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Warlock Dowling, a small tropical fish in the big pond of Washington DC, USA, logged into one of the library computers. During study hall in his new high school, where everyone’s parents were Ambassadors to Somewhere or Diplomats of Whatnot, he camped out at a terminal where the connection was assured not to get interrupted by a call from the President. Along with learning as much as possible about electronic mail and the internet, he’d recently discovered a way to chat real-time with people all over the world. He logged in.
Luci668: Hey Anticrst666
Anticrst was one of his favorite people to chat with. They’d found each other earlier that year in part due to their eerily similar pseudonyms, and further connected when they found out that they shared a birthday. Anticrst was in the UK, which gave the two of them fodder for conversation. Yet today, Warlock had other things on his mind.
Anticrst666: Hey Luci668, what's up?
Luci668: My mom wants me to join an after-school club.
Anticrst666: Bwahahahahaha
Warlock rolled his eyes. He could almost hear the laugh.
Anticrst666: Like what?
Luci668: I don't know.
Anticrst666: Hm.
The cursor blinked for a moment.
Anticrst666: Do you want to join a club?
Warlock thought. He’d taken to wearing headphones as often as possible and baggy clothes which helped hide all the parts of him he didn’t want to deal with. He knew he wasn’t the most approachable person around. Still, in a certain way, he missed having the cadre of friends he’d had back in the UK.
Luci668: …maybe? I don’t know. School sucks.
Anticrst666: Yeah I'll bet. Well. Like what club?
Luci668: They are all pretty annoying. If you join math club, you’re automatically a geek. I'm done with sports—used to like baseball until I stunk and then quit.
Anticrst666: I started my own DnD club but they shut it down haha.
Warlock smiled.
Luci668: I'll bet.
Anticrst666: Is there one you were thinking of?
Yes, Warlock thought. And I need someone to tell me it's ok.
Luci668: I think maybe One-Act? There is a theatre competition every year, and the team here usually places so they are at least good enough for that. And…
He thought, then typed:
Luci668: it feels good to get to be someone else sometimes.
Anticrst’s response was almost instant.
Anticrst666: That sounds cool. Do that.
***
It was two weeks and a few chats later when he logged back on with news. He clicked the cursor to the chat box and typed.
Luci668: Hey Adversary, you free?
The message came back quickly.
Anticrst666: Here to do your bidding Luci. What’s up?
Luci668: I think I might need you to cast a spell or something… being that you’re the Son of Satan and everything.
Anticrst666: Haha. I don’t do that anymore. Not much at least. What kind of spell?
Luci668: So you know how I said I joined One-Act right? I decided to try out for a part.
Anticrst666: Wicked. I thought you were just going to be crew or something?
Luci668: I’ll do that too. And I probably won’t get the part so that’s fine. I’ll get to be a stagehand and skulk around and wear black so nothing different there.
Anticrst666: What role?
Warlock let his fingers tap lightly on the keys, not pressing them down, just nervously making a gentle rainfall noise. The girl next to him shot him a glance and he stopped.
Luci668: I tried out for Sandra.
Anticrst666: Oh yeah? Is she cool?
Warlock pursed his lips and thought. He wasn’t even sure if Anticrst thought he was a boy or a girl. He wondered if he should make it clear. But that was part of the pleasure of being online. He didn’t have to.
Luci668: I wouldn’t say she’s cool. She knows how to get people to do what she wants. She knows how to get people to be her friends. But even then, the people who surround her aren’t really her friends. They liked her because of her big house and her big parties. I guess she’s sort of tragic.
Anticrst666: Sounds like a perfect fit.
Luci668: She’s the only girl role, so I probably won’t get it but I think I could do her character the best. Anyway, cast a spell and make me get it!
Anticrst666: Haha. Maybe you’ll get it without supernatural intervention. ;-)
Luci668: What’s that at the end?
Anticrst666: Turn your head sideways. :-)
***
Warlock didn’t get the part.
He thought he’d prepared himself for the reality of it. Had told himself he wouldn’t be disappointed if he didn’t hear his name when the theater adviser Mrs. Moser read out the cast list. But when she said Amanda got the role of Sandra, a lump formed in his throat. He should have tried out for Gary. What a bizarre idea to try out for the girl’s role. He wasn’t a girl. He just didn’t feel he was much of a boy either.
“Warlock,” Mrs. Moser said as the crowd started to disperse. “I wanted to let you know I really enjoyed your audition.”
“Thanks,” he mumbled.
“I wonder if you’d be interested in being a guest at the party scene?”
Warlock shrugged. He’d assumed most of the crew would be in the party scene just for atmosphere.
“I’d like to give you the opportunity to write your own original character if you’d like. Give them a backstory. Think up some lines they might say. This is the party where Sandra breaks the glasses. I'd like to have a party character do an aside, to share with the audience how they react to this part of the story.”
“Really?” he asked. “Does it matter who I want to be?”
“It’s up to you,” she said. “If you could turn in a sheet of their background and any lines you’d like to propose, I’d love to hear what you have to say. I think you’d be great up there on stage.”
He nodded, already pretty sure of who he wanted to be.
***
Luci668: OK fess up.
Anticrst666: ???
Luci668: Did you cast a spell?
Anticrst666: Nope! Did you get the part??
Luci668: Well, not exactly.
Warlock sipped the soda that wasn’t allowed in the library and typed out a description of what had happened at rehearsal.
Anticrst666: Your teacher let you write your own character! That’s so cool of her! Who’d you write?
Warlock grinned.
Luci668: I’m Luci of course! I’m a friend of the main characters from when they were kids. I’m sort of a stand in for the audience since they can’t get involved. Like that guy in Hamlet…
Warlock’s fingers again twittered across the keyboard, trying to think of the character’s name.
Anticrst responded.
Anticrst666: Horatio, ya. That’s awesome. Really cool teacher you got.
Luci668: I agree! Sometimes human beings surprise you I guess.
***
The play went off without a hitch. The cast and crew had lots of practice and then put on a performance for the whole school. Warlock was more than comfortable in Luci’s costume and with the character. The best part was, the rest of the One-Act club seemed to be as well.
During the crowd scene at the party, Luci blended into the background, long hair unbound and brushing the collar of the fine fitted suit the costuming department had fashioned. When the big moment came and Sandra broke the glasses, all eyes turned to Amanda, who really had done a great job in her role. She ran off stage and the party guest followed, leaving only Luci illuminated.
Warlock said Luci’s lines with confidence, and reveled in the spotlight. The lights went down, the play continued, and the show even got a standing ovation at the end.
Afterwards, Warlock went into the boys locker room, which served as the dressing room, and was taking off Luci’s pink paisley jacket. A group of boys from the audience trampled in, chattering and laughing as one of them went to use the bathroom. From the rest of the group came a sudden gasp.
“Oh my god, Luci was a boy?” said one of the kids.
Warlock turned, heart suddenly pounding, and met eyes with a short blond boy. The kid looked shocked but not in a bad way. “I mean,” Warlock said, cramming the jacket into the locker, “we never say Luci is a boy or a girl. I think they’re somewhere in between.”
“Oh jeeze,” the boy said. “Well whoever you are, good job.”
“Thanks!” Warlock beamed, feeling a glow from within. Luci is somewhere in between. Kinda like me. They didn’t say it out loud, but thought it might be something to bring up next time they were chatting with Anticrst.
FIN