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"It's not fair Stan. I had all the lines perfectly memorized. I should have been able to try out!"
Stan watches as Xeno jumps off the bed and stomps over to the trash can in the corner of his room. The other boy angrily slams the script into the trash before dramatically rubbing his hands together.
"Yeah, you're right. It's kinda sexist they didn't let you."
"Exactly! Anyone should be able to try out for the part, no matter what their gender is!"
Xeno walks back to the bed and sits on the edge of it. He crosses his arms over his chest and pouts in annoyance over not being able to try out for their school play.
At the elementary school they attended, the choir teacher was directing a school play for the students. Xeno had been so excited to audition for a part. Stan remembers the huge smile on his friend's face when their teacher had announced to her students that this year's play was going to be an original one.
All the children had listened with curious stares and open ears as their teacher told the story behind the play. Stan had watched as Xeno's eye lit up in wonder as the story continued on.
The story was about a princess who had been kidnapped by a group of outlaws who fled the kingdom with her. A brave young knight that was madly in love with the princess had followed after the outlaws to save her. The knight swore to track down the bandits to the face of the earth, no matter what to save the damsel in distress. Even though the journey was long and rough, the knight never gave up and eventually found and rescued the princess from her captives.
Xeno had been captivated by the story and told Stan he was planning to try out for the play. He had thought Xeno was going to try out for the knight part, but to his surprise the other boy told him he wanted to play the princess. Stan found it strange at first, but then his friend explained why.
Xeno had rambled on to him about how the princess was smart, cunning and elegant. She continued to leave hints for her knight to find her while traveling with the bandits and faced numerous other brave situations head on while being held captive. The more Xeno explained, the more Stan started to understand while he wanted to try out for the part.
So, he told Xeno he should go for it. But of course, the other boy insisted that he try out for the knight part. Stan didn't even want to be in the play and was fine with working backstage, but he had a hard time saying no to Xeno. After his friend begged him to try out and explained to him multiple times why he was perfect to play the knight, Stan finally gave in.
Xeno had been so ecstatic when he said yes. As much as Stan would rather not be in the play, the huge grin on Xeno's face was enough motivation for him to ask for a script from his choir teacher so he could start memorizing the lines for the audition.
Xeno had suggested they could help each other practice their lines together. Stan agreed and after school every day, they would recite the script together in Xeno's bedroom. Stan admits it was fun rehearsing his lines with the other boy.
Xeno was always animated when he was doing something he enjoyed, and it made the whole experience fun. Stan thought practicing lines at first would feel like a chore, but with Xeno it felt like an exciting game. He found himself having tons of fun during their practice sessions and even started enjoying playing the knight part.
Stan liked practicing all his lines with Xeno, but his favorite part was at the very end. It was the scene where the knight rescues the princess, gets down on one knee, and places a gentle kiss upon her hand.
At first Stan was embarrassed to act out this scene, but Xeno insisted that it was important. The first time he did it, Stan felt extremely nervous as he took Xeno's small hand into his. The nerves only intensified when he saw Xeno's big dark eyes staring down at him. He had slowly brought the other boy's hand up to his lips and quickly placed a soft kiss upon it.
Stan remembers his face starting to heat up and feeling anxious, but that vanished once he turned his gaze up to Xeno and saw his friend giving him a huge grin. Xeno had told him that was elegant, and he knew Stan was perfect to play the knight.
That scene got easier and less embarrassing the more they practiced. Stan started to feel more comfortable taking Xeno's hand into his and placing a light peck upon it. He found himself strangely actually looking forward to this scene when they would practice their lines together. He liked looking up into Xeno's dark eyes and seeing the small smile upon his delicate face as he brushed his lips softly against his skin before placing a soft kiss.
Stan always felt his face flush slightly pink and his heart beat erratically in his chest when he did this. He wasn't quite sure why since he didn't feel nervous or embarrassed when they practiced this part anymore. But he could still feel his heart rate pick up and his face feel hot when Xeno told him he did an amazing job afterwards.
Stan would tell him thanks and compliment the other boy back on his performance. Xeno was surprisingly great at playing the princess part and Stan couldn't see anyone else playing the role now except for his friend.
It was a shame that the school wouldn't let him try out for the part.
Tryouts for the princess role in the play were today after school. Stan had walked to the auditorium with Xeno after their last class to be there for support and watch the other boy audition. When they arrived, there were numerous other girls from their grade standing around looking down at their scripts.
A few had curiously turned their heads towards them when they had walked in. Stan supposes they were all staring because Xeno and him were the only two boys in the room. He had ignored their gazes as he let Xeno practice his lines with him for a few minutes as they waited for the choir teacher to arrive.
Once she did, she told all the students to gather around in a line so she could write down who was all auditioning. She noticed the two of them right away and had asked why they were here.
When Xeno told her, he was here to try out, she told him that knight tryouts were tomorrow. Stan had watched as Xeno explained to her that he was here to audition for the princess role.
Their choir teacher had a startled look upon her face before telling him that he couldn't try out for that part. Xeno had furrowed his brows and asked her why. They both listened as she told him that he couldn't audition for the role because he was a boy and boys couldn't be princesses.
Stan remembers Xeno crossing his arms in annoyance before telling her that it shouldn't matter what his gender is and that anyone should be able to try out for the part.
Unfortunately, their choir teacher wouldn't budge and told him once again that he couldn't audition because the princess role was for a girl.
Stan had tugged on Xeno's sleeve when he noticed the fury behind his dark eyes and told him not to argue because he would just get into trouble. Xeno had huffed angrily but complied and followed Stan out of the auditorium.
He listened attentively to Xeno complain the whole walk back to his house about what happened. The other boy was greatly upset, and Stan understood why because Xeno was right. Anyone should be able to try out for the part no matter what their gender was.
As much as it annoyed him too that Xeno couldn't audition for the princess part, because he was a boy, Stan knew there was nothing they could do about it. Their teacher wasn't going to change her mind no matter how much they complained to her.
Stan hears Xeno loudly sigh next to him on the bed and shifts his gaze up to stare at his friend. The other boy was still angry, but Stan saw his shoulders were slumped because he too realized that they couldn't do anything about it. It hurt to see Xeno this upset. Stan knew how excited his friend had been to audition for this part.
They practiced hard every day together for over a month and it was disappointing that Xeno wasn't even given a chance to showcase his acting skills. It pissed Stan off because he knows Xeno would have been a better princess then any of the girls at that audition.
"I'm not trying out for the knight part."
"What, why not?"
Xeno turns his head to stare at him. Stan shrugs his shoulders because there was really no point in trying out now. If Xeno couldn't be the princess, then Stan didn't want to be the knight. He only agreed to try out because Xeno was going too.
"I don't see what the point is."
"The point is that you're perfect for the part!"
"Yeah, well I don't want to do it if you're not going to be the princess."
Xeno cocked his head at him before turning to face him directly. Stan raises his eyebrows and then widens his eyes when Xeno grabs both of his hands. He glances down at their hands in surprise before shifting his gaze back up at the other boy. Xeno stares intensely directly into his eyes as Stan feels his face start to heat up.
"Please still audition for the part for me, Stan."
"W-why?"
"Because you make an elegant knight and I want to watch you play that role flawlessly… even if it's from backstage."
Stan stares dumbfounded at Xeno's face. The other boy squeezes his hand and snaps him out of his daze. He gulps and glances down at their hands before looking back up at Xeno.
"Okay."
"Excellent! I'm so glad you're still going to audition! I just know you will be the best person there and get the part."
Stan nods and feels his heart thump in his chest as Xeno smiles wide at him. He really didn't want to play the knight anymore, but how could he say no to Xeno. Especially when the other boy told him he wanted to see him play the knight.
"Now, let's practice your lines again before the audition tomorrow."
"Do we have to?"
"Yes. We have the time and there's nothing wrong with doing some last-minute extra practice."
Xeno drops his hands and moves off the bed. Stan watches his friend walk back over to the trash and pick the script he threw into it out.
"Let's start at the scene where the knight realizes the princess has been leaving clues for him to find her."
"Wait. Are you going to play the princess?"
"Yeah. Since we've been practicing our lines together, I believe it would be easier for you if I still played the princess parts until the audition."
Stan nods again before moving to grab his script up for the bed.
They spend the next hour reciting the script together in Xeno's room. Stan watched the other boy intensely as Xeno practiced the lines with him. He noticed that Xeno tried to smile to reassure him that nothing was wrong…. but Stan could tell that his friend was hurt that he couldn't try out for the part he wanted in the play.
Everything was going okay until they got to the last scene.
Stan got down on one knee and watched carefully as Xeno extended his hand out to him. He took Xeno's soft hand into his and stared up into the other boy's dark eyes.
Stan felt a deep pain in his heart when he noticed that Xeno had dropped the smile. The other boy's eyes were glazed, and Stan knew that his friend was sad.
Of course Xeno was, he had been practicing for a month just to try out for this part. His best friend had been so excited to be the princess and now he couldn't because their stupid teacher told Xeno that boys couldn't be princesses.
Stan brought Xeno's hand up to his face and brushed his lips against the pale skin. He placed a gentle kiss upon his hand and let his lips linger longer than usual. Stan pulls away from his hand and glances up at the other boy.
"I'm not going to try out."
"W-what?"
Stan watches as tears start to gather in Xeno's eyes. It hurt him to see his friend so distressed about this. Stan pushes himself up from the ground and moves to grab Xeno's hands.
"Because I don't want to play the knight if you're not my princess, Xeno."
"Stan."
The tears start to fall from Xeno's dark eyes. Stan brings a hand up to try to brush them away as Xeno sobbed out. He hated seeing Xeno cry. It was rare for his friend to show emotions that made him feel vulnerable.
"Hey. It's okay, Xeno."
Stan pulls Xeno into a hug and holds him tightly. He feels the other boy bring his hands up and hug him back. Stan rubs soothing circles into his back as he lets Xeno cry on his shoulder.
"Screw the school play. Just because they say you can't be the princess doesn't mean you can't be."
He feels Xeno move in his arms and tilt his head up to look up at him. The other boy's tear-stained face curiously stares at him as he waits for Stan to speak more.
"We can throw our own play."
"You want to throw our own play?"
"Yeah. That way you can be the princess and I can be your knight."
Xeno goes quiet and Stan wonders if that was a dumb thing to say. He wasn't sure if it was and he was starting to worry until he heard Xeno laugh.
"How would we do a play together with just the two of us? What about the other roles?"
"We play the other roles too. I'm sure you would make a great bandit."
"How would I play the princess and the bandit kidnapping the princess at the same time?"
"We'll figure something out. We could always make cardboard cutouts of ourselves and use those."
Xeno giggles loudly and the sound makes Stan grin. He was glad to see Xeno not crying and smiling again instead.
"Thank you, Stan. I knew the knight role was perfect for you. You really are like a knight in shining armor."
Stan blinks and then feels a light pressure against his face. It takes him a while to realize that Xeno had turned to press a light kiss against his cheek. When it does dawn on him, Stan instantly feels his face heat up.
Xeno seems to notice his slow reaction because he giggles harder and smiles wide at him. Stan knew his cheeks were probably bright red but seeing Xeno's cheerful face made him incredibly happy.
He was being serious about them throwing their own play. Even if they had to cut out the other roles and only play the princess and knight, Stan would find a way to make it work. He promised he would do anything to let Xeno play the part he wanted to.