More then Survive
As the curtains opened you could see a few of the students in stage crew making a few last adjustments to the set before hurriedly walking offstage. The lights went off completely, and eerie music began to fill the room. A spotlight flickered to life, and focused on a boy with brown hair was sitting at a desk, with a computer in front of him. The audience cheered before quieting down. The music faded away to be replaced with a more upbeat electronic tune, and the distance noise of what sounded like a ticking clock. The boy; Charles the brochure listed began tapping his foot impatiently, and began to sing.
“C-c-c-c’mon, C-c-c-c’mon go go.”
“C-c-c-c’mon, C-c-c-c’mon go go.”
He turned to the audience.
“I’m waiting for my porno to load.” A grumpy expression painted itself on the boy’s face.
A group of teens started laughing in the middle row, Steve almost spat out his drink much to Tony’s amusement and Scott snorted. A few of the other chuckled. Charles continued like nothing happened.
“Well this is going to be interesting.” Sam said. The rest of the Avengers nodded.
“My brain is gonna fricken explode.”
“And of course now it’s time to hit the road.”
“Which means I’ll be uncomfortable all day.”
“But that really isn’t such a change, if I’m not feeling weird or super strange.”
He jumped onto a bed on the floor while he sang the verse.
“My life would be in utter disarray, cause freaking out is my okay.” His hands flew into the air to exaggerate his annoyance, and he frowned at the audience.
Rolling off the mattress placed on the floor, Charles continued.
“Good morning time to start the day!”
The boy irritably stood up from his desk, pulling on a pair of denim jeans. He walked over to another part of the stage where the spotlight showed a bathroom had been set up.
“C-c-c-c’mon, C-c-c-c’mon go go.”
“C-c-c-c’mon, C-c-c-c’mon go go.”
Another boy walked on stage, wearing a plaid robe, with a shirt and boxers. The Avengers recognized him as a boy named Jason.
“Dad! Jeez! Haven’t you ever heard of Privacy?!” Charles exclaimed, portraying an air of flustardness and once again annoyance.
“Now we’re all men in this house. Pretend we’re in the army.” Jason replied, whilst Charles rolled his eyes.
“Just...when I get home, please be wearing pants , okay?”
“Ten-hut.” Jason saluted Charles before walking out of the spotlight where he could no longer be seen.
Charles walked back to his room, facing the audience again.
“Should I take the bus or walk instead?”
“I feel my stomach filling up with dread.” Charles fake collapsed onto the chair he sat on in the beginning of the song.
“When I get nervous my whole face goes red.”
“Dude, weigh the options calmly and be still. A junior on the bus is killer weak. But if I walk when I arrive I’m gonna straight-up reek, and my boxers will be bunchy and my pits will leak.” Charles groaned.
He stood up and grabbed a backpack laying on the floor and began filling it with folders and papers from the desk.
“Oh god, I wish I had the skill, to just be cool and chill instead.” He began to walk on the stage, the spotlight following him as he sang.
“I don’t wanna be a hero, I just wanna stay in the line.”
“I’ll never be a Rob Deniro, for me Joe Pesci is fine.” Charles bumped into a couple of ensemble members fake chatting. He apologized and continued walking.
“So I’ll follow my own rules, and I’ll use them as my tools to stay alive.”
Lights all along the stage softly lit up revealing ensemble members walking across the stage. Charles stood near the end of the stage, with a brighter spotlight still on him.
“I don’t want to be special no, no I just wanna survive.”
Grasping his backpack he began to walk with the crowd, while his spotlight dimmed while he disappeared in the rest of the students.
“C-c-c-c’mon, C-c-c-c’mon go go.”
“C-c-c-c’mon, C-c-c-c’mon go go.”
A girl who the Avengers recognized as Michelle Jones, or Peter’s girlfriend approached two other girls played by Sally and Bett who were gossiping. They began to talk as soon as the spotlight reappeared on them.
“So Jenna Rolan said Madeline told Jake; ‘I’ll only have sex with you if you if you beat me at pool.And then she lost at pool. Deliberately!”
“That is so awesome.” The other girl, Betty replied.
A few members in the audience laughed.
“Brooke!”
“I mean slutty.”
Michelle’s character then intervened. “And then Madeline was all like-“
“I’m telling this story, Jenna!” Sally interrupted.
Michelle frowned but made no move to retort.
“Oh my god, he was like, getting off on that.”
Charles then reappeared on the crowd and the spotlight focused on him. As he was walking by, he bumped into another boy, who immediately became angry.
“Yo, don’t touch me tall-ass!” He shouted.
“Sorry, I was just trying to-”
“Don’t move.” The bully; Rich played by Flash said, As he wrote something on the back of Charles’s backpack.
“You wash that off, and you’re dead.” He threatened, walking off before meeting with another kid, listed as Abe.
“Yo! Jakey D! What’s the deal with Madeline?”
“Oh, I shouldn’t say.” He replied, before adding on.
“But it’s a good thing I rock at pool.”
The two boys cheered and high-fives while Charles rolls his eyes and starts to sing again.
“I navigate the dangerous halls, focus on a poster there on the wall.” Charles looks at a whiteboard the stage crew designed it look live an event board wall, where indeed a poster hung.
“Avoiding any eye contact at all, and trying hard to remain unseen.”
“The posters closer now what does it say.” The boy’s face shows an expression of curiosity.
“It’s a sign-up for the after school play.”
Charles pauses as he notices Flash walking past, and shrinks behind the wall watching him leave.
“It’s a sign-up sheet for getting called gay.” Charles scowls.
“And that’s not what I need right now end scene. I hang a left and there’s-“
“Christine~” Charles sings.
Some of the audience cheers, especially what seems to be a group of teenage girls who’ve come to cheer their friend on.
A girl, Cindy the paper says, dramatically walks out onto the stage. The lights dim and the spotlight fasten a pink tinge as they focus on Sally and Charles.
“Christine~”
“Christine~”
“Christine Canigula~”
“Christine~”
“Ooh, someone’s got a love interest.” Wanda teasing says to the others.
Charles, having been so caught up with Cindy, doesn’t notice when she stops behind him.
“Excuse me?” She said.
“Um-m Yeah” Charles stutters, caught off guard.
“I think someone wrote ‘BOYF’ on your backpack?” Cindy points to Charles’s backpack.
And then Charles ran off, while the crowd erupted with laughter. “Oh yeah, real slick Jeremy.” Clint said.
“Oh that was smooth, yeah that was super pimp. My mack daddy game couldn’t be more limp.” Charles frustratedly muttered.
“No time to wallow, no instead, just clear your brain and move ahead.” Charles stopped walking and sat down at a cluster of tables.
“Accept that you’re one of those guys, who’ll be a virgin till he dies.” Charles slammed his head onto his desk before laying it in his arms in disappointment, while a few people in the crowd chuckled at his misery.
“I don’t wanna be a baller, just want some skills to count on.” Charles looked up at the ceiling in desperation.
“If my nuts were any smaller, they would be totally gone.”
“If I continue at this rate, the only thing I’ll ever date is my MacBookPBO hard drive.” Charles covered his face in his hands.
“I don’t want to be Clooney, no no, I just wanna survive.”
Suddenly the audience burst into cheers. The others wondered why when they saw who entered the stage, they shared smiles and began to clap too.
“Micheal!” Charles said, smiling.
Peter winked at him through the fake glasses he had donned before starting sing.
“Jeremy, my buddy, how’s it hanging? Lunch is banging, have my sushi, got my slushy and more.” Peter began to groove out to the music while he sang. Charles got up and they both high fived each other in tune with the beat of the song.
“The roll was Negimaki and I’m feeling kinda cocky cuz the girl at Sev’ Elev’ gave me a generous pour.”
“You’re listening to Bob Marley again, aren’t you?” Charles said, tapping the headphones Peter was wearing, while the boy in question simply grinned.
“Oh! I’m listening to Marley and the groove is hella gnarly, and we’re almost at the end of the song.” Peter sang as Charles sat back down to pick at the food in his lunch tray.
“Yeah that was the end,” Peter struck a few final dance moves before jumping into the seat next to Charles and taking off the headphones. “Now tell me friend how was class, you look like ass, what’s wrong.”
A couple of chuckles for the crowd occurred before Charles showed Peter his backpack.
“BOYF?” He said with confusion.
“What does that even mean?” Charles asked, looking at backpack. Peter had grabbed his own backpack as well at this point.
The two boys put their backpacks together, making a show of finding the right combination to see the message written on both backpacks, until both were facing the crowd with ‘Boyf riends’ written on them. They both scowled.
Bucky, Sam, Wanda and Thor laughed, while the others snickered shook their heads.
“I hate this school.” Charles said grumpily before perking up.
“Oh hey! I write Christine a letter telling her how I feel!”
“That’s progress.” Peter said with a smile.
“Yeah! I tore it up and flushed it.”
Peter made a face.
“It’s still progress.” Charles insisted.
“Hey it's all good.” Peter reassured him, before adding with a happy expression.
“Ehy! I saw, on Discovery, that humanity has stopped evolving.
“That’s...good?” Charles said hesitantly.
“Evolution’s survival of the fittest, right? But now, because of technology...you don’t have to be strong to survive.” Peter exclaimed.
“Which means there’s never been a better time in history to be a loser!” Peter practically shouted this verse and threw his hands up in celebration.
The crowd laughed, including most of the Avengers.
“That includes him right?” Tony said. Pepper smiled fondly at him.
“So own it! Why try to be cool when you can be-“
“Signing up for the play.” Charles interrupted.
“I was gonna say getting stoned in my basement, but-” Peter said.
“No! I mean-look who’s signing up for the play!”
“Christine~”
“Christine~” The girl playing Christine; Cindy began to skip to the wall.
“Christine~” Micheal sang this time, as Cindy struck a few over the top poses. A few people in the audience chuckled.
“Christine~” Both of them sang this time, as Cindy twirled around on the stage and jumped onto a chair.
“Christine Canigula~” A group of ensemble members picked Cindy up in the ballet pose she struck and carried her over to the sign up sheet.
“Christine~”
“Christine~” Charles began to stand up.
“Christine Canigula~” The ensemble sang along. The stage lights darkened again so that the brightest spotlights were focused on Charles and the wall.
“I feel my body moving through the air.”
“I see my converse walking over there.”
“I take a shaky breath and I prepare.”
“Who cares if people think I’m lame, Christine signed, I’ll do the same.”
“I grab the pen I write my name.”
The stagelights brighten up so you can see the end of the stage Charles is standing by is now surrounded by a group of students, lead by the bully from before.
“GAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!” Rich shouts.
“Ahahahahaha!” The others around him laugh as Charles sighs. Some of the audience laugh.
The ensemble disperse, one of them speaks up, still laughing slightly.
“I like gay people.”
At this the stage be began to full on roar with laughter, and you could see Steve, Bucky, Natasha and Bruce shaking from the action.
“I’m never gonna be the cool guy.”
“I'm more the one who’s left out.” Charles sang sadly.
“Of all the characters at school, I am not the one the story’s about.” Grabbing his backpack from Peter, he started to slowly walking through the cast members on the stage.
“Why can’t someone just help me out!” He sang, looking at the audience.
“And teach me how to thrive.” The lights lit up to show him navigating the ensemble students.
“Help me to more, then survive.” He stretched his arms out before continuing to walk through the crowd.
“More than survive.”
“More than survive.”
He reached the opposite end of the stage where a cluster of desk where set up with other ensemble students in them to simulate a classroom.
“If this was an apocalypse, I would not need any tips in how to stay alive.” He looked at those watching.
“But since the zombie’s army yet to descend, and the period is going to end.”
“I’m just trying my best to take the test and survive!” He got back up and walked out of the classroom.
The ensemble members began to sing.
“C-c-c-c’mon, C-c-c-c’mon go go!”
“C-c-c-c’mon, C-c-c-c’mon go go!” Charles reaches the middle of the stage.
“Go, go, go, go.”
“Go, go, go, go.”
“Go, go, go, go!”
And the song ended, with the curtains coming to a close.
Everyone clapped, and Scott remarked,
“That didn’t seem so bad!”
“It looks interesting.” Thor added.
“Micheal is a precious boi that must be protected, just like Peter.” Wanda added, while Natasha shook her head fondly.
And then the curtains opened again.