All Planned Out

Eleven (Alex)

Growing up, Stuart Crane was only ever two things in my mind. He was a kid I happened to go to school with and he was also my weird cousin's neighbor. A few years ago, I added a file card in my mind that, oh yeah, the two of them are also probably dating and wanted to keep it to themselves.

It all made sense.

They were always together, just like me and Charlotte. They went to the school dances, just like me and Charlotte. And, oh yeah, they were helping to keep each other's sexuality a secret, just like me and Charlotte.

It's been a week since Montana broke the news about herself to the world and the news about Stuart to me and Charlotte, but really mostly to me, and now I can not look at him the same way I always did.

It doesn't make any sense.

Nothing about him has changed except that he is talking to me, and that has more to do with whatever he thinks is going on with Charlotte and Montana than anything else. He's just the same old Stuart Crane, which I really get a taste of as I sit near him in homeroom and wait to see if he asks me anything about whether or not I read the script that was sitting tucked into my backpack on the floor between us.

He took his old seat back, too, which I should have expected. There was no real news about the girls for him to gossip over. If he wanted to give Charlotte any more dire warnings about helping Montana with her filming he didn't need me to get involved.

But wouldn't he want to get me involved? Wouldn't he want to get any excuse to talk to me if he likes me so much? That's what I would do? Wouldn't I?

When I also don't see him at lunch, I feel like screaming. It is only the threat of complete and total embarrassment on my part that keeps me glued in my chair and my gaze fixed on his empty seat across the table instead of searching him out and striking up a conversation.

The feelings of screaming and embarrassment only intensified as I noticed Montana picking up Charlotte through my window and driving off together. As terrified as she was at possibly making a mistake, she was still putting herself out there to spend time with Montana. If I was going to figure out what was really going on in Stuart's head, I was going to have to do the same thing.

An hour later, I was sitting in my car right next to Stuart's Mini in the lot of coffee shop. The script sat on my passenger seat, taunting me, as I debated with myself whether or not I was actually about to walk inside alone to find him or just wait until Monday at school where I wouldn't feel all the strange feelings currently bubbling through me.

"Knock knock."

I jumped.

Stuart was standing at my door with his hand up as if tapping on my open window. With the sun behind him and his visor shadowing his face, it gave his tall form a new kind of menace that I did not appreciate.

"Uh, hi." I could only glance up at him for a few seconds at a time. "Shouldn't you be at work?"

"I technically am." He said. "But right now I'm on break and I came out here to relax and saw a familiar car sitting next to mine." I didn't look up, but I could see his shadow shift as he bent down closer to my head. "Montana didn't call you and send you over here to pick up drinks, did she?"

"No. I don't know what she's doing. I'm just here because, uh, because I'm just, um, stopping by to, uh..." my hand slapped lazily at the folder next to me, "...I read your script."

"The whole thing?"

"Yeah. Last night."

"Last night?" I could clearly hear exasperation in his tone. "Seriously?"