Eleven O'Clock Number

MUSICAL #14: THE LION KING

14: WATCH THE LION KING ASAP AND PUT ALLISON OUT OF HER MISERY

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"YOU'RE AVOIDING Allison."

 "I'm not."

"You are. Daniel, too. And he's worried about you. Did you never tell him this is where you go when you're upset?"

Toby fiddles with the fabric of the seat he's on and refuses to look at her. Lydia sighs.

"I guess that would defeat the point a little," she concedes, sitting up slightly so she can fold her legs underneath her and fix him with a look.

Toby stays silent for a while, before mumbling: "You talked to Daniel?"

"No, but Allison did." Seeing the slight crease in Toby's brows, Lydia continues: "You know, Allison hasn't had the balls to actually initiate a conversation with Daniel since they broke up. And she did it to check on you."

Toby doesn't respond. Lydia rolls her eyes. "Emmett!" she calls.

It takes some time, but Emmett emerges from the door of the auditorium, moving inside until he's standing by the row of seats that Lydia and Toby are sat in.

"Sorry about this, man," Emmett says apologetically. "She's kinda making me do this, and I'm not really sure why –"

"Emmett!"

"Okay, fine, God," Emmett rolls his eyes, then retrieving a notebook from his bag and flipping it open to one of the pages.

"This is a list compiled by Lydia Huntington of all the times that Toby Martin has been acting strangely in the past two and a half weeks," he begins to recite in a monotone.

Toby's eyebrows go up. Lydia suppresses a smirk.

"One," Emmett continues, sounding supremely bored. "You didn't get excited when Allison said she wouldn't mind watching The Lion King."

Emmett stops and gives Lydia a questioning glance, but she only waves for him to continue.

"Two. You have officially ditched Allison and Daniel at least seven times in total during the time period previously expressed. Daniel three times, and Allison four. Three. You didn't text Lydia back two days ago, which is something you have never done in your life. Four. Five members of the cast of Cinderella, including Laura, have said you were acting weirdly last rehearsal. Five –"

"Okay, I get it," Toby interrupts. "Why are you here now?"

"Firstly, because you're acting weird, which I think we've already established," Lydia says.

"Secondly, because Allison has this thing where she does nothing but worry about people if she thinks there's something up," Emmett finishes.

Toby says nothing. Lydia glances at Emmett, and the two seem to have a rapid wordless exchange. Toby wonders whether the need to help Allison out was what got them to work behind a united front.

"Dude," Emmett sits down beside Lydia, leaning out slightly to look at Toby. "Allison's worried. And so is Daniel."

"I'm fine," Toby shakes his head. "Tell her not to worry."

"Or, here's an idea," Lydia says with mock thoughtfulness. "You could tell her yourself."

"Look, I'm not avoiding Allison," he insists.

Lydia stares at him for a long time, before turning to Emmett. "Emmett," she says, cocking her head slightly. "Could  you excuse Toby and I for a moment?"