Pretending to be the Iron Man

Chapter 3: The Duct Tape Ceremony

It took close to four hours for Tony to finish unpacking. Everything from his assorted swim wear to toiletries to his ancient yellow Dell laptop sat snugly under the cheap bed he was given or on his desk. Posters from the Harry Potter movies decorated the white dry wall above his bed. Ahmed nodded in approval. As well as organize his new life, Tony got a better look at what Ahmed used to spice up his half of the room. In all reality, he too had posters up over his bed, though it dwarfed Tony's collection. Each one advertised a different musical that Ahmed supposedly saw or took part of.  A myriad of burnt pencils slumped in an empty Dr. Pepper can on his desk.

"Aluminium doesn't burn as bad," Ahmed had explained. "Besides, I'm too cheap to buy anything fancier." Tony though this was amusing, considering how a new MacBook Air sat squarely at the center of his messy desk. Surrounding it were candy wrappers, post it notes with dates scribbled all over them, and an old Jack Sparrow bobble head. As well, some crisped green pens sulked idly atop at stack of loose leaf paper on the top right edge of the desk. More recent musical pamphlets were tacked to the cork-board that leaned hazardously at the back of the desk. Subconsciously Tony would glance at the hurricane of papers and feel his hands twitch. As a response to the urge to tidy up Ahmed's desk, Tony's own half of the room had been organized in 90 degree angles. 

When it had all been finished Tony sighed, and flopped down on his newly made bed, his feet dangling six inches from the edge of the bed. Unlike Ahmed, Tony only had a simple orange pillow and thin yellow sheets with a fuzzy purple Kansas State blanket. He had assumed that Pittsburgh would have been warmer than it really was. An assumption he had been regretting since stepping off the plane. It wasn't the first time Tony had second guessed leaving his home for a strange adventure. 

Tony turned his head to Ahmed, who had resumed silently talking to himself with a folder in his lap. Ahmed looked intensely at the page before him. Slowly, his hand would slide down the page, revealing more and more text. Tony watched the process for a few minutes, letting his feet bounce slightly.

"What are ya'll doing" Tony inquired, his curiosity finally peaking.

Ahmed looked up before stating, "Memorizing my lines for the musical West Side Story. I get to play Chino."

Tony nodded his head while his lower lip protruded his upper lip. The emotion of interested was expressed. "What's it about?" he asked.

Ahmed's eye's widened slightly before he explained heatedly, "Only the most touching romance story of all time. It's like Romeo and Juliet, but only better! You're name happens to be the same as the main character you know? Yeah, Tony! He falls in love with this Puerto Rican chick named Maria-"

"Oh!" Tony exclaimed. His mind brought up an old memory that had never made sense until now. "That's probably why my ex thought we were a doomed couple."

"Was her name Maria?" Ahmed asked. Tony nodded from the pillow before repositioning himself onto his side. His left elbow lay on the pillow, so his head could rest on the palm of his left hand. His body and face were directed toward Ahmed. 

"Yup," Ahmed agreed, "that'll make sense. You know Tony dies at the end of the play? Maria lives however."

Tony scowled while his neck jerked back. "That sucks," he stated with slight disgust.

Ahmed nodded his agreement, "I know right? And the bitch doesn't even commit suicide or anything. She just lives."

"Well that's not so bad, is it?" Tony inquired. Being one of the kids who usually only went to the theatre to please his girlfriend, he had no idea what the rules of common sense were to a Thespian. Besides, he only took Maria to see his sister in the middle school production of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown. To be succinct, it had been terrible.