"Audition?"- Jlaire Fanfiction
The few days after their monologue performances were as close to normal as they could be after Jim's earnest performance. Claire found that although they spent all their free time together, she had yet to meet his roommate. Jim spoke fondly of his roomie every time he would text or whenever Jim told a funny story that happened to them. She knew that Toby had been his best friend for as long as he could remember, she knew Toby had a thing for spicy food and video games, and she knew that Toby was dating one of her classmates, Darci.
"Hey Jim, when can I meet Toby?" She looked up at him on her bed from where she lay in her pile of pillows. They had thrown them to the ground so she could sit.
"Oh… You actually wanna meet Tobes?" He didn't seem embarrassed at all; in fact, he was quite the opposite. He seemed kind of excited about the thought.
"Well yeah. I've never been to your dorm, and he is your best friend, right? We should all hang out together." She started to blush under his gaze.
"Yeah, I'll ask Tobes if you can come over tomorrow after class if you want!" His eyes lit up like a small child and that made Claire giggle.
As this interaction occurred, the door to her dorm room opened, and in walked her roommate, Mary. She took a glance at Jim on Claire's bed, shrugged, and said, "Hey Jim."
"Hey Mary," Apparently, they had known each other from high school.
Claire thanked whatever deity was watching over her for this fact because Mary had never once complained about Jim being in their room all the time. Mary made herself comfortable on her bed before making eye contact with Claire. The kind of eye contact that said, 'I am not going to let you get away from this without some teasing later.'
Jim caught her attention by throwing his legs around and readjusting so that he was laying down and peering into Claire's nest. "Toby said he's cool with you coming over tomorrow."
Mary gave her a smug smirk, "Ooo Claire-bear is going over to Jimmy Jams' place?"
"Yeah, she's finally gonna meet Toby!"
"Tobias Domsalski. Don't worry you two will get along splendidly."
"Thanks, Mare," Claire responded.
"Well, I'm gonna head out. I've got that thing with Toby tonight." Jim grabbed his normal blue sweater and his backpack.
"Okay, I guess we're on for tomorrow after class then," Claire responded, getting up from her nest of pillows and stuffed animals. She had recently begun giving him hugs every time they parted ways. She grabbed him by the bottom of his sweater before he reached the door, pulling him into an embrace.
"I'll see you tomorrow," was murmured into her hair as his arms surrounded her. She loved being surrounded by his smell, his arms, him. When they parted and Jim was out the door, Mary began her torture.
"Oh, shut up!"
The next day moved by fairly quickly, her nerves made her hands shake, and her entire day was spent being excited. During their theatre class, she couldn't even keep her leg from bouncing. Luckily, they had an exam and they were able to leave after they were finished. Thanks to their study sessions, both Claire and Jim finished fairly quickly. Soon enough, they were walking away from the building toward the dorms. They walked past Heartstone and into Oakes Hall. Jim led them to the second floor, eventually stopping at a door with name tags in the shape of gummy bears that said 'Jim' and 'Toby'.
Jim unlocked the door, opening it. The first thing she saw was a television screen, it was bright in the small room. The room was fairly tidy on what seemed to be Jim's side and only a little messy on Toby's. The same short, red-headed boy she had seen trailing Jim around campus sat on his bed, controller in hand. This must have been Toby, "Hey Jimbo!" rang from his mouth as he used a hand to wave.
"Hey Tobes, this is Claire."
"Ah, the infamous Claire Nunez. Make yourself at home!" Toby had a wide grin on his face as he caught her eye.
Jim showed her which bed was his and insisted she sit. He had set up his reading pillow so she could lean against the wall comfortably. He sat next to her, placing his arm on the pillow behind her not quite touching her but not far from her either.
"So, Claire," Toby paused his game and threw the controller down next to him. "I've heard stuff from Jimbo, I'm sure you have too but I'm Toby, I'm a film major, and fun fact: Jimbo would not let me meet you until you said you wanted to hang out." Jim stiffened next to her as she laughed. Toby really was straight to the point and very blunt. He motioned to her as if they were participating in an icebreaker at a club.
"Okay then, I'm Claire, I'm an undecided major because it makes my mother angry, and fun fact: I think Jim should audition for Romeo and Juliet so I can actually work with a competent love interest." She glanced at Jim as she shoved her shoulder into his playfully. Toby's eyes lit up in the same way Mary's had the day before. "Your turn, Jim" she giggled.
"This is stupid, you both know me!" He argued.
"Ahhh methinks he doth protest too much!" Toby exclaimed.
"C'mon Jim, it'll be fun!"
"Okay, okay! I'm Jim, I'm a culinary major and fun fact…" Jim trailed off as if he was thinking of a fact that neither of them would know. He looked almost constipated to Claire and she tried her best not to laugh, sharing a glance with Toby who was glancing back and forth between her and Jim. She saw Toby give Jim a very small shake of his head before Jim finally sighed and said, "I… I have never been on stage before, so I don't know how I'd do in an audition."
"Dude, you should totally try out!" Toby had such a smug grin across his face.
"That's what I'm saying! He did so well on the monologue project, I would have paid money to see that!" Claire responded.
"Tobes! I barely have time to study as it is because of that thing we have and when am I gonna hang out with you if I have no time!" Jim argued.
"Well, I don't know what this thing is, but I know we will spend plenty of time together if you do the play. Otherwise, the only time you'll see me is during class. Rehearsals are a bitch to schedule around." Claire was really pushing this subject. She had a not-so-secret hope that Jim would audition just so they could hang out more. She was maybe a little selfish.
"C'mon Jimbo, our thing doesn't take too much time and you're a culinary major, how much time do you need to actually study?" Toby pointed out.
Claire turned to Jim, more firmly cementing his grip around her, and forcing them to touch. "I know it sounds like I'm full of myself by saying this but if I just so happen to get Juliet, I want a competent Romeo who I can work with. I don't want to have to work with Steve Palchuk." She giggled at his face as he scrunched his nose in disgust.
He sat there in silence for a few moments, she could tell he was desperately thinking. What could possibly be such a time commitment that he couldn't do the play? Then a thought crossed her mind, what if he didn't want to do it with her? What if she had pushed him into hanging out with her and he didn't actually like her? He took a deep breath before saying, "Well, I can't let you be submitted to such torture. I will do it…for you."
Her brain instantly went blank at his answer. "Wait, really?!" He nodded and she grabbed him firmly, pulling him into a crushing hug. "Great! Auditions are tomorrow!"
