EXITronpa ; Escape, Exit, Elucidate!

[5] Lights, Cameras, Action!

I looked over to Taco, noticing the drama club door right in front of where she was standing. She was looking at the rest of us, playfully going to open it up. "Come right in!" She urged. We all walked into it, looking around. Some of us, like myself, had been here before but for certain people, it was their first time.

Loser looked with amazement. "W-Wow... This feels like the perfect room for writing besides the library.." He commented, going to walk around a little to get a feel for the place. 8-Ball went to follow after. I watched as everyone went to go explore, talk to others, or do their own thing. I went to walk over to Taco. "Hm, you sure know how to lead.." I went to playfully ruffle her hair as she chuckled. "Huh? Oh, that was nothing... I know how great of a leader you are."

"Huh?"

"You know... With your whole... Friend group?"

I hesitated a little, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean..."

"Oh, you know." Taco gave a small smile, going to bring me over to a set of chairs that were making up the seats for audience members to sit while watching plays. She went to bring me to sit down, making eye contact with me. "This might sound creepy and all but.. I've seriously always looked up to you. I remember being in school every day before this and going 'yeah... I wish I was with them.' when looking at you guys." She chuckled a bit, looking to the side. I stared in disbelief.

"..R-Really?" I spoke warily.

"Well, yeah!- ...I know FreedSmart Prep is basically the past now and all, but I still worry you hate me for uh.." She groaned a little, messing with her glasses and avoiding eye contact. "All of the gossiping and stuff... I just wanted to seem cool to you guys and... I shouldn't have said the things I said." She huffed a little. I stared at her for a bit.

I didn't know what to say...

Was this an apology?

For everything..?

...

"...It's fine."

I felt Taco's arm wrap around me as she was hiding into me. I jumped a little, gazing down at her. "..I-I wish I could've apologized sooner.." She mumbled to me. I frowned. I knew she wouldn't have any chance to do it, though. All of the other girls hated her, mostly Book. The memories of Book constantly talking bad about Taco in front of all of the girls made us have a very negative opinion of the poor girl. I was blinded by the care of the girls to not even consider Taco's perspective...

Well, I guess that's something that came out of this fucking living nightmare.

"Taco, it's fine. You couldn't have done anything anyways..." I muttered. I watched as she looked up at me, on the verge of tears. 

"I-I-"

"You can't change the past." I frowned, hesitant to say my next few words. "...I should realize that myself." 

Taco looked to the side, going to let go of me. "There's a lot of things I wish I could change... I guess that's never happening, huh?" She sounded a lot more down, upset mostly. I felt sympathy, softening up a little as I went to grab her shoulder. "Don't worry, Taco," I spoke. "Sometimes moving on from the bad things could create a brighter future."

"..Not for just you..."

"..But all of us."

Taco hesitated as I spoke, going to let go of me. "..R-Right. Well.." She looked away, avoiding eye contact. "There's a play that needs to be set up, come on." She didn't sound as confident as she did before... Awkward, even. I felt like I said the wrong words but I couldn't exactly do anything about it now. Taco went to stand, clapping her hands. "Okay, everyone!" She spoke loudly. "Let's group up and begin discussing." I went to stand from my seat, moving my hands to my pockets and watching as everyone else began to walk back over to where Taco was. "We need to begin by assigning roles then we can work from there."