The Life and Trials of a Teenage Thespian

Chapter 2

     Alice walks in, and Jake and I stop what we're talking about long enough to say hi. Jake beats me too it by a fraction of a second. 

"Oh, hey Alice!" he chirps cheerfully.

  "Oh yeah, hey, when did you get here?" I pipe in, trying my darnedest to be as annoying as possible from the get-go.  

 "I just got here 2 seconds ago, chill." Alice groans acting as though she isn't charmed out of her socks by my question. 

 "I am chill, thank you!" I exclaim in mock offense, putting a hand to my  chest.

"I know!" She sighs, laughing. We're all just chilling, swapping jabs, and half-assing our bellwork when someone I don't recognise walks through the door looking like he wants to kill someone. Not that I blame him, being in this school does that to a person. Still, it is odd that I haven't seen him before.

"Hey look, it's the new kid." Jake says quietly, obviously not wanting to catch his attention. That explains the new face, I think as Alice whips her head around in the typical new-kid-interest that all highschoolers have. She looks a tad shocked, maybe even worried, but she just comments on how she saw him earlier and that this must be his first day.

"I feel bad for him," I chime in. "We're all gonna rot here." I see grim agreement written on my friends faces. We all sit there a tad uncomfortably until Ms. Tate returns and calls roll. We all watch the new kid until she calls out a new name.

"Klaus Langdon?"

"Here." he mutters darkly. I take a couple seconds to study him more closely (Cue character description!). He has dark hair falling in a stark wave across his forehead. Dark eyes. Looks vaguely Italian. Face is mildly gaunt. Fairly attractive, and buff. Not really my type though. I notice that he and Alice seem to be staring at each other. I flick my eyes back and forth between them for a few minutes, and the decide to intervene.

"Hey! Are you done with your little staring contest yet?" I question Alice. She seems startled, and jumps a bit before turning to me.

"Huh?" She inquires dazedly, looking a tad misty-eyed.

"You guys have been staring at each other for like three minutes," I say somewhat loftily. "I was just wondering if you were done."

"Three minutes?" She questions incredulously. "Really?"

"I would think so." I say back.

 I return my attention to the assignment, a group scene centered around falling, drinking, eating and the like on stage. Ms. Tate tells us to group up and and Alice, Jake, and I move together without hesitation. At this point in the year Ms. Tate trusts us to know who we work well with and doesn't interfere much with the grouping. Unless, of course, someone doesn't participate. As Klaus is now.

"Klaus? Why don't you work with this group?" She inquires, and I look up to see her gesturing at our group. He moves towards us without speaking. I regard him suspiciously while still keeping a pleasantly neutral face. I don't trust people I don't know, but there's no reason he should know that. It seems I am not alone in my misgivings, as Jake pipes up quietly.

"Oh god, why?" 

"It wont be that bad," I say optimistically. "I mean, I hate people, but I wouldn't want to be alone." And this doesn't seem like a bad guy to be friendly with, I add silently. Alice doesn't say anything, but the expression on her face as he sits down next to me shows that she doesn't like him being here either. He feels the need to introduce himself, like he doesn't realise we were all listening intently for his name during roll. Hell, maybe he didn't. 

"Uh... Hey, I'm Klaus... But I guess you already knew that." So he did realise. He keeps looking at Alice, though I suppose that's just the average reaction to her coloured hair. He must have come from a conservative background. 

"Hey, Klaus!" Jake and I say in tangent, then share a sidelong glance and snicker. It takes Alice forever, but she finally lets out a simple "Hey."

We all turn our attention to the task at hand, and actually get a lot done. Klaus has a very similar vision to mine, even if it is a tad more violent. We finalise, through much deliberation, with a scene that takes place at a rooftop dinner party. It involves secret agents, champagne, sandwiches that are far too small, and a very confusing series of deaths. I break into the party and attempt to kill Jake, but Alice kills me while Klaus stops Jake from killing Alice. It's beautifully complicated and will be a blast to perform. All too soon the bell rings and I am swept out the door to struggle my way through the jungle- sorry, hallway- to get to my next class.