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Darryl stood at the door of the school theater. He never expected to be in theater ,ever. He found it better to be playing the clarinet in the company of an empty band room, so when he glanced at his schedule only to find "theater/drama" in place of where his band class usually stood, he was both furious and curious. In a sense, darryl had been in band since freshman year, and senior year was supposed to be his year, it was finally his time to shine, so when he was met with this surprise, (and the fact that band class was now full and unable to be switched into) he decided he might as well get it over with rather than take PE again. Heck, it can't be that bad right?
"Excuse me?" a boy with brown hair said, Darryl didn't catch much of his face before instantly, almost instinctively moving out of the way. "Thank you" the boy's tongue lingered on the last syllable, and like that he walked away and sat down. Darryl quickly followed, finding a spot in the third row.
The teacher began to talk on and on about the fall play, and Darryl sat listening. He figured inevitably he would get cast in a very small role, and he was never too into musical theater so none of this was of any interest to him. A hand shot up a row in front of him,
"Ms.Delgado, are there going to be any tests?" the boy asked. the class erupted in giggles and small huffs of laughter.
"well," Ms.Delgado flipped through a small notepad. "Zak, I believe. Mr.owens has told me a lot about your singing. now there might not be any tests for the class, but after that comment I might have to add some just for you." The class followed up with both confusion and laughter.
Small murmurs of "zak sings?" and "woah good one Ms.Delgado '' made its way across the theater. Zak's smile didn't fade from his face, and an even bigger grin was now in its place.
"what a center of attention.'' Darryl rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but let a small smile linger on his face.
Ms.Delgado moved on with her explanation of the class, and the class settled down. "I don't mean to get into everything on the first day of class, but there truly is no time like the present. we are doing the little mermaid. Now usually I wait for the spring show to do a musical, but I'm switching up the curriculum a little bit this year to leave room for everyone's prom. Last year the seniors were all on my butt about the musical and prom being in the same month. gosh." Ms.Delgado waved her hands in the air, a face of distress masked her.
"Thank god, march and april aren't good months, baseball season and all" Zak bragged to the girl next to him. she giggled and rolled her eyes, and went back to the teacher.
Darryl walked out of theater class. He felt as though a weight had been put on his shoulders. He considered it an odd but somewhat normal feeling and thought nothing more of it. After school, darryl went to work almost every day. He worked at a small hole in the wall style pizza place named louie grands, but everyone who knew it simply called it louies. Darryl was a waiter, one of three in his shift usually. And after an eventful day he drove home and did as any normal kid does, he texted his minecraft friend,
BBH: hey you muffin top, how was your first day?
SKP: it was ok... wanna get on the server?
BBH: sure!
The next day, Darryl made his way to theater class once again, and yet now, the fear seemed to be worse than before. He sat down in the same spot as yesterday, three rows from the front. There was something different about today and he could feel it in the air. The boy, rather known as zak, sat directly in front of him. Zak turned around, causing Darryl to flinch.
"You're that weird kid that works at the pizza place downtown aren't you!" zak said, as if he was finally able to place him.
"Um- i guess?" Darryl rolled his eyes and looked down at his syllabus, scanning his eyes over the characters he might be cast as.
"Who do you think you're gonna get?" Zak asked, Darryl wanted to pay no mind to the baseball capitan, but there was a sense of curiosity, just as the class itself had given him.
"I don't know, i dont think I'm going to get a lead role, maybe flounder would be nice." Darryl stopped himself. Zak smiled back. "Why, who do you think you're going to get?" Darryl asked, Zak giggled.
"I have no idea, maybe sebastian-" the teacher walked in, and the class got silent.
"Today, we are going to be learning a little about the history of the little mermaid. And next class we start auditions." Ms. Delgado began to buzz about the subject. Darrly didn't take it upon himself to listen, infact, he was slowly falling asleep, that was until a small yellow bunched up sticky note made its way to his lap. He unraveled it, and a small sigh left him.
"Its u lol" the note read, followed by a small fish drawing. Darryl couldn't help but smile. He pulled out a green marker from his backpack and quickly drew a small circle, legs, and a face. It truly didn't look like anything other than a walking head, but darryl decided it was art. He scribbled some more and passed the note over. In an instant the note was passed back.
"There aren't trolls in the little mermaid, smart ass" Zak had bad handwriting, it was legible but still none the less bad. Though thinking about it darryl decided not to make a point of it upon seeing his own handwriting staring back at him. Darryl took the green marker and scribbled out the word ass.
"Stop! No cursing on the sticky note!" Darryl wrote back.
"Excuse me boys, is my teaching getting in the way of anything?" Ms.Delgado had somehow caught wind of the back and forth.
"No ma'am, we were just talking about how-" zak stopped, suddenly whispering, "hey man, what's your name again?"
"Darryl." darryl dead panned.
"Oh cool man, dap me up," Zak said, extending his hand. Darryl just sat there. He was humiliated in front of the whole class. He shook his head in response.
"Can i get back to teaching now?" Ms.Delgado asked, a scornful look on her face. "Thank you, as i was saying, in the original little mermaid, Hans Christian Andersen, the original author, wrote this story as more of a vent. He saw himself in the mermaid, because he was in love with a man who didn't love him back. In the original story, the mermaid was nothing more than a pet to the prince, and that was how Anderson thought about himself, he was nothing to the man he loved, infact, in the original story, he describes the mermaids time on land as terrible, saying every step burns, and in the end, the prince found someone else to love. It's so sad." Suddenly, with the passion in Ms.Delgados voice, she had the entire class's attention.
"Anyway, by tomorrow i hope everyone would have learned a 60 second song for auditions, and learned the monologue I had prepared. You can choose another if you like but please keep it short and school appropriate. Remember everyone, you're allowed to bring your script on stage but i don't want you to be staring at it the whole time. I take questions after class, class dismissed."
This was not going to be easy. By the time school ended he was tired beyond belief, but still he had to go to work. He threw on his apron, grabbed his pen, and started his first table. A group of kids walked in, maybe his age.
"Hey everyone, what can i get everyone started on?" Darryl said cheerfully. "Any drinks?"
"We are all getting cokes, except for zak who wants a lemonade," the boy put his hand up, covering his mouth from zak and began to whisper. "He's a fruit,"
Darryl hummed and nodded, finally noticing zak in the middle of the booth. "So five cokes, one lemonade?" the table nodded, and zak was shooting daggers at the boy who spoke. As Darryl walked off to put the drinks in the computer, he heard a bang. He glanced over, hoping he wasn't going to have to kick out the cool kids. But to his surprise, the table itself was fine, it was the boy who spoke who was in shambles. Darryl sped over to the table. "Uh- do you, do you need some ice?" Darryl was confused and honestly had no idea what to do.
"Does it look like I need ice?" the boy roared. He held his hand to his face, darryl knew that the punch was going to leave a bruise, a mark at least.
"Bryce calm down he's trying to help..." another boy tried to reason. Zak laughed.
"We are all okay theater class boy. Don't worry.'' Zak said, a smug look on his face. Darryl wasn't too fond of the name, considering it rude even after he expressed it to the boy.
"Ok then," Darryl said, not finding any other words. He walked back over to the computer and the table began to laugh. Lets just say, darryl isnt too good with being laughed at and publicly humiliated. "Dont cry dont cry dont cry." he repeated, it was basically his motto. By the time he put in the order and made it back to the table, he was already done in terms of being polite. "So, pie or slices?" he said, annoyed.
"Bacon pizza slice," Bryce blurted out, the table shared a laugh and Darryl moved along.
"The rest of us are normal and want peperoni, right?" one of the other boys chimed in.
"Nah, can i get a thick crust, just cheese?" Zak asked. Darryl giggled.
"That's my order" Darryl thought as he scribbled it down in his notes, he added a little crab next to Zak's name, only after did he think it odd.
The table ate, and boy did they eat because after four slices each, what felt like bottomless drinks, and a scoop of ice cream for every one of them, darryl was exhausted. The table paid and left, not leaving a tip which agitated darryl to levels he could not express. He took it as a loss and moved on, he had four other tables to finish before he could go home. That was until he saw zaks back on the restaurant's window, and none of his friends around.
"Did you leave something inside?" Darryl walked outside. Zak was holding his sides and it didn't look like he had a ride home.
"Nah, i just wanted to give you a tip when you got off, but i realised i had no idea when your shift ended. So i'm just waiting." zak pulled out a fifty dollar bill. "It's not 20 percent for the whole tip, but I just felt bad."
"Nah, you don't have to. You look down on your luck anyway, if I take it now I'll feel bad." Darryl smiled in an attempt to lift the mood.
"That's not the only reason I'm still here..." zak confessed.
"Oh?" darryl questioned.
"After i punched bryce he kinda decided he wouldn't drive me home, and i don't really have anyone to call, and i'm like eighty-six percent sure you wont kill me so, i guess what i'm saying is-" zak spiraled.
"It's ok, i'll drive you home. Why only eighty-six?" darryl teased.
"I don't know, I feel like you might have the idea to kill me but not the motion, like a mad puppy." Zak shoved the money back in his pocket. His baseball jersey was dirty, orange stains from the clay field, along with red splurts from the tomato sauce. Not to mention his messy hair. Just now in this moment Darryl realised with certainty that he had zak pegged all confused. One look at zak and he was the coolest kid at the school, girls fawning over him, star player, countless friends, but it was darryl, a nobody to zak, who would eventually have to drive him home
Darryl still had about thirty minutes until his shift was done. He sat zak in the back room in the meantime, feeling bad to just leave him outside.
"Who's that?" one of the other servers asked. She gestured to zak who darryl had given a kiddie menu and crayons to keep him occupied, which was somehow working.
"Uh, a friend of mine, i guess... doesn't matter i have to drive him home." darryl responded. He brushed his hand through his hair. "Abby get back to work. thinking about it is stressing me out," darryl shook his hands, and went back to one of his tables. Abby didn't listen and walked over to the strange boy.
"Baseball team? Assuming you go to Darryls school... wait- oh my god you're the kid that made fun of him in front of his whole class today aren't you!" Abby had remembered from earlier in the day when their shift first started and Darryl couldn't stop talking about "the captain of the baseball team" and how he was "such a jerk". Zak shrugged at the remark.
"Yeah. i'm an ass..." zak said. His face was numb and he kinda just sat there motionless doing the maze on the children's menu. Abby nodded in agreement,
"Yeah. i can tell." she responded. A small smile landed on Zak's face.
"I'm not having a good day, yknow?" zak leaned over on the table. "Im way over my head here..." Zak murmured.
"Do tell," Abby grabbed a chair and sat across from zak. In an instant darryl rushed over and opened the break room door.
"Abby, get your butt back here!" Darryl yelled. His face was red and he was glaring at abby. She glared back.
"Ok. Well I'll leave you to it. Fair warning, he's a cuddler." Abby winked and darryl looked like he was going to commit a crime.
"ABIGAIL" darryl screeched. She ran back outside, a smug smile on her face.
" your welcome. You idiot..."Abby nudged him. " you're so strange. Know that?"
"Yes, sure... whatever..." Darryl was spiraling as his shift finished up. He popped into the break room. "Ready to go?" zak nodded.
"Uh, where should i put this?" zak asked. He held up a small fully colored kids menu.
"Keep it. Little souvenir" darryl replied as he grabbed his keys and the coffee he had left in the fridge when his shift had first started.
"Iced coffee? I always thought of you as a latte guy." zak walked out of the pizza place. He had a small smile as he tried to start a conversation.
"Not my idea. Abby makes me some every afternoon when I clock in." darryl continued.
"Oh... are you two like, together?" Zak asked as he sat down in darryls car. It was a cute black beat up Volkswagen beetle.
"Who? Me and abby? No way she's like a sister to me. A very annoying sister." darryl giggled at the thought. "Plus we aren't eachothers type. Trust me." Darryl started the car as Zak looked over at him, confused, trying to place him. The small childrens menu sat on Zak's lap. "So uh, where exactly do you live?"
"Turn left here. And then just keep going straight until federal." Zak said, he looked down at his drawing. It was a small minecraft sheep with little grass marks scattered around. Darryl caught a glance and giggled again.
"You play minecraft?" he asked.
"Uh. not really. Nope."
"Oh, cmon I'm not going to tell anyone. Plus i don't think anyone would believe me." darryl pried.
"Sometimes i play, oh turn left here." zak responded.
"Hm, java or bedrock?" Darryl asked, trying his best to pretend like he didn't play.
"Java. wait a minute..." zak replied, piercing the pieces together. "You're a minecraft player too!" zak let out a nasally laugh "what do you play?" he was happy as he said it, genuinely happy.
"Java too. I mostly only play servers though so-" darryl added. That laugh sounded familiar, it made him feel a familiar type of fondness, he couldn't place it
"What's your IGN? Maybe we could play sometime?" zak asked. He was like a puppy, cheerful and excited.
"Um, maybe later... hey where do i turn?" darryl asked. Zak pointed right and his smile faded.
"So uh, other than minecraft, what do you do?" zak asked. He leaned back in his seat and waited.
"Uh, I work, obviously, minecraft, um... I have a dog? Her name is lucy." Darryl focused on the road. Slightly glancing at the mirrors every now and then.
"What kind of dog?"
"She's a maltese," darryl answered.
"Oh pull over right here." zak said in a rush. Darryl did as told and dropped the other boy off. Zak leaned into the window for a moment as if to say something. As if he had something great to add, a one liner or even a well wish, he leaned over like he had something to say, anything. Darryl wanted anything. "Uh, thanks again, i'm really sorry by the way, see you in drama class?" Darryl shrugged and nodded.
"It's fine, see you," he replied, biting his tongue. Zak walked away and went inside his house. And just like that, darryl drove away to his own home.
SKP: ur late >:(
BBH: i have work u dingus
SKP: i have a counfesssion
BBH: what is ur confession ? ?
SKP: i have a crush i think
Darryl held his breath, he had slowly fallen in love with his friend, jealous pangs hit his heart.
BBH: Who's the lucky person?
SKP: hes somme kid frum my schoool, hes really sweet, i think u ould like him
Darryl sat there trying to decode SKPs bad spelling.
BBH: name?
SKP: would you belibe me if i told u i forgot?
BBH: im not surprised..
Darryl held his chest, he didn't want to let go to this love he had for his friend. He didn't even know his real name but that didn't matter, he knew his character, he knew his laugh in VC could make his bad day a million times better, he knew how to press all of darryls buttons, he knew he was in love.
BBH: hey im kind of tired im going to head out, see you tmmr :3
Darryl let his head crash against his bed, and he tossed and turned, but eventually he fell asleep.
The following day in class felt different than the ones prior. Darryl sat in his seat as usual, but the rowdy boy who sat directly in front of him was missing.
"Hello everyone, I hope everyone is prepared to present their monologues, we will do the song portion separately because I know some of you are shy." Ms.Delgado sat on the stage. Zak slowly opened the theater door. "And there's zak. First tardy of the year, let's not make this a pattern, got it?" zak nodded and made his way to his usual seat. Before stopping one row short. He wobbled over to Darryl who was looking over at him confused.
Curious
"Mind if i?" Zak pointed to the seat next to the others. Darryl nodded and zak plopped down.
"Thank you. Alright. Who is up first?" Ms.delgado asked. Quickly, a small girl with short black hair shot her hand up. "Alright julia, get on the stage and show us what you got." the girl hurried up the stairs. She was mousy, very protective of herself.
"I'm going to be doing the part of Olivia, from Easy A. Excuse me? No offense, Brando, but maybe you could learn something from me. I'm just suggesting that maybe these kids we call peers have got the right idea. Maybe Bridget Schumacher isn't as hippy-dippy as she pretends to be. Maybe that's just the label she's put on herself to avoid having to shave everywhere society deems normal. Or take Marianne Bryant. Maybe the whole stuck-up Jesus-freak thing is an act. Maybe she was sick of being just another faceless entity in a place and a time that reveres people for extremity?" she was good. Everyone in the room instantly knew she was going to get Ariel's part. She chose an odd monologue, but the way she played them was grand.
"Round of applause for Julia, great job, amazing. Who's up next?" ms delgado looked around the room. "Zak, thank you so much for volunteering next! Up up up cmon." Zak looked around and groaned. He walked up the steps holding a single sheet of paper which had his monologue.
"Um.. im doing uh.. I guess the part of Patrick from that one movie.. Uh, the perks of being a wildflower, wallflower? I don't know." he sighed and looked at his sheet. "Well, there was this one guy. Queer as a 3 dollar bill. Guy's father didn't know about his son. So, he comes down into the basement one night when he's supposed to be out of town. Catches his son with another boy. So, he starts beating him. But not like the slap kind. Like the real kind. And the boyfriend says, "Stop. You're killing him." And the son just yells "Get out." And eventually the boyfriend just did. " Zak paused to build anticipation. "Forget it. I'm free now, right? I could meet the love of my life any second now. Things will be different now, and that's good. I just need to meet a good guy." zak paused. And Ms.Delgado slowly clapped.
"Good job zak, didn't know you had it in you." she added. "Who wants to head on up?" Ms.Delgado shot Darryl a look. "Why don't you give it a try, you were in band last year weren't you, I'm sure you are no stranger to auditions." Darryl stood up, his legs shaking and he could barely walk. Zak passed, giving him two big thumbs up, whispering a small "good luck" as he passed.
"Ok. ok um... um." darryl started.
"Just breathe ok?" Ms.Delgado gave him a warm smile.
"I am... I am going to do, carter from uh, fat pig... ok... All I'm saying is this . . . Do what you want. If you like this girl, then don't listen to a god" he stopped and took a deep breath. "Don't listen to a word anyone says, not one. But you've got your whole life to be a positive person, okay? To do some good in the community and be a bighearted fellow or whatever. Overlook people's flaws and plant saplings and stuff. But you're only young once. Handsome and youthful and vibrant. So don't mess it up, that is all I'm telling you here. Don't take a complete dump on your one moment in the sun... Not for somebody like her." his tongue lingered more than a moment on the last word.
"Great job! Everyone is doing amazing. It's going to be down to the singing portion isn't it!" Ms.Delgado was ecstatic. She pointed at another poor soul and they walked on the stage and presented. Darryl made it back to his seat, he felt his heart leap out of his chest.
"Good job!" zak whispered. "You did really good!" he added.
"Thanks, you did better than me though, I didn't think I was going to be put on the spot like that. " darryl confessed. Zak slightly extended his fist.
"Theater kids?" zak said, a huge cheesy smile was plastered on his face. Darryl reciprocated the gesture, rolling his eyes.
"I guess."
The following week, everyone did their monologues, with Darryl realising it was far better to have gotten it out of the way already. He had already fallen into a pattern. Drive to school, go to class, go to work, drive home, and study until he passes out, sometimes being interrupted by the occasional gaming break.
"So what about the song? Eh? Everyone learn part of your world yet?" Ms.Delgado asked, she sat atop the stage like she always did. The girl with short black hair, Julia, rose her hand once again. However, as did almost every single other girl in the class. "Yes, ladies?"
"I know the song! Let me go first Ms.Delgado!" followed by a mob of "No me!" and "I asked first!" came from the girls whose hands were raised.
"Now now, one at a time, i don't choose roles first come first serve, this is a strict process in which i take all the candidates into careful consideration AFTER the full audition process." she paused for a moment and looked at the boys. "Why don't one of the boys start us off? Eh?" In a second of pure instinct, the boys all looked at eachother. "How about you, darryl?" she added. He looked over at Zak who had never looked so relieved in his life. Darryl slumped in the seat as if to disappear. "Cmon now, you did great last time, i just want you to start everyone off, ok?" she almost begged. He stood up slowly and dragged his feet to the front of the theater, and then on to the stage. Ms.Delgado paused him and looked at the class as a whole. "Alright, darryl here gets 15 points extra credit, the rest of you, please head over to Mr.shoots class, he's expecting you all, and the rest of you will be called one by one in here to sing, ok?" The class left and it was soon just Darryl and Ms.Delgado. "I'm so sorry i have to keep using you as an example, but by any means, start whenever you're ready"
"Ok, ok," he turned around for a moment. "Dont cry dont cry dont cry" he whispered to himself. He turned back forward, and the theater door swung open.
"You are going to do great! I believe in you!" zak yelled. He waved his hand in the air, waving goodbye almost, and rushed back out. A small smile laid on Darryl's face. Ms.Delgado glared at Zak but allowed for a small hum from herself as she waited for Darryl to start.
"Look at this stuff, isn't it neat?
Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?
Wouldn't you think I'm the girl
Girl who has everything?
Look at this trove, treasures untold
How many wonders can one cavern hold?
Looking around here you'd think
Sure, she's got everything
I've got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty
I've got whozits and whatzits galore
You want thingamabobs?
I've got twenty
But who cares?
No big deal
I want more
I wanna be where the people are
I wanna see, wanna see them dancing
Walking around on those
What do you call 'em?
Oh, feet
Flipping your fins you don't get too far
Legs are required for jumping, dancing
Strolling along down a-
What's that word again?
Street?
Up where they walk, up where they run
Up where they stay all day in the sun
Wandering free
Wish I could be part of that world
What would I give if I could live
Out of these waters?
What would I pay to spend a day
Warm on the sand?
Betcha' on land, they understand
Bet they don't reprimand their daughters
Bright young women, sick of swimming
Ready to stand
I'm ready to know what the people know
Ask 'em my questions
And get some answers
What's a fire and why does it-
What's the word?
Burn?
When's it my turn?
Wouldn't I love, love to explore that shore up above
Out of the sea
Wish I could be
Part of that world" darryl had a very light singing voice, but it was powerful nonetheless.
"You have a great singing voice!" the gears started to turn in Ms.Delgados head. "Wait a minute," she glanced over at the door then back at darryl. "Hm, curious..." she hummed to herself. "You did great, call in zak for me, he's up next." Darryl strolled off the stage. He walked over to the other teachers room, and the room fell silent upon his arrival.
"Zak is up next." he blurted out. Zak darted to Darryl, ruffling darryls hair as he skipped out of the classroom, "good luck..." Darryl murmured.
There were only five minutes left in class, and Ms.Delgado called everyone back into the theater. "Ok class, so i've decided to make a few executive changes to the play, one ive been wanting to make for years but wasn't given the green light until today. Ariel is going to be a boy. I don't want any complaints. The cast list will be up on friday, so in three days."
Darryl felt his stomach sink. He knew with certainty that Zak was going to get Eric, he was literally the popular boy who only gets the lead because he fits the description. He held his breath. "Why do i care so much?" he thought. He bit his tongue and the bell rang, leaving darryl open to other thoughts.
"Hey loser." Zak yelled as he ran to catch up with darryl. "Are you free friday night? I'm having a few people over at my aunt's house, they are gone for the next month in some random european country and I'm dog sitting."
"Oh uh, I don't know, I don't really know your friends and I'd feel bad stuck to you all night-" Darryl mumbled out. He was visibly distressed, scratching his hair and messing with his fingers.
"Oh cmon, it's super low key, plus you would be able to meet them, not the baseball jerks, I just stay with them for free food." zak responded. He nudged darryls shoulder with his own. "What's the harm?"
"No funny business?" darryl asked.
"No funny business." zak replied. The bell rang again, telling them they were late. They parted and Zak waved goodbye, presumably taking the last comment as Darryl agreeing to come over.
SKP: im going to tell the guy i like that i like him ,
Darryl didn't bother responding.
A few days past, and it was finally the dreadfully awaited day, it was the day the cast list was being posted.
"Zak got eric!" one of the random girls yelled. The cast list was cluttered with seniors scattered around waiting for a look.
"Julia got ursula!" another girl yelled out. "I got one of the sisters!" another girl followed. "Darryl got-" the crowd hushed.
"Darryl got ariel?" Julia said. There was a knowing confusion amongst the group, having already known that the part was going to be played by a boy. A series of congratulations followed the temporary lapse in acknowledgement. Zak walked up to the board after seeing the crowd.
"What's going on?" he asked Darryl, who was standing slightly in shock.
"You got eric." he mumbled.
"Oh nice, who got ariel?" zak asked and he tried to get a peek at the cast list behind 30 seniors.
"It was darryl!" Julia yelled out, she giggled and looked the two boys up and down. She found Darryl looking distressed at the floor, he began picking at his fingers and slightly shaking. Zak noticed and wrapped his arm around darryl.
"Are you ok? " Zak asked. He saw darryl's eyes water slightly. "Let's go for a walk."
The two boys walked off to the school garden, theater class could wait a few minutes anyway.
"what are you feeling, if you don't mind me asking." zak sat down on a park bench. Darryl followed.
"Im going to ruin this stupid show." darryl dropped his face in his hands. He hated the thought, he couldn't act or sing. But worst of all he had to kiss zak.
"Woah woah woah, chill out man, you earned that part because Ms.Delgado knows that with your voice and acting, you deserve it. And I'm actually pretty glad you got Ariel, at least I know you won't fall in love with me," Zak winked and nudged darryls shoulder.
"Heh, yeah, don't have to worry about me..." darryl mumbled. His cheeks were red, he wasn't in love with zak, he truly wasn't. Zak took darryl's hand in his own and softly placed his head on the others.
"You are going to do amazing, everyone is going to love you." zak murmured. He was truly charming.
The pair waltzed back to the theater, darryl no longer scared to play the part. The class watched them as they took their seats.
"Alright boys, are we done having fun? Time to get this show on the road as i always say. I need darryl sitting up here-" she pointed at the middle seat on the stage. "Zak you aren't needed yet, rebecka you sit next to darry on the left since you're flounder, esmeralda on the right since you're sebastian. " her voice trailed as darryl made his way to the stage. They began the first cast read, somehow getting carried away when the bell rang ushering the group of seniors to go on with their day.
"Hey! Hey darryl, can i catch a ride!" Zak yelled as he ran up to darryls car after school.
"I'm not a taxi, get your own car, " Darryl said as he unlocked the car door to let Zak in. "aren't you supposed to get your aunts house ready?"
"Well thats why im here-" zak ducked into the car. "I need your help."
"Ugh, fine. I need to change before I go anywhere, mind if I head home real quick?" Darryl asked as he backed out of the parking spot.
"Whatever works with you mr. taxi!" zak yelped. Darryl huffed.
The pair made it to darryl's house, and he walked out of the car.
"Are you coming?" darryl asked, looking back and realising zak was still in the car.
"Oh, uh, sure yeah, sure." zak muttered. "Yeah, ok." they walked into darrly's room, he walked into his closet to figure out what to wear.
"Sorry it's a little messy, I wasn't planning on being an uber today, um... make yourself at home." Darryl said, before grabbing a few clothes and heading to the bathroom. Zak glanced around, there were various posters on the walls. A small white dog softly hopped in, yipping at the sight of zak. Zak held his hand out so the dog could get used to his smell. She stopped and layed down next to him.
Darryl walked back into the room, and when he came back he saw Zak playing with lucy. "So you've met rat, she's usually not this friendly, i guess she likes you,"
"I thought her name was lucy?" zak asked.
"Oh, I mean legally she is lucy, but to me she's my little rat, aren't you lucy lucy lucy," darryl had turned on his dog voice, and a small smile fell on Zak's face. He didn't even have time to notice darryl's outfit. He was wearing a slim fitting dark red turtleneck, and black jeans paired with a matching black jean jacket, followed by dark red doc martens.
"You look-" zak started before darryl cut him off.
"Is this too much? Abby picked this out for me last week and i don't know if-"
"You look perfect." Zak felt a small shiver run up his back. "I- i mean, you look great, man, bro, let's get out of here..." zak looked nervous, and darryl was pink.
They rode in silence to Zak's aunt's house.
"So, do you drink?" zak asked, twiddling his thumbs.
"Nope, why, wait this isn't like a drinking party right?" Darryl questioned as he slammed on the breaks in fear.
"What- no no, I just, no, geez, I'm asking because my aunt has a winery and it's super cool but I don't like showing people who drink, for obvious reasons." zak added. Darryl continued driving.
"Oh, thank god,"
"This is it," Zak said as he pointed to a huge, probably three story house. "Pretty sweet right?"
"Woah, oh my god this place is huge..." darryl stood in awe. He walked in the double doors, in awe of the high ceilings and marble floors, this house was a dream.
"Ok ok, snacks," zak pulled out his phone, typing something in, then closing his phone and running to the kitchen. "C'mon, we gotta make some drinks, my aunt has kool-Aid In the pantry over there, we have twenty minutes before postmates get here," zak wooshed around the kitchen.
After about thirty minutes of getting the food and house ready, the two boys laid on the couch, finally a moment to rest.
"So how many people are coming?" Darryl asked, he ruffled his hair until it landed in a way that he enjoyed, and rolled over to glance at Zak, who had been counting on his fingers.
"Seventeen, about, minus if anyone brings anyone else. Hey we have a few minutes, wanna go take a look at the winery?" zak sat up slightly and stretched, a small crack in his back from sitting.
"Sure, hey wait a minute, i've been here for like half an hour, where's the dog?" Darryl suddenly was standing up, and looked around curiously.
"Oh myla is in her room, her nap is almost finished, so if you want to meet her... i have to feed her anyway," zak waltzed to the kitchen, he rummaged through a cabinet and pulled out wet dog food, then followed with a sliver of raw steak, a raw egg, and a can of mixed peas and carrots. Darryl looked curious, he didn't even realise they made mixed peas and carrot cans. Not to mention the extravagant meal this dog was about to eat. Zak peeked up at darryl, "oh, uh- i know it's probably a little much for a dog, but my aunt doesn't have any kids and she considers this dog her only child, um... yes..." zaks voice trailed as he took the bowl with him upstairs, darryl followed closely behind.
"This house is so cool..." Darryl looked at the antique architecture and how it blended into spanish colonial, with a splash of modern accents, this house was a dream. A few yips were heard in the distance, followed by a loud growl. Zak treadded on, while darryl stopped in his tracks. Zak stopped, only noticing that darryl wasn't following.
"Myla is a big dog, she's a loud dog, but she wouldn't hurt you, she's not a biter, cmon," zak tried his best to convince the frightened boy. Darryl nodded and kept walking. The growls got louder to the point where Darryl was shaking. The door opened and a large fluffy chow was laying on her bed barking at someone walking by. She turned her attention to zak and ran up to him, almost making him drop the food, she then looked at Darryl, who was no longer quite as scared. She licked his hand and then in an instant tackled him to the ground.
"Oh god, hey zak she's kind of heavy-" zak stood to the side and let myla do her thing, all the while nasally laughing. Myla soon got off and ran to the food that zak had placed somewhere else in the room.
"Yeah she's a real fighter, total killer." Zak giggled and grabbed darryls hand to pick him up. For a moment time stopped. They looked into eachothers eyes, there wasn't anything between them. They belonged together and they both knew it, they loved each other silently, it was that silent love that left them, a love so unspoken they couldn't ever think about telling each other, yet they didn't need to say even a word. There was a certain curious pull that attracted the two...
"Anyway, anyway we should really check out the winery before people start showing up, uh, cmon." zak pulled his hand back, he was embarrassed, it was clear to darryl.
"Yeah, sure, ok" darryl walked slightly behind zak, his face was red and his ears felt like they were burning. This sensation wasn't familiar, and neither were the butterflies practically erupting from his stomach. They walked without saying a word. If it wasn't for mylas yips and howls you might have been able to hear a pin drop. They walked into a large office, a huge library faced away from the window, taking up the whole wall. Zak walked up to one of the books and slightly pushed in, causing a hidden book door to open. Darryl stood there, giddy.
"She has a hidden door!" Zak laughed at the comment and stepped inside, though the door was a quite large winery, complete with a mini bar at the back.
"She has some sparkling ciders if you want a taste, non alcoholic," Zak said as he grabbed two champagne glasses.
"Ok, sure," Darryl grabbed the glass as zak poured the cider in.
"So, if you weren't here what would you be doing right now?" zak spoke, he swirled his drink.
"Honestly, playing minecraft, i have this server that i admin on, so i'm usually just working." Darryl took a quick sip and a soft knock was heard on the door.
"Oh, I should get that," Zak rushed out of the library and darryl put the glass down and walked behind.
"Hey! How's it going vurb (fix his name) is finn with you?" Zak said, Vurb held a large bag, and someone walked out of the car with another large bag.
"Oh! Hey finn! Wait did you get a haircut?" zak said, suddenly darryl caught up and stood behind zak, to which zak noticed and introduced him. "This is Darryl, we go to school together," Zak glared at Vurb, who had an evil smirk on his face.
"Oh, weve heard alot about you, I'm Vurb, Finn," Vurb pointed, "and we brought the fun," Vurb said as he raised the bag. The group made their way to the living room and they placed the two large bags on the table, opening them to reveal a wii and what seemed like an endless amount of wiimotes. Along with that were clothes. A maid dress.
"What's that for?" darryl asked. He pointed at the dress and vurb burst out laughing.
"Whoever loses smash has to put it on. " finn responded, another knock was heard and slowly more and more people walked in.
They all got to know each other while spifey beat them all at smash. Zak broke out the energy drinks and the group was having a wild time. After about an hour of playing techno was declared the loser (to everyone's surprise) and was forced to slip into the maid dress. They had a good laugh and even let techno change out of it. Zelk briefly mentioned of playing "7 minutes in purgatory" to which he described was a game where two people went into a closet and had to tell each other a secret, kiss the other person, or make out with them, and you weren't allowed to tell anyone not in the closet what happened.
"That sounds stupid," techno added, crossing his arms.
"Says the idiot that just had to put on a maid outfit." spifey said.
"Hey-" techno started before backing down, glancing at zak and darryl. "Y'know what, i think it would be funner if we nominated people to go in." an evil smile fell on zelks face.
"Oh I like that idea, okay to make this fair, zak do you have any paper we could use?" zelk smiled, as if he didn't have a secret evil plan.
"Oh sure let me go get a notepad from the front." zak said as he walked away in search.
"So, darryl, you know zak long?" finn asked.
"No, not at all actually, maybe a few weeks? We kind of kept bumping into each other and he's a good guy so..." darryl responded, a small smile could be seen resting on his lips. "So what about you guys?"
"Oh we've known him for a while, we all game together, we play on (the server that bad admined in 2012) its a minecraft server, i think zak mentioned you also played?" finn replied
"Wait a minute..." darryl thought for a moment. There was a chance he might have met these guys, he might have met zak before. Maybe that's where this familiar sensation came from.
Curious
"Well-" finn began to reply before zak ran right back into the room.
"Here zelk," he handed zalk the notepad. Zelk grabbed it and ripped out a few pages, enough for each person to have a sliver of paper.
"Ok, so write down two names, not your own, on this paper, then, we pick them in order," techno laughed as zelk spoke.
"It feels like we're having a slumber party or something. "
"Whatever, write down some names," Zelk said as he passed a pencil around.
By the time everyone was done it was almost 9pm.
"First names, vurb and finn!" zelk yelled out, he stood on the couch as he announced the names. The pair walked into a closet and the boys outside set a timer. In the meantime they talked about random topics like school and minecraft, the thought of darryl knowing zak still hung from the tip of darryl's tongue like honey, and he just couldn't get the taste out of his mouth, he knew that he felt familiar, was sure of it. Finn and vurb walked out of the closet. Vurb had what looked like the beginning of a black eye and finn had slowly forming hickeys. Tonight was going to be a long night.
"Ok ok settle down boys, darryl go get in the closet with zak." zelk said, techno sat on the couch drinking monster energy drinks like they were water, and spifey sat right next to him watching the idle tv. Darryl turned red upon realising and Zak laughed.
"C'mon man, promise you won't beat me up ok?" Zak said as he held his hand and walked to the closet. The door shut behind them and they both just stood there.
"So what now?" darryl asked, he messed with his hair, finding little room to move.
"Um, do you have any secrets?" zak asked, he leaned slightly closer in, their faces only inches apart. The two were both blushed, Darryl was red and Zak's face felt so warm he might have melted at that very moment.
"Oh, um, no nothing spectacular comes to mind..." darryl ushered his thoughts of zak away, telling him he liked him, telling him how he felt. He knew he could never, he knew that deep down he couldn't be happy with zak when skeppy was out there. skeppy was his calling, skeppy pulled him in so easily, so softly, so dearly, that bad could drown in the comfort. He wanted to, needed to. He was drowning in skeppy, and he loved the feeling. Darryl played with his fingers, brushing over the few calluses that he had from working so many late night shifts.
"Fine, i'll go first," Zak took a deep breath. " i kind of used to like you, when we first met, not anymore of course i know you don't like me and-" zak had a bit of vomit for words,
"Wait-"
"And you kind of drove me home and that was really sweet and it feels like i've known you for forever,"
"Zak wait-"
"and i just feel so good around you but like platonically now of course since you're not into me and-" zak stopped. Everything seemed to stop, time itself waited for a moment as darryl softly pressed his hand on Zak's mouth.
"I like you but this can't happen." Darryl sighed, he moved his hand off of Zak's mouth onto his jaw, cupping it as if to tease the other.
"What-" zak couldn't seem to catch his breath, time didnt stop, not for them.
"I-, i can't, it's not you, i, i love someone else, you are great it's just,'' Darryl dropped his hands, he fell back into the closet wall. "I'd be leading you on. I have to go, i'll see you on monday." he opened the closet door to see a group of boys huddled at the door listening. He stood in shock for a second. "What-, oh my god this was all some sick joke-" darryl ran to the couch, grabbed his phone and keys that were lying on the coffee table and rushed out of the house. Zak ran after him, he didn't make it past the door before Vurb put a hand on his shoulder and whispered something to him. Darryl didn't hear what, he was already in the car on the way home.
Darryl laid on his bed, he couldn't think, he was in love with someone else, why did he feel so terrible.
BBH: i messed up really bad tonight, are you up?
SKP: im not really in the mood to talk rn.
BBH: what happened?
SKP: he flat out rejected me
BBH: well hes an idiot who doesn't realise how great you are.
SKP: thanks, what was your thing?
BBH: so i made this friend and he invited me to his house for a party and he told me he liked me but i like someone else, and i've liked this someone else for a long time now, but anyway this new guy is great, in fact he's better than great he's amazing but i just cant get this other guy out of my head, its like impossible, but i ran out on the new guy whos great and likes me because somewhere in the back of my head i hope that the old guy actually likes me.
SKP: that was a terrible read with no names
BBH: the new guys name is zak, hes the captain of the baseball team at my school, and hes super super nice and if it wasnt for this old guy id probably be head over heels for him.
SKP: oh my god
Whos the old guy.
Who is he.
BBH: you dont want to know trust me
SKP: who the FUCK is he bad.
BBH: skeppy calm down its not that big of a deal
SKP: please tell me who he is please
BBH: its you. Fine. its you. Ive been in love with you since forever, a week after we met i knew id be in love with you forever. There. Are you happy?
SKP: (seen at 12 am)
BBH: Where are you?
SKEPPY?
SKEPPY???
Hellp
hello*
Im sorry
Im so so sorry for telling you
Please answer me
(delivered)
On monday at school, zak didn't sit next to him, darryl waved and zak waved back, clearly being polite.
"I hope everyone had a good weekend, time for our next cast read, i need zak, darryl, julia, esmeralda, jasmine, samantha, lillian, and john, up on stage." ms delgado ushered them up on stage, each sitting criss cross facing each other.
"Darryl, why don't you start us off?" Ms delgado added. Darryl nodded and began reading. There was barely any emotion but it was good enough for just a cast read. He couldn't get Zak off his mind.
Class ended after they read up until the end of act one, and it was becoming increasingly obvious to everyone who had eyes that something happened between Zak and darryl.
Julia ran up to darryl after class, catching up as he walked to his car.
"hey! Darryl, wait up!" she yelled out, he stopped and saw a short girl headed straight for him.
"Hey julia, whats up?" darryl said.
"Did something happen between you and zak? And don't lie, I can sense fear." she purred.
"Oh- oh um, well not really-" darryl began
"Listen, you did a really good monologue, and to be cast as ariel, i assume you can sing really good, that wasn't reflected in there, i like you Darryl i think you're a good guy, but if you can't handle the part say something now before it's too late.'' Julia had been in theater since she was little, Darryl had remembered her from the jr lion king his elementary school had done, she had always taken it seriously and because of it got lead parts almost every time. She wasn't trying to be mean, she was just taking this seriously.
"I can do this, I promise, I just have to get this sorted out..." Darryl lied. He knew he wasn't going to sort it out, he didn't know how. Julia stared at him for a moment too long.
"I don't believe you. What did zak do?" Julia looked like she could read him, it was frightening.
"It's not really my place to tell-" Darryl started again, before being cut off. Julia started circling him like a shark.
"He said something to you," she paused, "a confession I assume," she looked him up and down. "You look a little fruity, i wouldn't be surprised, so you like him back but you have someone else..." she stopped.
"Look, whatever this was, it was fun, but I have to get to work, excuse me.." Darryl got in his car, and without hesitation broke down. Maybe he couldn't handle it after all.
BBH: u there?
...
Hello?
Please... i regret telling you im sorry...
(delivered 4:03 pm)
He was exhausted, he couldn't keep doing this.
Days passed, barely any interaction from zak and none from skeppy, it was heartbreaking.
Eventually he even dropped out of his role in the play, taking the role as the understudy. ms delgado fought him for days, basically begging him to stay. Joshua, some random kid, filled in the part, and Zak didn't seem like he was on board. There was about three days before the first showing, and it seemed that Zak had had enough of ignoring darryl. So in the middle of class when darryl walked out to use the bathroom, zak followed into the hallway.
"What do you want." darryl had never been one for pleasantries
"Why did you quit." zak asked, he leaned against the school hallway, which was empty. class continued without them.
"Why do you think?" he stood for a moment, letting Zak's presence simply be. "I didn't feel like doing this anymore." Darryl shrugged and walked to the bathroom, his arm suddenly caught by Zak's hand.
"I'm sorry i messed things up between us, sorry i haven't been online much either." zak slipped his tongue.
"What do you mean?" darryl asked, unable to piece everything together. Suddenly zak realised.
"Oh my god you don't know- bad- bad its me" zak held eye contact.
"skeppy?" Darryl looked zak up and down.
"Well yeah-." zak tried to help darryl.
"The server- wait. oh my god wait have you known it was me the whole time-" darryl held the bridge of his nose, clearly thinking.
"well not the whole time, only since you texted me that you liked me..." zak stood off the wall, feeling his legs go slightly numb, this was not the conversation he wanted to happen right now.
"this- why didn't you tell me?" Darryl was pacing, struggling to catch his breath.
"I don't know, I was ashamed- '' Zak struggled to find the right words, he wasn't thinking straight, he can't, not around darryl.
"I can't.. I can't do this right now. i'm going to class" darryl paused for a moment.
"bad please, I don't want to lose you. I can't, not now that I know who you are." Zak reached out for darryls shoulder.
"zak I- this isn't fair. none of this is fair." Darryl pushed his hand away.
"What about me don't you like, the real me not skeppy." Zak looked down, holding his hand that was just pushed away.
"What-" Darryl looked up at zak.
"What about me was not good enough." Zak turned his face away, someone was walking toward them.
"That's not fair." Darryl turned to walk to the bathroom, his fists clenched. His heart panged and he felt alone.
"You- wait shut up someones coming, act cool." Zak grabbed Darryl's shirt sleeve and started speed walking to the bathroom.
"Zak, zak stop where are we going?" Darryl tugged his hand away, still following closely to zak.
"Ms. Clemens was down the hall, she would definitely ask for hall passes and neither of us have one. Lets go to the bathroom in the fourth building. it's cleaner than these." zak whipped around the corner and out the door, and then straight into the fourth building. The pair rushed into the bathroom, they stood in the comfort of being alone for a moment, they had that feeling again, the feeling of being in love. Darryl sighed, a crooked smile laid on his face.
"You jerk." Darryl whispered. They both sat on the floor, their backs on the wall, inches apart, their knees touching.
"My bad." zak looked at the ceiling, nothing made sense up until now to darryl. The curious familiar pull that guided him to zak, to his zak, to skeppy, to a friend, to someone he always liked being around.
"I want you to be Ariel again. I wish you hadn't quit, i was really excited to be in this stupid class with you," zak hummed. A smile gracing his face.
Curiosity killed the cat
"Confessing in a closet while all of your friends who i don't know yet are outside listening was probably not the best idea, just so you know." bad said sternly.
"Yeah, i realised when vurb told me that it wasn't cool. They all felt bad after and went home..." skeppy sighed. Bad reached out and grabbed the others hand.
"Y'know i really did like you for you, but i felt i'd be betraying my crush and leading you on, how was i supposed to know that the two guys i liked were the same person?" bad expressed. He leaned his head on skeppys shoulder. there was this tension around them, they wanted to kiss each other, hold each other, love each other...
"Let's get back to class, i am the lead anyway..." zak held on the thought of darryl as ariel, the thought that maybe, just maybe, things could go back to normal.
The pair walked back, swiftfully avoiding any teachers. They barely talked, their hands brushing against the others, afraid to lean in and hold hands. Darryl pulled the door slightly ajar, the murmurs of the cast and tech crew silenced for a moment. Darryl let their stares land on him, he walked up to the stage, half expecting his body to implode in itself in embarrassment.
"So.. joshua got food poisoning... pretty bad, he's out of commission for the next week..." julia couldn't help but smile through her words. "So I guess you're back on." Zak laughed in response to julias statement. Ms delgado walked up to the stage.
"Joshua got sick, I need you back in the show, ready or not. They need you in wardrobe for a fitting. Let's get moving people, what's a show without a little trouble. Chop chop!" she said.
"Poor joshua," darryl murmured. He began walking behind the stage, following ms delgados orders, before a familiar tug was felt on his jacket sleeve.
"I'm glad you're back in." zak mumbled. His face was burning, he was melting.
By the time Darryl was done with his fitting, class was well over, which meant that there wouldn't be time to do a full mock play, which set darryls head spinning with thoughts of failure.
He drove to work, Abby waiting in the back room for him.
"I decided to make you something new, I could tell you weren't into the iced coffees, taste this." Abby giggled as she handed him a large cup with an electric blue hue. The drink was sweet, refreshing even, it tasted almost like mangos and blackberries, but the color itself confused darryl.
"Geez, what is this?" he said, a simple smile plastered on his face.
"It's a fruit infused drink, I made it, it was a weird brown color so I added some blue." Abby had one of her own, a green color. "I've been trying to figure out what to call them. Here taste." she handed him her own drink. It was slightly sour, but it tasted heavily like passion fruit and strawberries. The color was off too, it didnt match the favor.
"This is really good abby," he set the drink down and began putting on his apron.
"Oh, before i forget, I made one for your friend," she quoted the word friend as if they were something more. Darryl wanted something more. The drink was a deep red, he glanced at the colors and smiled. It was them.
"Thanks, I'll give it to him tomorrow, cmon." he walked out and started his first table of the day. The shift went by quick. he had about ten minutes left when a neon blue Honda s2000 rolled into the small parking lot.
This caught darryls attention, and that curious feeling in his stomach arose. A brown haired boy walked out of the car. Darryl walked out of the store in a haste, realising who it was.
"Zak?" Darryl eyed the car "holy cow where did you get this?" the november breeze nipped at his nose, he had almost forgotten how much time had passed since zak was here last.
"My aunt bought it for me in exchange for taking care of myla! Pretty cool right?" Zak pointed at the car, it was obvious he loved it. "What time do you get off?" Zak smiled, he was giddy with joy.
"Uh well i just finished my last table, and Abby's closing, so, now i guess." darryl replied.
"Wanna go for a drive?" zak asked.
"Sure let me get my stuff!" Darryl ran inside, rushing to his backpack and then to the two drinks.
"Why are you in such a rush?" abby asked.
"Zak is taking me for a ride in his new car." Darryl couldn't be nonchalant about this, Abby would figure it out either way.
"Oh my god is he the one with the cool car that's in the parking lot right now?" Suddenly Abby was excited. Darryl nodded, and Abby took his hand in her own. "Listen to me dare. You are a good guy, you deserve a love story, fun things are scary but scary things aren't always fun," darryl looked down, a small smile pressed into his lips, this was the speech he had given Abigail after her break up a few months ago. "Look at me, dare, make good choices." she had a big smile on her face. "And don't give him any on the first date, it's improper." she snickered.
"Abby!" Darryl had a look of horror on his face, but it didn't stay there for long because he saw zak in the parking lot and went to him.
"Ready?" zak asked as he opened the passenger door for darryl.
"Always," Darryl responded. "Oh, abby made you a drink,"
"She knows about us?" zak asked.
"Whats "us"?" Darryl asked, a gleam in his eye.
"I don't know," he sat dumbfounded for a moment. "Is it possible for us to be, yknow, something?"
"I- i do. I really really do." Darryl was as red as a tomato, his heart was beating out of his chest. Zak leaned in and cupped the others cheek
The pair drove off, zak didn't have a destination in mind, but they ended up at the park, one far away from either of their houses.
"Wanna go for a walk?" zak asked, he placed his hand on darryls, and darryl didn't pull away.
"Sure," they walked out of the car, Zak grabbed a small backpack and they walked off. Zak basically ran to the swings, and darryl followed delightfully.
"You excited for tomorrow?" zak asked, he swung his feet, trying to get higher and higher.
"I don't know. I know the lines but i never did a full run through," darryl wasn't swinging, his legs slightly hung.
"Wanna practice?" zak force stopped the swing, anchoring his feet in the ground.
"Oh, we- we don't have to-" darryl looked at the ground.
"Cmon, what's the harm, you're off script right?" zak stood in front of the other, a soft hand reached out, waiting for darryl to take it. Darryl placed his hand lightly on zaks.
"Alright, let's start from the beginning of act two, i'm pretty sure that's where you left off,"
Bad started reciting his lines, and Zak had the script pulled up on his phone to play everyone else's parts.
"Tomorrow at sunrise, we search again" zak said, he followed the lines until it was daryl's turn.
"Oh, Eric," he smiled.
"Could it be? It's been your voice all along hasn't it? " he turned and looked at a tree. "Who are you?"
"That's my father?" he said, slightly confused, also looking at the tree.
"Your majesty, at last, i've found someone who makes me eager to seize the future, and claim my birthright as king. But if i slip out to sea sometimes, i don't think he'll mind.. Because he'd be right there with me, keeping us both on course... and with your permission sir, i'd like to make him my husband."
Darryl couldn't help but turn red.
"Wait zak the kissing scene is coming up-" darryl gasped for a moment, a smug grin on zak.
"I mean we're going to have to do it eventually-" zak showed a toothy smile, he couldn't help it.
"Oh- yeah- right, so, uh," darryl stammered as he opened the script on his phone. In the notifications bar he saw multiple missed calls. "Oh- shoot, i have to go, can you drive me back to louis really quick? I didn't realise it was past my curfew, ''Darryl quickly grabbed his things and rushed to Zak's car. Zak sighed, and grabbed his backpack, rushing to the car to take the other to his own car.
Zak started driving, dropping his backpack on Darryl's lap "hey can you grab a little box in the front pocket for me?" zak asked.
"Sure," darryl found a red velvet box, "what is this?" he opened it up, confused. Staring back at him was a silver chain with a locket.
"So i couldn't give it to you earlier," zak started
"What- zak what is this?" Darryl turned red, they reached a stop light and the car paused, zak turned his attention to Darryl.
"I like you, a lot, i liked you before I knew you in real life, and I like you so much more after we met, anyway, anyway," Zak shook his head. "Consider this a peace offering after acting like a total idiot after you rejected me," darryl opened the locket, which was the shape of a square. There was a picture of skeppys skin on one side, and bads on the other.
"Zak- this is really sweet, i love it." bad smiled, putting the necklace on. Zak pulled into the parking lot. Darryl grabbed his things, lingering longer than he needed to. For a moment he leaned toward zak, for a moment. He wanted to kiss him, this was the perfect time. His phone rang again. "Thank you." he said warmly as he walked out of the car.
He slammed his own car door shut. "Im so so stupid, im an idiot, im a stupid idiot," darryl repeated these words outloud, covering his eyes in shame.
A knock was heard at his window.
"You left your drink," Zak smiled, looking at Darryl, who was a mess. Darryl rolled down his window, and in a swift motion pulled zak by the collar. He pecked his lips, not allowing himself more than a taste of zak. He released his collar, snatched his drink, and pulled out of the parking spot. Zak stood, stuned.
SKP: you tease
(seen 7:03 pm)
Darryl lay on his bed, rereading the message, recreating the scene in his brain.
"I am utterly in love with you, and I have now idea how I'm supposed to kiss you in front of the whole school," he murmured to himself. A half asleep Lucy rushed onto darryls bed, finding a spot next to an exhausted Darryl, who found himself drifting to sleep.
"It's today," Darryl murmured, shutting off his alarm clock. "It's Saturday morning and i am going to mess up a musical." The class was to meet up at noon to get in costume.
A group of thirty seniors walked into the theater, there was not a hand without a coffee. The tech crew walked in slightly after, about the same amount of kids, slightly more.
Darryl put his costume on, a green and purple mermaid cut skirt, its ends hooked on to his wrists to make the skirt flow as he moved, and a puffy long sleeve poet shirt. Zak walked by as he walked to makeup.
"Hey bad," Zak said as he walked past to go to costume. "Nice necklace, who got it for you?" zak teased.
Danielle, the girl doing makeup on darryl looked at the two boys, then at Darryl's necklace. "Oh my god are you guys dating?" she whispered, a small smile at the thought of gossip.
"Oh my god Dani," darryl said in a panic, she smiled.
"No no, this is perfect, especially with our circumstances," she added.
"What do you mean-" he asked.
"Well you guys will obviously have chemistry on stage, this makes so much sense now, god," she continued, darryl was a red ball of confusion.
"Dani what-" julia came up to the pair. She was a smiley mess.
"Hey dani, how's it going," she blurted out. She was an awkward mess and darryl had never seen her like this before.
"Oh- oh. No no that makes sense." Darryl said as he pointed to the two girls. Julia suddenly glared at Darryl and danielle laughed.
"Anyway, dare, so what i was saying was, the reason you got cast as ariel, or the reason ariel was a boy at all this year was because Ms. Delgado probably knew you liked zak. That's what she did last year with me and-" she glanced at julia who was now red herself. "Anyway anyway, she's a total wing man, are you coming to the party tonight?" she asked.
"There's a party?" darryl asked.
"Of course there's a party, no one parties like theater kids, except maybe the band kids, they are batshit crazy," she said.
"Uh, I don't know about the band kid statement, all of our parties were pretty low key i think, anyway, where's it at?" darryl asked.
"Well we pregame at the Denny's next to the school, and this time we're heading to Julia's house after so-" danielle added. Julia put a thumb up behind Danielle when Ms Delgado walked by.
"How is everything going? Darryl you look very handsome, everything solved between you and zak? she stated, Julia rushed away to get into costume herself.
"Uh, yeah, i think so," he mumbled.
"Good, from the moment i heard you sing i knew you two would make a good pair." Ms Delgado laughed slightly, then rushed off to go do something.
Danielle curled darryls hair, suddenly realising the style fitted him. She sprayed on a red hair gel to make him look more like Ariel, and added a little bit of green eyeshadow and eyeliner.
"Perfect. you, my friend, look stunning." Danielle looked at him for a moment, admiring her creaton. "However this is going to be annoying to clean during the quick change, so i need you to remember to be gentle because all i'm doing is switching the eyeshadow, ok?" she reminded him.
"Aye aye captain," he saluted and they shared a quick laugh. They had only about an hour by the time everyone had gotten into makeup, and the stage had been arranged perfectly. Their grades depended on it.
Zak and Darryl sat in the room behind the theater, everyone else off busy.
"So, you ready?" zak asked, he gently slid his hand closer to darryls, the heat of their bodies warming the other off.
"I think so. Oh um, I broke our promise." Darryl looked anywhere but zak.
"Our promise?" the other asked.
"Back when this whole thing started, I promised I wouldn't fall in love with you..." Darryl smiled, he genuinely felt happy.
"Oh, oh- wait really? You like, like actually?" zak couldnt hold onto his thoughts.
"Yes, I fell in love with you." darryl mumbled, he of course was a blushing mess, which made zak smile.
"You look really good in that makeup. Danielle was right to give you eyeliner," a devilish grin replaced his smile.
"You're annoying skeppy." darryl blushed into his sleeve when ms delgado rushed in.
"Show time! C'mon boys go go go" darryl rushed to the side of the stage, he would be introduced in only a moment. This was it, he was ready.
Curiosity killed the cat
But satisfaction brought it back.
Darryl felt a familiar tug on his sleeve,
Zak.
Zak reached in, their bodies cupped together, and Zak's lips met darryls. Zak led the kiss, letting their tongues fall for eachother. Their lips had gotten acquainted quite quick. Zak pressed his hand lightly on darryls lower back,
This was their turn,
Time stopped,
Darryl pulled away, almost hesitantly as if he dearly wanted to continue. He rest his head on Zak's shoulder, a small hint of laughter leaving his lips.
"Good luck," Zak told him.
"Thanks," Darryl replied.
"Thank you all ladies and gentlemen of our lovely crowd tonight, I am excited to introduce everyone to the magic of the little mermaid." a loud voice said, Darryl ran up to his position, cleared his throat, and finally, he was there, and he was ready.
satisfaction braught him back.
The end(?)
....