A Girl I'd Kinda Be Into

Chapter Twelve

(y/n)'s POV

It was the next week and the morning of the first day of rehearsal. I was nearly bouncing off the walls while I got ready, honestly! It was going to be awesome, our first read through where everything was just raw first impressions. I loved that so very much.

Nothing was better than sitting in a read through and seeing everyone you'd be spending so much time with, and hearing their voice and what they thought of the character. It was fantastic, beautiful, fabulous, and so much more. It was by far the best rehearsal in the process of putting on a show. At least, in my humble opinion.

I guess you could say, I really loved play rehearsal. And theatre in general, I was hoping to end up a leading role on Broadway someday. That would be amazing, I could finally live out my dreams of performing for people who didn't even know me, and I could show the world the talent that I created from many years of hard work.

I was snapped from my thoughts when Michael's red PT Cruiser came to a stop right in front of my house.

I smiled and walked up, pulling open a door and plopping right next to the other friend he and Jeremy had picked up this fine morning, Christine.

Sure, both Michael and Christine owned their own cars, alongside most of the friend group, but we often preferred to carpool since it was good for the environment and we liked all joking around together. The four of us were really tight-knit out of the group, and they didn't really talk as much to the other half. Besides me, with my best friend since kindergarten.

We all started chatting about the play, and Michael complained that he had a small part alongside being in crew.

"Dang, that sucks man. But now I can yell at people at the stage-door that you're great and they should appreciate you!" I laughed in response. He nodded in approval, making Jere and Chrissy giggle. I did that for shows before, because people needed to appreciate the ensemble and crew instead of just the leads.

I knew first-hand what it was like to be ignored at the stage-door, since I was an ensemble kid for a solid three years before getting bigger parts. It sucked a lot, so I made sure to always appreciate the smaller roles and backstage people in the show, and let them know I thought their work was fantastic. Plus, it was fun when sometimes they got super flustered and just hugged me.

"And what will you say?" Jeremy inquired, turning back to me with a soft grin.

"I shall say, and I quote, 'Appreciate this absolute angel of a human being because he works harder than any of us and he deserves your congratulations, thank you' and it will be in a raised voice but I don't wanna yell in the car," I announced very enthusiastically and seriously. They knew not to doubt me for a word in that sentence because I'd done it time and time again.

"That's the most 'you' thing I've heard in ages," Chrissy giggled after a few seconds of silence hanging in the air.

"I'm what they call 'aggressively supportive' and you people are no exceptions," I told them. Aggressively supportive was basically my brand.

"Yeah, that's a good way to describe it. You could also just use 'always looking for an excuse to yell at people' ya know," Jeremy added in nonchalantly. I shrugged, nodding, because yelling was one of my best skills. Along with complaining and being very supportive of my friends. My talents basically lay in being super loud.

"You are definitely not wrong, my good sir," I told him while finger-gunning.

"We're almost here, so would you quit bantering in my car and let me listen to some tunes?" Michael intercepted gently, gesturing to his headphones.

"Just blast it, man," I told him with a shrug, as if it was the most obvious option. Because it was.

"Unlike you, I don't plan on going deaf by age 40. So keep it down and if I hear a peep, so help me I WILL turn this car around," He said authoritatively.

Jeremy, Christine, and I glanced at each other. What a weirdo our good buddy was, but we loved him anyway because we were obligated to. When your friend is a strange little thing, you have to judge them together. That's the rules.

"Ignoring Mikey, how do you think rehearsal will go today?" Chrissy broke the silence after maybe 30 seconds.

"It should go well, it's just a first read through. I would say nothing can go wrong, but I know our group so I'll just say there's very few things they'll manage to mess up." I answered, and I saw Jere turn to nod in agreement. The chaotic ones would definitely do something that was ill-advised at best, but that's just them. And often times I was almost as chaotic as them, so I hardly had room to talk.

"They might even manage to burn down the building," Jere said with a smile, but I could see something flash on his face in memory. The Halloween party. I reached over to give a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. I wasn't there, I'd been working at a haunted house in the next town over that night, but I knew how traumatizing it was to everyone.

"Or maybe they'll just catch fire to a microwave while making popcorn for whatever reason, and Mr. Reyes will lecture them while he puts it out," I added, trying to distract him.

"I'd rather the first. The smell of burning popcorn could kill me," Mikey decided to join in. I rolled my eyes, even thought he couldn't see me.

"Drama queen," I sassed. I saw in the little mirror that he stuck his tongue out at me.

Today was shaping up to be a pretty okay day so far.

(1012 words)