Chapter Text
When the school bell rang announcing the end of class, Bagi hurriedly put all of her material inside her backpack and got up, ready and eager to go. Her brother looked at her, frowning, while the other students walked past them, getting out of the classroom.
“Damn, Bagi, I thought it would take you more than a week of class before you got tired of it.” he commented, still on his chair right by her side.
“What are you talking about? I could never get tired of chemistry. I’m just excited about the Drama Club!”
Cellbit’s eyes widened and he froze in place.
“Oh, shit. The Drama Club meetings start today ?”
“I can’t believe you forgot it, I talked to you about it earlier today!”
“Yeah, I think I kind of erased it from my mind.” he said, quickening the pace at which he organized his material.
Bagi looked at Cellbit with curiosity and sat on the table next to him to wait.
“Are you really sure you wanna be a part of the Drama Club? You’ve spent the last two years refusing to give it a try no matter how much I insisted, and you always told me you didn’t think you’d like it.”
“Well, next year we’re gonna graduate high school, so I’m already thinking about the future and my curriculum.” He closed his backpack and grabbed it, so the two started making their way to the Drama Club meeting location. “I’ve been a part of clubs about debating, writing, mathematics, robotics, and so many other things like that, but nothing in a more artistic vein. This will be a great way to show versatility.”
“Huh… Sure.”
Bagi did not at all buy his bullshit excuse. Though he really was a nerd to the extent of thinking about a future curriculum like that, she knew her twin brother all too well, enough to know that there definitely was some other reason for that wild choice, so out of character for him and so out of his comfort zone. Still, she decided not to insist on the subject for the moment, and just focus on what mattered most right now: her theater bliss.
When they arrived at the school auditorium, Bagi felt at home. She couldn’t hold back a smile, entering there again after months of summer vacation, away from that place she held so dear to her heart. The auditorium was wide, had a very high ceiling, the walls were decorated with wood panels the color of caramel and the floor in the audience was covered by brown carpet. The red theater curtains were opened, exhibiting the large empty stage in all of its glory, ready to become alive at any moment and transform into anything their imaginations desired.
Bagi breathed in the theater air, which reinvigorated her, then she chose a good spot for her backpack on one of the back rows, since that was where the students were supposed to keep their things during club activities.
Cellbit followed her, trying not to appear as lost as he felt. He watched his sister sit down back there, next to her backpack, and he looked around confused.
“Wait, aren’t we supposed to wait for the teacher in one of the front rows? That’s where the other people are gathering.”
“Yes, we are, but we first need to leave our bags here and take off our shoes. We never step on the stage with shoes on, unless it’s part of our character’s costume in the play, but that won’t be a thing any time soon. In the first few weeks, all we do is exercise our bodies and do silent scenes and improv games.”
Cellbit couldn’t hide his grimace after hearing that. Bagi rolled her eyes.
“Didn’t you say you ‘wanted versatility in your future curriculum’ or whatever? If you really mean it, you’ll have to deal with it.”
She reflected for a moment, regretting her tone, so she added:
“Be patient, okay? We have to start from the beginning, the activities will become more complex and more similar to the usual school plays you’re imagining as time goes on.”
“Sure…”
“Unless… You wanna give up.” She provoked him.
“Pft , no way” he said, throwing his backpack on one of the chairs, which felt like sealing his fate. “What, are you tired of me already? Weren’t you the one who wanted me to try this?”
“I’m just not convinced about the reasons you gave me for why you decided to sign up. But whatever, take off your shoes and go find a seat. I’m gonna get going, I wanna talk to my friends."
And so she left him there and walked down the auditorium ramp to meet the people from the Drama Club who had already arrived — Baghera, Jaiden, Felps, Mariana, Slime, Mouse. Most of them were from the 11th year, just like her, but she didn’t share that many classes with them, and there were still the people from other grades as well, so it still felt like a special occasion to be reunited with all of them.
When Cellbit reached her, he saw a bunch of known faces amongst those students, and though all of them were happy to see him, they also were just as confused about his presence there as Bagi had been. He repeated to them his little speech about his alleged reasons to join the club, and Bagi heard it all again giving him a skeptical look.
Meanwhile, another duo was on their way to the auditorium together.
“So, how are you feeling?” Foolish asked his friend after they were done putting their things on the lockers.
“Nervous!” Tina said, but she smiled a bit. “What about you?”
“Excited! I’m so happy you signed up for the Drama Club again this year, I always knew you were gonna like it!”
“Well, I did it 'cause, you know, I mean, I like the people there and…”
“Don’t even try it, Tina.” Foolish waved his hand in the air, dismissive of her excuses. “I could see how much you were enjoying everything last year.”
“Look, I…” she tried to find arguments, but ended up only crossing her arms, before giving up. “Okay, fine, I do like the Drama Club a lot. But you will not convince me to audition for some role.”
“Oh, don’t doubt me.”
Soon, they arrived at the auditorium, and after finding a place for their backpacks and going down the ramp, the people there received them with cheers.
“Look who’s here!” Slime said, standing up and giving Foolish a side hug.
Tina didn’t follow him into that conversation, and instead looked around, trying to find a good place to sit and wait for the class to start. Her eyes were quickly drawn to Bagi, who looked stunning as always, talking to people energetically and laughing. Tina forced herself to look away, and she saw that Jaiden was sitting right in front of Bagi. Hesitantly, she walked up to that place.
After saying hi to Jaiden, who was one of her closest friends there, Tina shyly turned around to face the row behind her and said:
“Oh, um… Hi, Bagi!”
The blond girl looked at her and gave her a bright smile.
“Tina! Good to see you again!”
“It’s good to see you!” She responded in a way too high of a tone of voice, and turned around back again, trying to hide how much she blushed, and feeling kind of dizzy.
Though the two girls were from the same grade, they had never interacted before Tina gathered enough courage to sign up for the Drama Club in the past year. And she had a lot of fun there, but she was also incredibly self-conscious, which held her back in many ways. Still, Bagi was always very polite and very nice to her, not to mention, very encouraging. All of that, combined with the fact Bagi was so pretty, in an almost angelical way, I mean, how could Tina not have a massive crush on her?
But before she had the time to digest that small interaction, someone else entered the room, and this time, it wasn’t another student.
“Hey, guys, how’s it going!”
At last, the teacher had arrived. He went down the ramp and stopped in front of the stage, facing the students, holding a few papers in his hands. Many “good afternoons” were heard around the room while the people sat down to pay attention to him.
“Welcome everyone! Do we have any students who are new to the club?”
A few hands were raised, and the teacher seemed to take notice of each of them individually.
“Right, right, always good to see new faces around here. My name is Phil, I’m the teacher responsible for the activities from the Drama Club meetings, and my goal here is to be more of a sort of guide while I let you guys have more creative liberty. You’ll see what I mean as the classes go by, the others who’ve known me for a while can confirm to you, it’s all very dynamic and interesting here. So, anyway, before we start, I wanna explain what are the plans for the year…”
While he talked, Cellbit leaned a little to the right and whispered:
“Hey, Bagi, is everyone who’s gonna be part of the club this year here already?”
“Shut the fuck up, I wanna hear Phil.” she whispered back.
“It’s a yes or no question, dumbass, it would’ve been easier to just answer it.”
“But how do you expect me to know the answer to that?”
Unpleased, Cellbit leaned away and crossed his arms, sighing quietly. Bagi kept an eye on him, while she still listened carefully to the teacher’s explanations.
“… Then, after all of that, we can start discussing the options for the show you’re gonna perform, and based on that we’ll know what direction to take…”
But the teacher was interrupted when someone else entered the room, breathing heavily, as he seemed to have run there. Everyone turned to look at him.
“Hi, Phil, sorry I'm late.”
“Don’t worry, Roier, we’ve only just started. Take a seat.”
While the boy hurriedly left his things on the back and joined the other students, Bagi noticed how Cellbit’s posture immediately changed. He sat more upright on the chair and crossed his leg, locking his eyes on the teacher all of the sudden. She could also notice he seemed to be unsure about what to do with his hands, so he never kept them resting in the same place for more than a few seconds. It all clicked for her at that moment, and Bagi had to use all of her willpower to wait to say something.
“… Alright, guys.” Phil finally said. “I think it’s time to start our first activity. Everyone, get on the stage and walk around, I want you to occupy that space as well as possible. Don’t leave any area empty and don’t stay too close to anyone! Imagine the stage is a boat and you need to balance the weight. But always keep walking!”
The students got up and went to the small staircase that led to the stage. Bagi took the opportunity to pull her brother by the sleeve and tell him:
“Now I understand why you wanted to join the club.”
“How many times do I have to explain about my curriculum to you, Bagi?” he impatiently said.
“Quit the facade, stupid, you can’t lie to me for long before I catch up. You’re here because you like Roier.”
He looked outraged, his mouth opened in disbelief, like the suggestion that he would do something like that sounded offensive to him.
“What even gave you that idea?!”
“Oh, if you’re gonna be such a terrible liar in the Drama Club, you’re in for a ride.”
They had to part ways after getting to the stage, as they couldn’t stay crowded together. Phil snapped his fingers, indicating the rhythm their steps should follow, until he stopped and so did the students.
“Okay, now we’re gonna stretch a bit. Raise your hands, stand on tiptoe…”
Bagi kept attentive to her brother, still feeling there was much to be discussed. Meanwhile, Tina, who was a few meters behind her, had a hard time trying to look away from Bagi’s hair.
“Now it’s time for warming up your voices, so you’re gonna repeat what I do.”
Phil made a bunch of silly noises, like lip buzzing, humming and clicking his tongue, which the new students all felt hesitant about mimicking, but most of the senior club members followed along like it was just part of the routine.
Those exercises took some time, but after they were done, Phil announced they were gonna play an improv game, and that made everyone get more excited.
“We’re gonna start out with a classic,” he announced “New choice. Can I get two volunteers to show how the game works for those who’ve never seen it?”
A few people raised their hands, and Phil called Roier and Jaiden to set the example. The others had to go back to the audience while only the pair stayed on stage, and Cellbit tried to avoid his sister, but she didn’t let him.
“You can’t run away from me forever, we live together!” She whisper-yelled.
“Leave me alone, you insufferable brat!”
“You could’ve been honest with me from the beginning. He and I are theater friends, I could talk you up!”
They sat down, hoping the other parallel conversations occurring simultaneously would make it so theirs didn’t stick out.
“That would make it too obvious! Besides, it’d be embarrassing to rely on your friendship with him to get his attention.”
“In New Choice,” the teacher started explaining “the challenge is that they’ll need to improvise a scene and every time I say ‘New choice’, they need to change the last thing they said or did. Now, before they start, I need suggestions of themes for the scene to guide their train of thought.”
People started raising their hands, and Bagi did the same. Cellbit looked at her, displeased and disapproving, and she gave him a determined look.
“Bagi?” Phil called her.
“Legally Blond.” she said, loud and clear. Those simple words made Cellbit cover his face with one hand and massage his temples; he got the message right away.
“Hm… That’s way too specific for an exercise like this. How about ‘movie theater’ instead? More broad, right? Okay, kids, get ready.”
Jaiden and Roier nodded and the teacher counted down for the scene to start. They sat on the edge of the stage and looked up, like they were watching the big screen in a movie theater, Roier eating an imaginary popcorn. After a few seconds, Jaiden sighed and looked at him.
“I can’t do this.” She said, like she couldn’t hold it in any longer. “I can’t sit here and watch Legally Blond with you, knowing you’re making the same mistake as the main character!”
Realizing her idea was still used by the two, Bagi laughed quietly, triumphant. On the seat next to her, Cellbit shrank even more, keeping his hand on his forehead and locking his eyes on the scene in disbelief.
“No, Denise, it’s not like that!” Roier pleaded, laughing nervously.
“Of course it is, Brian!” Jaiden responded, dramatically gesturing her hands. “The character goes to law school just because that’s what the guy she likes did and she’s trying to impress him.”
Cellbit closed his eyes tightly and Bagi elbowed him.
“Pay attention to your classmates' scene, Cellbit, there’s always something to be learned from them.” she whispered
“Go fuck yourself.” he responded, his face notably very red.
“Come on, it’s not the same thing at all!” Roier said from the stage, very defensive. “Yes, I did start working in the same place my crush works at, but I’ve always wanted to work in a zoo too!”
“New choice!” Phil yelled at them. Roier had to pretend his character had never said that last sentence, so instead he tried:
“I’ve always wanted to work as a scientist too!”
“New choice.”
“I’ve always wanted to work as a telemarketer too!”
The students in the audience laughed, and Phil seemed pleased with the answer, so the improv continued from there.
The scene went on for a few more minutes, with the teacher yelling “New Choice” from time to time. Calling Jaiden and Roier to present the improv game for those who didn’t know it had been a great idea; they worked well together, and complemented each other's ideas effortlessly, making funny choices and exaggerated gestures and facial expressions.
After a particularly funny line delivered by Roier, Phil saw an opportunity to end the game there, in a satisfying conclusion, and so he announced:
“And scene! That was great, thank you!”
Everyone clapped for them. Jaiden and Roier high fived before getting down from the stage, and the teacher walked to the front to look at the other club members.
“Okay, now that all of you have seen how New Choice works, I want everyone to do this same exercise. Here’s how I’m dividing the groups of two: I want people who’ve already played at least one character in our productions from the past years, pairing up with either a new member of the Drama Club, or someone who only partook in backstage activities in the past plays.”
Cellbit hurriedly stood up and sat next to Baghera, which surprised the girl. Bagi looked at him in shock and kind of offended; what did he think she would try to do, out him in front of the whole club? Of course she wouldn’t bring it up during the activity, the Legally Blond joke had been enough! Or did he just feel too embarrassed to look her in the face? Come on, none of that was a big deal, the whole situation just got blown out of proportion by his dramatic attitude.
After going around the audience for a bit, Phil saw Bagi’s twin brother holding the arm of his friend, who didn’t seem to understand his eagerness to work with her, though she didn’t mind it.
“I’m glad the new student could find someone who he’s already comfortable with to be his pair. What’s your name?”
“Cellbit.”
“So Cellbit and Baghera, that’s another pair.” he took a few steps to the right. “And Bagi is gonna work with Tina, is that right?”
Bagi hadn’t realised they were the only ones left. She looked at the girl on the row in front of hers, who quickly looked away before she could meet her gaze.
“Yeah, I’ll go with Tina.” Bagi confirmed with the teacher, standing up so she could go sit next to the girl.
“Good, so we have the pairs sorted out. Who wants to go next?”
Bagi sat down back again while the next ones to play New Choice went to the stage. Once they were side to side, Tina discreetly turned her head in Bagi’s direction, though she wasn’t looking directly at her, and whispered, with a kind of tremulous voice:
“Is everything okay, Bagi?”
The question was unexpected.
“Yeah, everything’s fine.” she answered, frowning. “Why?”
“It’s just that, I saw you seemed very…” she searched in her memories for the right word “Hm, astounded by something before Phil called our names.”
Bagi couldn’t help but be flattered by her worrying.
“Oh! It’s nothing serious, really. It’s just my brother, he signed up for the club for the first time this year, there he is, right there” she pointed at him “and it just surprised me how much of a drama queen he's being about some really silly stuff.”
Tina’s eyes met Bagi’s for a moment, and the brown-haired girl smirked.
“If he’s being a drama queen, at least he’ll fit well here.” she joked, stuttering a bit. Bagi held a laugh.
“Hey, don’t talk to your pair before the scene!” Phill told the students, but he looked directly at the two girls. “The point of the exercise is that everything has to be created right on the spot, so please, don’t try to plan something beforehand.”
The room went quiet for a moment, and then people started suggesting themes for the next scene. Not paying much attention to that, Bagi glazed at her pair for a moment, surprised to see her starting a conversation and hinting about her personality. She always thought Tina seemed nice, and their small talk was always pleasant in its own way, but they had never exchanged many words at once, and Bagi just never felt she could break through that armor of shyness. She wondered if maybe that year they would be able to become closer.
When the next scene was over and everyone clapped, Phil looked at the pair of girls again.
“Bagi, Tina. Would you like to go next?”
The two nodded and got up. Bagi noticed, on their way to the stage, that Tina couldn’t stop biting her nails, while also kind of hugging herself, as if she hoped she would be able to hide behind her own arms. When they were on stage and the suggestions for themes started to be given, she kept looking down and changing her weight from one leg to the other.
That posture, combined with everything else Bagi knew about the girl, made it clear she had a really bad case of stage fright. That was why they were paired up, after all: she had only ever helped backstage, never going to the spotlight.
“A surprise party.” Pac suggested from the audience.
“Surprise party.” Phil repeated. “Good one. That will be the theme Tina and Bagi will work their scene around. We’re starting in three, two, one…”
“DON’T LOOK OVER THERE!” Bagi screamed, surprising even herself.
All eyes were on her, including her scene partner’s. Bagi pointed in the direction of the public, making a worried face.
“PLEASE, DO ANYTHING, JUST DO NOT LOOK OVER THERE! KEEP YOUR EYES ON ME, ON ME!” her voice echoed through the place. “… BECAUSE THERE’S DEFINITELY NOT A SURPRISE FOR YOU IN THERE!”
Some laughs were heard, and Tina understood what she was doing. Still in character, Bagi looked both ways in a cartoony way, like she wanted to check if anyone else had heard her, and in a moment when her face was hidden from the public, she quickly winked at Tina.
“That’s kinda suspicious, Alice.” Tina responded, trying to recompose herself, locking her stare on the other girl, just as she was advised to do. She then realized she had probably spoken too quietly, and remembered something the teacher had said once: that even the old lady with bad hearing in the last row should be able to comprehend your words. So she tried to raise her voice a little. “Especially considering it’s my birthday today.”
“WHAAAAAAT? IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY? NO WAY!” Bagi shouted like a really bad liar, and some more people laughed. God, she was good. “I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW!”
“What do you mean, you didn’t know?” Tina asked, trying to make sure she was pronouncing every word clearly. “You literally wished me a happy birthday five minutes ago when we met here.”
The other students seemed to find her joke funny too, but Tina tried not to think about them. She was focused on becoming the girl from the scene, thinking like her, imagining herself in that situation. She changed her posture to fit the character better.
“Pfff, Deb, you’re crazy! I never said that!” Bagi replied.
“Oh, so you’re just gonna gaslight me now?”
“I’m not gaslighting,” Bagi laughed nervously, "you're just a crazy person imagining things that aren’t there. The reason I brought you here was… Because I wanted to take you to the movies!”
“New choice” the teacher’s voice was heard. Tina had forgotten they were not just improving, but also playing a game.”
“… I wanted to take you to the park.” Bagi tried instead.
“New choice.”
“… I wanted to take you to the mall.”
“New choice.”
“… I wanted to take you to the doctor’s appointment.” She waited to see if the teacher was gonna say anything. When he didn’t, she continued “I think it’s time to change your prescription glasses, Deb, I brought you to an oculist.”
Tina didn’t know how to respond to that. She stuttered a bit, desperately trying to think of something to say, until eventually she slurred:
“H-how did you know I needed new glasses?” And then she grabbed her imaginary glasses from her face and pretended to clean their lenses on her t-shirt.
“Smart guess. Come on, I’ll take you there.”
Bagi got closer to her and held her shoulders to guide her further away from the audience. Tina put her imaginary glasses back on her face and looked around.
“Woah, that’s a weird doctor’s office.”
“New choice.” Phil said, taking the girl by surprise.
“T-this doctor’s office doesn’t look right.”
“New choice.”
“This doctor’s office looks exactly how I imagined it would.”
After Bagi noticed the teacher wasn’t gonna ask for the line to be changed, she let go of Tina’s shoulders and looked around with a confused face. She really wanted to somehow show her scene partner it was okay to make a fool of yourself, so she said the most random idea that came to her mind on the heat of the moment:
“Oh, right. Yeah. There’s a lot of stuff here that is completely normal in an oculist. Like hay… And saddles… And horse shoes…” she turned, like she wanted to hide from the sight of Tina's character. “Neeeigh!”
Tina looked around after the horse sound, her character searching for the animal. Bagi took the opportunity to run closer to the audience, answering her imaginary phone.
“Are the preparations for the party done?”
“New choice.”
“Did the food from the party arrive?”
“New choice.”
“Is the mechanical bull ready?”
Tina had to suppress a laugh, but she couldn’t hold back a smile in the midst of her background mimic. She was having a lot of fun being silly with Bagi.
“Oh, uhum.” Bagi seemed focused on that phone conversation. “Right, okay. It’s because I’ve run out of excuses to give her.”
In the hype of the moment, Tina decided to speak up too and help contribute to the scene. She squatted a bit and put a lock of hair behind her ear when it partially covered her face.
“Oh, I love this horse!”
“New choice.”
Oh shit.
“I love this cow.”
“New choice.”
“I love this giraffe.”
“New choice”
“I love this dinosaur.”
More laughs from the audience. Tina kept smiling, looking at the invisible dinosaur in the imaginary stable, and when she realized she wouldn’t have to change her line, she added:
“I thought they were extinct!”
Bagi, brought her hand making a hang loose back to her ear.
“Nevermind, she thinks the plastic dinosaur is real.”
Tina pressed her lips together, fighting to stay in character.
“What a cute dinosaur! Can I pet it?”
“Sure…!” Bagi was walking in her direction back again.
“Oh, oh no Alice…” Tina frowned “I don’t think the dinosaur is moving!”
“YES IT IS, YES IT IS! IT’S REAL, LOOK!” she said in desperation, moving her hands in the air foolishly as she was shaking up the dinosaur while roaring.
“You're right, it seems real to me!” Tina proclaimed.
Bagi recoiled her hands and pretended to take something out of her pocket, then she gestured like she was writing a text message, and she smiled.
“Yes! Nice, okay. Deb, come here, there’s something I wanna show you.”
After Tina nodded in agreement, Bagi went behind her back and carefully covered her eyes before guiding her steps. Her hands were soft and warm, and they smelled like peaches, but Tina forced herself not to think about that at the moment, to stay focused on the scene.
“Prepare yourself.” Bagi said, way more quietly than she delivered everything else. It was hard to tell if anyone else besides her scene partner had really heard it, which made Tina question if she had spoken as the character or as herself.
When she recoiled her hands and let Tina see again, all of the students were staring directly at her; there was nothing Bagi could've done to save her from that one, afterall, the place established as the location to her character's surprise party had been the audience's direction. Tina was taken out of the moment, but it had to happen sooner or later. She tried to make her fear appear as her character’s surprise.
“Woah… a party!” Tina somehow worded and, with a bit of a delay, she remembered to smile.
“New choice.”
Not right now!
“Woah, for my birthday!”
“New choice.”
A sudden, really good idea struck her. She projected her voice as best as she could and said:
“Woah… The oculist!”
“And scene!” Phil announced, smiling proudly at the girls. “Good job, you two!”
All of the others were cheering for them, and Tina looked to the side to find a happy and proud Bagi, who held her arm and got closer to her ear to whisper:
“You did amazing, Tina!”
She felt like she was about to faint, but she kept strong and went back to the audience, feeling on top of the world. Bagi sat next to her again, and Tina realized she hadn’t said anything to her after she complimented her, which made her feel rude and guilty, but it would be weird to say it at the moment. It was too late.
Suddenly, everything she did during the scene started to play out in her mind again, all of her stumbles and possibly weird sounding choices, so she accidentally didn’t pay any attention to the next pair doing the improv game. Everything is fine, it’s nothing, it’s literally not a big deal. You weren’t cringy, everyone here is putting themselves out there. It's fine, it's fine, she repeated to herself, not believing a word from it.
She took a look at the girl by her side, and Bagi looked back at her and smiled. Everyone started clapping for the end of the scene on stage.
It’s alright, Tina.