{ Acting Up } HUNTER TOH X GN READER | HUMAN HS THEATER AU

~FIFTEEN~

~I pray, I pray for a better way~

---

"And hate will earn you nothing in the end. This is the end!" You sing, stepping back to centerstage.

"But I LOVE YOU!" Hunter shouts from stage left, pretending to point the gun prop (that you didn't have yet) at you.

"Dude.." You gesture to it. "This is it! I won't cry. Starting now I will try to pay back all the karma I owe!" You belt, trying not to think to hard and let your throat close up on you. "Start again, somewhere new, far from 'cool guys' like you. So goodbye, cause now IIIIIII-" You take a quick breath, not daring to look at anybody that was watching you right now. "I say no!"  You imagine the ensemble singing their parts, though they weren't in the auditorium now. "Just in time, I say no! Somehow I'm saying no! Just say no! I say no! No!" You immediately drop your arms to your sides and start trying to catch your breath, smiling down at Ms Arrington and Mx Whispers. You accidentally glance over at Hunter, who was gawking at you slightly from the side of the stage. When his eyes meet yours, a collected look washes over his face and he looks away.

"Congrats to us for making such a good casting decision." Ms Arrington mutters, and you can't help the embarrassing smile that spread across your face.

"Y/N, you sound incredible, especially considering you're walking around the stage and not just standing in the choir room." Mx Whispers says.

"Thank you." You say through an exhale, still getting your composure after how lightheaded all that made you feel. 

"I do want to work with you on keeping that strength in your voice when you get nervous, because I could tell there were a few parts you got scared." They add. 

"You two can take ten before we move onto Seventeen." Ms Arrington says.

"Y/N, is your voice feeling alright?" Mx Whispers asks as you walk down the stage.

"Yeah, I'm all good." You give them an awkward thumbs up as you walk over to where Lyra sat with your bag.

"Y/N, you amaze me more and more every day." She says, handing you your water bottle, which you chug like your life depends on it.

"Says you." You poke her in the arm, sitting down in the seat beside her.

"I recorded it for you." She says, handing you your phone.

"Ooh, thank you."

When your break was over, you and Hunter were back onstage. You were running through the scene before Seventeen and doing blocking.

"Alright, so when JD yells 'when every asshole is dead' you'll *pretend* to shove him to the ground." Ms Arrington says. "And that'll be when the music starts. I know you guys ran that with Trixie last week, right?"

"Yup." You nod.

"So for this whole first part from 'fine, we're damaged' to.." Ms Arrington flips through her script. "'don't you want a life with me?' You're singing to him while he sits himself up on the ground." She turned to Hunter. "Then you'll stand up and face away from her from that up until.. 'play some poker', and then I want you to start walking over to them. But get over there before 'maybe prom night?'" She concludes, looking up from her script to see if you both got it. You give her a thumbs up and Hunter nods. "You wanna hear the rest and then run it? Because it's not like it's actual choreo it's just blocking with music." 

"Yeah, let's hear the rest first." Hunter says, and you nod.

"Alright, can I just have you do everything as I say it?" She asks, receiving nods from both of you. "So for 'maybe prom night?' Hunter you'll have walked over to Y/N, and on 'maybe dancing', you'll hold out your downstage hand like you're asking them to dance." She says, scribbling something on her script. 

"Okay.." He nods, holding his hand out to you. You laugh a bit at his awkwardness before Ms Arrington continues.

"And Y/N, you take his hand and you'll get into position like you're ballroom dancing." She continues. "So.." You do so, your hand in his and your upstage hand on his shoulder, his on your waist. "Yeah, like that. That's on 'don't stop looking in my eyes', and then on 'seventeen' Hunter you'll semi-let go to twirl with Hunter's downstage hand and Y/N's upstage hand." Hunter twirls you around, and you laugh. "Then you'll just grab hands and sing up until 'I wanna be with you'."

"Okie dokie." You say.

"Then you're gonna let go of your downstage hands but Y/N just lightly squeeze his upstage hand and then grab his downstage hand again on 'tonight'." She says. "Then you'll kiss- but you don't have to today- and then on 'yeah, we're damaged.' you'll lean your foreheads together, and Y/N I want you to act like it hurts you to be near him."

"That shouldn't be hard." You mutter under your breath, making Hunter scoff. 

"Then on 'hold me tighter' you'll hug, and on 'if I am what you choose' you'll back away slightly but continue holding onto each other." You and Hunter do so awkwardly, and Ms Arrington seems somewhat satisfied. You sneak a 'help' glance at Lyra, who's smiling at you from the house. "And on that 'if I am what you choose' Y/N, I want you to look away slightly and on Hunter's 'if we've still got the right' Hunter I want you to kind of redirect them to face you again. And then that's it." She looks up at the two of you, and you nod. "Let's run it from the 'when will it end?' line before the song." You and Hunter quietly get to your places, facing each other. 

"When will it end?" You shout, glaring at Hunter.

"When every asshole is dead!" He yells back, and you shove him- lightly- and he falls to the ground as the music starts.

"Fine- we're damaged. Really damaged." You start.

-

"Maybe prom night?" You smile awkwardly.

"Maybe dancing?" He holds out his hand and you take it.

"Don't stop looking in my eyes." You sing as he pulls you closer to him, his hand on your waist. 

"Your eyes." 

"Can't we be seventeen?" You duet, Hunter spinning you around. Staring into each other's eyes became less awkward with characters to hide behind. (my autistic ass is lying i hate eye contact) "Is that so hard to do? If you could let me in, I could be good with you. Let us be seventeen, if we've still got the right."

"So what's it gonna be?" You sing, dropping his downstage hand. "I wanna be with you. I wanna-"

"Wanna be with you-" 

"Tonight!" You duet, your voices ringing through the auditorium. During the instrumental, you stare at each other, amusement dancing in your eyes as you try not to laugh. At least you weren't kissing yet.

"Yeah, we're damaged." You lean your forehead against his, your voice breaking.

"Badly damaged."

"But your loves too good to lose." You look up at him. 

"Hold me tighter." 

"Even closer." He wraps his arms around you, hugging you from behind as you turn slightly to face the house. 

"I'll stay if I'm what you choose." You sing, pulling away from him to face him again but still holding his arms as his hands rest on your waist. 

"Can't we be seventeen?" 

"If I am what you choose."  You turn your head away.

"If we've still got the right?" He lightly turns your head to face him, and you make eye contact that feels impossible to break.

"Cause you're the one I choose."

"You're the one I choose."

"You're the one I choose."