When Cary had been younger it had been much easier to make friends. Wendy had been a staple in their life for as long as they remembered but there had been others, too.
She'd befriended the guys on her tee-ball team, as well as started friendships with Lee, Nate, Thompson, and even Robbie when he wasn't being a twerp.
But then she'd gotten older and the tee-ball boys became baseball boys, and Cary wasn't allowed to be a baseball boy. And when she hung out with her friends who were boys their mothers would joke about them being her boyfriends.
And so Cary slowly stopped hanging out with those boys, never wanting to have a boyfriend, never wanting to be someone's girlfriend. All Cary had ever wanted was to be their friend, but that hadn't been enough back then.
Now that Cary understood his identity better, it was easier to enjoy his friendship with other guys.
Like Thompson and Duncan, who came over on the second Saturday of November, with the play just days away.
Puck and King Oberon had a lot of scenes together, Thompson was just there to, as Duncan said, "Look pretty."
And also to go get the fairies some snacks.
When he'd gone to pick up some grub, Cary and Duncan were left to do scene work.
"How now, mad spirit! What night-rule now about this haunted grove?" Duncan asked, looking regal as he began Act III scene 2.
Cary launched into their monologue, one of many, with Ryn trailing along like an echo, also off-book.
"When in that moment, so it came to pass, Titania waked and straightway loved an ass." Ryn seemed to chuckle at that line, which was a little distracting.
"I don't know how you do it," Duncan said.
"No, your line is 'This falls out better than I could devise,'" Cary corrected.
"Yeah, I know. What I meant was I don't know how you perform those monologues so easily. It took me forever to memorize all my lines and you make it look as easy as breathing."
"Well, it is kind of like breathing, for me. I mean, I've been performing all my life."
Duncan lit up with recognition. "The Bird Girl of Oregon! I knew I'd seen you perform before."
"Not just that, but yeah." Cary didn't correct him, it wasn't worth it.
"Ah," Duncan said, studying Cary, "You mean how you are with Wendy."
"What?" Cary sputtered, unable to maintain the composure of cool, collected Puck.
"Don't sweat it, Care, I'm not going to out you or Wendy. Folks like us have to stick together."
"How'd you know?"
Duncan shrugged. "I have a pretty good gaydar. Plus she's coming to every show, so either you're dating already or she's in love with you."
"We are dating," Cary admitted. "But we're not telling that many people yet, especially not our friends. Wendy's not ready to come out to everyone, so please don't mention it, not even to Thompson."
"I won't. I remember how nervous Thompson was about telling you guys about him and me."
"Wait, I thought you guys only started dating at the Halloween party. Thompson was super nervous about asking you, Lee had to dare him to do it."
Duncan laughed. "That's Thompson for you, scared I'd reject him when we'd literally already kissed."
Cary gasped. "You and Thompson kissed? When?"
"Well, it was more than once, in a couple different places. But the first time was after they posted the cast list. He asked me if I wanted to run lines together, I asked him if he'd rather go celebrate, and then we kind of ended up doing both."
"Huh. I knew there was something going on between you but I never would have guessed that."
"People underestimate Thompson. I'm here to make sure that they stop. He's actually really nice, and cool, and the way he transforms when he acts…" Duncan had a dreamy, far-off expression on his face.
"Yeah, he is pretty cool. So don't break his heart, okay? Or the Bird Girl of Oregon will rip your heart out of your chest."
Duncan laughed. "I won't. Now, where were we?"
"This falls out better than I could devise," Cary reminded.
"Right."
They kept practicing until Thompson returned with taquitos from Hermanos Bros.
"How's practice going?"
"Oh, great, I couldn't ask for a better Puck," Duncan said.
"And I couldn't ask for a better Oberon. You know, I saw you play the Music Man last semester and it made me want to try out for drama this year," Cary said.
"Same," Thompson admitted.
"Aww, did you have a crush on me?" Duncan teased.
"Maybe," Thompson said, glancing away.
"You should have told me sooner," Duncan said, "so I didn't have to wait so long to kiss you."
He leaned in and stole a kiss, and Thompson dropped his taquito on the floor.
Cary snorted at that, interrupting the kiss.
"I do have one question about Music Man, though," Cary said when Duncan and Thompson were done kissing.
"Yeah? Want some acting tips?"
"Not exactly. I was just wondering how you were able to act like you were so enamored with the girl playing Marian."
Duncan thought about it for a second. "I guess I've been performing all my life."
Cary nodded knowingly.
Thompson looked between them. "Did I miss something?"
Duncan patted his leg. "Don't worry about it, love. Let's tackle Act 1, Scene 2. You have a lot of lines."
"Oh, okay."
"I'll read for Peter Quince, Duncan can read for the other players."
Duncan didn't complain with that arrangement, since Quince and Bottom had most of the lines that meant he had more time to watch his boyfriend perform, which was quickly becoming one of his favorite things to do.
Though Cary was less familiar with Quince's lines it wasn't hard slipping into the role. She and Thompson bounced off of each other easily. There was a sincerity in the way they breathed life into the lines, for they really were old friends who had been performing with each other for a long time, even though this was their stage debut.
Cary meant it when she read, "You can play no part but Pyramus; for Pyramus is a sweet-faced man; a proper man, as one shall see in a summer's day; a most lovely gentleman-like man: therefore you must needs play Pyramus."
Thompson really was all those things, sweet, talented, and lovely in his own right. He had spent so long playing the parts his friends had expected of him, it felt good to see him step into the spotlight now.
And yet, as Thompson was coming out of his shell, Cary felt like she was still playing a role.
Fortunately, Cary didn't have to completely pretend in front of all of his friends. Though he was postponing coming out to Lee, Nate, and Thompson, he had several friends who were accepting. Duncan was encouraging and understanding, and Robbie was supportive in his own way.
Robbie's way included throwing a paper ball at their head when they were alone in the school hallway at the end of the day on Tuesday.
Immediately Ryn was defensive. "Who dares attack us?"
"Where was this energy when I was fighting for my life in the demon realm?"
"High school is scarier than the demon realm."
Ryn had a point there.
"Anyway, it's just Robbie. You don't have to eat him or whatever."
"I will shelve that idea for now."
Cary snorted at "for now," and picked up the projectile, unwadding it and reading what Robbie had written.
He'd scrawled a request, though it was written as a demand, that they meet him at the cemetery after school the next day.
Cary walked past where Robbie was lurking, "You have my phone number, dweeb."
Robbie rolled his eyes and didn't respond, so Cary just walked away. If Robbie wanted to keep acting like they weren't friends, then Cary wasn't going to flip the script.
Still, she trusted her not-friend enough to show up in the creepy cemetery.
"If you wanted to hang out with me you could have just asked."
"I don't want to hang out with you, I'm being nice and saving you from pain and humiliation."
"What is he talking about?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Have you looked in the mirror recently?
Cary touched the side of their head where the shaved part was growing back.
"I've been busy. And you're one to talk, you look like a raccoon."
"I'd rather look like a raccoon than a bird brain."
"Can we eat him now?"
"If we eat him Tambry will eat us." Cary both feared and respected Tambry too much to let Ryn try anything.
"I'd like to see her try."
"I wouldn't."
"Why do you care what my hair looks like?"
"Normally I wouldn't. But you've got a gig coming up."
"You mean the play?"
"Yeah, same thing. And I'd never go on stage with subpar hair so, I thought I'd throw you a bone. Next time I'm charging you, though."
Cary couldn't help smiling. "Deal."
"And you can't tell anyone."
"Wendy already knows you did my hair last time."
"Okay, you're allowed to tell your girlfriend. But no one else."
Even though Cary had basically known that Robbie knew it still came as a shock to hear someone else refer to Wendy as their girlfriend. It was surprisingly nice.
"Thank you for this," Cary said.
"If you get sappy on me I'm not gonna cut your hair."
"Yeah, yeah. Do you mind if I run lines while you work?"
"Sure, whatever."
It was weird. They'd connected in September, a surge of camaraderie that they couldn't replicate. Now they were back to being awkward, but awkward was better than not being friends at all.
Because, despite what Robbie might say, they really were friends now. He knew one of their biggest secrets, had known about their mom (kind of) before the rest of the gang, and had offered to help them out of the kindness of his cold, dead heart. He might call Cary birdbrain on the regular, but they could tell Robbie was warming up to them.
It was nice to have so many friends who cared about him. Not boyfriends, just friends who were boys. Hopefully, as Cary figured himself out more and more, those friends would continue to stay by his side.
I am definitely gonna do more with the Robbie and Cary dynamic at some point but for now, it's still a little awkward. They're both new at this whole "liking each other" thing. I could have included Lee and Nate in this chapter but they had a whole thing last chapter so I think we're good.
Next chapter is the play!
