Monsters and Men ~ Rosenwalker & Richpez

Chapter 7

Joey walked nervously towards the theatre building after sixth period, where Lauren had said they would meet up. Panicking as he walked, he pulled out his phone and checked his hair, running his hand through it several times. He brought his hand to his mouth so he could smell is breath. He didn't smell anything, but took out gum and started chewing just to be safe. He'd rather his breath smelled minty than nothing at all. He put his phone back in his pocket and straightened out his jacket collar. He shook his head; he really was being ridiculous.

He spotted Lauren in front of the theatre building before she spotted him; when she did she waved to him, smiling. Joey gulped, wishing that her smiling at him didn't make him so goddamn nervous. "Hey Lo," he said shyly as he approached her.

"What up Jojo," Lauren greeted, tossing her long brown hair over her shoulder. "Got the sheet music?"

"Of course," Joey responded quickly, reaching into his bag.

"Whoa, relax dude you don't have to get it out right this second." She teased as she turned around, gesturing for him to follow.

Joey mentally cursed himself; he was already acting like an idiot. "So um, are we rehearsing in the choir room?" Joey asked, thinking about how he already needed to cry to Brian.

"Nah, I took the liberty during sixth hour of reserving the auditorium for us." Lauren said, opening the door to enter the music building.

Joey cursed himself for not getting the door for her. "Oh really? Sounds great; better acoustics." He shook his head. Just how many stupid things could he manage to say within his first minute of talking to her?

Lauren made a face at him, before giggling. "You're funny."

Joeys blinked at her in disbelief. What about that had she found funny? She was probably just trying to be nice. "Let me get the door—" he dove past her, accidentally knocking her into the wall as he did so. "Oh shit, I'm so sorry—"

"You trying to fight me Richter?" Lauren laughed as she pushed herself away from the wall. "Because I am five feet of pure, homicidal rage, and I will take you down."

Joey breathed out a sigh of relief. "Now that, I do not doubt." He smiled at her as he opened the door to the auditorium, holding it for her to walk in in front of him.

The two of them warmed up together, before looking over their parts. As they were practicing their singing, Joey couldn't help but notice that Lauren looked completely disinterested. "Am I doing something wrong?" He finally asked, nerves getting the best of him.

"What?" Lauren asked, looking puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I, um, I don't know. You just seem like you're not into this. Is it the song? Or do you just not wanna sing with me? It's okay if you don't."

"Nah it's not you. Or the song really." Lauren placed the music down on the piano, walking around. "I don't know, I guess it's the basis for the performance? If that makes sense. I'm bored just standing and singing. I wish we could like, make this funny?"

Joey laughed. "You wanna turn a duet of "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" into a comedy bit?"

Lauren shrugged. "Maybe."

Joey sat down, pulling out a notebook. "Okay Lopez. Humor me."

Lauren looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Humor me. Give me ideas of how we could make this duet funny."

Lauren laid down on the floor next to him, a smile spreading across her lips. "You seriously want to help me with this?"