art meeting
“Hey Rexxie, could we go to the movies tonight?” Evan asks said boy, as he walks into the kitchen. “Who is we?” He asks. “You,me,and Barty,” Evan responds, smiling.
“Ooh,” Rex teases, “Sure, we can. I”ll be at the campus till 4.30 though, art club.”
“Art club?” Evan questions, “You’re actually going to a meeting?”
“Yeah, Dora convinced me yesterday,” Rex replies, “At least to hear more about the art show in December.”
“You two are like soulmates,” he jokes, “She could convince you to sell your kidney.” A ‘shut up’ is heard from Rex’s mouth as he walks out the flat.
He arrived at his campus at 3, quickly walking to the Humanities building. The art club always met on the second floor and since the elevator had been out of service since the 90’s he had to take the stairs. A small reason he attended few meetings.
The club consisted of about 40 members, but only about 15 showed up to most meetings. Dora was a very good president in many ways, one of those ways was her skill of recruitment. It seemed only last year, there were only 10 members. Though, she would never take the credit for it, always saying it was the club itself, bringing people in. The events were always a hit, usually gaining the club more members each time.
Rex hadn’t wanted to join at first, but of course Dora had persuaded him. It wasn’t all her though, Dorcas had been trying to get him to join since they all had started at uni. When he first joined, he had attended all the meetings, pouring his soul into the club. But when his parents disowned him, for ‘disgracing the family name’, he had to get a job, leaving the club behind. Dora understood his situation, which is why she’s always so lenient on him. No one but Dora knew about his family, Rex always brushing off the questions.
The meeting was short, a brief explanation of the show happening in a few months was given. Andy, the club’s VP, discussed the theme of the show, ‘Growth’. It was a little basic to Rex, but he couldn’t judge.
“Hey Rex!” Andy exclaimed, once the meeting was over, walking over to the boy.”I barely recognized you, how have you been? You haven’t been to a meeting in a while.”
“I’m okay,” He smiles sheepishly, “How’s my parents?”
“Oh, um,” They sigh, “I wouldn’t know. My parents haven’t spoken to me in months.”
“What? Why?” He asks, honestly shocked.
“I came out to them,” Andy replied, looking down, “They ended up disowning me, told me I was just like ‘Orion and Walburga’s dreadful boys’. I guess only Cissy and Bella are left now.”
“Hey,” Rex smiles at his cousin, “It’ll be okay. At least we’re both out of that awful family.”
“Yeah,” They sniffled, “You’re right. Fuck the Black family name.”
“Exactly,” Rex replies, “So where are you staying now?”
“My partner’s place,” They answer, pulling out their phone, “This is him.” They show Rex their lock screen, a photo of a muscular bearded man hugging a dog on it.
“You sure hit the jackpot,” He jokes, “Are you working anywhere?”
“You sure are full of questions,” They laugh, “How about we go out for lunch sometime and catch up?”
“Sure, I’d like that,” He says, handing his phone over, “I gotta go, supposed to be a third wheel on a movie date.” Andy just laughs, typing in their number.
“Have fun, little prince.” Andy says, before joining a group of underclassmen to answer their questions.
The theatre was silent as they watched Cady Heron absolutely ruin her life. Rex watched as she gave Regina George fake slimming candy bars, not really paying attention. Beside him was Evan, who insisted on sitting in the middle of Rex and Barty because ‘I wanna hold the popcorn, Rex always hogs it’. Barty fell for it, Rex only going along, because he knew the boy needed a win.
He feels as though he’s about to fall asleep, when his phone vibrates. He quietly gets his phone out, turning the brightness down. It’s not like the theatre was packed, It was quite literally just his trio and 5 other people.
Jam - Whatcha doing?
You - Watching Mean Girls, you?
Jam - Mean Girls? Didn’t think that was your thing lol
You - It usually isn’t, but I’m just here as a third wheel
Jam - Well how’s that going then?
You - Awful, these two idiots don’t realise they’re in love
Jam - I know how that is
Jam - My brother and his fiancé were madly in love for years before they could even fathom the other was also in love
You - Were you also a third wheel then?
Jam - eh, not really
Jam - sure they were always together, but I had wormy and lils
You - I forgot you went to school with her, she doesn’t seem like a board school asshole
Jam - and I do?
Jam - I can’t believe you Rex lol
You - You know I have a point
Jam - Yeah yeah, just cause it’s true doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt
You - well the truth hurts babe
You - oh shit I gotta go, Ev’s giving me a side glare!
The movie had finally ended, the boys heading home. Barty and Evan had seemed to be walking closer than usual, something Rex wouldn’t dare point out. He was just happy they were realising their growing feelings. He had endured the pining all throughout secondary school, dealing with both sides of the same story.
‘I can’t believe, He’s going to the ball with Bella! It’s unfair!’ A young Barty would whine to Rex. ‘Why couldn’t he have just asked me to go?’
‘Barty is so dumb, Rex. I have to go to the ball with Bella! I wasn’t planning on it, but she cornered me. Ughh!’ Evan would complain not even an hour later to an exhausted Rex.
He had been dealing with these situations for nearly 10 years. Every ball, every village weekend, every event he would hear the same whines from the boys about the other. When Evan told Dorcas about his crush on Barty in their 5th year, he was so happy. The two, Rex and Dorcas, soon became a team, working together to get their friends together.They had been unsuccessful for years, but fingers crossed it’d happen soon.