Author's Note: gasp An OC!

Yes, it is an OC. But only because Mark and Benny aren't the only two people that attend Brown. And love makes the world go 'round. Or some shit like that.

I don't like her. Maybe I'll kill her a few chapters from now.

I keep getting chapters done insanely fast, so hopefully I'll have them all up and done with.

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"No, no, no, no, NO! No! How many times do we HAVE to go over this! This is obviously not working!"

"Yes, it is! All the blocking is perfect! I don't know what you're watching, but you're obviously not watching the stage!"

"Yeah- um, it's perfect in a dry rehearsal! I'm not trying to take over your play here, but we have to move that…that, what is that, a tree? The lantern has to go there, otherwise the followspot doesn't show up and your Iago just gets blasted. He's gonna blind the audience!"

"No! We have to keep the tree there! He does his aside away from the captains in the courtyard and that's the only thing we have separating him from center stage!"

I sighed. "Okay watch."

I climbed up onto the stage and held out my arms. "Dan, hit the followspot. Right here on me."

"See Mark? That looks perfect!"

"No! Okay Dan, now flip on the left lantern."

"Yah I'm blind! And I bet you're blind too! Can you see me? Can you honestly concentrate on what I'm saying when you're squinting to see me? This is too much light! Iago better walk and talk or we can just kill all the overheads and have it…I don't know, dramatic and dark. You choose."

"But…I don't… I don't know…I just… Okay. You're right. You're right! I give up, I surrender. You're here for a reason. Dan come down here, we gotta move the fucking tree. Othello's gotta stand in the tabs I guess. Mark Cohen and his Magical Technical Magic makes it impossible to do anything how we wanted it. Are you through reprimanding me now Mark? Can you leave us be and go conduct anarchy or whatever it is that you do?"

"Yes, I'll leave now. I got my way. I'm content. I'm coming to see this though, June. All my cues better stay where I put 'em or I'm running backstage and vandalizing the costumes. And then you won't know what hit you. I'll be like, the Phantom of the Opera. Except, I'm…the phantom techie."

"You are so spiteful Mark, all the time. Do you realize this? Maybe you've got something up your ass? You should really pull that out and maybe you'd stop stressing for once. It'd be like a deflating balloon. Just pull it out and 'pop' 'ffffftttt…'"

"Macbeth."

"What? Ah! Mark! Ssh! Don't say that in here!"

"MAACBETH! Bye guys! I'm goin' ass fishin'."

"When a piano falls on you once you leave, I'm not saving you."

"Thanks June. Good to know I've got you as a friend."

--

I was hired as a stagehand for Brown's fall, for-students-by-students-play, 'Othello'.

I liked 'Othello.' I liked Shakespeare. I liked money. I liked teching. I liked teching for money. And I also liked June, the play's director.

Can you see why I agreed?

But unfortunately, when we weren't bantering playfully or flirting, I had my head up my ass, barking orders and doing everything in my power to get my way, passing it off as a bad attempt at theater skills.

She appreciated my help and reveled in my company, making passes at me and making damn sure to walk a little too close to me when brushing past in the niche backstage. She was cute, she was sexy, she was funny, she was nice, and she drove me wild.

I wanted her. But I hadn't had a girlfriend since…ever. So this was a problem.

I don't know what the fuck was wrong with me when it came to girls. June, being just one entity in the amazing showcase of the species, brought out my worst. It was a side of me I failed to recognize in self-analyzation or something. It disappeared completely any other time, as if it were an alter ego crouching in wait. That side of me was annoying. It made me clingy. I was whiny and bitchy and desperate, oh Lord did I sound desperate when I thought a girl was onto me. I'd shift the entire conversation to myself. Tell her about my feelings! Tell her about my problems! I couldn't even pretend to be a tad bit interested in the girl! Was it a cover-up? A way out?

Who knew! All I knew for sure was that I liked girls but I didn't like everything else that came with them. The process. I don't know how it worked for other guys, but when I had a girl in my head, or God forbid, in my sights, the results were disasterous. Rancid daydreams about the weirdest sex- kinky shit I hadn't even seen in pornos. Yearning desire, untriggered night sweats, a shorter attention span and sporadic hard-ons at ungodly hours. For those periods, life was a living hell.

Benny caught on, which was just fucking wonderful. I thanked God, for the present time, that Roger wasn't my roommate, because I knew if that were the case the ridicule would be a million times harsher, with the sole intention of making me miserable. As if this huge crush wasn't succeeding in that field already.

"Did you two get busy yet?"

"Benny…"

"What? Is it so fucking hard? Just take her into your arms, look her in the eyes and say, 'Let's go. Right now. You and me, behind the curtains.' Even I think that's hot."

"Well, whoop-dee-doo for you. I'm not doing anyone behind anybody's curtains. I happen to like my job."

"Love and business do not go hand-in-hand."

"Thanks for the advice, but if you don't mind me asking, what exactly have you ever done that's so romantic?"

"Boy, I've had more ass than you have appendages. And that's including your penis."

"Leave my penis out of this. Did you love any of those? Or were they merely statistics?"

"…I loved parts of them! Hahaha…Whoo. I crack myself up."

"See? I like June a lot. She's not just some girl there to bang behind the curtains and then leave! I'd like to date her…"

"So ask her out, coward. The worst she can do is reject you. And I'm sure you'll recover just fine, seeing as you've gone so long without makin' love. Why start now?"

"Benny you are impossible."

"I'm serious man, just do it. What have you got to lose?"

"Oy vey is mir..."

"Ha ha, what? Whoa, Mark, did you just swear at me in Jewish?"

"What? I did? Oh…heh…uhhh…no, no I didn't swear. And that was Yidd- Okay, Benny? I said nothing."

"Whatever you say man..."

"Gornisht."

"Okay, now you're just doin' that to freak me out. Uh...gesundheit!"

"You're getting there. That's German."

"Since when did you switch to Foreign Relations as your major?"

"Since I'm pathetic and I can't even control my own speech I like her so much!"

"Wow, this is bad."

"You know what? I'm going to bed."