A Girl I'd Kinda Be Into

Chapter Three

(y/n)'s POV

I walked into the auditorium for auditions today, feeling a sense of peace and belonging wash over me. I blissfully closed my eyes and sighed, drinking in the atmosphere. This was my home, in a theater with heavy red curtains and hundreds of seats.

"Is this normal for you or are you dead and standing up?" A voice said from next to me and I jumped. I looked to my left and saw a Christine had happened to be there.

"Oh, yeah! Perfectly normal, just taking in a theatre-y atmosphere. Join me?" I answered awkwardly. She smiled and nodded and we closed our eyes for a couple seconds.

"Smells dusty," she commented and I absolutely lost it, laughing despite how if it were anyone else saying that it would hardly earn a nose-exhale.

"Yeah, I get the feeling this place doesn't get cleaned often. Maybe once a century, give or take a couple days?" She burst out laughing at my hilarious joke and put a hand on my bicep. This continued for a couple seconds and I smiled proudly. Making a pretty girl laugh was always a win in my book, no matter how bad the joke or how weirdly I told the punchline.

"You're hilarious, you know that?" She grinned up at me, moving her other hand to find my arm as well. She completely faced me, one hand dangerously close to lacing her fingers in mine.

"Oh, uhhh, thanks!" I scratched the back of my neck with my free arm. She blushed a bit. She really did that a lot. Was it just me, or was she just always blushing?

"Oh, hey! Is this where we meet for auditions?" A freshman asked, barging in. I gasped, turning to face her.

"No this is where you meet for archery practice," Christine answered matter-of-factly.

"Oh, then I'll be-" The short girl backed up, almost running her back into the door.

"She's kidding, this is where you meet for auditions," I said quickly.

"Oh! I uh, I didn't realize," she looked down a bit.

"What part are you hoping for, kid?" I asked gently.

"Oh no, I want to be on crew. Helping backstage is what I've been doing since middle school, I don't like being onstage," she explained hurriedly. I nodded, shooting her a smile.

"Well then, Mr. Reyes looks for people who are on top of stuff, so when he gets here I recommend you approach him directly about it," Chrissy advised. I gave her a smile, and the freshman seemed less shaky.

"Thanks, you guys are so cool. Thank you again, I should probably sit down, thanks, bye, thankie!" She scurried off to the very front seating area.

"Thankie?" Chrissy whispered. I shrugged in response. Strange, I guess, but not hurting anyone. It was actually pretty adorable.

"She's just a little freshman, leave her be,"

"Whatever you say hun," she replied, resting her arm on my shoulder.

"I'm taller than you, what're you doing?" I looked down at her with a smirk.

"All my friends are taller than me, so at this point I just do this," she explained, patting my shoulder. I draped an arm around her waist, looking around. People were periodically coming in through the doors. That included Jeremy, who just glanced over here, smiled, and went to sit down. I heard that Michael would be crew this year, so he probably was waiting for him.

"Fair point, same with me for the most part," I nodded, then loudly sneezed thanks to the dust in this ancient theater. Way to ruin the moment, nose. Thanks a bunch.

"We should just cut off everyone's legs so we can finally be tall," Christine said, and I heard the smile in her voice.

"No, I'm not pulling a Jason Dean, Chrissy. We just need stilts,"

"You're very correct, my bad. That way we can be 7 feet tall, excellent plan. Do we have pants long or wide enough for them?" Christine contemplated.

"No, everything will just be shorts on us," I heard her hair swish as she nodded. She gave a smile.

"Rehearsal's starting soon!" She giggled. I felt energy pump through my veins, warming me up from head to toe and making me want to run laps around this place and jump around like a madman.

"Heck yeah it is! Alyssa and Emma are our roles, I'm calling it," I laughed, grinning wide.

"No jumping to conclusions!" Christine scolded.

"I've jumped, I've landed, they're ours, I'm calling it!" I responded, and Chrissy gently slapped my shoulder.

"Let's go sit. Play rehearsal!" She raced off to the front row, zooming down the stairs like a 5 foot tall jackrabbit. I followed suit in a light jog because tripping on these stairs is more likely than you think, and I didn't want to face plant at auditions. That's one way to say "Hey! I'm not very graceful so my performance in a choreographed musical may not be very good! Thanks for pretending to consider me!"

That wasn't exactly the message I wanted to put forth into the theater filled with returning friends and new people alike.

"You take forever!" Chrissy whined once I got to the bottom.

"I don't plan on getting injured in the most stupid way possible, Chris, we both know I'm about as graceful as a newborn giraffe with 2 legs," I rolled my eyes and she laughed, along with Jeremy and Michael. I didn't even bother to question when Michael had made an entrance. The magic of theatre, folks.

"Mood," Michael said monotonously. We all finished our hearty chuckle at how utterly hilarious I was and I sat down, enjoying a comfortable silence.

"So, Jere, got a role you want?" I looked back to him, since he and Mikey were in the two seats directly behind me and Christine.

"I think maybe Trent? Love Thy Neighbor is fun, I mainly just wanna sing that," Jere answered, scratching the back of his neck.

"I think the roles in your vocal range, plus your comedic timing will play into him well, I think you'll get it," Christine encouraged. Her enthusiasm seemed to ooze from her body, making us all feel just a bit more positive and ready to perform. Her love for the art and the people was just so contagious, I had no clue how she did it.

Never change, Chris. Never, ever change.

(1076 words)