Author's note: SaoirseGreene- Thank you for your review!
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. It's all Jonathan Larson's.
"So how was last night?" Mark asked as he restocked the shelves at the grocery store where they both worked.
"Fucking amazing! She's the coolest girl I've met here!" He went back to rearranging a display of cereal boxes.
"Did you get laid?" Mark asked curiously.
Roger threw a cereal box at him. "No, you fuck! It was only our first, uh… date. And I just met her! I'm not that bad!"
Mark turned red. "Sorry… so, uh, what did you do?"
"You know. Jam, smoke, talk." A grin spread across his face as he nonchalantly walked over to his friend. "How are things between you and that cheerleader? Uh, what's her name? Eileen?"
Mark threw the cereal box back at him. "Didn't I tell you that was getting old?" he sneered. "But, uh, I'm going to talk to her."
"Yeah right. You're too much of a baby to."
No response from Mark.
After awhile of the only sound being moving cans and boxes, Roger broke the silence. "I can ask April to set you up with Maureen."
He lit up. "You would do that for me?"
"Yeah, sure. Because I don't want to see you moping around all day because I have a girlfriend and you don't."
"Um, thanks?"
"No problem, Mark. What do you see in her anyway? From what I hear, all she does is cheer, sleep with the football team, and do drama club. Sure, she's pretty, but I think she's out of your league. You need someone that's more… well, you! You know, a movie buff or a chess club nerd!"
"Hey! That's not cool! I'm not a nerd!"
"Sorry, I take it back. A geek is more like it."
"Why do I hang out with you, again?"
"Because of my good looks, charm, sense of music, and oh yeah, I'm the only one that will actually talk to you."
"Ugh. You're right."
"I know. I always am."
When their shift ended, the two boys walked over to the pizza place and sat down at the back table, where they shared a small pie.
Lots of commotion was making its way near their table. Coincidentally, it was Maureen and her cheerleader friends. She was hysterically crying… actually, it was more like wailing.
"Look who it is!" Roger whispered to Mark.
He pulled out his camera and pointed it at them. "Zoom in on Maureen Johnson and clique, mourning some big event over pizza and diet coke."
The guys watched Maureen pour out her sob story to her friends. She was almost unintelligible because of her hysterics. Her friends, however, all seemed to be unsympathetic and glared at her.
Suddenly, one of her friends seemed to remember something about "park" and "team", which made all of them—except Maureen—to squeal and run out, leaving a still-sobbing Maureen.
"Go console her!" Roger hissed.
"But Rog! She doesn't know me!"
"Who cares? Chicks love it if you console them. They want someone to cry on. Don't you know anything?"
Mark shrugged and walked over to her table and sat down across from her. "Um, are you, uh, okay?" He could hear Roger cracking up at their table.
She shook her head and continued to bawl. Mark suddenly got the courage to sit next to her and put his arm around her. The second he did that, she grabbed onto the front of his shirt and buried her head in his shoulder. Mark mumbled any comforting words he could think of. Roger flashed him the thumbs up sign from across the room.
When Mark's shirt was soaked through and Maureen was finished crying, she pulled away from him and sniffled. "Sorry about your shirt."
"It's okay. Um, what happened? Is, uh,everything okay?"
She wiped her eyes and face where her make-up had run with a napkin. "My-my-my boyfriend dumped me because he finally found out that I did theatre! And now the girls might kick me off the squad now!"
"I'm sorry to, uh, hear that!" he told her. Why didn't I know she had a boyfriend? And I'm not sorry… I'm actually glad. Wow, I can't believe I just thought that! "But how could he not know you did, um, theatre? You starred in Pippin last year. You made a great Fastrada," he added. "And why would they kick you off the squad because you do theatre?"
"He's a douche bag! I hate him! He's a dickhead that's oblivious to everything! Of course he didn't know… drama and sports are opposite ends of the world at school. And now the girls want me off the squad because first of all, they don't want you doing anything besides cheerleading. And they said that I lied to them! I didn't lie, they just never asked. And I can be committed to both! They're fucks!"
He gave her an "I agree with everything you say as long as you like me" look. "That really sucks, Maureen. I'm sorry you had to go through that, uh, yeah."
"Yeah, well, they can rot as far as I'm concerned. People would kill to have me on their squad!" She then really looked at him for the first time. "You're the camera guy, right? Matt Corden, right?"
"Um, it's Mark Cohen. But yeah, I'm the camera guy." She almost knows my name! he thought.
"I heard that you like me from Roger. Is that true?"
He felt himself turn red. "Yeah." Kill me now!
"Um, you seem like a really nice guy, Mack. It's not every guy that comes and comforts a girl they barely know."
"It's Mark.. but, um, thanks."
She jumped up, causing him to almost fall off the chair. "Mark, do you want to go to the movies tonight? I'm going to be so bored! You see, usually I go out with the squad, but now they're all mad at me and I hate them, and I'll be so lonely because they won't be with me… not that I care… and I always need someone and—"
"Okay, Maureen. We can go tonight. Um, I'll have to check with my mom."
She giggled randomly. "Do you have any friends that could come? How 'bout Roger and April? I like them."
Mark breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll go ask him." He ran to where a smirking Roger sat.
"Did she already scare poor Marky away?"
"No! She wants to go to the movies tonight with her, and she wants you and April to go with us!"
Roger high-fived his friend. "Way to go, Mark! And yeah, I'm totally in if I can get April to go."
Mark ran back over to Maureen. "Sure, he's totally in if he can get April to go," he quoted.
Maureen hugged Mark so hard that he couldn't breathe. "Tonight at 7:00, okay? There's a movie I want to see playing at that time. I'll see you there, okay?"
"Uh, yeah! Bye!" he called as she skipped away.
"Wow, I've got to compliment you," Roger said as he strode over to a dumb-struck Mark. "You really know how to work with the ladies. Why didn't you have a girlfriend before?" he asked sarcastically.
"Shut up, Roger!"
"You were SO red and stuttered half of the time. It was hilarious!"
"But at least I've got a date! Tonight at 7 at the movie theater, and you and April better be there!"
When Roger got home, he immediately called April. "Can you go to the movies tonight?"
"Um, sure! What time?"
"Seven, and Mark and Maureen are also going."
He heard her giggle. "So those two finally got together?"
"Yeah… so I'll see you there?"
"Okay. Bye!" April happily hung up the phone and raided her closet, looking for something to wear. She found everything… and nothing. "Fuck it!" she said to the empty room. She grabbed her phone and dialed Maureen.
"Hellooooooo?" came a drawn out answer.
"Maureen? It's April."
"April! How art thou?" She was in a much better mood.
"I need your help. Um, you know how we're going out tonight? I don't know what I should wear."
Maureen paused. "Hmm…" she finally said. "I think you should go black top, preferably lace. Maybe some leather in there. Make it sexy!"
April laughed. "And what are you going to wear?"
"That's easy! Leather pants, stilettos, and this tight pink lace low-cut spaghetti strap top that shows off my belly button ring!"
I wonder what else it shows off. "Wow. Okay, um, I'll go raid my closet. I'll se you later."
She went back into her closet and pulled out her red pleather skirt and knee-high black boots. She decided on a black lace top, going with Maureen's suggestion. She applied heavy black eyeliner, blue shimmer eye shadow, and straightened her hair so it appeared silky and beautiful. She put on black hoop earrings and grabbed a little black bag. She was ready.
When she got to the movie theater a few minutes before 7, only Maureen was there, wearing exactly what she said she would. Maureen tightly hugged her. "April chica! You look beautiful! You took my advice!"
"Um, yeah. You look great too!"
"I know I do!"
Roger and Mark both walked in. Roger was in a sleeveless black AC/DC t-shirt and ripped stonewashed jeans. Mark had on a red t-shirt and khakis. He looked very out of place.
"You look beautiful," Roger whispered to April. "Want to go in?"
Maureen grabbed Mark's hand. "Come on, Pookie! They're going to start the movie without us!"
The four of them bought their tickets and walked into the theater where the film was showing and sat in the back row: Roger next to April, who was next to Maureen, who was next to Mark.
The minute the movie started, April didn't wait snuggling with Roger, then progressing to sitting on his lap and making out the majority of the movie.
Mark, on the other hand, was feeling a bit uncomfortable. He had his arm around Maureen and she had her head on his shoulder, but he didn't know how far he wanted to with her, and if he wanted to go anywhere at all. He had never had a girlfriend before and wasn't sure exactly what to do. And it wasn't like he could ask Roger, who was a bit… preoccupied… about what to do. He had to figure it out on his own.
Halfway through the movie, Maureen moved her way to straddling Mark and kissing him out of nowhere. He gasped and wasn't sure how to respond.
"Go for it!" Roger hissed at him during one of his get-some-air breaks.
Yeah, that from a guy who has both of his hands up her shirt, he thought. But he did take the advice and kissed Maureen back.
Okay, there it is! More to come: the gang talks about college and other things...