#roman is so far in the closet he came out onstage

[rosesisupposes]

What I’ve Been Looking For

Part 4 of Breakin’ Free, a High School Musical Sanders Sides AU

Chapter Pairings: Prinxiety

Chapter Warnings: Roman Is A Disaster Gay (If Only He Was Out Enough to Know That)

Reader tags: @residentanchor @royally-anxious @bewarethegrammarpolice   @jemthebookworm @arandompasserby  @sparkly-rainbow-salt @astral-eclipse​ @thelowlysatsuma

<<3. Get’cha Head In The Game | 5. The Status Quo>>

read on ao3

SCENE: Homeroom and Hallways of East High

A particular air was flowing in the Ms. Darbus’ classroom the next morning. There was a humming undercurrent of excitement that didn’t quite spread to every occupant, but filled those it touched.

Dee Evans was in full form, glowing in gold accents, from the line on his sneakers to his eyeshadow and lip liner. His head was out of his phone for once as he smiled at every student he walked past on his way to homeroom. Cee was in an equally good mood, in complementary shades of silvery blue with a matching hat in navy. He carried a small gift bag with artfully arranged tissue paper. Cee handed the bag to Dee, who placed it on Ms. Darbus’ desk with a flourish. “Just a little something for you in honor of today!” he said with another bright smile.

As he returned to his desk, the rest of the class filtered in. Virgil and Roman made eye contact as they found their desks, sharing a small smile before Remy called Roman’s attention away. Patton Baylor chatted happily from his spot at the center of a small crowd of students, all of whom looked up at him with slightly starry eyes. Logan McKessie brushed past the crowd, his face buried in a book on theoretical physics. Murmurs of chatter slowly quieted as Ms. Darbus stepped on the stage at the front of the room.

“I expect we all learned our homeroom manners yesterday, correct? If not, we have some dressing rooms that need painting,” she said imperiously. Remy rolled his eyes at Roman as he leaned on his basketball as a pillow.

“Now, a few announcements,” she continued, brightening. “This morning during free period will be your chance for the musicale auditions, both singles and pairs.” Dee sat up even straighter in his seat, clapping in excitement. “I will be in the theater until noon for those of you bold enough to extend the wingspan of your creative spirit.”

Remy snorted. “When you’ve got auditions at 11 but have to be back on the mothership by noon,” he snarked under his breath. Roman had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from catching the teacher’s attention with his laughter.

Unaware of her students’ commentary, Ms. Darbus began to instruct. “Today, we are going to discuss the importance of William Shakespeare and his works. Can anyone tell me of a phrase or word we use in everyday language that was originally coined by the Bard?”

Behind him, Roman could hear Remy sliding dark glasses over his eyes as he settled in to nap.

~~~

Later that day, Roman was sorting through the books in his locker when Remy came up, spinning his basketball on a finger.

“Sup, gurl.”

“Hey, what’s up?”

“So the whole team's hitting the gym during free period. What do you want to have us run?”

Roman looked directly at the books and binders in his locker as he answered. “Uh, my dude, you know what, I can't make it. I gotta catch up on some homework.”

Remy snorted. “Bitch, it's only the second day back. I'm not even behind on homework yet. And you know I've been behind on homework since preschool.”

Roman forced a laugh. “Oh, Rem, you’re so funny! I’ll catch up with you later, okay?” He closed his locker and walked off before his friend could offer another objection.

Remy pulled his sunglasses down his nose to stare at his friend’s retreating back. “Homework? Girl, nah.”

He followed Roman down the hallway as the team captain turned into a classroom to chat with another student. Remy slid up to the door as he tried to see where he was going, listening to their idle chatter. Then someone bumped him. He turned to see Patton and a small handful of admirers.

“Remy! How are you today?”

“Hi Pat - I’m good, thanks, just busy…”

“Not too busy to miss the GSA meeting this afternoon, right?”

“Never too busy for my little minions, you know that,” Remy said with a fond smile.

“Oh good,” Patton said, his bright teeth a contrast to his brown face and browner freckles. “See you later, gay-ter!”

He turned and walked off with his friends as they giggled and Remy rolled his eyes. Turning back to the classroom, he realized it was empty. Roman has escaped him. “Boo, you whore,” he muttered to himself. “What could possibly be more important than basketball?”

Roman slipped down the southern stairwell of the school, checking behind him to make sure Remy was off his tail. He wasn’t sure he say why he felt so compelled to at least watch the auditions, but he knew that for some reason, he needed to be there. That need wasn’t quite enough to admit to even his best friend in the whole world what he was doing, though. He strolled through one of the lower courtyards, alert for any team members who might see him and ask why he wasn’t heading to the gym. He turned a corner and immediately turned back. Here he’d been worried about teammates when Coach himself was in the next courtyard, clearly looking for him. Had he seen him? Were those his footsteps walking in his direction?

Crapcrapcrap gottahide gottahide

Roman ducked into the closest door, the auto body and mechanics shop. He put on an air of nonchalance as he leaned behind a car, seeing his dad glance into the shop from the corner of his eye. Coach didn’t spot him, though, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He turned his head to see the shop teacher staring at him oddly.

“Uhh, shortcut,” he said lamely. “I’m… late for class. Gotta go, thanks, bye!”

He walked quickly out, from the auto shop to the woodshop. He could hear snatches of a tune played on the piano from here, where the woodshop connected to the backstage and green room areas of the auditorium. He took a deep breath. This was it - the auditions. He could as least get up the courage to watch, right? He walked into the backstage, trying to summon more confidence. Then he heard another person walking towards him and immediately ducked behind a janitor’s cart, hunching over to hide his face behind the mop.

SCENE: Auditorium

The auditorium and backstage were buzzing with chatter as multiple auditioners filed into the audience seats. Ms. Darbus strode to the stage to welcome them all, a small person in her wake. They seemed to be trying to hide from the crowd behind their bright orange beanie and also behind Ms. Darbus herself. The drama teacher took center stage and addresses the crowd.

“This is where the true expression of the artist is realized. Where inner truth is revealed through the actor's journey…”

She was interrupted by a loud ringing, and immediately glared at the crowd in front of her. “Was that a cell phone?”

“That was the warning bell, Ms. Darbus,” the student at her elbow whispered.

“Ah, I see,” she said, clearing her throat. “Those wishing to audition must understand that time is of the essence. We have many roles to cast and final callbacks will be next week.”

Roman slowly made his way to the back of the auditorium, still hiding behind the janitor’s cart as he listened. Callbacks, next week? In the same week as the big game? Luckily, even if he somehow got the nerve to audition, there’s no way he’d get called back. That was a thing that only happened to real actors, right?

Ms. Darbus was still reviewing the audition process. “Please come to the stage on your turn. Once you’ve introduced yourself, you will sing a few bars and I will give you a sense of whether or not the theater is your calling. Better to hear it from me now than from your friends later.” From his hiding spot, Roman gulped. Maybe this whole ‘audition’ thing was a mistake. “Our composer, Joan Stokes, will accompany you and be available for rehearsals prior to callbacks. Shall we?”

Joan took their seat at the piano bench as the first singer came to the stage.

“Hi, I’m Derionna!” she said with enthusiasm. She dove into singing, with plenty of energy but perhaps not a lot of rhythm.

“It’s hard to believe that I couldn’t see that you were always right beside me. Thought I was alone, with no one to hold, but you were always right beside me”

Joan played well, trying to get her to match their beat, but she was snapping to her own beat and seemed unaware.

“Thing feeling’s like no other, I want you to know…” she paused, seeming to have forgotten the rest of the song. Ms. Darbus took the opportunity to jump in.

“Uh-huh, thank you, next!”

A nervous-looking, gangly boy came to the stage. He seemed to be speaking rhythmically more than singing, and kept checking his hand for the words he’d written there.

“It’s hard to believe that I couldn’t sneeze - see! That you were always right there next to beside me!”

“Camden, I admire your pluck. As to your singing... That's a wonderful tie you're wearing. Next!” Camden smiled and smoothed his tie as Ms. Darbus’ words sank in. His face fell as he shuffled off the stage.

Roman winced through the next singer. Even he could tell she was badly off-key and trying to conceal it by winking frequently, directly at Ms. Darbus. Joan mouthed the words along with her, trying to get her back on rhythm, but it was to no avail.

“Please, stop,” Ms. Darbus finally interjected. “Thank you, Brittney. Next!”

Another auditioner. She was clearly talented, but was also singing as if in an opera, not a musical.

“So lonely befooorrrre I finally fooooo-hooounnddd what I’d been lookiiiiing fooooooooooooooooooor!” She held her last ear-piercing note as Joan stopped playing in shock and audience members tried to subtly cover their ears.

“Ah... Valerie,” Ms. Darbus said with forced cheer. “What... courage to pursue a note that has not been accessed in the natural world. Bravo! Brava! Perhaps the... spring musicale?”

Valerie frowned and looked over at Joan. They forced a smile as Valerie hmphed in affront and left the stage. She was almost knocked over by the next auditioner, a tall, graceful man who leaped onto the stage to the opening bars of the audition song. Joan stopped playing once again, confused. The auditorium was silent as the dancer pirouetted and jetéd before elegantly leaving the stage. The effect might have been perfect, had not he crashed into an unseen obstacle backstage that was audible to everyone. Joan looked over in concern as Ms. Darbus coughed politely. “Thank you, Leo. Next!”

Up came a pair of auditioners, one very short student with brightly-colored hair, the other a man with a headband and bangs swept to one side. The shorter of the two started delivering a dramatic reading of the song as the other whispered echoes of their words.

“It’s hard to believe that I could not see”

“See”

“That you were always right beside me”

“Beside me”

The pair accompanied their words with strange motions that appeared to be attempting interpretive dance

“Thought I was alone!”

“Alone”

“With no one to hold!”

“Hold”

“But you were right beside me”

“Beside me”

They both began to roll and crawl on the floor as Joan backed up their piano bench as far away as possible.

Ms. Darbus had been stunned into silence, but finally found her voice again.

“Talyn, Dominic, that was… that was just... very disturbing, go see a counselor. Next!”

A hand suddenly tapped Roman on the shoulder, and he jumped so high he almost hit his head on the doorway. Virgil had come up behind him, smiling wryly.

“Hey there - did you decide to sign up for something?”

Roman ducked his head. “Uh, no. I was just… watching. Did you?”

Virgil shook his head, his purple bangs falling into his face. “So, uh, do you often hide behind mops, or do your friends just not know you’re here?”

Roman flushed lightly and shook his head in response as another auditioner came to the stage. She stood tall and adjusted her glasses as Joan began the opening bars. She took a breath to sing as she looked out at the audience, and froze.

“Thank you, Dahlia. NEXT!”

Roman winced. “Ms. Darbus seems a little… harsh,” he observed quietly to Virgil.

Virgil smirked. “Roman Bolton, Wildcat superstar, afraid?”

“Not afraid,” he protested. “Just… a little, uh… scared.”

“Me too, usually,” Virgil said, rubbing his neck. “But, um. I was thinking of actually auditioning, if someone could sing onstage next to me?”

Roman blanched with fright. “Um, uh, I could--  I mean, possibly, uh--”

“And for the lead roles of Arnold and Minnie we only have one couple signed up,” Ms. Darbus said happily. Virgil pushed Roman slightly as he hurried to hide behind the janitor’s cart with him. “Diego and Cedric, I think it might be useful for you to give us a sense of why we gather in this hallowed hall.”

Cee and Dee walked from the audience to the stage, flashing smiles at the remaining audience. As Cee started up the stairs, Dee stopped him so that he could go first.

Joan caught Cee as the twins picked up their microphones. “What key did you want?”

“Don’t worry about it, we had our rehearsal pianist do an arrangement,” Cee said with a smile.

Joan deflated. “Oh. Okay.”

The curtain closed as Dee & Cee prepared to sing. Virgil tugged on Roman’s arm to follow him as he found a seat in the last row of the auditorium.

The music started, jazzy and far more upbeat than the previous auditions. Two pairs of hands stuck through the curtain and snapped to the beat, before the curtain opened to reveal Cee & Dee with matching bedazzled microphones in silver and gold, respectively.

“It’s hard to believe that I couldn’t see,” Cee sang. He had an unarguably nice voice, and his perpetual smile matched the bouncy drumbeat the accompanied them.

“That you were always there beside me” Dee joined in, singing in harmony with his twin. Virgil wrinkled his nose as he watched. The pair were both excellent singers, but they kept adding in a lot of over acting, pretending to be surprised by each other on “beside me.” Even for a musical, this felt corny. But Ms. Darbus was clearly enjoying it, bopping along from her spot in the audience.

Roman physically recoiled as Dee handed off his mic to perform a peppy tapdance solo in the middle. “Is this normal?” he whispered to Virgil, who grimaced.

“I don’t think so,” he responded, nodding a head at Joan. The pianist watched from their bench, looking vaguely horrified at the spectacle in front of him.

The pair continued on through the song, adding full choreography. Cee even broke in the middle to do a highly energetic jazz square with accompanying jazz hands before accidentally bumping into Dee. His twin scowled and pushed him, but both recovered and smiled as they continued to sing.

They finally came to a close, Ms. Darbus and the sprinkling of audience members applauding enthusiastically. Dee shot Joan a glare until they clapped too.

Holding their final pose, Dee hissed in Cee’s ear. “I told you not to do the jazz squares.”

“It's a crowd favorite. Everybody loves a good jazz square,” his twin shot back, grinning hugely.

As the applause quieted, Ms. Darbus stood. “Are there any last minute sign-ups?”

Roman stood and tried to edge out of the theater without being spotted as Cee appealed to the dispersing crowd. “Don't be discouraged. The theater club needs more than just singers. It needs fans, too! Buy tickets!”

Joan caught Dee’s attention as he strode backstage. “Oh, actually, if you do the part with that particular song, I imagined it much slower…”

“If we do the part? Joan, Joan, my sawed-off Sondheim, I have been in 17 school productions. And how many times have your compositions been selected?”

“This would be the first,” Joan admitted.

“Which tells us what?” Dee asked with a tight smile.

Joan flinched and offered, “That I need to write you more solos?”

“No,” Dee snapped, his smile dropping. “It tells us that you do not offer direction, suggestion, or commentary.” He advanced on Joan, who backed up nervously into their piano. “And you should be thankful that Cee and I are here to lift your music out of its current obscurity. Are we clear?”

“Yessir! I mean, Diego.”

Dee backed down, then smiled brightly, lifting his mic closer to his mouth again. “Nice talking to you!” He followed his twin backstage with a tiny wave.

“Any last minute sign-ups?” Ms. Darbus called again.

“We should go,” Roman whispered at Virgil, reaching out to grab his hand.

“No?” The theater teacher said, looking around. “Good. Done.”

Suddenly, Virgil was pulling away from Roman’s hold and speaking up. “I'd like to audition, Ms. Darbus!”

Roman’s mind went into overdrive. What is he doing? What? How!? Why?! He gestured wildly at the smaller man, willing him to somehow take back his words and for them both to disappear.

Ms. Darbus looked up, surprised, but her surprise quickly morphed to disapproval. “Timeliness means something in the world of theater, Mr. Montez. The individual auditions are long, long over and there are simply no other pairs.”

Roman stuffed his fear into a tiny corner and emerged from his hiding place behind the theater door. “I’ll sing with him.”

The drama teacher pursed her lips. “Mr. Bolton? Where is your sports posse or whatever it's called?”

Roman stared. “Team”

“Ah.”

“But I’m, uh. I’m here alone,” Roman stuttered out. He felt as nervous as he ever did right before a game. “I’m actually here to sing with him.”

Ms. Darbus was unimpressed. “Yes, well, we take these shows very seriously here at East High. I called for the pairs audition, and you didn't respond. Free period is now over.”

“He has an amazing voice,” Roman protested, gesturing towards Virgil. Virgil looked vaguely queasy over the confrontation, and appeared to be attempting to will himself out of sight or out of existence, whichever came first.

“Perhaps the next musicale, then,” Ms. Darbus said, and left the auditorium.

Just then, Joan tripped as they turned away from the piano, spilling sheet music in every direction. Roman and Virgil hurried to the stage to help them.

“So, you’re a composer?” Roman asked, smiling at the piano player. “You wrote the song Dee and Cee just sang? And the entire show?”

Joan seemed unable to speak, but nodded weakly, staring at Roman like an alien had just landed in the middle of theater.

“Well, that's really cool. I, uh, can't wait to hear the rest of the show,” he offered, helping them up. “So, uh, why are you so afraid of Cee and Dee? Or, Dee, at least. It’s your show, isn’t it?”

“Um, it is?” Joan asked, confused.

“Isn't the composer of a show kinda like the playmaker in basketball?” Roman asked with a smile. Both Virgil and Joan stared at him in incomprehension.

“Playmaker?”

“You know, the one who makes everyone else look good. I mean, without you there is no show. You're the playmaker here, Joan.”

“I am?” they responded, smiling tentatively. “Do… do you want to hear how the duet’s supposed to sound?”

Virgil nodded, and tossed a small grin Roman’s way. The taller man covered his face with a hand to hide what felt like another blush and followed the composer back to the piano, standing behind them to read the sheet music over their shoulder.

Joan tapped a foot to the proper timing, a much slower, sweeter tune than the one the twins had performed, and prompted Roman to begin at the right moment.

It was like New Year’s Eve all over again, and yet nothing like it. The fluttery nervousness was still there, but without the surprise or fear of the crowd. And this time, he wasn’t standing with a mysterious stranger who might run away. It was Virgil, smiling up at him as he came in for the second line. He no longer felt the same electrifying urge to grab the other boy’s attention at any cost - he just wanted that smile to keep being directed his way.

“I've never had someone that knows me like you do,” they sang in harmony, eyes meeting. Was Virgil blushing? Roman couldn’t be sure, especially as the shorter man turned back to the sheet music.

They finished in harmony and paused, all three appreciating the sweetness of the tune.

“Wow,” Roman finally said. “That’s really nice, Joan.”

Suddenly, a voice sounded from the rear of the theater. “Bolton, Montez,  you have a callback.” Ms. Darbus stood at the entrance, looking less severe with her glasses removed. “Joan, give them the duet from the second act. Work on it with them.”

Joan gasped in delight, then started bubbling over with plans. “All right. If you guys wanna rehearse, I'm usually here during free period and after school, and even sometimes during biology class. You can come and rehearse anytime. Or you can come to my house for breakfast. I have a piano, we can rehearse there. After school, before school - whatever works. After basketball class… do you have basketball class? Is that a thing?”

Virgil listened to the pianist, smiling a bit bemusedly, as Roman stared after Ms. Darbus’ retreating back in shock.

“We- she- what?”

a/n: Look who's able to write fluff again! Trust me, no one's as surprised as I am

(I know all of Thomas' friends are incredibly talented and would never be awkward/bad auditioners, but I feel like they'd have fun acting it out anyway :])

[notalwaysthevillian]

Shattering Stereotypes

Warnings: Slight bullying, friendly teasing, kissing, mention of illness

Pairings: Romantic Mox and Remile established, Romantic Logince to come

Word Count: ~2.1k

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Read from the beginning

Chapter 14

Once Roman had told his parents about the tryout, their relationship seemed to improve. At least as far as Logan could tell.

“Hey, I know we normally work over at your place, but my parents wanted me to tell you that we could go over there too.” Roman told Logan a few days later. “My mom thinks I’m avoiding them, which I’m not and I haven’t been -”

“Ro...man.” Logan corrected himself. If he gave Roman a nickname, he’d never hear the end of it from Patton. Or Virgil. Or any of his friends. “I don’t mind if we work at your place. It’d be a nice change of pace from my own parents.”

“Oh, come on, your parents awesome!”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “They tease me at every given opportunity. Your parents don’t do that.”

“They might, given the chance.”

“Roman.”

Roman let out a laugh, reminding Logan how far gone he was for this boy. “Alright, well how about we head over to my place tonight?”

“Got a date with your boyfriend, Prince?” Toby called out from across the hall.

Roman spun on one heel. “Better than a date with detention, that’s for sure.”

Anger flashed in Toby’s eyes, but there was nothing he could do. If he acted, someone would report him to a teacher and he’d be suspended from school. Instead he flipped Roman off and continued down the hall with some of the other baseball players.

“I can’t wait to hear how bad the team is going to do this year.” Roman said as he glared at Toby’s back. “Not to be cocky, but I pretty much carried the team.”

There was dead silence on Logan’s end. His head was reeling from that interaction. Roman hadn’t denied anything, hadn’t said that they weren’t dating. When Remy got wind of this, he wouldn’t spread the rumor, but he certainly would confront Logan about it.

“...ay, Logan?”

Blinking back into reality, Logan realized that Roman had still been talking to him. Concerned eyes stared at him. “What?”

“Are you okay? You zoned out there for a sec.”

Blood raced to Logan’s cheeks. He ducked his head into his locker, pretending to look for something. “I’m fine.”

“...okay.” It was clear that Roman didn’t believe Logan, but he merely changed the subject. “So are we good for going to my house then?”

“Yeah, just let me text my dads.”

Logan opened up the group chat he had with his parents.

Logan: I’m going to Roman’s today after school instead.

Better Dad: Is he feeding you?

“Roman, um...are we eating over at your place, or?” Logan asked, cursing his easy blushing cheeks.

Roman gave him a nod. “Yeah, my mom cooks enough for an army anyway. Whatever we don’t eat she takes down to the shelter.”

“That’s nice of her.”

Logan: Yes

Awesome Dad: Be home by 10!

Better Dad: Thomas let the kid have some fun

Better Dad: Just not too much fun ;)

Rolling his eyes, Logan locked his phone. “I’m good.”

“Let me guess, they’re teasing you about coming over?”

Logan lightly shoved Roman before the two of them headed for Roman’s house. He lived a bit farther from the school, but it wasn’t as though Florida got cold often.

When they reached Roman’s house, Roman grabbed their jackets and hung them up in the closet. “Could you take your shoes off?”

Logan did as he was asked. Just as he finished toeing off his shoes, he was nearly knocked over by Dahlia, who came flying around the corner.

“Hi Logan! Can I hug you?”

“Sure.”

Dahlia wrapped her arms around his legs and squeezed, nearly knocking Logan over. Roman caught him before he fell, settling him on his feet and turning to his sister. “How dare you knock over the new royal advisor!”

She shrieked with giggles and darted off into the house.

“Royal advisor?” Logan teased as he followed Roman up the stairs.

“She likes to play princess.”

Too late, Logan realized that Roman was leading them to his room. The last time he’d been here, he’d been deterred from exploring upstairs, and Roman had been in the home theater anyway.

“Voila!” Roman let the door swing open, pulling Logan inside. “Casa de Roman.”

“Casa means home.”

“You know what I meant.” Roman laughed, tossing his backpack on the bed.

As he pulled out their homework, Logan took the opportunity to look around the room. He’d expected Roman to have much more sports memorabilia on the walls, but then again that had been a stereotype.

There were a few shelves hung up around the room, holding a trophy here and there for baseball, as well as a few medals. But for the most part, Roman didn’t have too much covering the plain white walls.

His bedspread was a deep red with flecks of gold that caught the light. The pillowcases looked like they were a gold satin, which made Logan laugh a little.

“You don’t have a lot of...you in your room.” He sat on the floor, pulling out what he had for their project. A small note fell out and Logan stuffed it into his purple folder before Roman could notice.

“Yeah.” Roman looked around his room. “Good thing, I wasn’t the real me until recently.”

The fond look he gave Logan had the latter blushing a deep red. “We should get to work.”

Over the course of an hour and a half, they’d both moved to get more comfortable on Roman’s bed.The two of them worked with no interruptions before Margo knocked on the doorframe. 

Seeing Roman’s mother in the doorway, Logan nearly fell off the bed.

“Dinner time!”

When dinner was over, Logan texted Thomas and gathered up his homework. “Tryouts are tomorrow, right?”

“Yep, right after school so we won’t be able to work on our project.”

Logan gave him a smile. “See you at tryouts.”

“You’re going?!”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I go support a friend?”

There had been very few times Logan had gotten Roman to blush, but this was one of those times. He relished in the way that the heated cheeks just seemed to make Roman glow.

“Thanks. Um, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye.”

The next day went by agonizingly slow. Roman had been bouncing in his seat during most of English, mumbling his monologue under his breath.

Lunch had been Logan trying to stomach his food while Remy and Emile pretended that they totally weren’t making out when the lunch monitor looked away.

And Virgil had teased him throughout study hall, making sure that he didn’t take it too far.

Needless to say, Logan was relieved when the final bell rang.

“Hey, care if the rest of us join you?” Virgil asked as they headed towards the lockers.

Logan shrugged. “I don’t mind at all.”

The five of them met up in the lobby, flowing into the auditorium together and finding seats. Emile and Patton talked about a new episode of Carmen Sandiego. Virgil listened in, rubbing circles on the back of Patton’s hand with his thumb.

“You helped him with his monologue, right?” Remy asked, his arm snaked around Emile’s waist. How it wasn’t uncomfortable for him due to the auditorium chairs, Logan would never know.

“Yeah.”

“So when he’s saying it, he’ll be thinking about you?”

Logan elbowed Remy hard. “Shut up.”

Mrs. Torres, the choir teacher, walked onstage, followed by Jamahl, the band teacher. “Alright, we’re pulling names out of a hat for the order. First up is Marisha Johnson.”

The five friends sat through everyone’s auditions, clapping when they were finished.

“Do we clap even if they’re terrible?” Remy mumbled, earning a quiet scolding from Emile.

Finally, it was Roman’s turn. He cleared his throat, turning to face the teachers. “Hi, I’m Roman Prince. I’ll be doing a more modern version of Romeo’s monologue.”

He took a deep breath before diving into it.

“But...wait. What’s that light in the window over there? It is the east, and Juliet - she is the sun. Rise, beautiful sun, and kill the jealous moon. She is already sick and pale with grief because you - you Juliet, her maid, are far more beautiful than she. Don’t be her maid, because she is jealous. Virginity makes her look sick and green. Only fools hold on to their virginity. Let it go. Oh, there’s my lady. My love.”

At this point, Roman’s eyes landed on Logan. He could feel the others looking at him, but he couldn’t tear his eyes from Roman’s.

“How I wish she knew how much I love her. She’s talking, but she’s not saying anything. Who cares? It’s her eyes that speak, her eyes that say something. I will answer them. I am too bold. She’s not talking to me. Two of the brightest stars in the sky went away on business, and they ask her eyes to twinkle in their place until their return. What if her eyes were in the sky and the stars in her head? The brightness of her cheeks would outshine the stars the way the sun outshines a lamp. If her eyes were in the night sky, they would shine so brightly through space that birds would sing! Look, how she leans her hand upon her cheek. Oh, how I wish I was the glove on that hand, so that I could touch that cheek.”

As soon as Roman finished, there was a beat of silence and then an uproarious applause.

“Thank you Roman.” Mrs. Torres did her best to not play favorites, but everyone could see the twinkle in her eye. “Next up is Artie Zenith.”

When auditions were over, Roman darted over to them. “How did I do?”

“You were amazing!” Patton squealed.

Emile nodded. “I’ve never seen someone deliver lines so flawlessly.”

“Good job, Roman.”

“Yeah, you were way better than -” Remy was cut off as Emile kissed him to stop his sentence.

Turning, Roman looked at Logan. “You’ve heard it a million times. Was this time any better?”

“Way better.” Logan could feel his blush deepening. “You nailed it.”

“Cast list will be posted on Monday!”

The weekend was fairly uneventful. Logan was just as excited as Roman to see the cast list. Roman had worked so hard, and he was so talented. There was no way he wasn’t going to land a part.

Monday morning, Logan found himself standing in the lobby with his friends, waiting for Mrs. Torres to come by and pin up the list.

It was swarmed as soon as she did so. The five of them stayed back, waiting for Roman to tell them the news.

He launched himself out of the crowd, a huge grin on his face. “I got the lead!”

A cheer went up from all of them, echoed by the crowd of theater kids.

Logan held back, waiting until they were headed off to English class. “Congratulations. You deserved it.”

“Thanks, Lo. I couldn’t have -”

Logan erupted into a coughing fit. Reaching around him, Roman grabbed Logan’s water bottle from the side pocket of his backpack and held it out.

Flipping the top open, Logan guzzled everything inside, his breathing returning to normal. “Thanks.”

“You okay?”

“For now.”

Those words couldn’t have been more wrong. Over the course of the rest of the day, Logan felt worse and worse. He didn’t eat anything during lunch, ending up running for a trash can just before the bell rang.

It felt as though he blinked and he was at home.

“Shh, Lo, just lay down.” Thomas said, pulling back his covers. He helped Logan into bed, placing a cool washcloth over his forehead. “I’ll be back with some water and some crackers.”

Nodding, Logan slipped into unconsciousness.

He woke to voices outside his room. After a moment, the door opened and Roman walked in.

“I heard you went home sick.” He said as he walked in. “Is it okay if I grab the project folder from you?”

Logan flailed a hand, gesturing toward his backpack. “Purple folder.”

“Thanks, Lo.” Roman hovered in the doorway for a moment. “I hope you feel better.”

As he left the room, Logan fell asleep once more.