Archive of Our Own

Courtney’s entire theatre career trajectory goes up in flames the last week of August sophomore year when Ms. Dieter announces the fall musical will be Enchanted Sleeping Beauty.

For starters, it is in no way, shape, or form related to the Disney movie. Not that Courtney would be jazzed to do a production of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, but at least it would give her an opening to argue for an actually good Disney show like Beauty and the Beast or The Little Mermaid. For legal and licensing reasons, however, it is not.

High school was supposed to be for knocking out roles on Courtney’s list that she could only play as a teenager-slash-young-adult-depending-on-how-puberty-shakes-out. She had been gunning for them to do The Sound of Music her Junior year so she could either knock out Maria ten years ahead of schedule or be Liesel and sing “16 Going on 17” while it was still factual, and she had been hoping for Annie, Get Your Gun Senior year. Now she has to deal with a non-Broadway caliber production, plus she's sure she’ll lose one of the next two years to Grease since they didn’t last year. It seems Ms. Dieter had been unmoved by Courtney’s careful planning and unpersuaded by the logical presentation Courtney had laid out for her last May. She’ll have to take her vision board to the community theatre next spring (even if it means spending another summer teaching eight-year-olds how to chassé and do box steps).

At any rate, come September, Courtney is willing to blame her role as a nameless background extra on her lack of enthusiasm during tryouts and her apathy toward the show in general. Seriously, it’s the only explanation for her not being one of the show’s six fairy godmothers. On the bright side, Gene Belcher is an extra, too, and a very tall one at that.

At sixteen, Gene is already 5’8” like his mom and hairy like his dad. He’s got big hands and big feet, and he’s still growing in every direction. Naturally, Ms. Dieter sticks him far upstage in every crowd scene. Courtney sticks with him, despite still being 5’3”, and starts planning for a semi-flashy costume to make sure she gets seen by the audience regardless of the cast members in front of her. A big hat might be fun.

It’s during the first week of blocking – their first week in the auditorium and on the stage – that Courtney and Gene’s social situation starts sliding into worse territory, too.

She thought they could at least entertain themselves by making short web videos while Ms. Dieter was focusing on the leads, but Gene has been uncooperative. Mostly because he isn't paying Courtney any attention whatsoever, even though she's standing less than a foot away.

"Gene… Gene… Gene!" Courtney stops slapping her friend with the empty sleeves of her sweater for a minute. Why isn't this working? What is his damage tonight? He’d been so excited just a week before at read-through despite neither of them having any lines or solos or dance numbers. Now he's just staring off into space, almost mournfully. How did he drop off so fast?

Courtney moves so she's standing directly in front of Gene. She puts her back to his front then tries following his line of sight.

He seems to be looking downstage, where the lead actors are gathered. Maybe he's having one of those weird spells where he's thinking about his older sister graduating at the end of the year. Courtney squints and cocks her head. Tina's seems too far to the left for her to be the person Gene is glooming over, though.

Courtney lifts up onto her toes to put herself closer to Gene's eye line. Ah yes, that's better. And worse, because it seems like Gene is staring a hole into the side of Lenny DeStefano's head.

Lenny's only a sophomore like them, but he's Prince Alexander. He's a lead character, which is so unfair. He deserves it, Courtney thinks, but still. Unfair. The bad thing, though, is that Gene and Lenny were a thing for a hot minute last year. They dated for four months and stayed friendly if not close after they broke up. Now Lenny's with Dottie Minerva, and Gene insists he's cool with it whenever Courtney needles him about it. She was almost starting to believe him, too, but now she has her doubts.

"Excuse you," comes Gene's voice from behind Courtney as one of his hands finds her head and pushes her gently to side. "How are my adoring fans going to see me and my magnificent performance as Citizen Number 18 with Citizen Number 17 standing right in front of me?"

Courtney turns around to stick her tongue out at him. Gene smiles down at her, but his eyes still look sad.

Courtney frowns back at him. "Gene, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he says, sounding tired but not entirely bent out of shape. "I just... It's fine. I don't know."

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Courtney asks him. "Any time, any place."

"I know," Gene replies, reaching up again to pat the top of her head.

"Ow," says Courtney, reaching up to make him stop. She's worried that he didn't say anything after, but she resolves to leave things alone. For the rest of rehearsal, anyway. She absolutely has to know all the information. She doesn't need to bother Gene right now, though.

If Courtney can't get him to sing, she can definitely lean on Alex until he does.

*****

Alex has a weird thing about biking, and that thing is that he loves it. He says it’s faster than running and more fun than walking. Courtney doesn't understand the appeal; she's been over biking since she took Driver's Ed the past summer. She thinks it has something to do with Alex's love of movies and him trying to capture the fleeting joys of youth that only exist in fiction. Alex told her she was one to talk about that though, and they quickly dropped that subject forever.

The thing is, though, that Courtney now has to spend her evening after supper walking around town looking for Alex's bike. Even if she can’t find Alex, if she can find his bike, she can find him nearby.

Alex also has a weird thing about wanting to be outside a lot. Courtney doesn't understand that one either, and fortunately neither does Gene. Alex isn't athletic by any means (barring that one time he almost tried out for soccer); he just enjoys nature. He can usually be found at a park, or even sometimes a skate park even though he doesn't skateboard.

Tonight, he’s riding circles in the parking lot Wetty Set Go. The park’s closed for the season, but it’s still early enough in the year that it isn’t completely dark by the time Courtney finds him.

“Hey, Alex!” Courtney yells across the lot as soon as she spies him. Alex doesn’t acknowledge her, just keeps riding in aimless loops. He’s still wearing his backpack, like he hasn’t been home yet.

"Alex!" Still nothing. Courtney crosses her arms, pulling her purple denim jacket tighter across her body, and crosses the empty lot. She speeds up and slows down her pace a few times, timing it so she can jump in front of Alex's bike as he comes back around.

"It's me!" Courtney sings as Alex screams and swerves to narrowly miss her. "It’s me! It’s me, it’s me, it’s me! It’s me, it’s me, it’s…"

Alex swears at her. "Courtney! Jeez!" He rights himself, folding his arms on the handlebars so he can put his forehead down on them. "Give me a second. I can feel my heart beating in places I didn't know existed... Crap. Okay." He looks back up, a bit red in the face. "Sorry I almost hit you just now."

"You didn't see me or hear me yelling at you for the last five minutes?" Courtney asks, more worried than anything.

"Um, yeah, no," says Alex, glancing down at his shoes. "Sorry."

Courtney really doesn't want to beat around the bush. She had a mission. She had a plan. But she knows she can't confront Alex and ask him if he knows what's wrong with Gene when something is clearly wrong with Alex, too. That's bad form. Secretly, Courtney hopes their problems are related so she only has one on-going investigation. She doesn’t have the time to straighten them both out right now.

“So what’s… up?” Courtney asks after a quick mental scene change. “How are things going?”

Alex screws his face up. “You seriously didn’t track me down just to see how it’s going.”

“Okay, fine, I didn’t,” Courtney admits. “I wanted to ask you if you thought something was wrong with Gene because he was acting super weird tonight. Except now you’re being weird, and I don’t want you to think I don’t care about – “

“Oh no,” Alex interrupts, looking more interested than before. “No, no, that’s fine. What was wrong with Gene? What did he say? What was he like?”

Courtney rolls her eyes. “Quiet.”

“Uh-oh,” Alex replies. “Well nothing good can come of that.”

"Yeah, he was really Gene-ing out at play practice," Courtney starts to explain.

Alex gives a thoughtful huh. "It's been maybe a year since I saw him have a really good Gene-out."

Courtney frowns. "Haven't you seen him in fourth period Algebra?"

"Math class doesn't count," Alex says, waving a dismissive hand and wobbling a little as he does so. "It's like that for everybody."

“Yeah,” Courtney says, turning her back on Alex. She starts walking the direction she came from, silently trusting Alex to escort her home. “Anyway, he was staring so hard at the side of Lenny DeStefano’s head, I thought it was going to catch fire.”

“Yikes,” says Alex, not sounding as enthused as before. “You don’t think Gene’s having second thoughts about them splitting up, do you?”

“I don’t know,” Courtney replies. “Aside from all the staring, Gene seems like he’s fine with it.”

Alex hums in agreement, then jumps off his bike to walk with it beside Courtney.

For a few years, between elementary and high school, Gene and Alex fell out of Courtney's orbit. She still liked them; they just grew apart for a while. Courtney got more into spending time with other girls, more into spending time at the mall and experimenting with makeup and dating (like actually dating, not just hand-holding and telling everyone Gene was her boyfriend). It was only last year that she and Gene reconnected in Choir. She also sat next to Alex in Geometry and was pleased to learn both boys were still attached at the hip. It would have been so awkward if she befriended them separately and found out they were fighting or hated each other now.

One thing Courtney likes about Alex now is his ability to just be. He has his moments of panic and being dramatic, but for the most part he's pretty chill. Courtney feels like she's always fidgeting, always wanting to fill the silences with song and dance. Gene's a lot like her in that respect, except even louder, and the way they bounce off each other is super fun, but the quiet is nice sometimes. Alex is good for that. It's never awkward just being with him.

After a few minutes, Alex clears his throat. “Hey, Courtney?”

Courtney sniffs, a sudden gust of wind making her shiver. “What?”

“What would you do if you liked one of your friends, like, romantic-liked, but you didn’t want to ruin your friendship?” Alex says it fast, like he has to spit it out in one go.

Courtney stops walking, heart sinking in her chest. She wonders if missed a dose of Lanoxin without realizing it. “Alex, I’m flattered, but – "

“Not you!” Alex interjects. “I wouldn't have come to you if it was about you!”

Courtney scoffs. “Well, I don’t know that! Boys are always doing that in the movies, saying ‘I have this friend’ when it's really about them but they’re hiding it!

“Girl characters do that too!” Alex counters.

“I know,” Courtney replies, “but I’m saying because you’re a boy that we’re talking about boys, just generally.”

“We aren’t talking about boys!” Alex shrieks.

Courtney stops, taking a minute to process his outburst. “… Aren’t we?”

Alex looks away from her. By the light of the street lamps, Courtney can see his cheeks are flushed pink. He squeezes the handlebars of his bike once, twice. “I don’t know,” he says after a long pause. “Maybe. ...It’s nothing. I’m just confused.” He starts walking again.

“Alex, wait!” Courtney jogs to catch up to him. “Alex, we should start over.”

“It’s nothing!” Alex insists. “I just…” He stops and looks up, still avoiding Courtney’s gaze.

“I’ve only ever liked girls before,” he admits, almost under his breath. “I can't stop wondering if maybe I’m just confused about who or what I want.”

Courtney walks around him to stand in front of his bike. She plants her feet, then leans in to put her hands over Alex’s.

“Well, even if you aren’t, we’re still friends, and you can still talk to me about it,” she says, her tone leaving no room for argument.

Alex breathes out. He still won’t look at Courtney, but his shoulders sag, like he’s a bit more at ease. “Thanks, Courtney,” he says. The evening breeze blows a few orange and gold leaves between them.

“We should really head home,” Alex says, gently knocking Courtney’s hands off his.

“Right,” Courtney agrees. They walk in silence for a few more blocks before Courtney can’t resist breaking it. “Hey, Alex.”

“What?”

“If you were gay,” Courtney starts singing. “That’d be okay – “

Alex groans.

“I mean ‘cause hey!” Courtney continues, trying not to laugh. “I’d like you anyway!”

“I’m not gay!” Alex says. “I’m… both, I guess?”

"There’s more than two," Courtney corrects. Alex frowns, and Courtney decides to change tracks so as not to confuse him even more in one night. “But sure, sure. You like a boy, and you like a boy you’re friends with, right? I think that’s what this conversation started out about.”

Alex laughs nervously. “Oh look, isn’t that your house up ahead?”

“Alex,” says Courtney. It is decidedly not her house; they're two streets over from her house. "Wait. Did you say you romantic-liked one of your friends earlier?"

"No," Alex replies, his voice raising a full octave.

Courtney stops walking and snaps her arm up to point at Alex. "You did! And you only have two friends, so if it isn't me, then..."

"What?" Alex asks with another nervous laugh. "I don't like Gene! I mean, who said anything about Gene? I mean..." Alex's laugh turns into something weird and pitchy, which then turns into a series of short, shallow breaths.

"Alex, breathe!" Courtney shouts, reaching out to grab his nearest arm. He tries to pull away, but she digs her fingers in and doesn't let go until he's calmed down a little.

"It's fine," she adds, more quietly this time. "You didn't say anything. I was just guessing."

"Oh," says Alex. He swallows loud enough for Courtney to hear it. "Oh yeah. I guess that's true."

Well, that's part of one mystery solved, Courtney decides. She still doesn't know why Gene is being weird, though. Did Alex tell him already? Courtney can't believe he'd be stupid enough to be scared of coming out to Gene, who's probably the most open-minded person at their entire school. Unless Alex told him everything everything and Gene turned him down already. Bizarre as this whole night as been, though, Alex would probably be even more bummed out right now if that were the case. He wouldn't have basically admitted to having a crush on his BFF if he'd already had his heart stomped on. That isn't like Alex.

Courtney sighs. Looks like she's going to have to put her weekend plans on hold in favor of stalking Gene. Or maybe Alex. No, Gene first since that was her initial investigation. She can rotate weekends. She'll arrange for making all arrangements and proceed to plan the whole procedure.

"Courtney?" Alex asks nervously. "You've been quiet a really long time."

"What?" says Courtney. "Oh, sorry. I won't say anything to Gene, though."

"Good," Alex replies, finally cracking a smile. "I mean, thank you. For everything tonight. Friends?"

"Obviously," says Courtney.

It isn't easy to hug him with a bicycle sandwiched between them, but they make it work.

*****

Courtney has some of the greatest, most understanding friends a girl can have. Of course Rupa is down with changing their Saturday evening get-together at the mall to getting dinner at Pesto’s Pizzeria so Courtney can stake out Bob’s Burgers and see if she can’t shed some light on Gene’s weekly weirdness. Sure, they still hang out on weekends, and he’s less weird then, but there’s still something off about him, something Courtney can’t put her finger on. So, she’s forced to investigate on her own. She's off on a secret mission. A totally secret scheme.

“Were the binoculars really necessary?” asks Rupa.

Courtney lowers the binoculars in question to shoot Rupa a withering look. “Obviously. I can’t read their lips from here with just my eyes.”

“You can’t read lips either way,” Rupa argues. Courtney politely ignores her.

It looks like a normal night at Gene's dad's restaurant. She and Rupa have front-row seats since they're on Pesto's patio, but there isn't a lot of traffic. Some guys at the counter, a few people in booths. Gene and his sisters are doing something back by the bathroom.

"Oh hey, someone's coming," says Rupa. "Up the street on your left."

Courtney whips to her left, looking for movement in her field of vision.

From behind her, a voice asks, "Do you guys need another minute to look at the menu or - "

Courtney shushes him. It takes her another minute to place the guy going into the restaurant across the street, but then she recognizes him. It’s Darryl.

Courtney flips through her mental book. What does she know about Darryl? He’s a Junior. He’s a nerd. She does not remember his last name. He’s in charge of the Robotics Club, but he’s also in Choir. She’s never hung out with him one-on-one, but sometimes he’s there for the Belcher kids’ movie nights or adventures. He seems like a decent dude.

Courtney watches as Darryl sits down at the counter. Gene waves to him animatedly from across the restaurant, and then he’s ducking behind the counter and walking over to his friend. Gene reaches under where Courtney thinks the till is and pulls out his beat-up old keyboard. He sets it on the counter between them and starts plunking away. Darryl tilts his head and starts writing something on a napkin.

“Huh,” says Rupa. “Something weird is happening over there, I’ll give you that much.”

“I’ll say,” Courtney huffs. Gene writing songs while he’s supposed to be working is par for the course. But why is he asking Darryl for his opinions on his music and not, say, his best girl friend who was raised in the music business and clearly knows her way around writing a song? What does Darryl have that she doesn’t? Or better question – what type of song would Gene be hiding from Courtney? Gene lets her workshop everything he writes. He always does.

Courtney gasps. “It’s a love song!” What else could it be, really? It's only thing she can think of that's too personal to workshop with just anybody, although she's annoyed at the idea of being the "just anybody" in this scenario.

“You think they’re dating?” Rupa asks.

The thought gives Courtney pause. Gut response is, "No, Darryl isn't Gene's type." Also, he wouldn't be helping Gene with a love song if Darryl were also the subject of it. If it is a love song. It has to be a love song.

"I don't think so," Courtney answers slowly. "Rupa, help me think. Why would Gene be writing a love song in the first place?"

"Because he's good at it?" Rupa replies. "I mean, I've heard stuff he's written. If he wrote one of those bad boys just for me, I would consider myself wooed."

Courtney snorts a laugh. "Okay, but in general. You can write a love song to woo someone new, or you can write a love song to win someone back... Oh no."

Two unfortunate dots connect in Courtney's mind. There's a small part of her that had always had this fantasy of reconnecting with Gene. In Fantasyland, they try dating again as a goof right before Junior or Senior Prom, only this time, they're more mature about it. They make it work. They're amazing together, and they write amazing songs together. Everyone is super jealous of them. It's great.

But it's not real, and right now, knowing she doesn't have any romantic feelings for Gene and knowing Alex does? That's bad. That's weird, and it's bad. Getting her dreams, it's strange, but it seems a little more complicated.

God, does Alex know? Is that partly why he was so weird the other night? He must know, though. It must be hurting him so much, not only having a crush on his best friend but also knowing his best friend has a crush on his second-best friend and is trying to win her back. That's another mystery solved, for better or worse, Courtney decides.

“Okay,” comes a voice from behind their table. Courtney swings around, binoculars still to her face, to see an annoyed-looking Jimmy Pesto. He’s got an order notepad in his hand, pen ready to write. “I need you knock that shit off. This is a restaurant. We’re in the middle of our Saturday night dinner rush. You wanna order something or what?”

"Alright," says Courtney, looking down to skim her menu with the binoculars. "Do you have, uhhhhhh, hamburgers?"

"Alright," says Jimmy, flipping his pad shut. "Get out of my restaurant."

“But – ”

“Out!”

****

Naturally, Alex is still moping at school the next day. Courtney vows to leave him alone now that she knows the full extent of his pain and her role in it. She doesn't officially know anything about Alex's crush or about what Gene and Darryl are working on. There isn't anything she can do besides let Alex stoically bear his sorrow until Gene inevitably asks Courtney out again and she can turn him down gently. It isn't her place to do anything else right now.

Naturally, her resolve to leave things alone lasts until third period, when she and Alex have study hall together in the library.

"Do your parents know that you're..." Courtney pops her gum, then glances around the shelves to make sure no one heard. "You know?"

Alex sighs. "Yes," he replies. "I told them a few weeks ago. It was so awkward."

"Good awkward or bad awkward?" Courtney asks.

"Is there a good awkward?" Alex frowns, then pulls a book about the Cold War off the shelf behind Courtney. "I don't know. They were both just kind of like, 'Oh, okay,' and then After Stonewall and The Celluloid Closet were in our Netflix queue when I got home from school the next day."

Courtney pretends to cough so he won't think she's laughing at him. Alex seems to mistake it for choking because he reaches over and hits her on the back until she spits her gum out into her hand. "Sorry," she says.

“It’s fine,” Alex tells her. “Anything that gets some of those documentaries by that local guy who’s at Gene’s Dad’s restaurant sometimes out of our queue is a win in my book. But, uh.” He shoots Courtney a nervous look before pretending to flip through his book. “Maybe I could kind of use your help coming out to Gene?”

Well that’s one mystery unsolved, Courtney thinks. Or resolved. Whatever. But he hasn’t said anything to Gene yet. Courtney totally knew it.

“Why?” she asks. “I mean, Gene’s out and proud, plus you’re almost closer to Gene than I am these days.”

“One, that’s a lie,” Alex replies. “You guys are together all the time, especially now with the play. Two, there’s… I mean…” Alex sighs and gives up trying to look busy. He slots the book back onto the shelf then turns to face Courtney with his arms crossed over his chest. “I think you can probably already guess why. I mean, you did already guess why. The other night.”

Courtney almost claps in excitement before she remembers where they are. She settles for flailing her hands around while she jumps up and down as quietly as possible, which actually makes Alex crack a smile.

"I knew it!" she gloats sotto voce. "I knew it! Okay, I’ll help you, but you have to let me know ahead of time. I have a pretty busy schedule with the show and with dance classes and with other people. Like, already this weekend, I’m going to the movies with Mary and helping Ann pick out a new pair of skates for junior roller derby… Oh, and I told Dawn I’d meet up to study Chemistry since we have that test in a few weeks.”

Alex stares at Courtney like a third arm just grew out of the top of her head.

“You can have more than two friends, Alex,” Courtney tells him.

Alex’s face scrunches up in even further confusion. "How?"

Courtney waves him off. “So why do you like Gene all of a sudden?” Alex opens his mouth to respond, but Courtney realizes her mistake and keeps going. “I mean, it probably wasn’t sudden. It’s probably been building and building and building over the years, but like…” She grabs at her locket, flicking it open and shut with her thumbnail. “What was it like? When you realized. Was it hello twelve, hello thirteen, hello love? Did you hear the bells of Saint Peter’s in Rome or tissue paper on a comb?”

“Did I what?” asks Alex. "No, it's... Well. I thought it was going to sound dumb, but you lowered the bar for me, so."

Courtney lifts her foot above Alex’s like she intends to stomp on him. Alex jumps over to his right before she can even pretend, though.

"He made me French fries," Alex blurts, loud enough for someone in the next aisle over to shush them.

Courtney frowns. "That's it?"

Alex shrugs.

"Gene makes a lot of people French fries," Courtney points out. "It's his job."

Alex shoots her a withering look. "I know that, Courtney. But he did it when I didn't ask him to. I was cramming for the World Civ test at the restaurant last month, and I was really stressed out, but I didn't have any snacks with me to take the edge off. So I kept working, but I was kind of working myself up, panicking even though I was telling myself not to panic, and then, before I could even decide if I was going to ask for anything..." He makes a flourishing motion with hands. "There was Gene, sliding a plate of French fries onto the table."

"... And?" Courtney asks after a minute.

"Well, I mean," Alex starts. He pauses, apparently getting his words in order before he continues. "It was nice, obviously. That he knew me well enough to figure out what I wanted without me having to ask for it. Not everybody can do that. And just, Gene has always been there for me. And he accepts who I am without question, but he also kind of pushes me to try new things and be a less judgey person. You know?"

"Not really," Courtney replies honestly. "But I'm also not the person that made you fall in love with me, so... also yes, kind of? What you're saying is, you wouldn't love me if I made you French fries, right?"

"Yeah, no," says Alex.

"Okay," says Courtney, "you don't have to be mean about it." It's starting to make sense, though. Courtney thinks for the sake of having a great story, he would have done better to have his great love epiphany closer to Homecoming or over winter break, some other time where emotions run high. Then again, Alex is absolutely not faking it if it happened one insignificant day over something dumb like Gene making him French fries. That's how you know he's your love.

"So, you'll help me out sometime?" Alex asks her. "For moral support, is all. When I get there."

"Absolutely," says Courtney, reaching out to take his hand and give it an exaggerated shake. Alex laughs, then pretends it's a cough so they won't get shushed again.

"Just for support," Alex reminds her after she lets him go. "I don't need a whole song-and-dance routine."

"Ugh, fine," Courtney agrees. For someone who can be a neurotic drama queen with the best of them, Alex has no sense of theatrics. Not the fun ones, anyway. "You won't even notice I'm there."

*****

Courtney has a new mission. She's gotta wave that man right out of her arms. She's gotta forget about the boy. Which is gonna be hard when the boy in question is one of her life-long friends, but she has to steel her resolve now. Gene can be charming when he puts his mind to it, especially when there's music involved.

Gene seems to be on a mission of his own. As soon as Courtney arrives at practice and spots him in the wings, he squares his shoulders and makes a beeline for her. They meet in the center of the stage, but far enough back that no one else should get in the way of their conversation.

“Courtney,” says Gene, staring her down amidst the rest of the chorus bustling around them. “If you were dating somebody, you would tell me, right?”

“Uh, sure, Gene,” Courtney replies. Oh no.

“Can we bring up the flood lights?” asks Becky Krespe from somewhere in the wings. “I want to see if the tape marks on the stage are too noticeable.”

Courtney starts as everything around her and Gene flares white and then yellow and the normal-ish.

Gene frowns down at Courtney for a minute. Then he reaches out and takes both her hands in his.

“Oh God,” Courtney frets under her breath. “This is all happening so fast.”

“What is?” says Gene.

“This,” says Courtney. “I mean, nothing. I didn’t say anything out loud just now.”

“A likely story,” Gene replies sarcastically before getting that serious look in his eyes again. "Courtney, you’re my oldest friend."

Courtney softens, just a little bit. "And you’re my oldest guy friend."

"Oh," says Gene. "You didn’t have to specify…"

"Well I’m not going to lie," says Courtney. She gives herself a mental shake, and then a physical one for good measure. He could be that boy, but she's not that girl. "And I'm not going to go out with you!"

"WHAT?" Gene yells.

"Quiet on the stage, please!" Ms. Dieter yells back from the audience. Courtney blinks through the lights to see her in the front row with a gaggle of students, probably people asking her questions.

"What?" Gene hisses, regaining Courtney's full attention. His hands jerk in her grip, but neither of them let go. "That's not what this is about! I was just trying to figure out if you and Alex were secretly dating!"

"WHAT?" Courtney yells.

"Courtney!" Ms. Dieter shouts. "Gene! I'm not going to ask you two again!"

"What?" Courtney hisses back. "Why would I be dating Alex? What made you think that?"

Gene studies her face for a second, his brows furrowing. "I don't know. He's been acting weird lately. And we were hanging out last night and he started to say something about a conversation he'd had with you, but then he just stopped talking in the middle of it. And I know sometimes you guys hang out while I'm at work, which is awesome, but I just... would want to know, you know? If there was more to it than that."

"No," says Courtney. "No. No, no, no, no, no. We are definitely not dating."

Gene nods but he still doesn't look reassured. "Okay. Really?"

Courtney gives his hands two quick squeezes. "I promise, Gene."

"Okay," says Gene. He sounds normal, but he's looking at her again like he's about to get on her case about something. "Then what are you two doing?"

"I'm uhhh," Courtney stalls. "I'm trying to help boost his self-esteem. He's trying to get a date with someone, but he's being so depressed about it that I thought, you know. First be a person who needs people."

Gene frowns. "Alex likes somebody? Huh. I wonder why he hasn't said anything to me about it."

The truth hits Courtney like a spotlight, coming down from above and illuminating everything.

Courtney shoots a pointed look in Lenny DeStefano's direction. Gene doesn't seem to notice. Courtney coughs and tilts her head in Lenny's direction instead. Gene still doesn't follow. Courtney looks at the stage space and considers doing a chaîné that ends with her standing behind Lenny and doing jazz hands behind his head.

She decides to use her words instead. "Great. So now that we know I'm not interested in anyone and that Alex is interested in someone, what about you? Who's been turning your head with talk of summertime?"

Gene pulls his hands away from her, looking spooked. "Oh. No. I just remembered I have to... go practice my lines. Downstage. With the rest of the cast."

"Oh," says Courtney. Gene gets two steps away from her before she remembers. "Wait, what lines? You don't have any lines! Neither of us has any lines!"

"I mean, I'm helping Tina run lines!" Gene yells over his shoulder as he jogs away. "She's my sister and she's very important to me!"

"Gene!"

"Courtney!" Courtney cringes at Ms. Dieter's voice. "Backstage! Go see why it's taking Peter so long to bring down the backdrop."

Courtney groans but doesn't argue as she tromps off the stage. If it's not her Gene's obsessing over, it has to be Lenny. It just makes the most sense. She can't believe she didn't see it before. Lenny was wooed once before by Gene's music, ergo Gene's going back to well because he knows it will work. Maybe it already has. Maybe they're already close to rekindling the romance, and this song is just to seal the deal before they make it public.

So why isn't he letting Courtney help with it? Maybe he thinks she won't approve of them getting back together.

She frowns in thought. A week or two ago, Courtney wouldn't have minded, but now she definitely can't help Gene win him back. She's picked up a new banner for a new cause. She's gonna have to stop whatever Gene is plotting before Alex gets his heart broken... or even more broken. He's a pretty sensitive guy, and he's already worrying himself sick over something Courtney knows isn't going to be an issue.

It's a good thing he has someone like Courtney on his side to intervene. Whatever Courtney wants, Courtney gets. And little man, little -

"It's this one, right?" asks Peter Pescadero, breaking Courtney out of her thoughts fast enough for her to realize he's about to loosen the wrong tie but not fast enough to stop him. The canvas painted to look like a winter wonderland whooshes down from the rafters and hits the stage with an impressive crash.

"Nope!" Courtney replies.

*****

Tina Belcher is the coolest senior Courtney knows. She’s not popular, not by a long shot, but she owns her shit in a way most high schoolers wish they could.

However, this – along with her height – also makes her one of the most intimidating people Courtney knows. Tina’s nice. Courtney doesn’t doubt that, but it’s easy to forget sometimes with her looks and her steely self-confidence, especially since Tina’s playing the evil witch in the show. She’s not a lead character, not the princess or the queen, but she has the best songs.

Courtney totally understands the casting choice now because the way Tina is looking down at her when Courtney looks up from the script she’s doodling in is… not diabolical, but diabolical-adjacent. Courtney has done something to bother her. That much is clear at a glance.

“I know you and Alex are plotting something,” Tina tells her.

Courtney takes the pen she’s been chewing on out of her mouth. “Sorry?”

“You will be,” says Tina, “if it’s something that hurts Gene.”

Courtney frowns up at her. “Alex and I love Gene. We would never do something to hurt him.”

“Maybe not on purpose,” Tina replies. "But accidents happen, especially when people aren't telling other people about the plans they're making that involve them. Just tell Gene about what you're doing, and I won't have to make you pay for it later... Although I'm gonna make you pay for that later."

Courtney keeps on frowning. "Jeez, Tina, chill out. I haven't even done anything yet."

Tina points at the script Courtney had been marking up. “No, I’m literally going to make you pay for that. Sorry.”

It takes Courtney a minute to remember that the script book isn’t hers. Since she’s in the chorus, she only has definitely-not-illegal photocopies of the crowd numbers she’s in. She also remembers she stole this book from Gene’s backpack, and that since he’s also in the chorus, he presumably stole it from his sister, who will have to return it to the publishers after the show’s done.

“Ah shhhhoot,” says Courtney.

“It’s okay,” says Tina. “Inspiration hits us when we least expect it. And I know you mean well. But yeah, that isn’t my mess to clean up, so… Fix it, please.” She gives Courtney an awkward little wave before turning and heading back out on stage.

*****

Alex's bike is still chained to the bike rack outside the school as Courtney and Gene are leaving practice that night, which is troubling.

"Dibs on looking for him inside!" Gene calls as he jogs back toward the front doors. Courtney spares him a glance before heading around the back of the building. He probably is inside, working late on a Robotics Club project or something. It'll be good for him and Gene to have a bonding moment; not that they aren't presumably spending time together outside of school while Courtney's with her other friends, but this time can be a little more emotionally charged due to Gene's worry.

Unfortunately for Courtney and her plotting, she finds Alex, lying face down in the end zone of the football field.

“Hey Courtney,” Alex says, turning his head to look up at her. “How was play practice?”

Courtney can’t resist the opening. “I love play rehearsal,” she sings in response. “Because it’s the best! Because it is fun. I love play rehearsal, and I get depressed as soon as it's done.”

"Ew," says Alex, turning back toward the grass.

Courtney plops down to sit beside him. "So," she starts, staring up at the purple-tinted sky. "What's got you all mopey tonight?"

Alex groans. "You told Gene you were helping to boost my self-esteem."

"Oh," Courtney replies, unsure where this is going. "I mean, yes, I did. Why? Did he say something weird about it to you?"

"He said he wanted to help too," Alex says, rolling over to lie on his back. "He put both his hands on my shoulders, and he said, 'Alex buddy, you’re the bestest, most loyal friend I’ve ever had, and I want you to stick around forever!' And he made eye contact with me the whole time."

"And what did you say?" Courtney asks.

“I said I had to go dig a hole and lie down in it," Alex says, "and Gene said, ‘Okay,’ and then I left.”

"Alex!"

"It was a lot of affection to take in one sitting!" Alex argues. Courtney isn't looking at him, but his voice is muffled, like his hands are covering his face. "Gene and I aren't like other guys; we can't just play it off, even if he doesn't know I have feelings for him. I had to leave before I did something stupid like, like trying to chest-bump him or giving him laser guns as I walked away."

Courtney frowns. "What's laser guns?"

"It's when you do finger guns at someone but you make laser sounds with your mouth at the same time," Alex explains. "I'm not demonstrating it. I've embarrassed myself enough for one day already."

"Okay," says Courtney. "But Gene said he wants you to hang out with him forever? In those words?"

"Yeah." Alex sounds a bit dazed, like he's just now realizing the impact of that sentence.

“Well that settles it then,” Courtney declares. “We are going to have to get you more into musical theatre.”

Alex groans. “Ugh. I’m worried you’re right, though. Do you know how annoying that is?”

Courtney slaps a hand to her chest, pretending to be offended and also a Southern belle. “Me? Annoying? No doubt you have me mistaken for someone else, my dear Mr. Papasian.”

“If this is from something, I’m not playing along,” says Alex. “Seriously, though. What’s so great about musical theatre? I mean, why is it… It doesn’t make any sense.”

“What is there to make sense of?” asks Courtney before bursting into song once more. “We need a place to run to when everything goes wrong, where the answer to each problem Is to burst into a song.”

“But it’s so…” Alex seems to struggle to find the words. “Unrealistic.”

“Is it, though?” Courtney replies, like she hasn’t been singing her half of their conversation all night.

“I mean, that’s not…” Alex makes a frustrated snarly noise. Courtney puts her locket in her mouth to keep from laughing. “It’s weird when everyone does it in the whole cast and that’s just the way things are. It’s not weird when just you do it – ”

“And Gene,” Courtney adds.

“And Gene does it,” Alex corrects. “And Gene’s mom. But it’s not the world the rest of us are living in, you know.”

Courtney still isn’t really following his logic. “It’s not supposed to be,” she says. “It’s like a normal story but with singing instead of talking sometimes. I don’t get it. You love movies!”

“I do,” Alex agrees. “And I don’t think adding music to them adds anything to the plot. When there even is a plot. I still don’t forgive you for making me watch Funny Face and An American in Paris.”

“What about the ambience?” Courtney asks with her best French accent.

“If the ambience is to make me feel unsettled and weird, I guess,” says Alex.

Courtney frowns to herself. “And our attempts to get you into musicals via old Disney movies already backfired.”

“Animation is an underrated medium,” Alex starts to argue. “I don't know why you'd want to watch live people when you could – ”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Courtney cuts him off. “So you didn’t like the Spamalot soundtrack when I had you listen to it last summer?”

“No,” says Alex.

“Or the Billy Elliot soundtrack?”

“Nope.”

“The Addams Family?”

“That was bad,” says Alex.

“Newsies?” Courtney asks desperately.

“Never heard that one,” Alex replies.

“What about Shrek?” Courtney knows she’s pouting, but Alex has her at her limit right now.

"Shrek isn't a musical," Alex replies.

"Yes it is," Courtney counters. "They made it one."

"Wait, does it still have 'All Star' in it?" Alex asks.

"No," says Courtney.

"Oh, well that's lame." A long silence stretches between them before Alex speaks again. “And that’s another thing. If they’re not based on a movie, then all the characters are usually singers, or actors, or people who want to be singers and actors.”

“I thought you didn’t like when the plots were too realistic!” Courtney resists the urge to pull out her hair. Then she realizes she doesn’t care at this point and winds her hands into her hair anyway.

“I’m not talking about realism!” Alex says. “I’m telling you we need more musicals about robots and hard fantasy! Where is the space travel? Where is the science fiction?”

“It’s in the garbage where it belongs!” says Courtney. “Keep your lame, nerd stuff out of my beautiful, magical theatre shows!”

“Robots, Courtney,” says Alex after a minute of silence. “I will accept singing robots. That I can suspend my disbelief for.”

Courtney racks her brain for any show that prominently features robots. Singing robots, dancing robots. There must be one out there somewhere, but she’s coming up short. “What about singing trains?”

“Well that sounds awful,” says Alex. “But I will consider it.”

Courtney sighs. “Alex, you don't have to pretend to like musical theatre. Gene and I have already told you - "

"I do, though!" Courtney hears movement and glances over to see Alex sitting up. He stares down at her, looking serious. "I like, uh. I like a lot of musicals. Not a lot of musicals. Okay, some musicals. And 'like' is a strong word. Although I did honestly love that one about the founding fathers that -- "

"Alex," Courtney says.

"Right," says Alex. "But musicals are really important to you guys."

Courtney rolls her eyes. "It's okay if you mean Gene."

"No," Alex corrects. "I mean it. It's not just about trying to get in with somebody I like-like. It's something that's important to my friends. If you were both into, like, field hockey or gardening, I'd want to learn more about that too, even if I didn't get why you guys liked it so much. I like music. I can at least try to like musical theatre. For you and Gene." It's getting dark, but Courtney can tell when Alex's ears and cheeks get redder. "Maybe just a little bit more for Gene, though."

“For Gene,” Courtney agrees with a grin.

“Alex! Courtney!” Courtney looks up to see the teen in question walking across the track and onto the field. “Gross! You know this is where sports happen, right?”

"Hi Gene!" Courtney yells back. "I was just telling Alex all about the play and why theatre is so great!"

"Ohhhhh," Gene starts, launching into a song just as easily as Courtney had. "You're a special kind of people known as show people. You live in a world of your own. Did you tell Courtney all about Bat Boy: The Musical yet? Because I really want to be there for that conversation."

“What Boy the What musical?” Alex demands. “Courtney told me to keep the nerd stuff out of it!”

Courtney buries her face in her hands. “I don’t want to talk about Bat Boy! Leave Bat Boy out of my life, Gene! It's bad enough that it exists in the first place!”

“Our story begins in Hope Falls, West Virginia,” Gene says instead, sitting down next to Courtney, “and the three Taylor siblings have just decided to explore a spooooooky cave…”

Courtney bolts up off the grass. “So long! Farewell! Auf wiedersehen, goodbye!” she belts over Gene’s narration.

“Yeah,” says Alex. “As much as I’m intrigued, we’ve been out here a really long time.” He reaches up with both arms; Courtney and Gene each lean in to take one and pull him to a sitting position.

"I bet Courtney also didn't tell you about The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals," says Gene once the three of them are on their feet. It's darker now, the school not bothering to turn on the stadium lights unless there's a game or event on the field. Courtney tries her best to lead the way without running anyone into anything.

"Is it a musical?" asks Alex.

"Yes," Gene and Courtney answer in unison.

"Ah," Alex replies. "Well. We could check it out this weekend sometime if you guys want." He laughs to himself. "I mean, it sounds like it might be up my alley anyway."

"It just might be," Courtney says hopefully.

*****

Courtney Wheeler has a vision.

In a perfect world, where Alex likes musical theatre instead of only tolerating it, Courtney, Alex, and Gene are a formidable acting trio. They could be Don, Cosmo, and Kathy. They could be Max, Leo, and Ulla. They could be Frank, Charley, and Mary (at the end of the show, anyway, maybe). The three of them, they're stars, and you can't have one without the other two.

Maybe she has her work cut out for her given how things are in the real world. They aren't famous. They aren't always in sync. One of them has no arm muscles and no ear for music. But they are formidable, and they are first and foremost friends. That part's real and unshakable. It's just up to her to put some fantasy into how things play out off stage.

Musical theatre has imparted great wisdom upon Courtney. It isn't impossible that she can make her friends even happier than ever. That's within the realm of possibility. And even if it weren't, as a wise fairy godmother once said, impossible things are happening every day. Courtney knows how she wants things to go, and she's going to make them happen.

*****

“Courtney!” Doug Wheeler's voice pulls Courtney out of a dead sleep from a floor away. "One of your friends is here to see you!"

Courtney groans and shoves her pillow over her face. Any friend of hers would know better than to stop by before 10:00 AM on a Saturday, especially the one Saturday before her weekends are eaten up by working on the set or costumes.

"Courtney!"

"What?" Courtney hollers back, not bothering to get out of bed.

"The Papasian boy is here to see you," her dad yells, tone of voice making it clear he still holds a grudge for the stupid roller dancing thing five years ago.

Courtney sits up, pulling a strand of hair from her mouth. Alex hasn't been to her house in ages. They always hang out at his place or Gene's to get away from Doug.

She pads out of her room to the stairs, walks down half a flight, then leans her head over the bannister. “What,” she grumbles in the general direction of the front door.

Alex looks about ten seconds away from throwing up. “I’m gonna do it,” he says, voice even despite his pale face. “I’m gonna tell Gene today."

“Oh,” Courtney replies, and then, “OH! Now?”

The question gives Alex pause, but he nods slowly after a minute. “Yes. Yeah, why not? Carpe diem.” He still kind looks like he’s going to puke.

“I’ll be right back!” Courtney declares before running back up a few stairs. She turns back. “Stay there!”

“Open the gates and seize the day,” Courtney sings as she sets about doing her whole morning routine in less than five minutes. “Don’t be afraid and don’t delay…”

“Courtney!” Doug yells from downstairs.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Courtney hollers back. She grabs her purse and a brush, then sets to untangling the worst of her bed hair as she hops down the stairs.

“Okay,” she says, sliding to a stop in front of Alex as her dad leaves the room. “What do you need me for?”

“Right,” says Alex, seeming to gain more focus. “First of all, I need a ride.”

Courtney frowns. “You walked here?”

“I did, I did,” Alex replies, sounding almost as surprised as Courtney feels.

“What about your bike?” Courtney asks. “You love it so much.”

Alex shoves one hand into his coat pocket and uses the other to point at Courtney. “If I'm in charge of getting myself to Gene's, I will chicken out. Even if I get myself to the restaurant and I have the option to get myself out of there without saying anything, I will.”

“Hmm, that’s fair,” Courtney concedes. Alex can be stubborn when he puts his mind to it. “Alright, well let’s go.”

She herds Alex out the door and snags the car keys off their usual hook.

“Daddy, I’m borrowing your car!” Courtney yells back into the house.

“What?” Doug yells back.

“I SAID… never mind, I’m just taking the keys,” Courtney says. “Borrowing!”

It's a beautiful morning and a beautiful day. It's warm for October, and gorgeously sunny. The air is crisp, and the leaves are mostly turned but still on the trees. Courtney truly has a beautiful feeling that everything will be going their way.

"Remember," Alex tells her as they pull up outside the restaurant. "You're just here to be my ride home."

"Sure, sure, sure," Courtney agrees. She pulls down the sun visor and flips open the mirror on the inside to double-check that she got all the sleep out of her eyes.

"Also for physical support I guess if I start dying." Alex frowns. "Like if I slip and fall, and I crack my head open on the counter, or if I choke on my own tongue or something... Oh no."

"What?" says Courtney, glancing over at him. "What is it?"

Alex looks at her, panicked. "What if I do choke on my own tongue? Can that happen? Or, no, spit! Oh god, I have too much saliva! Courtney, help!"

"Alex, you're fine!" He is kind of sweaty, actually, but he doesn't need to know that. Gene probably won't notice or care. "It's fine. Just take a deep breath."

Alex does as instructed.

"And let it out," Courtney adds after waiting for him to exhale. Alex does.

"And swallow," she adds. Courtney unbuckles her seat belt, then leans across the gear shifter to put both her hands on Alex's shoulders. "Listen to me. There's only now. There's only here. Give into love or live in fear."

"I mean, there's definitely more times than 'here and now,'" Alex says. "I could tell Gene some other time. Like tomorrow. Or on Monday. Or next week. Or at Christmas. Or Hanukkah, if that's later in the calendar year."

"No day but today!" Courtney says, giving him a shake.

"Okay, okay!" says Alex, reaching up to push her hands away. Courtney pulls back as he unbuckles his seat belt. He has a hand on his door to open it before he looks back at her.

"You're coming in with me, right?" Alex asks in a small voice.

"Of course," says Courtney, popping her own door open.

It's early enough that Bob's Burgers isn't technically open yet, but as Courtney and Alex approach, Courtney makes eye contact with Louise through the window. She's got green streaks in her hair today, Courtney notices. Louise scrunches her face up in annoyance but unlocks the door from the inside. She even holds it open for them before flouncing back to the booth by the bathroom where Tina is wiping down menus.

"GEEEEEEEENE!" she hollers into the back before flopping back into the seat across from her sister. "People are here for you!"

"Hi," says Tina, looking up to wave at them.

"Uhhhhhh, hi," says Alex, coming to a stop by the second stool at the counter. "Hello." Courtney stays behind him, fiddling with her jacket's zipper while they wait.

Gene's dad looks over his shoulder from where he's chalking "The Tzatziki Dee Burger (served with feta cheese, tzatziki sauce, and red onions)" on his specials board. "Hi, Alex, hi, Courtney. Linda's in the back, so... Hi."

The restaurant lapses into awkward silence. Bob clears his throat and looks back through the window into the kitchen. "Is Gene - "

"Coming!" Gene yells. It sounds like he's coming back in from the alley. "I'm coming!"

He barrels out into the dining room, grinning and greeting his friends with a cheerful, "Alex! Courtney! Entertain me!"

Courtney takes a step back, then gestures at Alex like she's a presenter on a game show. "Gene, Alex has something he would like to tell you this fine morning," she announces. "Right, Alex?"

Alex looks at her, then looks at Gene. He says nothing.

"Alex?" Courtney prompts.

Still nothing.

"Gene," Courtney says slowly, deciding it's up to her to get the ball rolling. "What Alex would like to tell you is that Alex likes — "

“Hot dogs!” Alex interrupts. “Alex really like hot dogs. Uh.” He shoots a glance toward the kitchen. “No offense, Mr. Burgers.”

“Some taken,” Gene’s dad replies.

"I know," Gene tells him. "You ate, like, ten of them that time on the pier four years ago. And then that seagull tried to take one of your buns and you slapped it back into the air. I wrote a song about it. Everybody was Bun-Fu Fighting.”

"Yeah, that was… that was a weird field trip," says Alex.

"Right," Courtney says. "Anyway, Alex also likes - "

"Courtney!"

Gene frowns. "Wait, you like Courtney?"

"No!" Alex and Courtney shout at the same time.

"Oh god, we're not doing that again," says Alex, putting a hand over his eyes. He inhales deeply. "Alex… Alex likes… Boys. I like boys. And I know you of all people would get it, Gene, I’m sorry I’ve been so scared to say something, I just… It’s hard. To say it out loud sometimes."

Courtney puts a hand on Alex's back and looks at Gene expectantly.

“Oh my God,” says Gene, a smile slowly growing on his face. “Not to be dramatic, but literally everything in the world makes sense now.”

Alex lowers his hand to look at Gene and Gene’s family.

“Bring it in, both you!” Gene declares, closing the space between himself, Alex and Courtney with open arms.

Courtney mashes herself up against Alex's back before she grabs for Gene so they can squeeze him in the middle. "Yaaaay!" she cheers, and she can feel it when Alex finally, finally relaxes against them. He really had nothing to worry about, but it must be a weight off his shoulders regardless.

"Dad!" Gene says without breaking the group hug. "I demand you make Alex a We’re Queer, Gruyere, Get Used to It Special, on the house!"

Alex pulls back, and even though she can't see his face Courtney's sure he raises an eyebrow at Gene. “You guys have a ‘coming out at our restaurant’ special?”

“Oh, people have that conversation here like you wouldn’t believe!” says Mrs. Belcher as she walks out of the kitchen into the main room.

"Although this is nothing compared to Gene's coming out," says Tina.

"He had a confetti cannon," Louise adds, sounding impressed.

"And a fog machine!" Mrs. Belcher chimes in.

"And my drum machine!" says Gene.

"It was 2:35 in the morning," Mr. Belcher says.

"I had to be absolutely sure that it was perfect!" Gene exclaims, rounding on his dad.

"I mean, we kind of already knew," says Tina.

“Alex, wait!” Gene turns back to Alex, a light in his eyes. “If you were gay – ”

“Courtney already sang me that one,” Alex interrupts. “I didn’t like it.”

“Damn it!” says Gene. “I mean, uh. Just be who you wanna be. Never let 'em tell you who you ought to be!”

“Mine was better,” says Courtney.

“Because you stole it out from under me,” Gene argues. “Also, I was listening to The Book of Mormon soundtrack this morning, and it was all still stuck in my head. None of that is appropriate for this most festive occasion.”

Alex snorts and pats Gene on the shoulder. “That’s okay,” he reassures Gene. “I’m sure you’ll have another musical moment up your sleeve soon enough.”

Courtney grins to herself as Gene grabs Alex and drags him back toward Tina and Louise’s booth, chattering all the while. It isn’t the grand spectacle Courtney would have planned herself, but it did get the job done, and Alex seems happy enough.

It’s also hopefully a good-sized wrench thrown into whatever Gene is planning to do with Lenny. If he knows Alex is here and queer and available and possibly interested, Gene will have to get off the Lenny Train, right? Courtney sighs. No, probably not. She’ll have to keep plotting if she wants them to get together. She really, really, really hates to even think it, but maybe it will be easier to arrange once the musical is over.

*****

As soon as the final school bell rings on Monday, Courtney finds herself being dragged into the nearest restroom by (who she guesses by size and shape is) Gene Belcher. Once the door shuts and he checks to make sure they’re alone, he proceeds to scream for thirty seconds straight.

“Hi, Gene!” says Courtney when he’s done. There’s her weirdo best friend. About time he stopped being so quiet and thoughtful and junk. Her, Gene, and Alex had all hung out over the weekend, always the three of them together, and it was fun, but apparently Gene had been bottling some stuff up.

“Courtney!” Gene clamps both hands down on her shoulders. “Does Alex like me? Is that what is happening here in life, in our little village of Anatevka, right now?”

Courtney was never really into dolls growing up, but she can kind of see the appeal now. Namely, she sees the appeal in taking two dolls and smashing their heads together while yelling, “KISS!” That said…

“I really can’t say, Gene,” is what Courtney actually says. “I mean, Alex asked me not to tell you anything about anything, and I’m sure he has his reasons, but – ”

“But what?” Gene yells. “Because for the last ten weeks I’ve been trying to find the time and the place to tell Alex I have a crush on him, and now things are about to get so much weirder!”

Courtney blinks back at Gene. She blinks some more. She isn’t sure why she thought that would help her sort through things in her head, but it kind of works. A little bit.

“What?” Courtney shrieks in reply.

Gene lets go of her with a groan.

“I thought you were trying to win back Lenny!” Courtney says.

"What?" says Gene. "What made you think I was still interested in Lenny?!"

"You were staring at him during play practice!" Courtney points out.

"No, I wasn't!" Gene replies. "And if I was, it was only because I was Gene-ing out while I was thinking about my song!"

"Aha!" Courtney literally points this time. "You are writing a love song! With Darryl, for some reason!”

“Because Darryl is in the Robotics Club with Alex!” Gene explains. “I thought he could give me some insider info, stuff I might be missing out on when we’re apart! And because Darryl is good at music, too.”

“So am I!” says Courtney. “I'm great at music! And I hang out with Alex, too! Why didn’t you ask me?”

“Because I didn’t want you meddling!” Gene exclaims. “You do this thing where you think you know what’s going on, and then you really don’t, but you’re so set on it that you just have to go for, whether it’s actually helping people or not!”

“No I don’t!” Courtney argues.

Gene levels her a flat look. “Courtney.”

“What?” Courtney asks, still confused.

“Courtney,” says Gene. “I love you, but you do. Also, you're literally always with me.”

“No I'm not,” Courtney argues.

“We’re like always hanging out outside of school,” says Gene. “And during school. And on top of that we’re spending so much time together with the play. I mean, so much.”

“Right,” Courtney replies curtly.

“Sooooo – ”

“Gene.”

“ – muuuuuucccch – “

“Gene, fine,” Courtney snaps. “I get it!”

“Anyway, I can’t believe you knew about Alex and kept it to yourself for so long,” says Gene, sounding more impressed than offended. “Just when I think I finally know the guy… and the girl… and the pizza place.” He shoots Courtney a knowing look.

“Yeah, well – oh crap,” Courtney groans. “You saw me at Pesto’s Pizzeria all those weeks ago.”

“Louise did,” Gene says. He stares at Courtney as if he's making some kind of judgement before he continues. "Soooo, if I tell you my plan, will you tell me your plan? As much as you can. Without…" He does sort of a complicated arm gesture that Courtney thinks means without blabbing another one of Alex's secrets.

Courtney claps her hands together. "Please!"

Gene pushes himself off the wall and starts pacing by the sinks. "Okay. So my basic plan is a musical number, obviously. It started out as part of the show, kind of. I had this thought that I could bribe Ms. Merkin into playing it after curtain call while I was still on stage in front of everybody."

"But?" Courtney prompts.

"But!" says Gene, whirling around to point at her. "I'm reviewing the situation." He stops moving and gets quiet in a way Courtney has only seen him once or twice. It isn't sad. It's thoughtful.

"If Alex wanted to be a part of the show, he would be a part of the show," Gene explains. "I don't want to make him uncomfortable, and I don't want to make this into The Gene Show, for once. This isn't about me, not entirely."

"Hmm, good call," Courtney agrees. "I think you’d better think it out again."

"Right," says Gene, resuming his pacing. "So my new plan was to perform my song in the lobby when we come out to mingle with the audience, because I'd be sure to catch him then. But then that's also too many people, and the acoustics are terrible. It's so loud in there. But! If I could wait until the mingling starts, and then get Alex back in the auditorium just the two of us, maybe I could use the piano in there. And I'm already leaning on Louise to be in the audience to make sure Alex doesn't sneak out early just in case."

"Gene, that’s perfect!" Courtney crows.

Gene glowers back at her. "It was a good plan! You almost ruined it, running all over the place and stomping around on - "

"But!" Courtney interjects. "I didn’t! I didn’t ruin anything, therefore I didn’t mess up and I was perfect, like always."

Gene sighs. "I suppose." He gestures at her. "So what are you doing? What was all of your weirdness and plotting about?"

"Oh, that's pretty much over," says Courtney. "Alex wanted me to psych him up to come out, and I wanted to keep you from asking anyone else out, so. I think my work is done."

Gene leans back and lets his head hit the wall with a thunk. "Damn it, Courtney!"

"So, what's the song?" Courtney asks, taking a few steps closer to him. "Is it written yet? What's the melody sound like? I know you don't have your keyboard with you, and there's no piano in here, but - "

"I know, but that wouldn't stop any true musician," says Gene. He pulls a couple of napkins from his pocket and brandishes them in Courtney's direction. "Et voila!"

"Handy," says Courtney, taking the notes from him. It takes her a few seconds to get the lyrics in order. She frowns and tries rearranging them.

"Hmm," says Courtney after a few minutes of reading and re-reading. "Gene. This isn't your best work."

Gene’s face drops. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know," Courtney says, then realizes how unhelpful that is and also how much she knows about music. "I mean, it sounds like a first draft."

"Hence the napkins, Courtney," says Gene.

"I know, sorry, but I know you can write better songs," Courtney replies. "And I know you've written better songs with me, so... let me workshop this."

"No," says Gene, his expression darkening further.

"Please?" Courtney begs, clasping her hands and pouting at him. "Please, please, please! It just needs, like, one tiny re-write, I promise!"

“It’s from the heart, Courtney!” Gene exclaims, yanking his napkins back from her hands. “It's a love song!”

“I know!” says Courtney. “It's a tale of a love from long ago.”

Gene doesn’t join her in song, instead frowning down at his notes. “It’s not a sad song, though.”

Courtney nods in appreciation. “I know. That’s deep.”

“Not if it isn’t any good, it isn’t,” Gene grumbles. Then he sighs. “So it’s real then? There’s a really real chance that Alex likes me back, and that if I said just the right words or did just the right thing, something would happen along the lines of romance, huh?”

“Yeeaaahh?” Courtney replies, unsure why Gene still seems so down. “Why are you looking like that? It means you don’t have anything to worry about now, right?”

“I don’t know,” says Gene, still avoiding her gaze. “It just… It didn’t seem real, like I was putting all this thought and work into asking him out, but I was probably going to chicken out or talk myself out of it at the last minute, and now that it might actually happen, and he might actually say yes if I did it, I’m scared.” He finally looks up at Courtney, brow furrowed in confusion. “What if I mess this up? What if he’s into me, but I do something to screw it up? Then it’s all my fault that we don’t get together!”

“Gene, calm down,” Courtney tells him. “You’re putting too much pressure on yourself. That’s just the way things are in your head.”

“I know, and that’s the problem!” says Gene. “There’s the big, dramatic proposal-slash-musical number in my head, and then there’s reality!”

“Yeah, but that’s not what I’m saying,” Courtney tries again. “I’m saying the bad stuff only looks bad in your head! Sometimes things work out okay, even when they seem scary. Sometimes it’s better to just… do the thing and let the rest of the world sort itself out around you. You know?”

Gene stares at her like he’s really looking at her for the first time since all this drama started. “I used to know,” he says under his breath. He glances down at the napkins, then back up at her. “So if I text you what I’ve written tonight, would you – "

“Yes, yes, definitely!” Courtney takes a running start before jumping and flinging her arms around Gene. It only took him forever to ask for help from a musical prodigy like herself, but whatever. He got there eventually. 

*****

“Ace Ventura,” says Alex.

“Veto,” says Courtney. “Emma?”

“Veto,” says Gene. “13 Going on 30?”

“Veto,” says Alex. “Man, we really need to stop doing this.”

Courtney sighs and looks up from the flower she's hot gluing to a wad of tulle. Ms. Dieter said no hats, but she never said anything against a tasteful fascinator. “I mean, there’s always Xanadu.”

Both boys groan, but neither one actually protests. It’s one of the few films all three of them genuinely like. Courtney wants to be Olivia Newton-John, Gene loves the music, and Alex can’t explain it, but it’s his guilty pleasure movie. It’s not great, not by a long shot, but it’s fun to watch.

Alex shoots Courtney a look, shifting a little in his spot on the other end of the couch. “I mean, we could always watch – "

“You have to stop suggesting we watch CATS!” Courtney snaps for the hundredth time. “I keep telling you, it’s a disgrace to the musical!”

“Courtney,” Alex counters. “You have to know at this point I’m only doing it to annoy you.”

“Look,” Gene interrupts. Courtney looks over to see him menacingly pointing the remote control at her. “We’ll start Xanadu, and if we think of something we’d rather be watching as it goes, we’ll change it.”

Courtney glances up to shoot him her best impressed expression, and from the corner of her eye she sees Alex doing the same.

Gene stares at them both before something clearly clicks for him. "Oh right. Only children."

Courtney has the horrible misfortune of being a Night Person in a world that forces her to wake up and go to school at inhuman hours of the morning. It's so unfair that she's never alert when she's supposed to be in class but has all the energy in the world afterward. Fortunately, Gene and Alex are similarly afflicted. It seems to run in the Belcher family, or at least they're the family that minds the least when the three of them hang out until 11:00 on a school night. Alex, Courtney, and Courtney's fascinator are sharing the couch. Courtney had hoped Gene would take the armchair by the window since Alex is on the far side of the sofa and they could sort of be sitting together during the movie. Instead, Gene has opted to sprawl out on the floor with one of his keyboards and a notepad. He isn't playing any notes out loud, but he's definitely working on something.

"So, Alex," Courtney says a few minutes into the movie. "You're coming to the show sometime, right? Even though you're a heathen who hates musical theatre."

"Duh," says Alex, rolling his eyes. "And I keep telling you guys, I don't hate all musical theatre! I really, really liked 1776. You just never want to watch it with me."

Gene rips a piece of paper out of his notepad, wads it up, and throws it at Alex. "Boooo! Shame! There's half an hour between songs in that one!"

Alex throws his hands up and slumps further down in his seat. "It's not my fault! There's, the topics are all so boring! I keep telling Courtney there need to be more musicals about robots!"

Before Courtney can argue, Gene yells, "I KNOW! I've been saying that, too! But we have to work with what we've been given."

"What?" says Courtney as Alex does a half-hearted fist pump. She tosses the glue gun aside to shoot Gene a disgusted look. "You can't be serious."

Gene frowns. "About what?"

"About the robots," says Courtney. "Robots in a musical doesn't make any sense!"

"Nothing about musicals makes sense!" says Alex. "There's acceptable breaks from reality, and most of the time I don't get the direction musicals take that sort of break in!"

Courtney gestures wildly at the TV. "Then why do we always agree on watching Xanadu? You like Xanadu, and that counts as a musical! Sort of!"

"Xanadu barely counts as a movie!" Alex argues.

"Oh my God, both of you stop!" says Gene, pointing at her. "Courtney, did you ever think that sci-fi and history and other types of stories would get more people interested in musicals than there were before? Then there would be something for everybody. And Alex!" He points at the other boy. "Sometimes you have to stretch your wings and try new things! I’m always telling you that!"

"He is, though!" Courtney cuts in before Alex can object. "He’s really trying!"

"Thanks, Courtney," says Alex.

Gene throws up his hands. "Why are you on his side now?!"

"Can everyone be quiet for a minute?" Tina yells from her bedroom. "I'm really stuck on this essay."

"Thank you!" Louise yells from her bedroom.

Courtney gives them a few seconds before talking again. "We aren't fighting, Gene. I mean, we were kind of fighting, but..."

"Yeah, we really just like annoying each other," says Alex. "I like that Courtney is weird and an oversharer and obnoxious."

"And I like that Alex is boring and has bad taste in everything!" Courtney replies. She turns to her friend with a genuine smile. "I like you. You're a really interesting person. But I think your bike is stupid."

Gene lies down on the floor to stare at the ceiling. "Both of you leave. You're stressing me out."

"No," Courtney and Alex reply at the same time.

"Sorry, though," Alex continues.

"Yeah, we're sorry, Gene," Courtney adds.

"It's okay," Gene reassures them. "Sorry for freaking out."

"It happens," Alex tells him.

"Yeah especially with the musical and everything that's going on," says Courtney pointedly. She turns her attention back to her project pretending she can't feel both boys eying her anxiously. Her headpiece could maybe use one more flower. Maybe two.

Courtney tunes into the movie for a few seconds, trying to figure out how far into it they are.

“Could we watch The Bodyguard?” Courtney suggests after a minute.

“Oh yeah, that’s a good one!” says Alex.

“I just got comfortable!” Gene complains. Despite that, he’s already getting up from the floor and moving toward the stack of DVDs.

"Thank you, Gene," Courtney sing-songs, focusing her attention back on her project. "We love you, Gene."

"Yeah," Alex tries. "We lov- I mean, thank you... man."

Courtney coughs to cover up a laugh. Idiots. Her boys are idiots.

*****

“You have to redo this whole bridge section,” Courtney tells Gene. They’re bent over the lyrics for his song in the green room, AKA the nearest classroom to the theatre’s backstage entrance. Gene’s original notes had been scattered over several napkins from his dad’s restaurant. Courtney offered to put everything into one of her dad’s music-making programs, but they couldn’t guarantee Doug would keep the file if he found it. Gene also wanted to have everything ready to go at a moment’s notice, so Courtney wound up transcribing the words into her math notebook.

Gene doesn’t look thrilled with her input right now, though. He taps his finger on the part she doesn’t like. “Why? What’s wrong with it?”

“I just think it needs to be stronger,” Courtney replies. “Like… There’s so much I could sing about / There’s so much I could say / I want to sit and talk with you / at the end of every day is kind of… vague? It’s not about anything. I don’t think it’s as direct or honest as it could be.”

“Oh, well I’m sorry I didn’t make it perfect on the first try!” Gene starts to shout before getting shushed by several other chorus members. “I’m sorry I didn’t nail those exact words in my song that I wrote! By myself!”

Courtney throws her hands out in frustration. “I know, I’m just trying to help you! Like you asked me to!” she hisses.

"You made me ask you!" Gene snaps. Then he sighs for a really long time, slumping down in his chair. “I know, I know, I’m sorry.” He motions for the notebook. “Give it to me. Let me see it.”

Courtney thinks for a minute, then shuts the notebook. “No. I think we need to step away for a minute.”

Gene looks at her, confused.

There's something on the tip of Courtney's tongue, something she knows she shouldn't say. It's too big and too scary. Don't say it, don't say it, don't say, he's anxious enough already.

"What if Alex doesn't like the song?" Courtney blurts out. She looks down at the notebook in her hands. "Not because of anything you did, I mean. You're so amazing at writing songs. What if it just isn't, like, his love language, though?"

"Alex likes music," Gene says like he's explaining that the sky is blue. "He's not heartless. It's just the theatre stuff he isn't crazy about."

"But what if he doesn't and then things get weird between the three of us?"

That bit Courtney definitely didn't mean to say. She didn't even realize it was what she was trying not to say until it was coming out of her mouth. It's just... They're her guys. She likes both of them. She just reconnected with them. She doesn't want things to go bad now if they don't get their acts together, and she doesn't want to look up and see Gene's expression right now.

She doesn't need to look up, though. One of Gene's big hands reaches over to cover hers where she's clinging to her notebook.

"Alex and I will be fine if things don't work out," Gene tells her softly. "I mean, it might be a little awkward for a while, but I know things will be fine even if everything goes wrong now. And you know how I know that?"

"No?" says Courtney.

“I know that because of you,” Gene replies earnestly. Courtney looks up in confusion, but Gene simply smiles at her.

"Remember the second time we tried dating in fourth grade," Gene starts to explain, "and I wanted us to stay together but you wanted us to break up to focus on the Gene and Courtney Show, and I wrote you a song and you kissed me?"

"Yeah," says Courtney. "Of course. I remember."

Gene clutches her hand a little tighter. "You broke my 11-year-old heart, but we stayed friends. And we’re friends again now, probably even better friends than before."

"We are, aren't we?" Something inside Courtney's chest finally starts to settle.

"Like, it wasn't exactly what I wanted, but we did what was best for both of us, and it worked out really well in the end," Gene adds, smiling even brighter than before.

Courtney finally grins in response. "It did, didn't it? And I still remember the song from way back then. Your new song definitely won't be a problem."

Gene nods. "Especially not if Alex already likes me back." He tilts his head and squints at Courtney. "He does like me back, right? You would tell me if he did."

Courtney huffs and rolls her eyes.

Gene deflates a little, then perks back up. “No, wait, I know. Don’t say. Act it out! Confessions don’t count when they’re mimed!”

Courtney mimes zipping her lips shut.

“Oh boo,” says Gene, sliding off his chair and down onto the floor to sulk. “You’re no fun anymore.”

Courtney kicks him then clutches at her chest and makes a silent gagging face once he looks up at her.

“Hey, you faking your death is only funny once!” Gene cries. “It’s a cheap trick!”

“I know,” Courtney concedes, “but it’s a good one!”

“Guys!” Peter Pescadero’s reedy voice filters in from the hall between the stage and the green room. “We have ten minutes to curtain call and director’s notes!”

“ARRAAGGHH!” Gene roars, grabbing the notebook out of Courtney’s hands as he uncaps his pen with his teeth. “Jeff Lynne, give me strength!”

“That’s the spirit!” says Courtney. “You have to believe that we're magic! Nothing can stand in your way!”

*****

The musical is in three days, and Alex still hasn't bought tickets. He changes the subject every time it comes up, and Gene has taken to moaning in a way similar to his older sister when he and Courtney are alone and talking about it.

Courtney has a ticket purchased for him, of course. She's gonna let Alex give her one more excuse before she forces it on him.

If she can find him, that is.

Logically? Courtney could strong arm him into talking about it at school. Courtney knows this. Alex is there physically, if not mentally. She could corner him, make him sit down, and talk about it like cool, reasonable teens.

That’s not the theatrical way of living, though.

It’s 9:00 at night when Alex finally spies Alex coming down the street on his bike. She’s pretty sure it’s him. The leaves and the branches make seeing details a little difficult. Sure enough, though, the mysterious biking blob slows to a stop and hops off its bike in the Papasian’s driveway.

“AMBUSH!” Courtney yells, jumping out from the bush she had been hiding in so as not to freak out Alex’s parents.

Alex screams and jumps backwards three feet. “Courtney!” he shrieks once he’s regained some of his composure. “What are you doing here?! Jeez!” He puts a hand on his chest. “Are you… What the hell? Did you walk here?”

“I parked a block over,” says Courtney. “Listen. I’m here to be your fairy godmother.”

With a hop and a flourish, Courtney presents one ticket for the Thursday show. Alex grimaces but takes it from her anyway.

“Wow,” says Alex, glancing at the piece of paper before folding it up and putting it in his pocket. “You literally bought me one ticket. What if my parents want to come with me to see it?”

“They have money,” Courtney replies. “No matter what, though, you’re going to be there opening night. You’re going to be in the front row, and you’re going to clap so loud that — ”

Alex frowns down at his forearms. “I don’t think medically I can — ”

“Alex!”

“Courtney!” Alex snaps back. “I just… I just… I can’t!”

“God, Alex, WHY?” Courtney shrieks. “You’ve come this far and I’m super proud of you and all the progress you! I’m really happy for you! Sorry I’m yelling!” She stops to regroup, then clasps her hands like she’s begging. “I just… I know it’s hard, but can’t you go a little further out of your comfort zone.”

Alex sighs and flops down on the lawn next to his abandoned bike. “I don’t know if you’d get it.”

Courtney drops her hands to put them on her hips. “Try me.”

“Okay,” says Alex. “It’s really stupid, but like… Do you remember the night I came out to you? Before that? We were talking about Gene and Lenny DeStefano.”

Courtney racks her brain for a minute before it rings a bell. “Okay?"

Alex props his chin up with one fist and tilts his head up to meet Courtney’s stare better. “So, Lenny is in the show, too. He’s literally leading man material. And I’m… not. I can’t sing. I can’t dance. I’m fat, and I wear glasses. I just got my braces off, and I think my teeth look big. Like, I know they’re not really but – "

“Alex,” says Courtney.

Alex groans. “Not to mention we’re close enough friends that Gene definitely remembers that time when I tried growing a goatee in middle school.”

“Yeah, that was bad,” Courtney adds.

“Not helping, Courtney!” says Alex. “It’s just, it’s going to be weird. Gene’s way up in the spotlight and I’m in the audience. We’re not on the same level, even though he’s my best friend. No offense.”

“None taken, he can have you,” Courtney jokes.

Alex looks up at her mournfully. “If I screw this up, I only have you. What if Gene never talks to me again?”

Courtney scoffs. “Do you really think Gene would do that?”

“No,” says Alex, not sounding entirely sure of himself. “He’s just… he’s seen me through so much. He knows me too well. Sometimes I wonder if I just think I like him because we’ve been friends for so long. It’s not the same as liking or dating girls.” He screws his face up. “God, it’s so cheesy, though. Like something out of a terrible romance movie.”

Courtney cocks her head and stares at him. Under the street lights, Alex looks washed out, too faded in color and so, so tired.

“I don’t know," Courtney says. "I think you could do with more cheese in your life. Why not be corny? Why not live like we’re in a movie or a musical?”

Alex frowns up at her, but he looks less defeated than before, like maybe he could be convinced. “Because that isn’t how life works?”

Courtney puts her hands on her hips. “Well, why not? It can be that way if we want it to be!”

Alex stares at her for a few minutes. “Because it’s embarrassing,” he finally settles on. “It’s embarrassing to really put yourself out there for other people to see you and judge you. What if someone tells you they don’t like you when you’re really being yourself? What about the people who put you down for not being realistic?”

Courtney shrugs. “What about them?” Based on the way Alex curls up even further into himself, she figures that wasn’t quite the right thing to say.

“Alex,” Courtney tries again. She drops to her knees and shuffles over to where he’s sitting. “It’s true that people might not like you. Not everyone can. But the people who matter will see you and be so much happier that you’re happy.”

Courtney reaches out for him and wraps her arms around Alex. There’s an awkward amount of knees and elbows involved in the hug, but she squeezes even tighter to make up for it. “I can’t explain everything right now, but it’s going to be fine,” she says.

Alex laughs hysterically. “So it’s an ‘Everybody lives, just this once’ type story, huh?”

Courtney doesn’t let go. She doesn’t quite get the reference she knows he’s making, but she knows musicals where people live at the end and musicals where people die at the end, and she knows which endings make her feel the happiest. “It will be,” she tells him. “Because I’m the one telling it. I'm a triple threat, and I have the power of musical theatre on my side. In case you hadn't noticed.”

“Oh god,” Alex mutters somewhere near her right shoulder. Courtney feels him finally start to relax in her arms, just a little bit. “I’m still panicking, but I think I might actually believe you. I think you’re right.”

“Right?” Courtney replies with a reedy Russian accent as she draws back. “Of course right!”

Alex gets up and brushes some dirt off his pants. He offers Courtney a hand and pulls her to her feet. “You know, half the time I never understand your references.”

“That’s okay,” Courtney says, bending over to retrieve her purse from the nearby bush. “You love me anyway.”

Alex just stares at her, a fond expression forming on his face. "I do. I really do."

*****

Opening night is never the best show. Courtney would be worried if it was.

There's the fizzy rush excitement of getting the show on the road, of finally showing people what she and everyone else has been laboring over for months. But it's also the night with the most kinks to work out. People forget their lines. People miss their cues or lose their props. Sets take longer to change. The audience is usually smaller since there's no word-of-mouth reviews yet, and quieter since they don't know what to expect.

It's all a bit underwhelming, Courtney thinks by the time curtain call comes around. There isn't a magical spotlight moment with people throwing roses at her feet that she’d fantasized about, but having Gene’s big sweaty hand in hers as they take their bows makes it better. Things can only go up from here.

In the lobby, Courtney throws herself at Alex as soon as she sees him.

"Hug!" she yells five inches from his ear.

"Courtney, ow!" Alex yells back, but he brings his arms up to hug her back.

"What did you think?" Courtney asks. "It was good, wasn't it? There's stuff to fix, for sure, but Gene and I were perfect, right?"

"Yeah, it was..." Alex starts, but something is distracting him. Courtney can't see his face, but she can feel him staring at someone over her shoulder. "Yeah."

Courtney lets him go, bouncing back so Gene can step forward to take her place.

He steps forward, anyway. He doesn't hug Alex like Courtney figured he would, though.

"Hey, uh, Alex," Gene greets him.

"Hi," Alex says. "So the show was really..."

His train of thought apparently derails. Gene does not pick up the slack, either. They stand there staring at each other for a minute.

Oh, Courtney gets it now. She totally understands how weird and awkward they were both feeling in their private lives because she's about to die just watching this thing try to get off the ground.

"So, I'm just going to stand over here," Courtney announces. Both boys turn to look at her as she takes one giant step backward. "If you need anything."

"Right," says Gene, looking nervous. He shakes his head, then turns back to Alex. "Yeah, so there's... this thing. I mean, about the show, I mean... That is..."

"Oh my God."

Courtney glances to her left to see Louise Belcher standing beside her, arms crossed. She's got purple streaks in her hair tonight, Courtney notices. It's a good look.

"What is he doing?" Louise whispers. "Why is this taking so long?"

Courtney shrugs before turning her attention back to the boys. She has good timing, too, because she's able to catch the exact second Gene loses his nerve.

"You liked the show, right?" Gene says. His voice is bright, but Courtney can see the way his shoulders sag, just a little. "As much as your cold, unfeeling heart can like a musical, anyway."

Alex snorts, but then his expression softens. "I, uh, no, I liked it," he replies. "I think I'll see if my mom wants to come see it tomorrow night. Or Saturday, maybe. But I was thinking either way, I could come again tomorrow night."

"Really?" Gene asks, relief and excitement clear in his voice. "Great! That’s great!"

Courtney agrees. As much as she wants to swoop in and “no day but today” them, it is only opening night. Things are never perfect on opening night. But the sun will come out tomorrow for sure, bottom dollar guaranteed.

"Ugh," Courtney hears Louise grumble under her breath. "If he makes me come to this show multiple times, I swear…"

"I'll pay you back for the tickets," Courtney offers. Louise would never give up on her brother, but a little extra incentive couldn't hurt.

Louise looks over at her, then nods. "I could move some things around in my schedule. Let my people get back to your people tomorrow."

*****

Friday morning finds Courtney indulging in one of her favorite hobbies — inserting her own name into show tunes. She’s so into humming her version of, “And it’s the Courtney show, and you don’t even know it, and you’re ‘meh, so-so’ and you don’t even know it” that she walks straight past Gene to grab her books out of her locker. When she shuts the door, he’s standing four inches from her face. Courtney jumps back a foot.

“We have a situation,” says Gene before Courtney can freak. “Alex is coming to the show again tonight.”

“Okay,” Courtney replies. “That's great! Second act, second chance. But you don’t need my help anymore. The song is perfect.”

“The song is perfect,” Gene agrees. “But my family is also coming tonight, and I need you to distract my mom so she doesn’t horn in on it. I know she’s amazing, but she’s gonna want to join in if she hears a song, even if she doesn’t know the words or the melody. This is something I have to do alone.”

“And with your sisters,” Courtney points out.

“Just Louise,” says Gene. “We’re giving Tina a chance to do her own thing and sparkle after the show since she’s graduating.”

Something like a plan starts forming in Courtney’s mind. There’s something in there, something about Linda Belcher and singing along. Something about “the Courtney Show and you don’t even know it,” and something about ten weeks of being a nameless, faceless background character. Something’s coming, something good.

“I can do that,” she says. “I can absolutely do that.”

Courtney can't quite tell, but it looks like they might have a full house tonight. The front is full, anyway. All of Courtney's family is coming on Saturday, but Dad was too wound up to wait and is sitting halfway back near the aisle. Courtney sees Gene’s mom and dad and some old people that look vaguely like them. Alex is between Bob and Louise, who's got an aisle seat and is already looking bored.

The show has some hitches, but it's better than Thursday night. The audience is more into it anyway, laughing louder and clapping more at the ends of scenes. Courtney and Gene are flawless as always, and by the time curtain call rolls around, Courtney feels more at ease than she has in months. She knows what she has to do, where to go and what to say and who to say it to. All these baby steps are going to add up and help her friends and lead to total, everlasting love and future success. Most likely, anyway.

Courtney sashays her way down the hall from the green room out to the lobby, with Gene hot on her heels.

"Mrs. Belcher, hi!" Courtney exclaims as she jumps in front of Linda, bringing her and the rest of the Belcher family behind her to a stop. "Hi!"

"Oh, Courtney, sweetie, you were wonderful!" Linda crows, pulling Courtney in and hugging her like she's one of Linda's daughters. From over Linda's shoulder, Courtney sees Gene, Alex, and Louise silently backing away toward the theatre doors.

"Mrs. Belcher, look at me!" Courtney says once Linda lets her go. "And listen! It's the post-show audience participation... thing!"

"Really?" Linda asks, a dangerous gleam in her eyes.

"Yes!" Courtney replies.

"Should we be worried about where our kids went?" Mr. Belcher asks before she can start.

"I'm here, Dad," comes Tina's voice from somewhere behind her grandparents, which seems to satisfy Bob.

"Great!" says Courtney, making sure Mrs. Belcher only has eyes for her. "There's no business like show business, like no business I know..."

It only takes two lines for Linda to join in. She's actually not bad at the harmonizing, and what she lacks in pitch she makes up for in enthusiasm.

Linda applauds herself and Courtney once they finish the song. Courtney's pretty sure she hears Tina clapping, too. She sees neither hide nor hair from Gene and Louise, though.

"Oh yay!" Gene's mom cheers. "Yay, yay, yay! What’s next, what’s next?" She turns to Courtney. "Do you take requests, honey?"

“You bet I do!” Courtney chirps in reply.

“Great,” says Gene’s dad. “I’m gonna go warm up the car.”

“I’ll help,” says the old man with the mustache. “My ears are killing me.”

“What?” says the old man with no mustache.

“You do that, Bob and Bob!” Linda calls after them before turning her attention back on Courtney. “So! Whattya got, what else do you know? Oh! How about… La la la la la la-merica, la la la la la la-merica!” She reaches out to grab Courtney’s hand and twirl her around.

Courtney laughs and lets herself be spun.

She almost misses it when Alex comes out into the lobby alone a few minutes later.

Courtney and Linda are belting their way through "I Could Have Danced All Night" with a small group of theatergoers gathering around them. Her dad's there and recording on his phone, which Courtney actually appreciates. She's telling everyone how she could have spread her wings and done a thousand things when Alex catches her eye. Courtney breaks character to frown at him. He's just watching them from across the lobby. He doesn't look like he's just had his life improved in every possible way, but he doesn't look sad either. He's just chilling.

In a crowd of thousands, Alex waves to her and then heads for the exit.

Courtney looks back toward the auditorium doors in time to see Louise come out, exaggeratedly rolling her eyes and throwing her hands in the air. Gene is nowhere to be seen.

Well. Third time’s the charm.

*****

“Listen,” says Gene when Courtney picks up her phone at 10:02 on Saturday morning. “I almost feel bad asking you this because I know your family is going to be there tonight, and I know you’re going to say yes, but Alex said he’s coming to the show again and he’s bringing his parents and — ”

“Yes!” Courtney cheers, already planning which songs she’s going to perform tonight. “Yes, a thousand times yes! I can totally distract his mom and dad after the show. Just leave everything to me!”

“You’re sure I won’t be taking you away from parent and grandparent picture time?” Gene asks.

“Pfffttt,” says Courtney. “I’ll be spending all day with them today. And they can take all the pictures they want of me while I’m doing my after-show.” Three songs is probably enough, right? Maybe she needs a fourth in case someone asks for an encore. The name on everybody’s lips is gonna be Courtney.

"Okay," Gene replies. "I trust your judgement. Maybe. No, no, I'm not going to regret this now. We've worked too hard. I'm not throwing away my shot. Okay, bye! See you in a few hours!"

"Byeeeeeeee," Courtney replies. She hangs up then opens her recent call list to find Alex's number.

"Please please please please please tell me you get what Gene is trying to do," Courtney begs, throwing herself across her bed. "Please tell me you know what's going on. I really can't say anything but I can't take any more of this!"

"I know," Alex mumbles, still sounding mostly asleep. "At least, I think I know. I gotta let him try first, though. This time a ripple, next time a wave, you know?"

Courtney bolts upright. "What did you just say?"

"Nothing," says Alex, sounding embarrassed.

"Are you quoting Sondheim at me?!" Courtney shrieks. "Alex!"

"I'm going back to sleep now, bye," Alex replies.

"Byeseeyoutonight!" Courtney gets out before he hangs up on her.

Saturday night is a grand night for singing. They’ve got a full house, and everybody on stage and behind the scenes knows what they’re doing now. Courtney nails her crowd scenes, then spends most of her downtime bouncing off the walls in the green room (literally, a couple times). She’s doing A Show, and she’s doing Her Show. Gram-Gram and Nana and Pop-Pop and Gramps and her parents and Julia and Rupa are out there somewhere. And Gene has one more chance to make something happen with Alex. By the time curtain call comes around, Cindy the stage manager has given Courtney the evil eye more times than she can count.

Gene seems to appreciate the enthusiasm though. Once the lights go down, they race each other to the lobby, parting the seas of cast members and theatergoers so Gene can help his sister herd Alex back toward the emptying auditorium and so Courtney can hit the Papasians with her best, “What's new, Buenos Aires?” Mrs. Papasian may not be as enthusiastic as Mrs. Belcher, but she's nice, and she isn’t immune to Courtney’s charms and the high of a good show-stopping number.

Some other parents are into the Courtney Show, of course, and why wouldn’t they be? But a thing Courtney failed to realize amid all the Alex-and-Gene drama was that she was, of course, surrounded by other theatre kids who weren’t happy with their parts. There’s a bunch of nameless, faceless extras just like her, kids who wanted to be on stage and under the spotlight for a reason, damn it! And then there's Courtney's friends who aren't in the show but came out to have a good time. Of course they’d want to get in on her act, too. And why shouldn’t they?

It’s why and how Courtney finds herself leading about fifteen other students are in the middle of listing all the colors in Joseph’s coat when Gene finally comes out of the auditorium. Alex isn’t far behind him, but in the few seconds that Gene’s alone, he makes eye contact with Courtney and shakes his head, a sour expression on his face.

“… and purple and white and pink and orange and shoot!” says Courtney. Well. The matinee tomorrow will be as good a time as any to nail the closing number, right?

*****

"You don’t have to do it now, you know," says Gene, pacing back and forth between the sinks and the stalls as Courtney perfects her makeup. He sounds tired, but Courtney knows he's going to try again. He has to. Alex is already here, sitting next to Louise in the back row. It's gotta happen, happen sometime, so maybe this time, Gene will win.

"No, I'm going to," Courtney insists, giving herself a once over before adjusting the wad of netting and fake flowers on her head. “I’m just a girl who can’t say no.” She shoots Gene a concerned look. “And you’re in a terrible fix.”

“I know, I know,” Gene groans into his hands.

Courtney turns to face him, leaning back on the sink behind her. "Do you need me to be doing something else?" she asks tentatively. "Anything else? Like a backup singer? Or I can lean on one or both of you if you need more muscle than just Louise."

"No, it's fine," Gene replies as he straightens up. "What kind of showman would you be if you didn't give 'em the ol' razzle dazzle on closing night?"

"Not a great one," Courtney says. She fiddles the clasp of her locket with her thumbnail for a few seconds while she thinks. "But if you change your mind, you know you can tell me, right? I really do want to help you guys."

"Thanks, Courtney," says Gene. He's not exactly smiling, but he's less frowny than he was a minute ago. "I'd hug you but the makeup is, uh, not so easy to get off these clothes."

"Eh," says Courtney, reaching for him. "That can be the costume department's problem."

Enchanted Sleeping Beauty is the same old song and dance. Courtney goes out, does a number, then gets off the stage like always.

Behind the scenes, however, she has started something. The other extras will not stop hounding her about what numbers they should do in the lobby afterward. Several of them even choreographed a dance the night before. Courtney loves it. They're one hundred percent doing it for their families, and they spend most of the downtime practicing kicks as quietly as possible in the green room. Cindy will definitely be having her head at the cast party, but at least twenty-odd theater kids will avenge her death.

Courtney loses track of Gene and Alex in the swirl of people in the lobby. She can't see Louise anywhere either before her cast-mates strike up the metaphorical band. There's a mess of butterflies in her stomach, and Courtney almost wants to run back into the theatre to make sure everything is going as planned. Before she can get too far, though, there's arms being looped through hers and a chorus line starting to form.

It takes five songs for everyone to run out of steam or get bored. They've finally belted and faux-tapped their way through "Anything Goes," which their after-show crowd ate up with a spoon, when Courtney finds herself alone by the building exit doors. She walks a small circle, shaking out her hands to bring herself back down to earth a little bit. She finishes her turn to find Ms. Dieter literally looking down on her.

"Wow, Courtney," her director says after a minute. "That was really... really something."

"Thank you," Courtney pants, putting her hands on top of her head to try to even out her breathing.

"I mean it," Ms. Dieter adds, sounding a bit more sincere. "I have to admit, earlier this year I thought you were all talk and no show. But I'm impressed. Keep up the enthusiasm next semester, and I’ll think about maybe doing one of the shows you recommended last May."

On that note, she walks away, greeting the Pescadero family as she passes them.

Courtney watches in silence, then puts both hands over her heart, feeling a blazing warmth in her chest that she won't even try to blame on her congenital heart defect.

*****

“I couldn’t do it,” Gene tells her when she goes back into the green room to change out of her costume. She’s pretty sure that’s what he says, anyway. He’s hiding his face behind several wigs.

Courtney throws her head back screams. Turns out with the right motivation, she can hit a high D.

*****

"I blew it," Gene groans. "I had four chances to make a spectacle of myself and show Alex how I really feel, and I blew it."

Courtney takes one hand off the steering wheel to pull at the neck of her shirt. "Normally I would say something like, 'Showboating won't solve your problems, so it's okay,' but it really worked for me this time, so you're on your own."

The purple fuzzy sweater was a mistake, Courtney has to admit now. She wanted to look cute and princess-y at the cast party, but she was already hot and sweaty from the physical work of the show and set tear-down, and now she's even hotter and itchier. Her hair feels frizzy (though she's still rockin' the fascinator, which hopefully distracts from some of it), and she can already feel the zits forming on her face after a week of stage makeup. At least now she's heading somewhere appearances don't matter.

The cast party had been fun for the first hour, and then Courtney had been over it. Maybe Gene had a point about being together for play practice being enough because after months with the same cast and crew people, Courtney was a little tired of seeing some of their faces. The punch was good, though.

Fortunately, after forty-five minutes, a new case of intrigue fell into Courtney’s lap. Or into her phone, anyway.

How soon can you get Gene to leave the cast party? came a text from an unknown number. A second text came as Courtney was still puzzling over the first. Louise has gotten Alex to the restaurant and Dad’s keeping him entertained until you guys get there.

Her phone buzzed a third time. This is Tina, by the way. From school.

Courtney frowned, looking around for the Belcher sister in question and coming up short. Maybe she found someone to get kissy with? Tina seemed to have a knack for that. Probably Jimmy Jr. or Zeke. There was something weird going on between the three of them that Courtney wasn’t sure she wanted to know any more about.

Why can’t you take him home? Courtney had texted back.

Please. This is my last HS cast party, Tina replied, which, fair. Courtney knew she would have to be dragged away from her last day on set two years from now.

Also at this point Gene needs a stronger push than me, Tina continued, which, also fair. Courtney probably fell somewhere between Tina and Louise on the gentleness scale.

Courtney would be lying if she said she didn’t want to see how this played out. If she could finally, finally get these two stupid idiots to talk to each other, or sing to each other, or hold up flashcards or something at this point, then it would absolutely be worth bailing on the party.

Fifteen minutes later, Courtney finds herself parking outside Bob’s Burgers, mopey Gene in tow. While Courtney took the opportunity to rid herself of all her makeup, Gene had put more on since he didn’t get any fun looks in the show. He’s now sporting some glittery eyeshadow Courtney hoped would make him more fab than sad, but the results are mixed. He’s got a few stripes of warpaint on both cheeks. His eyebrows are filled in thick enough to kill a man, and there’s loose glitter in all his hair everywhere. He’s also rocking a flamingo-print shirt over his white T-shirt and jeans, plus some hot pink sneakers. Courtney wonders if he knows this is the outfit he’ll be wearing when his whole life changes and if so, if he knows how awesome it is.

Gene sighs again, popping open the passenger side door. “When is the next school dance?” he asks. “Maybe I can work my song into the setlist… after I convince the school I’m mature enough to DJ dances again… and convince Alex that he actually likes school dances.”

“Maybe he'll come today,” says Courtney, too distracted by the sight of Alex’s bike propped up against the fence between Bob’s and It’s Your Funeral. “Maybe he came already.”

"Maybe he's sitting in the drawing room..." Gene continues for her before freezing. "Wait, we didn't forget Alex somewhere, did we? He wasn't waiting back at school backstage, was he?" He cranks his neck around to look in the backseat. "Is he in the trunk?!"

"Nope!" Courtney jumps out and runs around the front of her car. She beats Gene in the door, swinging it wide for him to follow her. At the counter, Alex looks up from his phone and spins toward them. He looks at home under the soft yellow restaurant lights.

“Hey,” Alex greets them nervously. “Uh, hi.”

Gene perks back up. “Alex! What are you doing here?”

Courtney moves around Gene to take a seat two stools away from Alex. She tosses her purse into the booth behind where they're sitting then does a double-take as she notices Gene's keyboard is on the table. Louise did some impressive set-up work, Courtney can’t lie.

Alex starts wringing his hands, then notices what he’s doing and forces himself to stop. He looks between Gene and Courtney. “It’s cool if you’re too tired to hang out, but your sisters said I should at least be here to say ‘hey’ when you guys were done. And I guess technically I already said ‘hey,’ but if – ”

“Alex,” comes Mr. Belcher’s voice from the back before the man himself comes out from the kitchen holding a plate of food. “Burger.”

Alex frowns up at him. “I didn’t order anything.”

“It’s for your own good,” says Bob, setting the burger and fries in front of him before heading back into the kitchen.

“I can't believe you liked the show so much,” Gene says, walking over and taking the seat between Alex and Courtney. “Enough to come four times! I mean, I know your taste in musicals is terrible – “

“Oh, no,” says Alex. “The show was awful. Well, not awful. Some of the songs were catchy, and the witchy stuff was fun. Mostly, I just wanted to see you guys.”

“Awww,” says Courtney, propping her chin up in her hands. “You really care that much about both of us, huh?”

Alex and Gene both shoot her annoyed looks. Courtney bats her lashes at them. She knows when she’s about to be asked to make an exit. Might as well get cute while she still can.

Gene breaks her posturing by reaching out and poking her between the eyebrows. “Courtney, don’t you have to go… to the bathroom?”

“No,” replies Courtney. Then — “Oh! Oh right, the bathroom. Because I get the best cell phone reception in there, and I need to check my phone!” She twirls on her stool before jumping off and heading toward the weirdly dark and modern restroom.

“And, um, Dad!” Gene calls into the kitchen. “I think I saw, uh, uh, a rat in the employee bathroom earlier!”

“What?” says Bob.

“Uh, no, I mean, it was a wad of lint!” Gene course corrects. “And it was really big and cool-looking, and you should go check it out for five to ten minutes right now.”

Bob sighs. “Fine.”

“Oh… kaaay,” Alex is saying as Courtney finally makes herself close the door. “So, do I need to use the bathroom too, or…”

Courtney presses her ear up against the door, concentrating with all her might so she doesn’t miss anything.

“So Alex, there’s – ” There’s a clatter, making Courtney wonder if Gene dropped his keyboard when he tried picking it up or if Alex knocked something over on the counter.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you,” Gene continues. He doesn’t sound nervous, but Courtney knows how convincing an actor he can be when he puts his mind to it. “It’s, well. It’s easier if I sing it, actually.”

He plays a little flourish on his keyboard, but it sounds like the song is slower once he gets into it. It isn’t quite a ballad, but it isn’t as rip-roaring as Courtney feared.

Alex

There’s not that many words that rhyme with “Alex”

Maybe if I were smarter I’d say “calyx”

But that’s part of your kidney, so I won’t

Alex

We’ve come so far since your alpine oasis

You have one of my favorite human faces

And if you thought of changing I’d say “Don’t!”

I have so much to sing about

I have so much to say

But words aren’t always easy

They can just get in the way

It’s easier to sing the things

The way that I intend

I like you as a person and

I like you as a friend

So, Alex

I hope by now it’s clear just what I’m saying

And that my love’s the message I’m relaying

I only want you hearing what I’m playing

Now that I’ve fin'lly got you here alone.

“So… yeah,” Gene says a few minutes after the last note has faded. “And now I’m gonna hand it over to you!”

Courtney bangs her head against the door. Idiots! Why are boys such idiots?

“Holy cow.” It’s hard to hear Alex, but Courtney would say he sounds awed. Maybe Gene isn’t so stupid after all. “You like me.”

“I really like you,” Gene replies softly.

“Why?” Alex asks, voice rising. “Sorry, sorry! I just, I wasn’t expecting this.”

“So, do you maybe want to go out sometime?” asks Gene.

“Say yes, Alex!” Courtney calls through the door.

“Courtney!” Gene snaps.

“Yes!” says Alex before they can start bickering. “To Gene. I’m ignoring you, Courtney. But yeah, yes. Let’s!”

“Great!” replies Gene.

There follows a very long and awkward pause. Courtney can’t hear anything, not even possible gross makeout noises. What is even happening? They’re probably sitting there staring at each other like losers.

“Are you guys kissing or what?” Courtney asks after a few more minutes.

“Courtney, stop interrupting!” Gene shouts.

“No!” Courtney yells back, grabbing the door handle. “And I’m coming out of the bathroom now.”

“Courtney!” Alex isn’t even pretending to look annoyed with her. The grin that splits his face is maybe the happiest expression Courtney has ever seen from him. It almost makes her tear up a little, the bubbly feeling in her chest worth all the angst and drama she’s had to put up with over the past few months.

The matching smile on Gene’s face definitely puts her over the edge into crying. It feels like everything’s back to normal, except better than normal. Adjacent to normal. In the best way, of course.

“Courtney, we love you, but you have other friends, right?” Gene asks unashamedly. “That you could be with right now instead of here?”

Courtney sighs, pretending to be put out as she walks to them. "But we literally never hang out anymore."

"Liar!" Alex and Gene both yell at the same time.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Courtney says. "You’re both welcome.”

Gene pouts. “We would have been fine without you.”

“As if,” Courtney replies. She throws her arms around both Gene and Alex, pulling them in tight. They reach out to hug her in kind.

“Ew, what is your sweater made out of?” asks Alex. Courtney pinches his side just to make him yelp.

“You know what? Never mind.” Alex puts a hand on Courtney’s shoulder and starts pushing her away. “Okay, bye!”

“Bye!” Courtney replies, making no move to take her left arm off Gene.

“Bye, bye, bye!” Gene pulls her arm off his shoulder. He takes Alex’s right hand in his then smiles up at Courtney. “Get out of my restaurant now so we can smooch!”

“Gene,” says Mr. Belcher from the kitchen.

Courtney grins back at them, then swings her purse onto her shoulder and makes for the exit.

She stops outside, taking a minute to bask in the warm glow from the restaurant behind her. Courtney reaches into her bag, intent on finding her car keys when Alex’s bike catches her attention. Well. The night is young. She has some time to kill before she needs to be home, and Alex won’t be needing it, not for another twenty to thirty minutes anyway. This could be the start of something new.

Taking care as she pulls it away from the wall, Courtney kicks up the stand and swings one leg over. She gets her feet on the pedals and then she’s off, letting the song that’s been building in her heart explode out into the quiet streets.

“I have always been a woman who arranges things…”