Freckles

THIRTEEN

"Okay, everybody get in line, I hope your stupid asses didn't already lose your tickets! Get moving and shut up this is a theatre not a zoo god dammit!"
Shouted Mr Claudman to the forty students.

He sighed feeling useless. These boys were definitely not listening, not caring about where they were and who Shakespeare was.

Ash was the only one who was truly happy to be here. He loved reading Shakespeare and was genuinely pleased to go see one of his plays. On the outside he was the same old broody and silent Ash but on the inside he was smiling.

Trey sat on the red seat matching the number on his theatre ticket and sighed. He was a bit sad, Ash was being distant and for some reason he didn't like that. He looked at his ticket. Who the hell were Romeo and Juliette anyway? To be honest, he was bored and he wasn't the only one. He looked around the theatre and his eyes fell on a familiar buzzcut. As if sensing eyes on him Ry turned around and waved when he saw Trey. The small boy shyly smiled back.

To be honest he thaught Ry had forgotten about him, the boy had been pretty drunk at the party after all.
Ry wanted to go over to Trey to apologize for his behavior the other night but the death glare Ash sent him kept him in his seat. Another time maybe, when the guard dog wasn't around.

As soon as they sat in their designated seats, Aaron dozed off, his head hanging rather dangerously close to Luke who was sitting next to him. He rolled his eyes,
that boy had no sense of respect.

However, his cheeks slightly reddened when he felt his neighbor's head finally drop on his shoulder.
The curtains were lifted and Luke almost snorted: Romeo and Juliette, the most cliché forbidden love ever. He told himself that it was pointless to watch this and that he should probably doze off like Aaron. But something in the way the lead actor played entranced him.

He was drawn to his charisma on stage and his eyes followed him everywhere, unaware of Aaron's piercing gaze focused on his face.
He wasn't really asleep after all.

Trey though was still bored.
He liked the scenery and the costumes but didn't really understand the words. Above all, he was finding it hard to concentrate on the play when Ash's knee was bumping against his every now and then.

The other boy was so captivated by the play that he didn't seem to mind the contact. Trey noticed a book which's pages had been folded so many times it didn't look like one anymore. He subtly changed the angle of his face to steal a glance at Ash's face.
The small boy noticed that his lips were very slightly moving in sync with the actors'. Just as if he knew their parts by heart. Trey slowly inched closed to Ash and caught a glimpse of the title:
Romeo and Juliette, Shakespeare 1597.

So Ash had memorized the whole play after all. Trey was amazed by his talent. He personally never understood the author and never had enough patience to read one of his plays let alone learn it by heart.
He stole a glance at Ash and was surprised to see his relaxed face, eyes shining in interest, never leaving the actors as his lips moved in silence. Trey found that oddly alluring and smiled in the dark. He was slowly discovering new aspects of his moody roommate's personality and all were interesting.

***

Later in the evening, Ash was in a good mood. It was a rare occurance but it happened from time to time. Trey knew exactly why he was less broody but didn't dare tease him about it in fear of darkening his mood.
Dinner had been more or less normal if Ash's recent presence at his table could be called normal. All the students including Trey were all exhausted and grumpy after the sport teacher had forced them to run twenty laps. The small boy was dead tired and the only thing he could think of was slamming his head on his pillow.