All The Way

Chapter Two: Theater

Jack sat back in his chair, waiting in angst as Mr. Avidan read off the pairs. Most of the seniors were paired together, but some were surprisingly separated. Felix stood up, and yelled something at Mr. Avidan, snapping Jack's focus back to the class.

"What the fuck?" Felix sassed, his Swedish accent rolling roughly off his tongue.

"Language, Mr. Kjellberg," Mr. Avidan snapped. "If you want to pass this semester, I recommend you go sit by Ryan."

"Don't call me that, Mr. Avidan," Ryan whispered, rubbing at his layered, short black hair. His icy blue eyes looked around him, his pink lips forming a flat line, his pale face lacking any emotion.

"Ryan, I am not going to call you Cry."

"I'll call him Cry... Crybaby!" Felix joked, walking over to the shy boy sitting in the in the corner of the room near the door.

The class chuckled, except for Jack. Instead, he looked aside towards Cry, who sunk into the protection of his black hoodie. He slid a white mask over his face, blocking out the eyes of the bullies. Felix walked over and sat in the empty row in front of Cry, cursing in Swedish. Mr. Avidan sighed in frustration, and continued reading out the partners.

"Mark and Sean."

"Please, call me Jack," Jack whispered. He preferred the nickname.

Then it hit Jack. His blue eyes widened, and a strange pain twisted his gut. A sharp intake of breath sounded from Mark's lips. He shot up from his seat, brown eyes just as wide as Jack's.

"No. No, not him," Mark stumbled.

Jack felt stung, but pushed it aside. The insult wasn't new.

"And why not?"

"I- uh, I... I don't think I'll be able to concentrate with him as my partner."

"Well, there isn't anyone else to be your partner, and Sean needs one. So, you are his partner."

"Mr. Av-"

"Mark, that's enough," Mr. Avidan scolded, and pointed for him to go sit by Jack.

Jack shifted nervously in his seat, as Mark came walking over, mumbling beneath his breath. He sat a seat away from Jack, glancing over at him for only a second. Mark rolled his shoulders, trying to relax his tense muscles.

"Now that you all are with your partners, I will be handing out scenes for you all to begin practicing. You must memorize the lines, and present the scenes in two weeks. I will be grading you on creativity, presentation, and how clearly you state your lines."

Mark rubbed his temple, "I hate this class."

"...Then why are you taking it?" Jack asked quietly.

"Need it to graduate," Mark sighed, laughing grimly.

His deep laugh made Jack squirm, stomach fluttering uncomfortably. Mark grabbed the script from Mr. Avidan and held out the second copy towards Jack. Jack looked at the papers extended to him, hands shaking as he reached out to grab them. Mark's hand lingered on the papers as Jack grabbed them, his index finger brushing over the back of Jack's hand. Jack shivered at the warm touch, and pulled his hand away, a deep blush burning at his cheeks. Mark cleared his throat, shifting in his seat.

"Um... Mr. Avidan? What the fuck is this?" Mark questioned, looking down at the script.

Jack looked down at his own copy, his pink cheeks burning red after reading the title. Scene 2 Act 2 from Romeo and Juliet. The balcony scene. Everyone murmured insults to their scenes. Jack looked around, slightly confused. It was then that he realized everyone was paired with the same gender.

"Oh, did I forget to mention. To add more of a twist, you guys will be gender-bending roles."

"Is this even allowed?" Felix growled.

Cry shifted his mask up slightly, to look more clearly down at his script. An unfamiliar smile crept over his lips, and he chuckled down at the paper.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" Felix growled.

Cry stared blankly at him for a moment, then pulled the mask back over his face. Felix looked down at his script. It was a scene from Hamlet that looked very confusing to him. Cry already knew the scene like the back of his hand. He loved plays.

Mark bit his lip, staring down at the script. He had no idea how he would memorize these lines. The bell rang, signaling everyone off to second period. Jack scurried out the room, but Mark hurriedly caught up to him. He walked at his side without saying anything, making the nervous pit in Jack's stomach grow deeper. Finally, Jack stopped and turned to face Mark.

"What?"

Mark halted, caught off guard by Jack's harsh tone. However harsh his words were, his Irish accent managed to make the corners of Mark's lips twitch up.

"Um... when do you want to start studying the script together?"

"You really want to do this?" Jack asked, waving the script in his hand.

"I need an A. If not my... never mind. Whatever," Mark groaned and turned to walk away.

Jack reached out and caught the sleeve of his red, plaid flannel. Mark stopped and spun around, pushing Jack into the lockers. Jack gasped, and shoved Mark off of him.

"What the fuck?" Jack snapped.

Mark smirked, and ran his fingers through his messy hair, the motion making Jack swallow.

"Sorry, I... I don't like when people touch me. That's all."

"Oh... I just wanted to say, I want a good grade too. We can study at my place, if you want. It's only a few blocks. We can walk there after school."

"I have a car, Jack."

Jack tensed, butterflies hammering around in his stomach. No one has yet to call him Jack during his three weeks attending Lincoln. Very few have even bothered to speak to him.

"Oh," Jack laughed nervously.

Mark smiled, and patted Jack's shoulder. "I'll meet you in the front after school."

"Okay," Jack whispered, as Mark walked away towards his second period.

Jack smiled, and walked away towards his next class.