi sleep than adults. Well, that's what she knew. What she found funny was that Michael told her that even though he was an adult, he needed the same amount of sleep as kids do. She turned to Michael and smiled a little.
"Thank wewe for dinner, Michael. That was really sweet of you." She said.
He smiled back and nodded. "You're welcome, Janelle. We should do this again sometime." He said.
She giggled. "But that will have people think we're on a date."
"Isn't that what tonight was?"
She blushed a little and so did he. "I...I guess it was. W-Wasn't it?"
He looked at their hands and quickly released. "Well...we have rehearsals tomorrow. So...I guess I'll see wewe tomorrow morning."
"Alright. See wewe in the morning." Before she went into her room, she turned to Michael and held her arms out. "Hug goodnight?"
He smiled and went over to her and hugged her and she hugged him back. They released the hug and they went into their rooms, changed and went right to bed.
The Following Morning
Janelle woke up and saw that Coraline was up and ready. Janelle was shocked to see that she got ready all kwa herself!
"Did wewe get ready all kwa yourself, Coraline?" Janelle asked.
She giggled and nodded. "Yep! I got ready all kwa myself, mommy!" She said.
She was proud of her daughter to be able to get ready without her help for once. She got up and got dressed and they headed out and saw Michael getting out of his room. He saw them and smiled.
"Hey girls." He said.
Janelle giggled. "Morning, Michael."
They walked together down the hall and into the elevator. Michael and Janelle were still trying to sort things out in their minds. It mainly being about their feelings toward each other. Once the elevator reached the ground level, they got out and headed to the limo and drove off to Sally's house. They talked along the way there, to Coraline, about what to expect for acting.
"What do I need to know?" She asked.
"Well..." Michael started. "The first thing wewe need to know about uigizaji is that it can vary on a type of role. For instance, for Bad, since your mom is playing a shy girl from Korea, she's putting herself in that position. She's being shy, nervous, but is able to make Marafiki in the end."
"Not only that, Michael, but for instance...Michael's role, a straight A student is a secret bad boy. Sometimes, Coraline, the roles will really mix up, like his. First starting off as a good boy that gets A's all the time in school to being a bad boy outside of school."
"Oh! Now I get it!" She giggled.
Michael and Janelle giggled as well. It was rather funny how they put what they do into an explanation for Coraline.
Once they got to Sally's house, Coraline ran inside with pumpkin, boga and waved to Sally and drove off. She was wondering if there was anything going on with Janelle and Michael...and she was hinting that they might like each other.
'I bet he's gonna tell her today.' She thought and went to watch pumpkin, boga and Coraline play.
At The Set
Michael and Janelle just arrived and they went into a quick overview of the studio set for Bad. They went inside a building that was called The Duxston School and went up to one of the classrooms to where Daryl was gonna be at for the first little bit of the short film. Martin thought it would be best to go through the lines but not counting it as a dress rehearsal. Lucky for Michael, he had all his stuff with him.
"And...action!" Martin shouted.
They went through it and cued Janelle to come in after class was let out. She walked through the halls with other people bumping into her, trying to get to their inayofuata class. She, on cue, bumped into Michael kwa accident and they fell.
"Oof! Oh! I-I'm so s-sorry!" She said, gathering her stuff, not looking at him.
"It's okay. Here. Let me help you." He alisema and helped organize her stuff and saw her schedule. "You have Science next? That's where I'm heading."
She stayed silent and fidgeted with her fingers a little.
"Are wewe shy?"
She nodded a little. "I...I'm very sh-shy..."
He giggled a little and got up and held his hand out to her. "Don't worry. I'll onyesha wewe around here."
She looked at his hand and took it and he helped her up. "Thank you..."
"You're welcome. What's your name?"
"L...Lauren."
"Lauren? That's a pretty name. My name's Daryl. Can I walk wewe to class?"
"C...Could you? I...I think...I think I'd get lost."
He smiled and nodded. "I got Lost here on my first day, too. Don't worry. I'll onyesha wewe around, like I told wewe before."
He then led her to the Science classroom and got in. The teacher saw her outside and turned to the class.
"Class, we have a new student joining us today. Give her a warm welcome. She's from Korea. Lauren, come on in." He said.
She walked into the room and popped her head up a little to look at the class and waved a little.
"Now Lauren, wewe can have a kiti, kiti cha inayofuata to Daryl over there." He pointed to where Michael was sitting.
She nodded and headed over and sat inayofuata to him and took out a notebook and when the teacher started talking, she started taking notes. She didn't want to miss one detail he would tell.
"And...cut!" Martin said.
Michael looked at Janelle and smiled. "You did great!" He said.
She giggled a little. "Thanks. wewe weren't so bad yourself, Michael." She replied.
She started to get butterflies in her stomach whenever she'd see him au his smile au hear his sweet sounding voice. Martin was meeting up with the other cast members and Janelle was wondering what to do now. The butterflies were fluttering faster and faster and her moyo was beating rapidly. She looked at Michael.
"Michael, I need to tell wewe something."
"What do wewe need to tell me, Janelle?"
She took his hand and pulled him out of the classroom and into one of the hallways and made sure no one was listening.
"Janelle, what...what are wewe doing?"
She tried to gather up the courage to tell him, but for some reason, it kept slipping through her fingers. She kept trying to gather up the courage to tell him her feelings for him. They, for her, had been growing since she first heard his voice and when she met him a few days ago...yeah, it grew more. She, at that point, didn't only like him...she loved him. And she didn't know how to tell him. She didn't know for sure if it was true love, so she went to the simple part of telling him that she really liked him.
"Michael...I..." She started. She looked up at him. "I like you. I really really like you."
Michael was shocked to hear that from her. He now knew she felt the same way about him!