TJ Ch. 14

Needless to say, Patrick led the football team to yet another victory the following night. The drive home after the game took about an hour and a half and there was supposed to be a victory party somewhere out in the boonies. By the time we got back to the house after dropping Hunter off at Doris' it was already eleven thirty at night. Sean and Kevin talked about wanting to go to the party, but I was hungry and tired and wanted nothing else but to eat leftovers from the night before and crawl into bed. Plus, I just didn't have a good feeling about going out that night. Something felt off and I let them know. It took a little convincing, but finally they agreed to stay in with Josh and me. I sent a group text out to everyone asking them to please not go out and get some rest.

Thankfully, everyone agreed they were too tired to go out; besides, our group isn't really the party type of crowd. Sure, we like to get together and hang out, but I think we'd rather talk, watch movies, play games, or something along those lines rather than go out and get drunk or high. That night, the party was busted by the cops. A few seniors received minor in possession of alcohol charges as well as public intoxication. Thankfully, none of them were starters on the football team. A couple were second or third string, but the starting line-up is made up of some pretty decent guys who are smart enough not to go out and get drunk at a huge party. Well, at least not during the football season.

Monday during Drama class, we spent most of the period hanging signs up around the school announcing the open auditions for Disney's Beauty and the Beast. We also hung up a sign-up sheet that had specific times for groups of ten to do their reading and sing the audition song. Each group was in thirty-minute intervals beginning at three. (There was a note that read to see Ms. Simmons for a pass to get out of class early to attend the audition at that time.) Auditions were held on Monday, call backs were on Tuesday and Wednesday, and final cast list was announced on Thursday morning. Then on Thursday after school we would have our table read.

I signed up to audition at four o'clock. My group included Josh, Sean, Ethan, Amber, Jenny, John, Stacey, another guy and girl from our Drama class, and myself. The song we had to sing was actually from The Sound of Music. Since it has both a male and female solo, we sang You are Sixteen Going on Seventeen. Everyone made it through the song individually, which was surprising since the other guy from our Drama class couldn't carry a tune in a bucket- even if that bucket was the size of a swimming pool. I noticed everyone from our group tensed up a little when Ethan was told to take the stage and do his one-minute reading. Even John looked like he felt sorry for Ethan or something. I just smiled at them all and whispered, "Just relax and watch. It will be okay."

They all thought I must have lost my mind. Jenny looked like she was about to speak up and tell Lori not to make him go through with it. I placed a hand on her arm and told her to look at Ethan. He was grinning from ear to ear and walking more confidently than we've ever seen. He stood center stage and, in a voice higher than normal, delivered his one-minute reading flawlessly. He didn't stutter one single time. I realized he couldn't communicate like this all the time. Nobody would be able to handle singing every word that comes out of their mouth. This isn't Les Misérables and he certainly isn't Jean Valjean. When he finished his reading, he received a standing ovation. We were all so proud of him. I did Puck's final lines from A Midsummer's Night Dream for my reading.

Call-backs for certain roles were posted Tuesday morning and would be held Tuesday and Wednesday after school, depending on what role or roles you were called-back to read for. I was called-back for both days along with Josh, John, Amber, Jenny, Rachel, and Sean. Everyone else was one day or the other. On Tuesday, they had Sean and me read for Gaston with Josh and John as LeFou. We switched out so everyone read with everyone else. Amber, Jenny. and Rachel read for Mrs. Potts and then Babette. On Wednesday, they had Sean and me read for The Beast while Josh and John read for Lumiere. The girls read for Belle.

Once call-backs were finished on Wednesday, Lori told us she would post the cast list outside the auditorium at seven forty-five on Thursday morning. She also reminded us that just because we were called-back to read for certain roles didn't mean we would be cast in one of those roles.

So, the next morning, Josh and I met up with Amber, Jenny, Sean, Ethan, and the rest at seven thirty. Fifteen minutes can take forever sometimes. I think I checked my phone for the time about every two minutes. Finally, at seven forty-five on the dot, Lori taped a piece of paper to the wall next to the auditorium. As soon as she stepped away, everyone swarmed. The leads were listed at the top of the list beginning with The Beast. It will probably be easier if I just show y'all what the list looked like.

The Beast- TJ Kennedy

Belle- Rachel Wilson

Gaston- Sean McNair

Lumiere- Josh Kennedy

Cogsworth- Brian Wright (a junior in our Drama class)

Mrs. Potts- Amber Thompson

Chip- Ethan Marsh

Babette- Jenny Landrum

LeFou- John Naples

The list went on to include Maurice, the townspeople, the rest of the people in the castle, and who the stage manager was going to be (Stacey). I was in such a state of shock I got the lead; I didn't fully register who was cast opposite of me. It wasn't until I heard Jenny's gasp and she muttered, "That fucking bitch is going to play Belle?" that I reread the list. My world zeroed in on the name. Rachel Wilson. I immediately turned to find Lori and noticed she was heading upstairs, I guess to her classroom/office.

I caught up with her just as she was opening the door, so I followed her inside. As soon as the door closed behind me, she cut me off before I could say anything. "Yes, I really did cast Rachel Wilson as Belle and I'm not going to have any of my students question me about it. Now, if you want to listen to my reasons, I'll tell you. But, if you're here just to throw a tantrum, turn around and walk out. I'll find someone else to play your role and you can run the spotlight."

I was flabbergasted. Finally, I crossed my arms over my chest petulantly and said, "I wasn't going to throw a tantrum. I just want to know why her?"

"Didn't you notice yesterday when you two read the scene as The Beast and Belle, everyone in the room stopped and paid attention to you. You two have a natural chemistry that works for these roles in the beginning. Plus, I know you're a good actor and can pull off becoming friendlier with her and eventually falling in love with her. But the base of the whole relationship is how the two start off as bitter enemies. Just please trust me on this. You two will do fine up there. I would never sabotage my own show."

"Fine. I can see I can't talk you into seeing the light. I'll go along with your cockamamie plan. But if this all goes to sh...poop can I at least say I told you so?"

She laughed and replied, "Nope. Now get out of here and get to your first period class. You're about to be late if you don't haul as...butt."

I walked into English class seconds before the final bell rang. People were still talking while the teacher took roll, so I sat next to Sean and said, "Congratulations! You get to play an egotistical asshole stalker who tries to kill me at the end. Oh, and John gets to play like he's in love with you and follows you around everywhere like some lost puppy. Meanwhile, I get to fight with and then fall in love with Rachel. Sounds like fun huh?"

Sean gave me an indulgent smile. "Come on, Teej. She was fine at Homecoming and Thanksgiving. Give her a chance. She's a good actor and has a nice voice."

I raised my eyebrow in question. "She was fine at Homecoming? Am I the only one who remembers her trying to dance all up on you in front of both of your dates only to have you push her away in the end?"

"She was just playing around. She told me she seriously likes Pauly and wants it to work out. She did that mainly to see what he would do. I pushed her away because I knew it would upset you. Besides, I think Lori knows what she's doing and she probably told you so when you went to talk to her."

Before I could respond, Mrs. Waters started class. I glanced over at Rachel and noticed her looking at me too. Both of our eyes narrowed at the same time. Then, we both looked away at the same time. Anyone watching us would've probably found it funny; which was proven true when I looked back at Sean and saw him trying to suppress a smile. When the bell rang, I saw Rachel leave with John while having a conversation. They both were smiling and laughing. I thought to myself that this could lead to trouble.

People who had seen the cast list congratulated me the rest of the day. After the last bell rang, I made my way to the auditorium with Sean. We met up with Josh and Ethan on our way and found Jenny and Amber waiting for us. For the table read, we all literally sit at some tables that are set up in a horseshoe and read our parts from the script. During the songs, Lori had the soundtrack from the Broadway production, and she would play the song and we could sing our parts if we wanted. This gave the people who have never heard the songs before the chance to hear the tunes.

The table read took about two and half hours to finally get through. Because it was already so late, I said bye to Sean in the parking lot, then Josh and I headed home with Lori following us. Luckily, Robert had pizza on the way to the house when we got there, so we didn't have to wait too long to eat. After dinner, Josh and I did the little bit of homework we had and by that time, it was time for us to start getting ready for bed. I went out to the living room to tell Robert and Lori goodnight and walked in on them making out on the couch. They jumped apart so fast when I cleared my throat, I thought they might end up on opposite sides of the room. I laughed so hard my stomach and sides started hurting. They finally joined in the laughter and once everyone calmed down, Lori told us goodnight and headed home.

I headed back to my room and stopped by Josh's room to check on him. I was surprised he didn't come out and see what we were all laughing about earlier. I knocked on his door and opened it when he said, "Yeah?" and found him on the phone.

I chuckled and said, "Just wanted to say goodnight," then I spoke a little louder. "Goodnight, Kevin. See you in the morning."

Josh threw one of his pillows at me while he said, "Yeah, goodnight. Kevin says, 'Goodnight, Teej,' now get out of here so I can finish talking to him."

I tossed his pillow back at him and went to my room. I checked my phone and saw I had a message from Sean from a few minutes earlier. I texted him back telling him goodnight and that I would see him in the morning. As I laid there trying to go to sleep, I thought about everything Lori and Sean had said about Rachel. I decided I was going to try to make it work no matter what. I know I'm a pretty good actor, so I would just act like we got along. Hopefully that would work.

The next day, since we were still in the playoffs, there was no rehearsal. We left for the game as soon as school let out since it was outside of Houston in Baytown. There was the added bonus that the stadium is about two miles from a Bucc-ee's! If you've never been to a Bucc-ee's, then you haven't lived. You can't call it a truck stop, since no eighteen wheelers are allowed in the parking lot. So, it's more like a glorified gas station. But, they have been voted the cleanest bathrooms in the nation. I was happy because I could get my Beaver Nuggets and Hill Country Bohemian Garlic Beef Jerky fix.

Once we loaded up on snacks, we went to the stadium to cheer on the football team. We didn't have anything to worry about, the team pulled off the win with no problem. Once we got back home, Josh and I spent the night at Sean and Kevin's. Saturday morning, after we woke up and Jacob made us breakfast, Josh and I headed home. Later that night, we were meeting back up with Kevin and Sean to go to dinner and then go play mini golf. We figured it would be more fun to play mini golf so we could have a conversation rather than see a movie where we wouldn't be able to talk for two to three hours.

Well, I can officially say I hate fucking mini golf. I was trying to do my best, but the more I played the more frustrated I got. The ball just did not want to go in the fucking hole. Like, at all. Or at least I should say MY ball didn't want to go in the fucking hole. I couldn't even get par on most of the holes, while the other three were racking up hole-in-ones and birdies left and right. To top it all off, they couldn't stop laughing at me. Well, they were laughing at how mad I was getting after each hole. The more they laughed, the madder I got. The madder I got, the worse I played. I almost got us kicked out the mini golf place by calling the three of them creative names. My best one, in my opinion, was an infected-cum-bubble-on-the-penis-wrinkle-of-an-eighty-year-old-herpes-infected-former-gutter-whore. That's the title I gave to Kevin after his fourth hole-in-one.

Monday when we got back to school, I pulled John aside before first period English to ask him what happened with the report he filed with Aaron. He told me the guy was arrested that night and had been in jail since his arrest because none of his "friends" would bail him out. I then asked him how he was doing and he sarcastically asked, "Why, TJ? Do you actually give a fuck about me? Or are you just being polite?"

Before I could answer him, Rachel walked up to us and grabbed his arm and started dragging him away. She said back over her shoulder, "Don't bother pretending TJ. I've heard what you've said about John in the past. He doesn't need people like you bothering him. Let his real friends help him.

John looked back at me and half smiled. "Oh and Tj don't forget. I loathe you!"

I yelled back, "I loathe you, too, cum-breath!"

Unfortunately, Robert was walking up behind me and heard me say that. He actually took me back to his office. Once he closed the door behind us and took a seat behind his desk he asked, "Teej, you know you can't yell out and call someone cum-breath in the hallways, right?"

Hearing Robert say cum-breath caused me to start laughing and it took me a minute before I could answer him. When I said, "Well, if you weren't lurking around corners eavesdropping on people's conversations like some sort of creeper, we wouldn't have an issue right now," he didn't look impressed.

He cocked an eyebrow and said, "I wasn't lurking or eavesdropping. I was walking back to my office from talking to Lori."

I smirked and replied, "Oh, so that's why you've got lipstick on the side of your mouth."

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, causing me to laugh again. "I just totally got you! You just gave yourself away! How about this. You love me, so you let me off with a warning and I won't let everyone at lunch know you and Lori were making out in her room."

He chuckled and said, "We weren't making out and I was going to give you a warning anyways. Besides, you have no proof of anything going on anywhere on schoolgrounds. Have a seat and wait a second for the other three to get here."

I must have had a confused look on my face because he continued, "Kevin, Sean, and Josh should be on their way and be here any second now."

I shrugged and sat down on the couch. Less than a minute later, there was a knock on the door and Sean, Kevin, and Josh walked in together. Robert told them to take a seat as well. He then said, "I just got a call from Jacob. He received a call from Patrick Landrum this morning letting him know Kevin's dad took a plea deal. He'll serve eighteen months in county jail and then be on probation for two years. The deal was he would plea guilty and they would reduce the charges from felonies to misdemeanors. So, none of y'all have to testify at a trial and this saves you, Kevin, from having to see your father. I know you weren't looking forward to that. Do any y'all have any questions?"

Kevin had a slight smile on his face when he asked, "So, he won't be out of jail for at least a year and a half and I don't have to go on the stand in court, right?"

Robert smiled and nodded. "Yup! That's right! Are you happy with the outcome?"

Kevin shrugged. "It would've been nice if he had gotten the felony charges, but as long as he stays out of my life, I'm good."

Robert handed each of us a pass and said, "Alright. Now get out of my office; some of us have work to do. Here's a pass to excuse your tardy."

Our first rehearsal was scheduled for after school on Monday. We knew rehearsals were going to be on Monday through Thursday from six till we finished for the day. Lori told us she started them that late to give us time to go home, eat dinner, work on our homework, go to any club meetings or practices that were scheduled, and then come back to the school. Each week we were given a schedule of what scenes we were working on each day. On the day with musical numbers in the scene, we had both blocking and choreography to deal with. It wasn't easy watching Sean and John rehearsing their scenes together, given the fact that John, as LeFou, had to flirt unashamedly with Sean in just about every scene. Luckily, Gaston is clueless to LeFou's advances.

My scenes with Rachel were easy to act through in the beginning. However, when we got to the part where the cast is singing Something There, our interactions have to change. Lori noticed Rachel and I needed to rehearse those scenes a little more, so she asked the two of us to come to every rehearsal, regardless if we were supposed to be there or not so we could go over those scenes together in private. This happened after the break for the holidays.

Before those private rehearsals began, the football team kept winning and next thing we knew, we were heading to the Dallas area to play in the state finals, against my former school. I called Scott as soon as we won the game before the finals to see if he and his boyfriend wanted to meet up while we were in the area. I called him in time to hear the roar of the crowd in the background and asked what was going on. He told me the football team had just won and the next week they were playing in the finals. I laughed and said, "Well, I know who y'all are playing against. Guess we'll be on opposite sides of the stadium to cheer on our teams. I was going to ask if you wanted to meet up with us while we were in the area and maybe go to the game with us."

Scott laughed. "Well, Ryan and I are going to the game. Do you want to maybe meet up before or after the game and get some dinner?"

"Well, I wanted to introduce you to Sean, but he'll be traveling with the team more than likely. Let me talk to Robert and see if we're going to get some rooms up there to spend the night. If we do, then Sean can leave with us, as long as he gets permission from his coach and his dad. Same thing with Kevin."

"Who's Kevin?" Scott asked.

"He's Josh's boyfriend. You won't believe how huge he is compared to Josh. It's almost funny. I'll call you back tomorrow and let you know what Robert says," I responded.

"Okay, I'll talk to you then. I'm looking forward to next week. It will be so good to see you again!" Scott then hung up.

I found out the game the following week was scheduled on Saturday. All state final games were going to played back-to-back all day beginning at nine in the morning. That's a total of eight games and our game was the last one scheduled. In theory, it would start about eight or nine that night. Some games in the past didn't start until eleven or almost midnight. Since the following Monday was the first day of the Winter Break, Friday was going to be let out at noon. Robert said he was going to reserve a couple of rooms for us to stay in. Lori and him would be in one and Sean, Kevin, Josh, and I would be in the other. Sean and Kevin got permission from Jacob and Coach Wilson to travel to and from the game with us instead of riding on the charter bus the booster club got for the team.