AN: Hey! To answer your questions, yes, Spencer will find out about Jenna's issue and she will find out about his drug addiction and Tobias Henkel! I do have a plan for that, and it will happen soon, I just need to get in more bonding time with them first. Thank you for all of the reviews, I love em!
Chapter 21
I woke up Friday morning bright and early in time for school. I was excited for the day ahead of me. First of all, Friday meant I had the entire weekend in front of me do as I pleased. Second, it was the day of the meeting for Les Mis.
Arianna had been doing a great job on getting me caught up on the social aspect of the theatre group. Who would stab you in the back for a role; who lets parts go to their head; and so on and so forth. Ana had been too, but not as much.
I finished getting ready with a half an hour to spare, and ventured out to the kitchen for a final cup of coffee. To my surprise, Spencer had already beaten me there.
"Hey Spenc, why are you up so early?" I asked quietly. He looked like a train wreck.
"Couldn't sleep" He responded tiredly. I nodded and poured the hot liquid into my already used mug, then sat on the countertop next to Spencer's standing body.
"So, is JJ really pregnant?" I sipped on the bitter sweet beverage. "Maybe I should start adding cream" I thought to myself. No harm in being adventurous.
"Yeah, yeah she is" He spoke looking down. I studied his body language carefully, sensing distress.
"You don't seem very thrilled about it" Spencer began to pour himself a cup of coffee too, mainly to prevent me from noticing his muscles tensing.
"No, I'm happy for her, really I am" He replied, making no eye contact. I studied him for a moment before coming to a juicy conclusion.
"You like her! You have a crush on JJ!" I exclaimed. It seemed like a viable assumption. Why else would he be so down about it?
"Shouldn't you be getting to school?" Spencer said, looking me in the eye this time. I looked at the clock and realized if I didn't leave then I would miss the bus.
"You're lucky you're right" I hopped off the counter and grabbed my bag, heading towards the door. "Bye Spenc, get some sleep" I shouted, and then headed on to the bus stop.
I walked into English and saw Arianna, but no Ana. I felt bad, I had been getting closer with Arianna than I was with Ana, who was my first friend here. Ana didn't seem like she was trying very much, and I think Arianna noticed that too.
"Hey, where's Ana?" I asked her while taking my books out.
"Probably at home, not sure. We're on the outs right now" That explained a lot.
"I'm sorry, that's unfortunate" I replied, Arianna shook off the subject. I took it Ana wasn't auditioning for the musical, which was surprising because I figured she was part of the theatre crowd. Guess I was wrong.
The day droned on, but soon enough came to an end. I met up with Arianna and we headed to the choir room where the meeting was being held. Once I walked through the doors, I felt relatively overwhelmed. The room was filled with at least 150 kids having their separate animated conversations. They were loud, very loud. I recognized some faces from the hallways and a few from my classes, but no one I had spoken to.
"Don't worry, I won't throw you to the wolves. Just stick by me it'll be fine" Arianna smiled and guided me to where we usually sat during chorus. A few passing people said hi to her, looked me up and down and kept walking. "Don't worry about them, they just don't take kindly to outsiders. Give them time" She proclaimed. Great.
I looked around the room at the different walks of life, my eyes stopping halfway through my scan. "Who's that?" I asked Ari, pointing to a lone boy in the back of the room. He had his face down in a book, totally disconnected from the commotion around him.
"Him? That's Matthew. He's probably our most talented guy in Garfield. He's a quiet kid at first, but once you get to know him he's fun to be around. He's very unusual, though." Ari explained. Something about him was oddly intriguing.
"Why? Do you think he's cute?"Ari turned to me gushed.
"W-what? N-no I don't even know the-"
"Hey Matthew! Come here!" Ari screamed across the room. Awesome.
He perked his head up and closed his book, tossing his bag over his shoulder and heading out way.
"What are you doing!" I whispered to Ari, receiving only a sly smile in return. Matthew took the empty seat to her and turned his body towards us.
"Hey Ari, what bring me over here?" He asked, the entire time I was looking at the ground. He was actually really, really cute. His hair was either a deep brown, almost black, which clashed beautifully with his near ice blue eyes. He was pale, almost as pale as I was. He had the basic amount of muscle as any other teenaged guy, but nothing overbearing. I'd pin his height around 5'8 to play it safe.
"Matthew, this is my friend Jenna. She just moved here from Baltimore" Ari clarified.
"Hey" Matthew directed to me and stuck his hand out. I shook it in response. "Hey" I replied in my accidently squeaky tone. It was strange that we shook hands, teenagers didn't typically do that when first introduced. Maybe Ari was right, he was a tad unusual.
We were interrupted by the arrival of our director, , who also happens to be our chorus teacher. She was a short, plump woman. From what I had heard she was a joy in class, but when it came time for rehearsal you may as well refer to her as Lucifer.
"Hello everyone, as you all know my name is , and I will be you're director. I take it you all know the plot line of Les Mis and the characters as well, but just in case I will be passing out a informative sheet latter on. I would like you all to know a few things before you audition: You will first be required to sign a contract stating that you are available for every single rehearsal, both after school and weekend. You are expected to show up despite doctor appointments, illness, work load, or laziness. Also, I will not tolerate bad attitudes, disrespect or disobedience."
This woman already had me frightened.
"During the next four short months, those of you who are casted will be fully committed to this. As many of you have experienced, families are formed during shows. You bond with people you never thought you would. You put your trust into each other to perform up to par and that takes a lot. I know about the drama that goes on behind the curtain, but the second you step out on that stage I expect you to leave it all behind."
She paused for a moment, but no one dared to say a word. She really knew how to hold an audience. Mostly because she her main enforcement was fear.
"Now, auditions will be this upcoming Monday and Tuesday. You are required to sing a ballad and recite a quick monologue. All girls are obligated to complete the dance audition on Tuesday at 4:30. Callbacks will be on Wednesday, and the cast list will be posted ONLINE at 3pm Friday. Grab the necessary sheets on your way out and sign up for a time slot. Now go home!" Mrs. Bates finished her spiel and retreated back into her office. Everyone stood up and headed for the doors.
"Is she trying to scare the crap out of everyone?" I asked Ari, seconds later noticing Matthew was walking with us too.
"Yep. She tries to intimidate people as much as possible so less people try out and she only gets the passionate kids. Don't worry though, she's not nearly as bad as she sounds. But she is serious about the contract. Breaking the contract gets you on her bad side." Matthew responded before Ari could. "Once you get to know her, she can be a lot of fun to work with" He added on, tilting his head in my direction and smiling.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone. Bye!"Ari waved and began walking away. I internally cursed her for leaving me with a stranger. A cute stranger, but a stranger.
"Going to the buses?" Matthew said, pointing due north.
"So, what brings you here from Baltimore?" He asked curiously. This, was a question I was not well equipped to answer.
"Um, I moved in with my older brother, Spencer" I prayed he wouldn't ask for details.
"Huh, really? Why is that?" Well, my prayers weren't answered.
"How about we save that question for a rainy day?" I tried to say in the perkiest way possible. Matthew looked a little confused, but shook it off.
"Alright then. How old is your brother?"
I assumed this would end up as a game of 20 questions.
"He's 26" I replied, still making our way to the busses.
"What does he do for a living?"
He was either just nosey or trying to get to know me.
"He's an FBI agent in the Behavioral Analysis Unit. He studies the behavior of serial killers and such and hunts them down"
At that point I had loosened up a bit. I figured if I wasn't relaxed in a conversation it would make it ten times harder. Even though I didn't know him very well, I didn't mind answering Matthew's questions. He was curious, and I was willing.
"He hunts serial killers? Wow, that's intense. You don't hear that everyday"
Well, he was right.
"Oh, well this is my bus. Bye Jenna" Matthew smiled and jumped onto the steps.
"Bye Matthew" I waved back, walking a few more feet to my bus and hopping on as well.
Spencer was in the arm chair reading when I arrived around 4pm. "Where have you been? School let out two hours ago" He said in a suspicious tone. I wasn't expecting him home, but yet I wasn't expecting him to be at work after such a rough case either.
"There was an informative meeting for the fall musical so I stayed after and took the late bus home" I stated calmly while I paced over to the kitchen for a cup of jello.
"Musical? What musical?" I forgot I hadn't had the chance to tell Spencer about it.
"My school is putting on a production of Les Mis and there was a meeting to discuss how everything worked" I answered, plopping down on the couch and retrieving the television remote.
"Oh, well, okay then. What's Les Mis about?"
This was going to be an interesting couple of months.