Meeting Halfway - 2. The Notice

Although I was eager to learn what was laid out on our plate for drama this year, I had lost my appetite and excitement for that as well. I just wanted to go home and take some rest and keep my mind off of what took place during the school day. It wasn’t unusual for me to feel like running home and hiding into the confines of my room. I wasn’t a particularly shy kid. I was more like…different. It took some efforts on my part to blend in, something that came so naturally to everyone else.

Besides, I was a little scared of facing him. I didn’t know if things were going to be awkward in the one place I was most comfortable in. It made me angry and sad at the same time. What was I expecting? Things get more difficult each year. I never looked at drama as competition or the pursuit to fit in. Probably exactly the opposite. It was the only place I didn’t have to put a show for others and be myself. Hah! What an irony.

In one day he had spoiled it all. I had decided to not give him that satisfaction but I couldn’t help the cold fingers of self-doubt that crawled in. His behavior was totally uncalled for and I was smart enough to understand that. But I couldn’t make myself hate him. The words should have gnawed at my pride. But they didn’t.

Maybe he had a reason for his behavior or maybe he just wasn’t thinking straight at the time? The knowledge of being in denial was a very unsettling feeling.

I yelped a bit when I was poked with a long nail on a perfectly manicured finger. “MEL! You scared the shit of out me. What were you thinking?” I said while I rubbed at my bruised side. I was positive it was bruised for good.

“Don’t be whiny, Jay. I was just trying to grab your attention when you wouldn’t give me any.” She stated a bit annoyed which was way out of character for Mel. With a sigh she continued in a softer tone, “I’m your girlfriend and you’re supposed to walk with me at least once. You act like we aren’t even friends. It looks as if we’ve broken up or something.”

I couldn’t see what was strange in our relationship. Everything was perfect. We liked each other’s company and always found something to talk about. It was never awkward or dragged out with us together. Then why was Mel getting so frustrated with ‘us’ all the time? Couldn’t a guy have a little space once in a while?

“We haven’t.” I couldn’t think of anything else so decided to state the fact as well as test the waters.

“Yes, we haven’t and I’m not planning on it anytime soon. But…”

“There are not buts Mel. I…it’s just that I was a bit tired…yes tired.” I said when I couldn’t find better words to describe what I was feeling. It happened to me a lot these days.

She gave me an incredulous look which was also mixed with a look of concern but fortunately didn’t push the topic about my aberrant state of mind.

“Where do we go today? To hang out I mean?” she asked and I cringed inwardly. I was thankful for the change of topic but not for where the conversation was leading.

It was a customary activity to go to the mall to hang out after every first day of school. It had been happening ever since I had my friends and formed a group. We were around eight of us with the very rare additions and subtractions to an otherwise tight group. A bit of a bite, then a movie and going to the park to discuss our feats over the vacations is what generally took place on such gatherings.

In the chaotic and very loud atmosphere, I listened and talked only when talked to. It was a mystery why they ever wanted me around. It could have been because of Steph- my sister, Mel- my girlfriend and Gavin-my best friend who also happened to be the life of the group. Consider me boring, I do too.

Gavin was a total prankster who played a big role in keeping me sane. He unfortunately didn’t share my interests in subjects and rarely shared the schedule except for gym. This year it came down to no common subjects. I hadn’t had time to talk to him properly the entire day. His presence lifted my mood and I was looking forward to spending some time with him.

“Ummm…the usual? Mall, café?” I stated dismissively. “Look, I’ll talk to you later. I really need to go now.” I gave her a slight shoulder hug and a smile as genuine as I could muster. I could see she wasn’t entirely pleased with the way I was treating her but I didn’t know how else to behave with her and resumed my way to the drama class.

“Fine.” I heard Mel mumble in a tight tone.

The drama room was a small classroom behind the auditorium, where the students could learn from their instructor. It was also for them to practice their acting techniques in private, away from prying eyes. There were several rows of seats for multiple students, with small 'stage' areas for the students to work in. A small projection screen mounted in the roof to show videos of past plays or movies.

By the time I entered the drama room, it was packed. There were many groups of kids talking to each other in circles. I wondered if I was late and missing out on an already given assignment.

I spotted some of my mates talking excitedly about something. Steve saw me looking around and walked to me.

“Hey Jay, have you looked at the notice yet?” He asked me wide eyed. Oh, another notice I missed out on checking.

“What notice? This is the first day of school. I figured notices weren’t put up this soon.” I said a bit nervously.

“Oh, but this one is. And you’d be surprised to find out what it contains.” He bumped my shoulder playfully. “It’s crazy. You got to check for yourself. I’ll see you after you do.”

Steve was one of those people who were perpetually cheerful but his excitement wasn’t rubbing on me today. It was actually making me nervous. ‘What was the notice about?’

As I made my way to the notice board, I wondered if there was student overload in our school. Every place seemed more packed and flowing with kids. There weren’t these many kids last year. There was some pushing and bumping while I walked since too many people were stuffed in the small area. The only positive was that it was a well-lit and well-ventilated room.

Then, I saw him. I quickly ducked my head involuntarily. People intimidated me in general. But seeing Chance again after the little ‘episode’, I wasn’t sure if I could look at him and not cringe each time. I still couldn’t get around the absurd reaction he had to my friendly approach. Some unpleasant memories from my childhood were trying to re-surface as well and I hated to lose control and let them affect me, especially not when I was in the middle of a packed room. I decided to shrug the whole thing off for the time being.

Too lost in my thoughts as usual, I didn’t see the table we put our bags and books on and banged my leg on its side. Sharp pain shot through my leg but I stopped myself in time from whimpering out loud and making a fool out of myself in front of all the students. Even after trying so hard, some of them did look up at the sound of the bang. There were some ‘are you okays?’ and concerned looks even when I tried to laugh it off. I stood there for a couple of minutes for the pain to subside and pretended to be looking through one of my books.

The position I was in brought Chance in direct view from me. There were a few students standing between us and I was sure he couldn’t see me. I took it as an opportunity to observe how he behaved with others.

Was he mean to everyone or was it me who repelled him? Was it my face that put him off? I was hoping to see him bad mouthing to everyone and being a badass. But what I saw wasn’t what I expected or at least wanting to expect. He was surrounded by some students, some of whom I knew, some I didn’t. They were talking softly amongst themselves but I could see a lot of smiles and some looks of ‘awe’ on faces when they looked at him. He was also talking and smiling at them in return although it wasn’t the typical ‘Chance’ smile I remembered. It was a smile nonetheless and knowing that it wouldn’t ever be directed at me angered and saddened me somewhat, how much ever I tried to repress the feelings.

I didn’t realize I was staring until Chance turned slightly and his eyes met mine in one swift motion. The sudden movement and the fact that he was now staring back at me sent me into brief panic. I couldn’t just look away now that he had already caught me staring. Despite the panic, I couldn’t fail to take in his appearance. The penetrating blue of his eyes didn’t fail to intrigue me any less. There were tell-tale signs of dark circles either appearing or fading. His eyes also looked a bit baggy, like he wasn’t getting much sleep. His hair were properly combed but hardly styled. This was definitely not how a normal teenaged boy would appear in normal circumstances. He looked burdened. Or was I reading too much into it?

The way he was looking at me made it clear that he knew I had been looking at him all this time. It didn’t seem to faze him. If anything, he looked amused. His expressions changed and his previous smile turned to a smug smile and he raised one of his eyebrows as if in challenge.

All the feelings of awkwardness or having been caught staring vanished and I was truly annoyed with his odd behaviour. I shook my head. I had had enough for a day. I wasn’t going to let him get to me for the second time in one day. I was going to walk away when Steve came to me again with his smile a bit wider this time. “So, did you?” he asked in a high pitched voice. “Not yet. I’m heading there right now.”

He rolled his eyes dramatically and shook his head again. He even flailed his arms in a dismissive manner.

Steve was a bit…effeminate in his ways and the way he looked at the guys made his sexuality more than obvious. However, his appearance or the way he was never seemed to put other guys off. I would be constantly worried if I were in his place, but he carried himself with unfathomable confidence. He also possessed this caring element which made him very likeable. He was always genuinely concerned for other people. Girls enjoyed his company and guys loved his sense of humor. He was also a great looking guy and maybe attractive to those who were into the type if you know what I mean.

He practically dragged me in the direction of the notice board when he saw me looking at him with a pondering expression. My leg continued to mildly throb when being pulled like that.

Most of the kids seemed like they had already taken a good look at ‘the Notice’. Some looked thrilled while some looked agitated. Steve looked amused. His expressions couldn’t give anything away because he was hardly ever one of the main actors in any school play and mostly worked backstage.

There, finally I reached the white piece of paper securely pinned to the bulletin board which read NOTICE in big block letters. The first half of it was a welcome note from Mrs. Whittenger, our drama teacher to all the old and new students of the school who chose to be a part of the drama class. I chose to ignore it for now. Or maybe totally.

The other half though, was a list. Of names. I could see mine at the top of it. It read ‘Jayce Andrews-Danny’. After mine, was Chance’s which read ‘Chance Everett-Danny’. I was lost. The third one was Grace’s name; Grace Collins-Sandy. Danny-Sandy? The names sounded familiar. I had to think harder since the memory was somewhere there! GREASE! My eyes went wide when realization hit. We were doing a musical this year! I quickly read the welcome note I had so conveniently ignored earlier. Mrs. Whittenger had clearly thought ‘out of the box’ this year and wanted us to try out something we hadn’t done earlier. We had been informed on the first day of school so that we could have a head start in drama over other subjects and could start practicing for the auditions before studies got in the way.

I loved musicals but I wasn’t very confident of pulling the main character off perfectly. She had even chosen the students for the auditions on the basis of how far their acting skills went. Others were not supposed to try for the specified roles. I read through the list and almost all the students were the regular drama kids that had been in this class for a couple of years. Maybe she didn’t want to use the beginners for this play and save a little time by using only the ones with experience. I always did play the main characters so I wasn’t surprised when she had put me in for the role of Danny. What surprised me was that the other name was Chance’s.

Mrs. Whittenger had been teaching at the school for over 15 years. So she clearly wasn’t aware of Chance’s acting ‘exploits’? I think I sounded bitter to even my own inner voice.

I poke in my side reminded me of the surroundings. Steve had a smirk on his face and an eyebrow lifted.

“Isn’t playing ‘Grease’ going to be cool? I always wanted to do something like that.” He said cheerfully with a slight squeal.

“Yeah. So you in it this time?” I asked distractedly. He looked a bit hurt and I suddenly realized it sounded rude. But Steve was quick to get the ever present happy look back before I even registered the change.

“I AM!. I know it’s a little unbelievable. I was shocked myself. But I think she finally noticed my skills. Or maybe it was my pretty face.” He winked. Steve was the only guy who could use the word ‘pretty’ to describe his looks.

I looked through the list again and he was called for auditioning the character of ‘Doody’.

“Not bad.” I gave him a high-five. He giggled again and I inwardly rolled my eyes.

Mrs. Whittenger had dropped this bombshell on us and disappeared completely. I wondered if she had given us some time to digest the news and think about it before outright rejecting it. I knew I wasn’t too happy (or prepared enough) to act in a full musical. And I assumed there were others who felt likewise.

“Not happy to be Danny?” I heard a voice a little too close to be a humanly normal distance and jumped. I turned to find Chance right in my face.

“Didn’t mean to scare you.” He didn’t look very apologetic. He was trying to get the meanest look on his face and it was working to a t.

“Just thought of wishing you good luck. You might need some luck.” He threw a glance at Steve, mumbled a ‘you too’ and left with his ‘followers’ trailing behind. They obviously didn't know him much since he was new. It reminded me of when we were kids. He always attracted people's attention. Was I already fading in the background? Was I already 'outdated'? Why was he doing that to me? What is up with the guy?

“What is up with that guy?” Steve asked. I looked at him. He had a certain ‘look’ on his face. I knew that look. He always got that look when he found someone especially interesting.

I chose to keep my mouth shut and my face neutral. So this was going to be a challenging year. Chance wanted this to be challenging. I liked some healthy competition but hated to be ‘challenged’. Well, he asked for it.

I was suddenly very interested in being around my friends. Especially Gavin. Going to the mall with your girlfriend and friends wasn’t such a bad thing after all.