Eleven O'Clock Number

MUSICAL #5: CHICAGO

05: IS ROXIE, LIKE, GAY FOR VELMA OR SOMETHING?

« who says that murder's not an art? »

PREDICTABLY, TOBY doesn't come into school the next day. When Allison offhandedly mentions that she might stop by his house after school to check up on him, Lydia smirks wryly.

"What?" Allison frowns at her best friend as they walk to their next class. 

"Nothing," Lydia sings. "Just, Toby's seventeen, sweetheart. And he has parents."

"And?"

"That probably equates to you not needing to go over. Checking up on sick boys is usually a job reserved for girlfriends, you know."

 Despite herself, Allison flushes. "Lydia, Toby has the mental age of a five year-old. He is not capable of taking care of himself."

"But his parents are capable of taking care of him," Lydia points out smugly. "You seem very worried about him."

"He's my friend!"

"Honey, we're friends. Do you check up on me when I'm ill?"

"You're never ill."

"If I was, would you check up on me?"

Lydia smiles at Allison's silence. "I thought so."

"Well, I think you're seeing things where you shouldn't be. As in, where they don't exist. And that you need to stop. Or..." Allison trails off, grinning. "You could start seeing things where they do exist."

Lydia scoffs. "And where is that?"

"Oh, I think you know," she replies lightly.

Her best friend's eyes narrow. "I don't think I do," she says, a dangerous tone seeping into her voice. "Mind telling me?"

"I'll give you some hints."

"Please do."

"Hint one - he's heading towards us right now."

Only someone very trained in Lydia Huntington 101 would catch the way her eyes widen a fraction of an inch when she notices something and then revert to normal, all in the space of about half a millisecond.

Allison could practically teach Lydia Huntington 101. She catches it - and she also catches that Lydia's playing dumb when she says: "You mean Jake Roberts?"

At first glance, Jake does look like he's heading towards them - but then he gets sidetracked by his boyfriend. And Lydia's busted, because a) Allison wouldn't be suggesting romance between her and a boy who is openly gay and b) Jake moving out of the way leaves the boy who she is talking about in plain view.

"Hey, Emmett!" Allison chirps as he comes up to them. Lydia stays silent, the effect of her glare completely ruined by the faint blush on her cheeks. Allison bites the inside of her cheek to stop herself from smiling - because Lydia never blushes in front of boys. 

"Hey, Allison," he gives her a smile before turning to Lydia, who is still glaring extremely hard at the linoleum beneath her high heels. 

"Okay, you win," he tells her, ignoring the fact that she is staring at the floor. "We can do your idea."

Lydia's head snaps up so quickly some strands of her meticulous hairstyle fall out of place. "What?"

"I was thinking about it, and your idea sounds pretty good, anyway," Emmett shrugs. "So let's do it."