The Tragic Tale of Mark and the Septic Smile

Chapter 2

BEEP BEEP BEEP

BEEP BEEP BEEP

BEEP BEE-

Seán slammed his fist down on his new alarm clock, rolling onto his side. He was nowhere near prepared for his first day, even though he only had a screenwriting course at noon.
He sat up, almost hitting his head on the bed above his. Standing up, he arched his back and extended his arms with a small groan. The green-haired male walked over to the mini fridge and took out a frozen bagel to heat up in the microwave. Once that was all set, he went to wake up his roomate.

"Hey Mark, time to wake up." He gently shook Mark, who was aggressively cuddling his blanket. What a goofer.
"Mark, ya gotta get up, it's already 10am." He shook Mark with a bit more force, trying to pull the blanket away.
Mark mumbled something, shutting his eyes tighter as he forcefully pulled the blanket back.
Fed up with these short shenanigans, Jack went over to the window and opened the curtains, letting the light of the morning sun flood into the room.
Mark hissed, rolling onto his other side.
"Aw come on, Marky, don'cha want some breakfast or somethin'? How 'bout some coffee?"
He turned his head, lazily opening his eyes. "We don't have any coffee left. We drank the rest last night."
"Well, we can go out to get some. There's a Starbucks right down the road."
"Fine, just give me five more minutes of sleep."
Seán nodded, taking this opportunity to change without being watched. He walked over to his closet, taking out a blue hoodie and a pair of black skinny jeans. He changed out of his previous clothes and into his clothes, tossing the pyjamas into his hamper.
He walked back over to his roommate and poked him a few times. "Come on, Mark, I gave ya more than five minutes."
With an aggravated groan, Mark got up and climbed down the ladder. He walked pass Jack without a glance or a word, nearly falling backwards as he opened his closet.
Jack chuckled a bit, sitting on the couch to check his messages while Mark changed. Jack had 9 missed texts and a missed call from his mother. He sighed, calling her back.
"Hey ma."
...
"Yes, ma."
...
"Yes, I'm fine."
...
"Oh, his name is Mark."
...
"No, ma!"
...
"MAAA!"
...
"I'm hanging up now."
...
"Love ya too."
...
"Byee."
Jack hung up, his cheeks slightly pink from the embarrassing conversation he just had with his mother. One could only imagine why someone would be embarrassed after a private phone call, but Mark certainly wouldn't be finding out soon. Right?

"You ready now?" Mark asked as he tied his black converse.
"Yeah, I just gotta put on my shoes."
Jack slipped on his orange sneakers, examining Mark's choice in clothing. He wore a blue flannel that complimented his hair well, and a pair of somewhat baggy blue jeans.
Jack slipped his bowser-shell backpack over one shoulder and stood up straight. "Alrighty, lets get goin'!"
Mark smiled and opened the door, Seán politely thanking him as he walked past and out the door. Mark locked it up and followed close behind Jack.

"So, what are you getting?"
"Coffee. Black. How 'bout you?"
"Same here. It's my favourite."

"How long have you lived in LA?"
"Oh, about two years now."
"Where did you live before then?"
"Ohio."

"Yeah, I really want to be an actor. Being in stuff like films and tv shows has always seemed really cool to me."
"That's so cool! I wish I had the confidence to do that kind of stuff. The idea of being in front of a camera, being recorded and later viewed by millions of people, is really scary to me. I'd much rather jus' be behind the scenes."
"You'd be a great actor though! But yeah, I get how scary it is to just think about that kind of thing."

After a lot of walking and chit-chat, they ordered their coffee and sat at a booth near one of the many windows.
"Geez, it's almost 11. I gotta get to class in an hour." Jack said with a sigh.
"What class?"
"It's just a screenwriting class, so it's not that big of a deal."
"Who's the professor?"
"Ms. Ciana."
"Oh, the building your class is in is right around the corner."
"Really? How'd ya know?"
"I'm in that class, too."
"Well why didn'cha say that earlier!?"
Mark shrugged, sipping some of his coffee. "I guess I thought that it wasn't too important. It's not like we're allowed to talk to each other in class."
"Well duh, but still! I'm just relieved that I'm not goin' in there without knowin' anyone else now."
Mark smiled, looking out the window. "It's really nice outside. I wish we didn't have any classes today."
"Well at least it's only one, right?"
Shaking his head, Mark let out a dramatic sigh. "For you. I have Theatre History at 2."
"Geez, you only get a 30 minute break? That's awful!"
"Yeah, but my other classes are more spread out and I don't have anything Fridays."
"Lucky! I got editing with McHüg Friday mornin's."
"That sucks."

They spoke a while longer about the school and their schedules, transitioning from topic to topic. After what felt like such a short time, Jack checked his watch.
"Crap! It's 11:56!"
Hurriedly, the two boys stood up and cleared the table, rushing out the building and down the street to their class.