Timeo and Ritalet (Tim X Rita Fanfic)

The Audition

Tim sighed as he stared into the blank sheet of paper in front of him. His therapist had advised about a month back that he star journalling his feelings, but Tim didn't see any difference in his mood after writing. He'd tried writing about how boring school was, but that just made him feel worse, so he'd tried journalling about something positive, but hadn't been able to think of anything. Even his relationship with Moby was strained; the orange robot was certainly smarter than him, and a lot more ambitious. In other words, Moby was going places, and, more importantly, knew where he was going, and Tim couldn't help but resent him for it. Plus, Moby didn't really get him. No one did.
Tim let out another sigh (this one even more gusty and winded than the last) and let his mind wander. Immediately, he felt his thoughts drift to that beautiful girl that was playing Juliet. (Wasn't her name Frita?) Tim perked up and rushed out of his room and to the mudroom, where he kept his book bag. After a few seconds of rifling through his things, he found it; the audition sides for Romeo in the school play. He grinned down at the folded up piece of paper and rushed back into his room to study the lines. Not paying attention, he slammed his door behind him, instantly wincing as soon as he heard it.
Tim quickly shoved the piece of paper in the first place he could think of (under his bedsheets), as footsteps sounded outside his room, getting closer, and looked up just in time to see his door swing open.
"Tim, what did I tell you about slamming doors?" His dad asked, a scowl on his face that made Tim seethe.
"I know. I didn't mean to," Tim said, his voice faltering when he saw his dad's expression harden. "Don't do it again. Your mother is sleeping," His father hissed, before closing the door and stomping away. Tim let out a breath and went to his bed, grabbing the Romeo sides from under his sheets. He looked under a pillow and found his headphones as well, and put them on so that he could listen to some music while studying the lines. Tim was aware that listening to music would make it harder to concentrate on the lines, but he needed something to fill the horrible silence that was always present in his house.
"With love's light wings did I o'er-perch these walls," Tim recited, murmuring in case his dad was listening for sounds from his room. "For stony limits cannot hold love out,And what love can do that dares love attempt."
Tim put down the now creased paper and stared up at his ceiling, thinking about that girl again. I need to get that part, Tim thought. If I don't get to know that girl, I think I'll go mad!

The next day, Tim woke up with a small headache and an intensely drowsy feeling; he'd stayed up pretty late memorizing the sides for Romeo, forgetting that he was almost always late to class when he didn't get enough sleep. He yawned and forced himself to get out of bed, his body moaning in protest.
"Tim! You better be getting ready for school," He heard his father shout from the kitchen. "It's seven forty-two!" Tim gritted his teeth. "Shut up already," He mumbled, wishing he could say it to his dad's face. Tim knew his mother had been the one to propose that Tim go to therapy; his dad didn't really care about his emotions. All Tim's dad cared about was whether he was making good grades and keeping his room clean and being quiet when his mother was sleeping. His dad always complained to his mom about how Tim "never listened," and "had an attitude," but Tim thought that perhaps, if his dad weren't such an asshole, perhaps he wouldn't be like this, and he wouldn't need therapy in the first place. But what did he know?

Tim grumbled under his breath and put on a shirt and jeans. He looked at himself in the mirror and saw a tired, angry boy staring back at him. With that, he exited his room and walked down the hall to the kitchen. "Good. Let's get going, or you'll be late for school, and I'll be late for work," His dad said upon seeing Tim.

"We wouldn't want that, now would we?" Tim grumbled.

"What was that?" His dad asked, voice dangerously calm. "Nothing," Tim hissed. His dad gave him a scathing glare and opened the front door, walking through without waiting to see if Tim would follow. Tim flipped off his dad while he wasn't looking, which gave him a satisfying sort of feeling, but he knew deep down that it was really a pathetic sort of rebellion.
Upon arriving at school, Tim, not wanting to waste any time, made his way to Mr. Wingate's office. Really, the stuffy closet wasn't much of an office, but it was all the school had to offer; he didn't really have a classroom, as, the theater "classroom" was listed in school documents as the auditorium, but that gave poor Mr. Wingate nowhere to store his things, and so the school had to make due with one less broom closet.
When Tim knocked on the "office" door, he heard a small yelp and some shuffling before the door cracked open. The boys' theater department head stared at Tim through the door for a few moments before opening it, as if he really hadn't been expecting anyone to visit.
Mr. Wingate was a rather tall, slim man with a perpetual expression that Tim could only, if pressed, describe as frazzled. "Um, hello... Can I help you?" Wingate said, still staring at Tim in a rather mystified way.
Tim looked him up and down, wondering if perhaps the confused thespian had entirely forgotten his speech the other day. "I'm here to audition for Romeo," Tim said, as if it were obvious. A look of final recognition passed over Mr. Wingate's face. "Ah, yes! If I'm being honest, I didn't expect anyone to come by to audition; especially not this early, but yes, come in!" Now that the initial confusion had melted away, Wingate seemed ecstatic to finally have an audition, and he stepped out of the way to allow Tim into his office with a warm smile.
"Just let me get the sides, and we'll be ready to start," Wingate informed Tim, who stood just inside the doorway, looking around. "You can close the door, by the way; not that it will help with the noise of people walking by, but I do prefer it to be a tad darker in here."
Tim looked back into the hallway - it was a lot brighter out there, mostly because the closet Mr. Wingate used as an office had no overhead lights - and closed the door. The inside of the dim little room was cluttered with papers and knicknacks, and Mr. Wingate was rifling through it all in search of the Romeo audition sides. When he finally found the correct paper under a stack of what Tim assumed were more sides for other Romeo and Juliet sides, he cleared his throat and looked to Tim, still grinning widely. "Start whenever you're ready!"
Tim cleared his throat and looked down at the creased, ruffled paper with his lines, refreshing his mind on what they were, before beginning nervously.
"With love's light wings did I o'er-perch these walls, for stony limits cannot hold love out, and what love can do that dares love attempt: therefore, thy kinsmen are no stop to me." Tim recited, staring at the ceiling to help clear his mind.
Mr. Wingate supplied Juliet's lines for this particular scene; "If they do see thee, they will murder thee."
"Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye than twenty of their swords," Tim said, coming back in. "Look thou but sweet, and I am proof against their enmity."
Tim looked down from the ceiling while Mr. Wingate recited the next lines in the scene, checking his expression to see if he seemed impressed or not. His expression was focused and guarded, and Tim couldn't glean anything from it, so he decided to just keep going and hope for the best. By the end of the scene, Tim gave Wingate a hopeful look, but the man gave no indication of the quality of Tim's performance.
"Thank you, Tim. Remember, the cast list will be available on Wednesday!"
Tim gave an awkward, "Er, thanks," And stepped back out into the hallway, deciding he wouldn't try to press Mr. Wingate; perhaps he would respect him more if Tim appeared confident in his ability. Tim sighed and walked away from Mr. Wingate's office, the theater department head's works playing in his mind; Remember, the cast list will be available on Wednesday!