Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Otto, from a young age, had learned to forgive and forget. To not dwell over the stares in the hallways, and the name calling, and the whispers that fluttered around him like a chattering ghost.

It was no different today. The usual jabs, the jeers. An occasional trip or push. But today was the same as ever. Otto was just there. Always hovering, never belonging.

He wasn't the smartest kid in his class. He barely answered a question right when the teacher called on him, his quiet presence taking up as little space as possible in the front of his teacher’s classroom. Otto could never pay attention for more than ten minutes, his attention constantly wavering back and forth.

That would be the death of him one day.

“Hey! Peabrain!” Otto felt a sharp twack on the back of his head, and he turned around sharply, his eyes narrowing at the sight of Melchior Gabor.

Melchior Gabor was everything you should aspire to be. He was smart, beautiful (not like he would tell anyone that), and so much more. The president of the ASL club, the Model United Nations president, captain of the football team- you could name anything, and he’s done it at some point or another. But there was one tiny problem: he was a pretentious dick all the time.

All the time. If you even contradicted him one tiny bit, he would send his desperate minions after you just to prove some kind of sick point. He preyed over the innocence of freshmen, leaving them to be husks of their former, smiling selves. But apparently, Otto was the only person who realized that in the whole entire school. Even teachers fell for Melchior.

“What do you want, Melchior?’ Otto scowled at him softly, his brow furrowing at his enemy’s snivelling face.

“Well, I was just wondering if you were going to try out for the spring musical? You know… we’re doing Les Miserables. I think it’s going to be great.” Melchior stared at Otto like he was just asking to contradict him.

“Since when have you been a thespian, Melchior? Doesn’t that clash with your inflated ego?” Otto retaliated. Melchior blushed, his whole entire face turning red.

“Just-just consider it. We kinda need more people. Let me know if you want to audition, okay?” Melchior snatched a paper from the depths of his backpack and threw it on his desk. He swung his bag over his shoulder and walked away, his swagger causing everyone to stare admiringly at his receding frame.

“ The Melchior Gabor?! He was actually being nice to you for once?” Thea was practically screaming at Otto over the phone, her voice turned up two octaves too high and too loud in his ear. 

“Yes, Thea, we all know you like him. Personally, I don’t see what you see. He still has an inflated ego, and if you were to ask any girl at school, they might tell you that he has a pretty small-”

“Oh, shut up!” Thea screeched. “So… what about that Georg boy, huh? He’s pretty cute. Isn’t he in your Lit class? I would totally scope him out if I were you.”

Otto blushed hard, and was really glad that Thea couldn’t see his face. “He-he’s new, Thea. Chill out. I can’t just go up to him and say hi or anything.”

“I heard that he plays the piano and that he’s going to be part of the pit in the spring musical, but I don’t really know. I could-” Otto cut her off before she could even finish her thought.

“NO! No, it’s fine. I-I can find out myself.” Otto’s heart thundered in his ears, and his chest felt like it was about to explode.

He had definitely seen Georg around school and in his Lit class. He was always bent down over something, and could miraculously get every answer right on a quiz or a test without even batting an eyelash.

And oh, he was pretty cute too.

“Ok, fine, you dimwit. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Before Otto could even say goodbye, he dial clicked and he was met with silence. He sighed and took the flier out of his pocket, staring at it’s promise.

The auditions were in two weeks. Maybe, just maybe , he could be able to get a song together. That boy had caught his interest, and he didn’t want to let that go.

“Melchior! Hey, wait up!” Otto pushed people in the hallways to get to Melchior just before he walked into his classroom, his heart beating wildly. He had the flier grasped in his hands, the paper bent and torn in some places from him turning it over and over in his hands.

For the past few weeks, he had been trying to choose a song and actually get in the mindset to practice it. Thea, who had been playing the piano since she was seven, had managed to help him choose Tonight from West Side Story, and they had been practicing it every night since.

“You actually thought about it, huh? Well, the auditions are this Wednesday, so if you’re going to go, please don’t be late. We’re going to be on a schedule.” Before Otto could even get another word out, Melchior had already turned away and knocked a freshman to the floor in his haste to get into the classroom.

Otto sighed. How far is this going to go before Melchior finally sees that I’m not the enemy? He wasn’t trying to steal his spotlight or ruin his careful facade of pretentiousness.

But no one ever learned.

Chapter Text

When Otto walked into the auditorium, he didn’t expect so many people. All of those die hard, snotty thespians, who only cared to get the lead roles and sing all the solos.

Otto had obviously thought of thespians as just generally annoying, but never like this. A girl was practically screaming at one of her friends, accusing her of taking her audition song for herself, and a boy that Otto recognized as Melchior was loudly pronouncing his monologue to an invisible Cosette, much to the annoyance of the people around him.”

If this was only the audition process, then only God knew how everyone would act when the cast list was put up. 

“Hey, Otto!” Otto looked up from the floor to see a beaming Wendla waving at him from the back row. She was carrying a heavy binder under her arms and was clicking a pen absentmindedly, her face set into a sheepish grin.

“Who are you auditioning for? I’m auditioning for Eponine, and I’m singing Human Heart from Once On This Island, but I don’t think I’ll get it. I mean, there’s a lot more girls in here who can sing better than me, and even if they didn’t, they probably have enough money to convince the director to give them a lead role. I mean I’m not really a theatre girl, I’m in the choir, so I know that-”

“Oh, shh, Wendla! You’re going to do amazing.” Otto had known Wendla can sing, and sing well. He was always being invited to her choir concerts, and she always sounded spectacular.

“Attention! Attention, everyone! If you guys could come down to the first three rows, that would be great. Jesus, that’s a lot of people.” The girl was wearing all black, and her combat boots made a dull banging sound whenever they hit the floor. ‘Oky, hi guys! I’m Ilse, your student stage manager, and I’ll be overseeing the audition process today.

Ilse looked around the room at the disinterested and mocking faces and smirked just a tiny bit. “The audition process will go like this: I am going to be calling out a name from the list I have here-” She grasped a piece of paper in her hand and held it up to the crowd. “-and you will be reporting to the green room, where you will be auditioned. There’s going to be an accompanist in the room as well, so you should be prepared to give your sheet music to him and name the tempo that you’re comfortable with, ok?”

Ilse barely waited for some sort of agreement before she plundered on. “There will be no callback. The cast list will be put up on the bulletin in about two weeks. Best of luck to all of you!” Ilse unfolded the piece of paper and scanned the list with her finger, her gaze resting on a name.

 “Hanschen Rilow! Could you please come with me?”

Otto could see a boy rise up from his seat and go up the stage, his swagger extremely unapologetic. He had a folder in his hands, and he seemed to carry an aura of bossiness.

“Ohh, I can’t believe Hanschen’s auditioning! He’s just too good for anyone to even bother. I mean, come on.”

“Well, I don’t think he’s all that good. He can barely dance.” Otto could hear Melchior’s accusing tone from across the room, and Otto frowned. How could anyone possibly be this pretentious?

 “Otto Lammermeier? Could you please come to the stage?”

Otto took a sharp breath and grabbed his music, his blood roaring in his ears. Why was he so nervous? It was just a stupid high school audition. It’s not like Otto will be judged if he messes up. But there was the possibility of messing up a note, or singing in the wrong key, or just being awkward and weird . Being a bother. Being an outcast.

Oh God. Otto needed to calm down. Take a breath. Breathe. Inhale. Exhale.

He could do this.

Otto walked up to the stage, and Ilse beckoned over to him. “The director isn’t here at the moment, but if you would like, you could stay either in the green room or in here and I can get you when he comes back, it’s no problem—“

“Oh, um, no, it’s fine. I’ll stay in the green room.” Otto said sheepishly.

“Okay! Follow me, please.” Otto followed Ilse backstage, the air polluted with dust and wood. It was dark, and Otto could barely see his feet, only the silhouette of Ilse in front of him.

“So, this is the green room—“ Otto could dimly hear the sound of the piano in the next room “—where your accompanist will talk to you. Since our director isn’t here at the moment, you’ll obviously have more time to talk to him about stuff. He’s a junior, I think? Anyways, good luck!”

Ilse opened the door and ushered Otto inside. “He’s pretty nice, I heard. Have fun!” She whispered.

“Ilse, I know that Frau Daimler isn’t back yet, but I was just—“

The boy stopped playing the piano and quickly turned around to face Otto, and his expression turning into a look of confusion.

“Oh, you’re not—are you auditioning?”

 Otto didn’t answer. He didn’t even care if he was staring at him in some creepy way—this boy was adorable.

 The boy had brown eyes that twinkled over his spectacles, and his frame was slight and skinny. His lips were a soft pink and were stretched in some kind of curious smile as if he couldn’t wait for Otto to say something.

 He was so cute. Otto couldn’t resist staring, even if he was being a creep.

 “Umm…” The boy muttered.

“Oh, sorry! Um—yeah, I’m auditioning. My name’s Otto Lammermeier.”

“Oh, really! It’s uncommon to see a fresh face in an audition. It’s always the same people, you know? Especially the thespians. They can get pretty annoying.” The boy laughed softly, his voice light and airy. “So many of the girls sang either If I Loved You or Astonishing, and frankly, I don't think they were all lead role worthy or anything. But that's just my opinion" The boy spoke a hundred words a minute and barely took any breaths, only stopping to regard Otto with a look that he couldn't place.

“What song are you singing? Since the director isn’t here just yet, we could probably run the song just so we can be on the same page, okay? 

“Oh, um, sure.” Otto handed the music over to the boy, and he set it softly on the music stand.

 “Oh, by the way, my name is Georg! Nice to meet you."

Oh no.

This couldn’t be happening.