Kevin sighed heavily as he exited the auditorium doors into the school lobby hoping no one was around to hear his stomach growl obnoxiously.
Of course the day that Kevin forgot his snack was the day that Mr. Montgomery decided to run all of the cast's parts. In his defense, opening night was next week and some of the kids needed all the practice they could get.
He pulled the wrinkled bill from his pocket as he made his way to the vending machine by the doors. He wanted to run and get a quick bag of chips and rush back into the auditorium before he had to be on stage.
He all but shoved the bill into the slot and thumbed B-11 for the bag of sour scream and onion chips. He felt his mouth water at the thought of crunching on the deliciously flavored chips.
He stood for a moment waiting for the chips to drop, but they stayed in place. "What?" Kevin's eyes widened as he read the screen where he had just pushed in the code only seconds ago now read 'ERROR'.
He pressed the coin return button several times, but the sound of coins clattering never came. Kevin huffed and crossed his arms stubbornly, "Dammit, that was my last dollar, you piece of crap." He smacked his palm against the side of the machine.
He knew that was getting him no where, but he wanted his snack. He payed his dollar then by gosh, he was getting his damn chips.
He swiftly fell to his knees and crouched in front of the drop slot and stuck his arm up to try to reach the bottom shelf of snacks. His fingers were inches from the bottom of the cookie package (not his first choice, but a snack was a snack) when a sudden voice came from behind him.
"Usually it works if you put a dollar in first."
Kevin jumped and quickly swiveled his head backwards and saw a Hispanic teenager looking down at with his hands smugly in his pockets and a smirk across his face.
"It, uh, ate my dollar." Kevin quickly pulled his arm out and shoot up to his feet before dusting off his knees.
The boy laughed with a nod, "This one does that a lot, you just gotta give it a good kick." And with that he pulled his foot back and kicked the back corner firmly causing his bag of chips to fall.
Kevin's eyes widened as the boy pulled the bag from the bottom and handed it to him with a shrug, "It works if you don't have a dollar as well...it just takes a little bit of skill."
Kevin smiled and took the bag of chips in one hand and offered his free hand to the boy, "My name's Kevin."
The boy eyed Kevin's hand warily for a moment before outstretching his hand and firmly shook his classmate's hand, "Javier."
They stood in an awkward silence for a second until Javier gave an amused look as he looked over the boy in front of him. "Shakespeare in the park?"
Kevin could practically feel the blood rushing to his cheeks as he looked down and remembered he was still in his costume. "It's for the play..." He mumbled pulling on the vest he was wearing.
Javier nodded and waited for him to continue, "And you would be?"
Kevin didn't know why he was so flustered as he spoke to Javier, but the other boy was as calm as the eye of hurricane. "Man #3."
Javier must have sensed the sadness in his voice despite his attempt at a smile because his eyes softened, "When's the play?"
"Two weeks, the 24th." Kevin looked down at his bag of chips still slightly ashamed of having such a minor part.
Javier clasped Kevin's arm and squeezed it softly, "Hey, friends of the cast get a discount on the tickets, right?"
Kevin lifted his head with furrowed, "They're only 5 instead of 7 for friends and family." Why would he want to come see the play, Kevin wondered. This was the Javier Esposito he had heard so much about, the same Javier that never bothered to show up to all his classes and definitely would not be caught dead at any school function like a play. "You want to see the play?"
Javier shrugged his shoulders, "Not so much the play." He smiled and met Kevin's baby blues with his chocolate eyes. "There's someone cute that I'd love to see up there. Maybe you know who I'm talking about since you're in the play."
Kevin's hopes of him actually wanting to see the play for him were crushed when he heard Javier. He thought someone was cute, it was probably Kate; she was the lead and was a beautiful girl not to mention Javier seemed to friends with her.
Kevin swallowed back his jealousy and nodded, "Yeah, what does she look like?"
Javier was silent for a moment as he stared into Kevin's eyes before he continued, "He's really handsome; he's got the kind of hair that makes me just want to run my fingers through and the bluest eyes I've ever seen in my life." Javier watched as Kevin's face morphed from disappointment to hopeful. "If I remember correctly, he said he was Man #3 if that helps. You can't miss him, he's the most beautiful boy in this school."
Kevin's eyes widened and he didn't know what to say; Javier was flirting with him and thought he was cute. He smiled and wanted so desperately to flirt back as smoothly as Javier did, but Kevin could barely form a word. His fingers found the hem of his sweater as he tried to hide his burning cheeks by looking down. He was shocked to hear that he actually could mumble a few words without a flustered stutter, "He thinks you're pretty perfect yourself."
Javier smiled and lifted Kevin's head back up under his chin, "If you do see him, could you tell him that I have a question for him." Kevin smiled with a small nod and Javier continued, "I was wondering if he wanted to go out to dinner with me tomorrow night."
Kevin bit his lip around a smile dropping the third person in excitement, "I'd love that."
Javier laughed softly and it was now his turn to get flustered as he licked his lips. Kevin's eyes followed Javier's tongue before he decided to take the chance and close the gap between them.
Their kiss was quick and chaste, Kevin raised his hands to wrap around Javier's waist and pull him closer until their chests were flush.
Javier smiled as they hesitantly pulled their lips away from one another. Kevin was about to close the gap between them again when the doors burst open.
"Hey Kev, Montgomery said it's-" Rick stopped talking in favor or staring dumbly at the two boys who were holding each other a little too close to be considered friendly.
Kevin glared at his friend and tried to get him leave them alone without saying a word. Thankfully Rick seemed to get the message and mumbled something about Kevin's part was up soon before rushing back into the auditorium.
Kevin groaned and shut his eyes as Javier chuckled, "You should go finish your practice. We can finish this up later, I'll be here."
Kevin smiled and raised his head slightly to meet Javier's eyes, "Promise?"
"I promise."