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houndstooth boys, here we lay, lie & lie
y'know, if you wanna, but it's not really needed, tbh
Steve walks up the steps that lead onto the auditorium stage that sits in front of the elementary school's cafeteria. His homeroom teacher had walked him out of class and into the hallway this morning to explain why. He's still not sure why he's here, though. He stops and takes a second to look around at all of the other children that are trying on costumes. Some are wearing hats they very obviously made themselves, others are taking them out of donation boxes.
"Hey! Look! It's Steve!" a little girl with long dark hair pulled into french braids excitedly exclaims as she waves him over.
He slowly walks over towards her, recognizing her from second grade, where they sat next to each other everyday but he hasn't seen her since then, and it's been almost two years. It feels a little awkward to match her energy.
"Hi, Stella."
"I'm so glad they chose you from Mrs. Burton's class." she says as she rifles through one of the donation boxes.
"Uh, yeah. I've never done this before. What are the rules?" he asks as his eyes scan the stage.
"Rules?" she repeats, from deep inside the box, with a little stifled laugh at the end.
"Yeah. Aren't there always rules to a game?" he says with a little annoyance in his voice.
Before Stella can look up and answer his question, an older boy behind him starts laughing. A loud boisterous laugh that makes everyone on stage turn to look at him.
"There are no rules, dude! It's theater, not a baseball game!" he says with a huff.
Steve narrows his eyes at the older boy, and unsure of what his status in the group is, he doesn't answer.
The older boy then gets up from the table he was sitting at, crossing his arms as he walks over.
"We're just supposed to get up here, put on a show in our most ridiculous costumes and make the kindergarteners and first graders laugh.
That's it. No. Rules." he leans down and whispers in his ear at the end.
Steve takes a step back, with how close he's gotten he's also realized just how much taller than him the older boy is.
"Well, I was just asking. I've never done this before, so how am I supposed to know?" he shrugs and looks back at Stella as she joins the two of them. She then places a cowboy hat on his head and smiles.
"Do you want to try to make a costume? I can help if you want."
He reaches up and takes the hat off to look at it. The cowboy hat is covered in glitter and rainbow gems that are glued haphazardly all around the brim.
"Ugh, I guess, but do I have to wear a hat?" he looks up at her with a confused, but hopeful face.
"Dude! I said! No! Rules!" the older boy yells as he throws his hands up and turns around to face away from him.
Steve tosses the hat back into the donation box and sighs loudly.
"Fine. If I can do whatever I want, then I don't wanna wear a dumb costume."
Stella looks at him sadly, but nods her approval. He looks over to the older boy. He's still facing the other way.
"Way to be a buzzkill. But fine. What's your last name, anyway? It starts with an 'H', right?" the older boy then turns around on his heel to face both of them.
"Harrington. Why....?"
"Okay, y'know what, Hopeless Harrington, that's who you'll be." he says as he points straight at him, then runs off towards the table.
"Stella, can you please explain to me what is going on?" he asks as he grabs her arm in case she also decides to bolt.
"I'm gonna be honest, I have no idea. He's in fifth grade, I think his name is Eddie. I guess he's probably done this before and that's why the teachers made him in charge. Maybe we can ask him, but he kinda ignored me earlier when I tried to question him." she says with a shrug.
"He... what!? No way. You can't be in charge and not give out instructions or answer questions!" he says with a huff as he grabs her hand and storms over towards the older boy.
"Wait, Steve, it's okay... I don't want to cause trouble." she mumbles as he leads her towards the table in the back.
"Hey! You can't just run this all on your own, you have to tell us what's going on and what we're gonna be doing. If you're the one in charge, you have to communicate with your team, especially if they ask you something. That's like, basic leadership, man."
Steve's brows are furrowed and his voice is filled with annoyance. He lets go of Stella's hand and gestures towards her when the older boy looks over at them from his notes.
He keeps eye contact with him as he stands up and pushes his notes to the side.
"Mhm, okay. What exactly am I leading? A troop of athletes to their victory? Nope. The military and an arsenal of bombs? Definitely not. Oh? Are we heading towards an adventure? Wait. Am I Gandalf in this scenario? I don't want to be Gandalf!" he yells dramatically.
Steve looks over towards Stella who looks over at him, equally confused as she shakes her head at him.
"Good god, this is just my luck, isn't it? They just had to curse me with a group of mini jocks." Eddie rubs his forehead in frustration.
"Well, we didn't exactly choose to be here, either. You have to work with us no matter who we are." Steve says as he crosses his arms.
Eddie takes a deep breathe in and gestures with his arms for them to take the lead. He then looks over at the other three kids that are rummaging through clothes on hangers and waves them over.
"Alright. Everyone, listen up.
According to our seasoned-team-man here, Steve, we have to create some kind of harmony and work together seamlessly. For starters, I'm the director, and you are all the actors. Are there any questions about that?" he asks as he looks around at the uninterested faces.
Eddie watches as Stella whispers something to Steve. He then whispers it to the next boy. They go on doing this for a minute.
"Hello!? I thought we were a team, guys!" he yells as he claps loudly in their direction.
"Okay... Well, we all want to know why you've painted the poster in the back purple and the boxes in front highlighter yellow. What does it mean?" asks Stella.
"First of all, that's not a poster, that's The Sky and those are not boxes, they're Bushes. This is a play, remember? We need props."
The kids all look at each with confusion. Steve raises his hand and Eddie waves him over to the front.
"Uh... the sky is not purple, man. Unless... this is like a cartoon or something, right?" he asks, then looks back towards the props.
Eddie stares at him and blinks.
"Of course it's not purple, I painted it the color it's supposed to be. Blue."
Steve isn't sure what to say, but nods and walks back over towards the group. He whispers something to them and they all head out to dress up in costumes. He stays.
"Do you, you know, need any help with anything? I can help. I can lift heavy things and move them. Or I can paint things... with the color they need to be." he says the last bit quietly, to not hurt his feelings.
Eddie stares at him again. He then walks over to his notes and hands him one.
"Here, you'll be Hopeless Harrington. These are your lines. He's a vagabond. Apparently, a strong one that can lift things, and he's totally hopeless in spirit and love. The kids'll love ya when you start to break down and destroy some furniture."
"I'm... a what?"
"A Va-Ga-BOND. You know, like Charlie Chaplin? Except you'll be less funny and more cool. Please tell me you know who Charlie Chaplin is...." Eddie slumps his shoulders slightly in annoyance.
"Uh... Kinda.... He's like... Like The Stooges, right?" Steve looks up at him with wide eyes, hoping he got something right for once. He has no idea what this guy is ever talking about, apparently.
Eddie grins. He can tell the kid wants to please him.
"Not exactly, but yeah, sure. Close enough.
Oh, and... Here, hand the rest of these character sheets out to the rest of the troop. You can decide who everyone will play, you know 'em better than me, being in the same grade and all...." he then turns and walks towards a large box that holds several folded cardboard boxes.
"Got it! But... Before, I go. Could I ask you something?" Steve asks in a whisper as he gets closer to him.
"Yeah, big guy?" Eddie turns to see him fidgeting with the sheets of paper.
"After the play is over, could we meet up in the back room? You know, the one where all of the extra school stuff is stored?"
Eddie makes a huffing noise, but then smiles.
"You're not gonna like, try to beat the shit out of me or something, right?"
Steve rolls his eyes, shifts his body a bit.
"Of course not. Just 'cause I hang out with Tommy doesn't mean I'm just like him..."
"Then, I guess I'll be meeting with ya back there after we're done. But first: Showtime."
Steve rushes off to hand out the notes to each of his classmates. He hands them out according to how he perceives each kid. He knows the two boys from the baseball team the previous year, hands them each the two roles that fit them best: a coyote and a cowboy. He doesn't know the other girl at all, but he knows Stella. He chooses the role of a jester for her and a queen for the other girl. Then, the production begins as they follow Eddie's instructions.
They put on their costumes - Steve finally gives in and wears an oversized suit sans hat - he chooses to hang it around his neck, they practice their few lines and do some simple blocking (be more spontaneous, gesture more, yells Eddie from the back). They then put on the show at noon, after the last lunch. The kindergarten classes from both morning and afternoon file in, the entire first grade soon follows. The teachers, parents, and students all laugh and clap along to their antics. All in all it's a success; an afternoon spent making others happy. Eddie is beaming, unsure how he managed to wrangle five kids into making a show in less than four hours, but here they are.
When everyone leaves, it's just the actors, Eddie, and the drama teacher left backstage. She thanks everyone for their time and efforts, hands them each a small paper bag and dismisses them for lunch and the rest of the afternoon.
When Eddie looks over towards Steve, he sees him heading towards the hallway that leads to the back room with his paper bag and jacket in hand. He waits for a moment, stands there, unsure. This could be a trap of some kind, but then he decides to follow after him. He could live to regret this.... It's happened before, some kid gets him alone just to beat him up mentally, physically, emotionally. One or all of them-ally words, perhaps a mixed bag.
However, something feels different. He feels like he knows him. A couple of years ago they shared beds and secrets in the nurse's office. He also feels grateful to have had him in the production. He might not have known a thing about theater, but he was helpful in wrangling everyone and getting things set straight for the show. He also did put his whole heart into the character and hyped everyone else up while on stage.
When Eddie arrives at the door, he pushes it gently, looking left and right before he enters. He sees Steve sitting on a small table, looking inside the paper bag.
"Hey, buddy. What'cha got in there?"
"I guess they got us some kinda special lunch from a restaurant." Steve shrugs.
"Really? Hey, that's pretty cool.... Look, they even put a cupcake in here!" Eddie says as he holds it up.
"...and uh, what color is the frosting?" Steve asks, looking at him sideways, with eagerness in his voice.
"It's light grey, the best kind, obviously."
"Okay, well, what if I told you that it was actually not grey at all." Steve said as he lifted up a box of crayons and shook them. He then stood up from the table and waved Eddie over.
"Not grey? No way, man. It's always been the best flavor and that's what color that it is." He says as he walks over to the table.
"Well, it's pink, you know, 'cause it's probably a strawberry or cherry flavor." Steve spills the crayons onto the table and points towards them.
Eddie stares at them.
"Can you sort the crayons for me? Like, all the same colors together, or maybe in a rainbow?" Steve asks.
"What is this? Just 'cause we were hanging out with kindergarteners today doesn't mean we have act like them." Eddie says as he crosses his arms, his bag getting crumpled in the process.
He sighs. Steve could tell he was getting defensive, so he decides to take a different approach.
"Yeah, it was stupid of me to think that you don't know your colors. I just wanted to know how you saw them compared to me. Here, you can have my cupcake, by the way, since you like them so much." he says as he slides it over towards Eddie.
He then looks around the room and sees a basket of plastic food. He hurriedly grabs it and brings it back over to the table.
"How about these? Do you like tomatoes? Or oranges? Or... maybe persimmons are your favorite?" he looks straight up towards Eddie's eyes, who is now sitting on top of the table.
Eddie reaches down into the basket that Steve is holding against his chest. He picks up a few different fruits and veggies.
"This is a tomato, right? I know what that is. I don't know what a persimmon is, though" he asks as he holds the plastic persimmon.
"Well, actually, that is the persimmon. You can tell because it's orange, like oranges. Tomatoes are bright red." Steve says as he picks out the tomato and holds it next to Eddie's persimmon.
"That's bullshit, man, look, these are all the same orange color. Like. Oranges."
Steve shakes his head.
"Eddie, I think you're like, missing colors... You know, when you see them. Do you think that maybe, you might be, colorblind?" Steve is careful to say it, but it comes out a little more eager than he meant it to. He then drops the basket on the table and grabs Eddies hand to lead them outside. Once they're outside, he pulls him towards the bushes that line the side of the building.
"Are these green?"
Eddie lets go of Steve's hand and stares at the bushes. It takes a lot of staring and concentrating before he answers.
"Well, obviously. That's green. Sometimes they're brown, but yeah. GREEN."
Steve sighs again.
"Well, they're definitely a green, but they're never a brown. Sometimes, in the fall, they're orange or red, then they don't have leaves."
Eddie looks over at Steve, a sad and disheartened look. A flood of emotions hit him at once.
He feels lied to, unloved, even. His whole life, people assumed he was being difficult or oppositional. That he purposely wanted to start shit by defying the teachers, parents and other children. He wants to cry, feeling this new perception of reality is heavy, as it shifts towards the world that he's always been a part of, but never fully inside of. There was something different the whole time, but no one noticed.
Steve reaches out his hand, lays it on his shoulder.
"Are you trying to see the colors that aren't there for you? I can help. I'll explain everything to you."
"You'd.... do that? Why?" Eddie keeps his gaze to the floor, as he feels unsure to trust him at this vulnerable moment.
"Because you deserve to know why things are the color that they are. You might not be able to tell, but I'll show you the difference. Look, the sky, for example."
"Yeah? It's blue.... isn't it?"
"Yup, but you used purple paint when you made the background for our play. So.... Do you know what purple is?"
"......Apparently, I do not....." he says dejectedly.
Steve looks all around, trying his hardest to find shades of purple, but comes up empty. It's all trees, bushes, and concrete outside.
"Oh, I know where you can see purple. Come and follow me!"
Eddie follows behind him as they head back inside the building. He walks into the back room and sees Steve holding up his jacket.
"This! The hood on my jacket, this is purple. The jacket is grey, but... This stripe here, on the bottom, that's a darker purple than this one."
Eddie takes the jacket from him and stares at the two purple colors. They hardly seem different from the shades of blue that the sky happens to be.
"So, you're telling me that... these are two different colors, and that they're also different from the blue... sky?"
"Yeah! Exactly! See, you're getting it now." Steve is smiling wide, excited to be able to share this new world with him. He watches as Eddie runs his hands along the jacket's stripe.
"My favorite color is black. I wonder what it would be if I could see all the colors, like you do?"
"It would probably still be the same, right? You're still gonna be the same person no matter what. The cupcake flavor you like wouldn't change, either. Look, come here." Steve takes his hand in his and pulls him towards the basket of fruit.
"You can probably tell what fruit and vegetables are by their shape more than the color, right? Do you see the tomato here? It's bright red. The top of the tomato, we can call it the little hat on top, it's green. On the persimmon, which is orange, the little hat it wears is more of a dark green color, but the shape is different enough that you can tell it's not a tomato."
He hands Eddie the two fruits and let's him inspect them for a moment.
"They're both the same shade of uh, kinda orange to me. Maybe light brown. ....and hold on, you're telling me that.... the tops of them AREN'T brown, either?" Eddie scrunches his face up.
He wonders what other things in the world he's been missing out on simply because he only knew them as he saw them. He sets the fruit down on the table and leans back against it.
"It's okay, you don't have to learn everything in one day. You only just found out that you're colorblind. We can always ask a teacher about it if y-"
"No! No, no, that's okay.... I'd like to learn by myself. The teachers might get mad, think I'm lying about it or make me do extra work. I dunno. I just... I don't really feel good about telling anyone about it." he says as he looks down at his hands.
"Sorry, that was a stupid idea. We don't have to tell anybody, of course.
Plus, I do understand, y'know. The teachers get mad at me sometimes, too. When I ask questions, they think I'm doing it to be funny or make trouble. I don't mean for the questions to be dumb, but I don't remember what they were talking about or mix it up with a different subject. Science, english, and history are the worst." he shrugs.
"I'm sorry about that, bud. I didn't know you had trouble with all of that. Not all teachers are are good people that want to help, and I guess we both know a lot about that. It's too bad people aren't more like crows."
"Crows? What... do they got to do with us?" Steve looks confused as he looks up towards him.
Eddie stands up straighter. He then grabs his paper bag and spills it over the table, all of the food now in full view.
"Well, for one thing, they're really intelligent. Not just for being birds, either. They even like, bond and take care of each other. It's really cool. For example, this fancy looking sandwich? One crow might find it, but instead of hogging it for himself, he would split it up and share it with his friends and family. When they find something cool or fun to do, they bring others in and teach them about it so they can have fun together and they don't berate each other about it, either. They wait until they learn.
I guess you're kinda like a crow, if you think about." he laughs as he holds the two cupcakes in his hands.
Steve stares at him and thinks for a moment.
"Well, did you know that bats are colorblind? Maybe you're kinda like a bat. They don't know the world is missing colors, some are even blind and they get along just fine and make friends. They also seem to like the color black best, right, 'cause they only come out at night?
Eddie takes in the information for a second.
"I never thought about that.... Yeah. They probably do... But then again, people are scared of them for those reasons, too."
Steve dumps his paper bag on the table like Eddie did.
"I'm not afraid of bats. In baseball, you just gotta swing it as hard as you can, after all." he grins as Eddie winces at his joke.
"But... Do you think bats and crows could get along and play together? Maybe even share their lunches?" Steve asks, somewhat hopeful.
"I don't see why they can't meet in the middle. Like, when the sun starts going down and the crows are getting sleepy and the bats are waking up."
"Yeah, that sounds good. The bats can keep watch of the night for the crows, right? Make sure everyone is safe when the color is gone?"
Eddie nods his head and opens the sandwich bags, then hands Steve one of the croissant sandwiches.
"Bats are cool as hell now that I think about it."