JEAN

There were already several students in the theater by the time Jean arrived, precisely on time but still before their drama instructor. It was the first day of rehearsal for Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and the dim, echoey cavern of the theater brimmed with potential.

Anticipation.

She couldn't wait to find out what role she'd play. She was hoping for Helena, one of the play's heroines.

Her footsteps rang out as she mounted the carpeted stairs to the stage and saw who else had signed up for this year's drama club.

Oh no.

"Hi Jean!" exclaimed Kitty. "I like didn't know you were in drama club."

Jean looked awkwardly around the circle of people. "Hi Kitty, hi Kurt. Scott, I'm surprised...I didn't know any of you guys would be here. Oh..." she trailed off as she saw that they weren't the only ones. Behind them, leaning against the wall, was Lance Alvers and...Toad. Jean tried to be polite; anyone could join the drama club, even if they sometimes engaged in mortal combat. "Hi guys."

"Hey."

"'Sup."

Their instructor finally arrived, a scarecrow of a man with a lot of red hair and gold-rimmed spectacles. His names was Abernathy and he loved patterned vests. He beamed at all of them, who looked back at him with less than enthusiastic grimaces.

"Who's ready to learn the art of soliloquy?"

KITTY

Okay, maybe Kitty only joined drama club because she'd heard Lance say that he was going to be in it. He'd never really struck her as a drama-type, but hey, actors were hot. She wasn't about to complain. And anyways, this could actually be fun. The play was supposed to be a romance or something, and that meant kissing scenes! As long as she didn't have to kiss Toad. Eeeeew.

She only sort of listened to the instructor drone on about the art of drama, emotional resonance, and the life and accomplishments of Shakespeare. She forced down a yawn half way through his lecture, when he began passing out scripts. Flipping through hers, she thought that the characters of Hermia and Helena looked interesting. There were also a few lines about love, and someone named...Bottom? What kind of play was this?

"Hey," said Lance, walking over to her and completely ignoring the lecture. "You look nice today. I uh, like you ponytail."

"I wear a ponytail every day," she replied, but blushed a little. She was really looking forward to those kissing scenes. "Like, I didn't even know you were in drama club."

He shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm a man of many talents. Why are you here?"

"Oh!" She struggled to come up with an answer. "Jean asked me to come! She didn't want to be the only girl, you know, we have to stick together."

Lance smiled. "Well, I hope you don't want to hang out with Jean all the time."

KURT

When Kitty asked Kurt if he would join the drama club with her, he'd thought it might be fun-then Scott and Jean showed up, and it was almost the whole gang!

But now he wasn't so sure.

He was looking at the scripts the instructor handed out and there were a lot of big words he wasn't sure how to pronounce with his accent, and at some point they would be performing in front of the whole school...what if his image inducer short-circuited on stage? In front of everyone?

"Ah, hello?" he asked, raising one hand. He couldn't remember the teacher's name.

"Yes, Kurt?"

"Are there any parts that don't involve...going on stage? Performing, I mean?"

"You mean backstage work? I'm afraid not. We don't even have enough students for the cast as it is. I need all hands on deck for this magical theatrical endeavor! Don't worry though, I'm sure we'll get through any stage fright you might have when we start our trust exercises!"

Everyone groaned.

"Now, now, everyone. The drama club is a safe space for everyone, and I know we'll foster lasting relationships here, not to mention an enduring love of the theater!"

Yeah, sure. Kurt already loved the movie theater, especially moving with pirates. He wondered if there were any pirates in this play...

The theater doors slammed open and a red-clad figure stalked in with so much flare that Kurt could have sworn he heard dramatic music.

Wanda scowled at them all. "What's up, witches?"