I stood outside the auditorium, taking as many deep breaths as I could. I wanted to go in, prove that I'm actually semi-decent as a singer, and show Christine that I cared about theater as much as she did. I hesitated for a moment, then turned around.
"I guess evolution's not for everyone," I muttered. Eli pat my shoulder. He had followed me to make sure that I actually committed to this.
"You don't have to do this. Of course, I'll mock you forever if you don't." He said, giving me a lopsided grin. I flushed, then tried to pump myself up.
"C-c-c-c'mon, c-c-c-c'mon, go, go. C-c-c-c'mon, c-c-c-c'mon, go-!" I cut myself off as I ran into the theater, noticing Christine near instantly. "Yo!" I squeaked. She looked up at me and smiled brightly.
"Yo!" She chirped.
"I-Is this where you meet for the play?" I stammered, like an idiot. She shook her head.
"Nope, this is where you meet for the swim team." She said.
I managed to choke out a completely surprised "What?!" before dissolving into a rough coughing fit. Christine's expression softened slightly as she scooted over, patting my back.
"I'm kidding!" She said, her words almost immediately stopping my coughing.
"Oh, well, um, I'm Falner!" I blurted out. She looked slightly confused. I tried to speak again but trailed off after almost getting lost in her eyes. She tilted her head, that same confused expression on her face.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"Huh?" I replied, blinking hard and shaking my head to clear my focus.
"You seem nervous." I laughed nervously, proving her point.
"No, I always...sweat this much." I regretted the words as soon as they left my lips, but Christine didn't seem too bothered, a small smile gracing her perfect lips.
"I get it. You're a virgin," She said. I turned pale. Was it that obvious?! Before I could speak, she nudged her shoulder into mine. "First play rehearsal!" She sounded so excited, it made my heart soar. I took a long breath, exhaling slowly to calm my nerves.
"You think I'm nervous about play rehearsal?" I asked.
"Well, why else would you be shaking?" She asked, then seemed to notice my trembling body. "...A lot." I laughed nervously again, putting one hand behind my head.
"Yeah, I'm totally freaked," I said. She smiled, nudging my shoulder again.
"It's okay. I'm a little jealous actually. You never forget your first...play rehearsal! Coming here is the highlight." She said happily. I tilted my head.
"Of your day?"
"Yeah right," She scoffed. "Of my life! I love play rehearsal, because it's the best! Because it's fun. I love play rehearsal, and I get depressed as soon as it's done." She sounded so happy, but the depressed part made me feel nervous. Almost as if she could read my mind, she quickly continued.
"But not depressed as in like 'kill yourself' depressed. No, I'm not into self-harm. Dude, I swear. Here, check my arm!" She held her arm out and rolled up the sleeve of her jean jacket. Sure enough, there were no cuts or scars, just perfectly smooth, tanned skin. I was silent, but gave her an encouraging nod, wanting her to keep talking.
"See, I just used the word to emphasize a point and show the passion that I've got. I'm passionate a lot!" She giggled. "I have mad gigantic feelings, rad and frantic feelings about most everything! Like gun control, like spring," Her expression suddenly changed into a more thoughtful one. "Like if I'm living up to all I'm meant to be..." I related way too much to that statement but, before I could say something, she continued, her expression changing back into its usual happiness. "I also have a touch of ADD!" She stopped talking suddenly, the thoughtful expression returning.
"Where was I?" She wondered aloud, glancing at me with confusion. I managed to choke out a sound, and she gave me a bright smile, seemingly regaining her train of thought.
"Oh, right! I love play rehearsal, 'cause you are equipped with directions and text. Life is easy in rehearsal: you follow a script so you know what comes next. Anywho, the point that I'm getting to is sometimes life can't work out in the way it works out in a play," She jumped onto her chair and posed dramatically. "Like the only time I get to be the center of attention is when I'm Juliet or Blanche DuBois, and can I mention-" She hopped off the chair and beamed at me.
"That was really one of my best roles. Did you see that? I was incredibly commanding, I think. It made me feel like there just aren't strong roles for women in theater these days, particularly high school theater, do you find that? Because I totally find that." She looked at me expectantly, and all I could do was nod. She was literally an angel that was too pure for this entire world. She made a happy sound.
"And no matter how hard I try, it's impossible to narrow down the many reasons why I love play rehearsal, I happiness cry whenever it starts. It's just so universal getting to try playing so many parts!" She leaned close and took my hands in hers, a gesture that made me blush profusely.
"Most humans do one thing for all of their lives. The thought of that gives me hives," She said, shivering slightly. "I've got so many interests I wanna pursue, and why am I telling this to you?" She tilted her head. I shrugged slightly, then noticed the tiny smile gracing her face.
"Guess there's a part of me that wants to." She said softly.
"Really?" I asked, giving her a small smile of my own.
"Oh, there's also a part of me that wants to do this," She said suddenly, taking her hands out of mine, standing up on the chair, and letting out the loudest dinosaur screech I'd ever heard. My face must've been as white as a sheet because she looked down at me and I saw a spasm of panic flit across her face as she sat down.
"So, I did," She said, then giggled slightly. "Back to play rehearsal. My brain is like bzzz, my heart is like...wow...because we're here at play rehearsal, and it's starting...we're starting...we're starting..." She paused, presumably for dramatic effect, then smiled brightly at me and continued speaking.
"Soon!" She let out a happy squee and shifted her chair closer to mine. I swear I could see hearts floating around us.
"So, um...where's everyone else?" I asked. She looked around at the empty auditorium.
"We've been slipping in membership lately. I guess it's just the two of us-!" She was cut off by Dallas, Jade, Hope, Rose, and Tempest suddenly bursting in. They were all chattering amongst themselves, and I distinctly heard Hope say "Has this theater always been here?" while looking around in awe.
"Jesus!" I yelped in surprise. The curtain next to Christine and I was suddenly pulled away, revealing our drama teacher, Mr. Baruchel. He had short brown hair and blue-grey eyes, was wearing a suit, and looked relieved to see the popular kids.
"Oh thank God, the popular students have arrived," He said, gesturing for all of us to sit in a circle. Dallas plunked himself down next to Jade, who was a seat away from Christine. Hope and Tempest sat next to each other, and Rose sat near the edge of the circle. I was sitting next to Christine, who was front and center. Mr. Baruchel took a moment to let us get settled, then clapped his hands.
"Hellooooo, everyone! My name is Mr. Baruchel. You may recognize me from Drama Class." A tepid round of applause rippled through the circle, but Mr. Baruchel seemed like he was at the Tony awards and just won the award for Best Actor or something. "Thank you. I've been dreaming of the day I get to stage William Shakespeare's classic "A Midsummer Night's Dream-" Christine pumped her fist into the air.
"YES!" She shouted.
"And today that dream dies." Mr. Baruchel finished. Christine looked like she had just been shot.
"Wait, what?!" She yelped. Mr. Baruchel swiftly ran backstage, grabbing an old chalkboard that, among the crude drawings, had the words "Mr. Stephens, Pd. 4" on it.
"We used that chalkboard for Carrie!" I whispered to Christine. She looked at me with intrigue as Mr. Baruchel scribbled something down onto the board.
"But! The dream is reborn! Just slightly...mutated. The school has informed me that, unless I increase our popularity, our funds will be diverted to the Frisbee Golf Team. Which is why our production will be set, not in a pastoral forest, but a post-apocalyptic future. Instead of frolicking with fairies, there will be fleeing. From zombies." Mr. Baruchel said with his back to all of us. Christine let out a sigh.
"Don't you care about Shakespeare?" She asked. He turned around and fixed her with an annoyed look.
"The man is dead. Let it go." He said. He then moved away from the board, revealing that he had written the title of the show: "A Midsummer Nightmare about Zombies." Before anyone could speak, Mr. Baruchel dusted his hands off and placed the chalk down.
"We will now take a five-minute break so that I can eat a Hot Pocket." He announced. Dallas, Brooke, Rose, and Tempest followed him out, talking amongst themselves. Jade stood away from the group and waved them off, walking over to Christine after a moment.
"Hey. You were in that play last year." He said. Christine looked up at him.
"You mean Romeo and Juliet?" She asked. He nodded, smiling slightly.
"You were uh...the girl who died."
"You mean Juliet?" She sounded slightly annoyed.
"Yeah! That was depressing," He laughed slightly.
"Thanks..." She murmured, tucking her books into her backpack.
"But...you were good. I'm Jade." He said, holding out his hand. Christine took it tentatively.
"I...know," She said slowly. Jade suddenly gave her an extremely shy smile.
"Cool." He said softly. She gave him an awkward smile and continued packing up.
"Um, I have to-" She started, but he cut her off suddenly.
"C-C-Can I, just...say something stupid?" He asked. She nodded slowly, letting him continue. "When I saw you die in the play last year... That was like the saddest I'd felt in a long time. It was like everything in my life, all the pressure I feel to be the best at everything, all the time... Suddenly felt so small. And then, when you got up at the end for your victory dance..." He mimicked a bow, Christine chiming in with "Bow, it's called a bow."
"Right! I remember thinking, "I'm glad that girl's not dead...before I ever got the chance to know her." Stupid, right?" He said almost sheepishly. Christine looked at him with intrigue.
"That's...not stupid at all." She said softly. Jade smiled.
"Cool. Hey, a bunch of us are going out after practice today. You should join. "Parting is such sweet"..." He trailed off.
"Sorrow?" She finished. He nodded.
"Whatever," He then seemed to notice me, and looked between me and my backpack with...was that disgust? "Hey, dude. Someone wrote SEXUAL on your backpack." He said, walking away after a moment. Completely embarrassed didn't even begin to describe me at that moment in time. I turned to Christine and, with as little voice cracks as possible, mentioned the fact that Eli told me at lunch:
"So, I heard this thing about how humans aren't evolving anymore?" Christine didn't seem to have noticed me, due to the perplexed expression on her face.
"I'm so sorry, Falner, did you say something?" She asked. I shook my head.
"...Forget it." I sighed. Jade smiled at Christine from across the room. I stood up, waved goodbye to the girl of my dreams, and walked out of the theater.
"Once again, there's been a takedown. I guess it could've gone worse. At least I didn't have a breakdown and have to go to the nurse. I don't wanna be special... don't even need to survive...I just wanna know that Christine is aware I'm alive." I said quietly. I then noticed the unisex bathroom and, in a brilliant thought process, made a beeline for it.
Time to fix this backpack.