Chapter 1
As Jay crept down the performing arts hallway the first thing he noticed was how fucking loud the drama club was. It made him hesitate a moment, hand hovering over the door knob, but he decided to just go for it, like ripping a band-aid off. In his decision, he accidentally threw open the door too hard, and it announced his entrance with a loud thud, his face paling at the noise that resounded through the room, silencing all the incessant chatter.
Now Jay was standing in the doorway and the eyes of people that were scattered around the room were focused in on him, having been alarmed by the loud noise but now much more interested in the newcomer.
In this moment, the second thing he noticed was that none of them looked as he had expected them to. Stereotypes are shitty, yeah, he knew that, but he didn't expect to walk into a room of just normal-looking teenagers, especially not teenagers that looked the type to just fade into the background no matter where they went. He expected more....flair, more style. People that stood out a little bit more, not this. He couldn't decide whether this fact was more disappointing or relieving.
A couch resided on the wall opposite the door Jay had entered through, on which a girl with long, brown hair and lanky limbs was laying while a guy that Jay went to middle school with and another girl, this time with fluffy, dull brown hair and sunken-in eyes, chilled on the arms of the seat. The guy's name was on the tip of Jay's tongue, the back of his mind, but the best he could come up with at the moment was just the letter S, so he gave up shortly.
On the other wall was a large mirror that took up the whole wall, where a short, blonde girl had been fixing her lip gloss before Jay had walked in. She sent a warm grin Jay's way before turning back to her lip gloss adjustments. Sitting at the desk right behind her was Alex Kralie, one of Jay's old friends. He was positioned sideways in the chair, so as to face Blondie over there. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't bring himself to look at Alex, an ashamed blush creeping up his neck.
A brief glance to Jay's right revealed that there were two more students sitting, a guy with dark hair and sideburns and another guy with close-cropped brown hair and kind eyes, sitting at one of the tables, separated from everybody else. The rest of the club members were located closer to the farther wall of the drama room, while those two were sitting quite close to the door. They were facing each other but staring at Jay and whispering to each other. The newest member of drama club gulped and shifted his weight from foot to foot unsurely, glancing around.
The drama teacher, Mr. Cohl, was leaning back in his chair, casually watching his hesitation with half-lidded eyes and a lazy smile. He pointed at a clipboard on the table located next to the door and in front of the two loners.
¨Sign in for AEP,¨ were the only words the teacher spoke before he stood from his desk and headed down a hallway that derived from the classroom. A quick glimpse is all Jay got of the hallway, but it was enough for him to recognize the fact that 2 dressing rooms and another door were located pretty close together down there. Suddenly, now with the teacher's absence, the room exploded back into chatter, obviously already over the novelty of new blood.
After filling out the form while desperately trying to ignore the feeling of stares on his face, he looked up and discovered that the feeling was not just nerves getting to him. Sideburn Boy and Alex were both watching him, Sideburn Boy inquisitively and Alex keenly. However, Sideburn Boy politely gave his attention back to his partner, while Alex just downright stared Jay down, obviously unafraid and somewhat challenging. Jay being Jay, he backed down easily, breaking eye contact after a few moments.
It took Jay embarrassingly long to decide where to sit. After all, the only person whose name he knew was Alex, but he wasn't sure at all if Alex and him were on talking terms anymore. He decided against it. He could always join S-kid, but it's frowned upon to forget the name of someone you went to school with. What if S-kid knew Jay's name? Then, Jay would just seem rude and ignorant. He recognized it as an option, but still swept his gaze over to the two away from everybody else. Jay could tell Sideburn Boy had been peering at him whenever he thought Jay wouldn't notice, so that was kind of really intimidating. After noticing Jay's considering gaze, Kind Eyes beamed and sent a wave his way. He smiled back, but then noticed Sideburn Boy squinting at him. He couldn't tell whether if it was because he was trying to figure Jay out, or if it was because he was suspicious of Jay, or maybe even if the light was too bright. Maybe he just needed glasses? Jay had no idea, but he'd rather not risk it.
His best option was probably S-Kid and the two brunettes, so after an awkward insertion into the group conversation, he soon found himself situated in front of the cross, sitting cross-legged, all of them complaining about a terrible biology teacher they each had in common. It had taken a little bit of prodding to get him to speak up in the conversation, but soon he was the one telling stories about the bio teacher's antics.
Apparently, as he soon found out, the girl with fluffy hair was Jessica, the girl with lanky limbs was Sarah, and S-kid was Seth. At least he was right about the S part. Through conversation, it was revealed that Jessica had joined drama club pretty recently as well, so she and Jay chatted amiably while Sarah and Seth discussed past meetings that neither Jay nor Jessica had been to. Jay discovered that it was actually pretty fun to hang out with Jessica, Seth, and Sarah.
¨So, who are those two over there? Why aren't they with the rest of the club?¨ He asked in a hushed tone during a lull in their conversation, eyes turned discreetly towards Kind Eyes and Sideburn Boy. Sarah pursed her lips, eyebrows furrowed in what appeared to be concentration or thought or maybe even pity, but didn't look like she was going to speak any time soon, so Seth took it upon himself to answer.
¨Tim and Brian? They're like the ambiguously gay duo in this club. You know, that pair. Where Tim goes, Brian's bound to follow. I still can't tell if he's more like the overprotective momma bear and Tim's the cub, or if Tim's the momma duck and Brian's the following duckling. Either way, Tim has a few problems, and Brian doesn't leave him alone to deal with it,¨ Seth babbled, fidgeting with a loose seam on the back of the couch, ¨They seem kind of cool, but I don't think they like me that much.¨
¨Problems?¨ Jay echoed the only part he managed to catch.
¨Problems.¨ Seth confirmed stupidly, not at all clarifying the underlying tone behind the words.
Jay didn't bother questioning the word again, but instead took a moment to think out his next words, then asked, ¨Is he...okay? Should I be his friend?¨
This time, it was Sarah who talked, her expression now uninterested, ¨He's fine as far as you're concerned, but yeah, you should still be his friend, he's actually pretty cool. Tim doesn't like Seth 'cause we were all working on some stupid performance called Marble Wasps or something, and Alex was being snappier than usual, and this fucker wasted all of Tim's break complaining and complaining,¨ A small sigh left Sarah's lips before she continued, a shrug pulling at her shoulders, ¨In my opinion, it's kinda stupid to hold a grudge over something as small as that, but hey, none of it's my business.¨
¨We only have three minutes of AEP left, but all the drama club members are gonna meet up next weekend. If you come, you can talk to Tim and Brian then, and we can see if it's just me he doesn't like,¨ Seth grinned at Jay slyly, obviously expecting Tim to dislike anyone and everyone he meets.
True to his word, the bell rang three minutes later. Everyone leapt towards the door at the sound, but Jay lagged behind a little, scanning the group pooling around the door. He locked eyes with Sidebur--No, Tim. He locked eyes with Tim once more. They both sent a single nod the other's way. Jay wasn't quite sure why he did it. Approval? Agreement? A peace treaty? A greeting?
All he knew was that he already couldn't wait for next weekend.