Dinner and a Show (Academy fanfic)

Part 1: Another Point of View?

     It was World Series time! All of us, even Sean and Mr. Blackbourne, were gathered at Kota’s house to watch Game 3. The Red Sox didn’t make it to the Series, but that was ok. I was kicked out of the kitchen while they made all of their traditional World Series snacks, so I turned on the television, trying to find the right station for the pregame show. A commercial caught my attention. What in the world?

      Turning away from the television, I yelled at the guys in the kitchen. “Hey! What’s Wicked?”

    Luke poked his head around the corner, his blonde hair falling into his eyes. He wiggled his eyebrows. “Why, Sang, there are all kinds of things that are… wicked… which one are you talking about?”

    I laughed. “On tv. There was an ad for something called Wicked. It looked like a play or something.”

      Gabe walked in, plopped down on the couch next to me, and pulled me onto his lap. “That, my Trouble, is an award winning musical. You’ve never heard of it?”

      “No. Why is the one actress green?”

     The rest of the guys took their seats around the room, snacks placed on the coffee table. Kota sat on one side of us, and pushed his glasses back up his nose. “Have you ever read or seen The Wizard of Oz?”

      “Of course. Who hasn’t seen it?”

      Silas sat on Gabe’s other side, grabbed me and sat me on his lap. He turned me so that my back was against the side of the couch, my legs stretching over Gabe’s legs. “My favorite game. My favorite girl. You can have her back later. Much later. Oh, and me. I have not seen nor read it. I’ve heard of The Wizard of Oz, but I’m not much into musicals or old movies.”

     Kota rolled his eyes at Silas. “Anyway, someone wrote an alternate version of Baum’s book. It’s the Wicked Witch’s story, as opposed to Dorothy’s. Then someone else turned that book into a musical. It was on Broadway and won several awards.”

     “Have any of you read the book? Have you seen the play? Is it any good?” This sounded so strange to me. Rewrite the story from someone else’s point of view? Who would do that?

       Most of the guys looked at me like I was crazy. I guessed they weren’t into musicals.Victor cleared his throat, his cheeks turning a bit pink. “Well, Princess, I’ve seen it. It’s pretty good, actually.”

       Kota smiled. “Jessica talked me into reading it. The book is quite funny.”

     Mr. Blackbourne nodded. “I had the chance to see the musical. I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed it.”

      Victor and Kota did that silent communication thing, and then they looked at Mr. Blackbourne. He looked at me and asked, “You said that this ad was for Wicked? What about it?”

      I started to bite my lip, trying to remember what it had said. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember exactly.”

      “Nothing to worry about. I was just curious.” He paused to glance at Victor, and then looked back at me. “Someone hand Miss Sorenson a soda, and let’s watch the game!”