Eventually, the people of the land and even the queen and king, as well as Rapunzel’s mother, who had realized that their closed mindedness had only brought their children harm, gathered around the tower to celebrate their wedding. The play ended with Rapunzel and the prince kissing as a pride flag was waved from the tower.

The grin on Jasper’s face as the curtains opened again to reveal all the members of the drama club was brighter than all of my spotlights combined. Noelle was standing up on her seat and whistling loudly while Evelyn clapped like her life depended on it. Miss Pepperman was crying through a pack of tissues Mrs. Whitworth had handed her halfway through the play. I, for the first time in a while, thought of my parents and wished just for a second that they would have been here to witness this.

In the midst of the thundering applause, Jasper briefly met my eyes, making my veins crackle with static. A moment later, he bowed along with the rest of the drama club and the curtains fell shut.

° ° °

It took about an hour until everyone had left the auditorium and we had cleared the stage of props. Jasper and I were the last ones left. I half wished, half dreaded he would ask me why I was still there, but he didn’t. He probably knew anyway; I felt like the answer was written all over my face, seeping out of every pore and filling the air between us as we silently shut the lights off.

Once we were done and the auditorium lay before us, dark and quiet, the stage naked without the cardboard trees and the tower, he asked, “Would you mind helping me with these?”

I nodded immediately, stepping closer to the boxes filled with costumes that needed to get stored away in the basement. There was no way I couldn’t with the way he looked, practically glowing with happiness, the tension long gone from his body.

“Merci.” He threw me a grin over his shoulder and picked up two boxes, leaving the other two for me.

It was late in the evening by now, so barely anyone was still around. It felt good to be alone with him again, just JasperandSeth. With him, the bees and wasps and hornets transformed into butterflies and relocated to my stomach, where they fluttered every time our elbows knocked together in a way that was accidentally not an accident.

Jasper only hesitated a tiny bit as we made our way down the stairs to the basement, passing the same spot where he had hyperventilated the night of the party. With some fumbling around in the dark, he unlocked the door and strode inside, turning on the fluorescent ceiling light. It came to life with a few flickers, its crackling and humming accompanying the noise of our footsteps as we crossed the room, which still looked exactly the same as we had left it after the party.