Taste (Scomiche)

Autumn

A/N credit to Sophie (MrScarletHatMinion) for writing this chapter(:

"Um, hey! Hey kid!" I looked behind me, narrowing my eyes slightly against the sun. A tall blond boy who looked about my age jogged up the sidewalk to keep pace behind me, holding the strings of his small pack nervously.
He flashed me a quick smile and asked, "Hey, um, would you happen to know where the uh," he glanced at a small, wrinkled scrap of paper in his hand, "Dolphin Theater is?"
I cocked my head, curious. "Yeah, I'm on my way there now. Gonna try out for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?"
The boy nodded in response, shifting his hands. "Um, my name's Scott," he stuck out his hand, an awkward smile on his thin lips. I took his hand, shaking it quickly before dropping it. "I'm Mitch, I've been going here since I was little."
"I just moved here. I saw the flyer in the library, and, well, it looked pretty cool, so I thought I'd try it, I mean, it's a musical, and I really like singing so why not, right? But I don't really know my way around yet and I kinda got lost but you're here now so that's good, right?" He snapped his mouth shut quickly, his cheeks bright red from embarrassment. I couldn't help smiling at his rambling.
"Why are you so nervous?" I queried, curious as to why this blue-eyed, blond boy would be so scared.
He stayed quiet, and I thought he was just ignoring me. 11-year-old ego dented, I sniffed and proudly turned my nose up at him. I had practiced turning my nose up at people; it made me feel regal, like a queen. I had said as much to my mom once, but she got weirdly upset and told me that I had to be a king or a prince, and that I couldn't be a queen. That was annoying, so I didn't say it again, but I did get a delicious thrill of rebelliousness by thinking it.
The boy suddenly spoke, his voice so quiet I had to lean in to hear him.
"What if I'm bad at acting?" He looked up into my eyes, and the plain insecurity stopped me in my tracks. He came to a stop as well. We stared at each other, leaves fluttering down from the trees around us.
"What if no one likes me? What if- what if they think I'm annoying?" He continued, dropping his gaze from mine. His voice was barely even a whisper, trembling slightly as the possiblity of a future alone weighed down upon his thin shoulders.
"What if I never make any friends?" Enough was enough, I decided. Stepping forward, I declared proudly, "Well, that's impossible, because you already have."
His head jerked back up, and he stared with wide eyes at my determined tone. "W-what?"
I looked him in the eyes, making sure he knew I wasn't kidding. "I'll be your friend. The only other boy at the theater is Tyler, and he's annoying. So yeah, we're gonna be friends, okay?"
The boy- no, Scott- looked a little dazed, but nodded. I nodded once more decisively, set upon my goal now. I spun on my heel, continuing down the warm cement. I called back over my shoulder, "C'mon, auditions start in ten minutes." I smiled to myself as his stumbling footsteps hurriedly followed my own. We walked in silence for a few moments, then I turned my head slightly to look at him. "By the way, I love singing too." He grinned widely, obviously delighted. Our footsteps echoed in the warm autumn air.