The play started and I slumped back in my seat watching with critical eyes. I'm not usually critica, but right now, I was. Soda was watching more curiously. Neither of us watched with the same interest as Jeff and Aaron. Then again, they were probably used to this. They didn't have to be curious or critical.
As the play progressed, I found myself becoming less critical. I just found myself watching as the actors acted out a scene that was a little too close to home. It was two rival gangs who were very different from each other. Yet, by watching, I could see how similar they were. And I wondered if thats how people see us greasers and the socs. I watched, unable to take my eyes off of what was being played out in front of me.
Soda sat unmoving. Which for him is rare. Everyone knows he can't sit still. He's always moving. Even if it's just tapping his foot. But he was not moving now. Instead he watched the play with intensity.
Occassionally, Jeff or Aaron would glance over at me and Soda. Probably to see how we were reacting. But being greasers, Soda and I tried to stay as emotionless as possible.
I watched as the two groups on stage progressed from being on two different sides to discovering that despite their so called differences, they weren't different at all. They had the same worries. The same need to belong. The same desire to do something with their lives. The same sence that they were all searching for something that they weren't sure they could ever find.
As I watched not only that scene but all of them, I noticed that everything these characters thought they were searching for only led them to search even more. Nothing seemed to satisfy them. Any happiness the situations brought were short lived and the searching continued. And as I watched, I saw myself in a lot of the same situations and I could tell Soda saw himself in those situations, too.
Soon, the play was over and once again, I found myself wondering what everyone was searching for. The play was clear on what people think they are searching for. But I still wanted to know what everyone was really searching for.