Only Once

Chapter Twelve: Lucifer

Chapter Twelve: Lucifer

Spencer stood in front of the large group gathered in front of him in the classroom and looked at them. The end of the school day had come and Spencer was stuck having to direct the rehearsal for the school play. This, however, was most definitely not a task that he wanted to do. In fact, it was the least amiable task for him to do. But, nonetheless, he was still finding himself standing in front of the group of drama kids all because of a stupid mistake he’d made and his inability to say no to people.

“So Erika’s not here,” he began, wanting nothing more than to get this over with. But before he could utter those important words out, he was interrupted.

“Oh sweet, does that mean rehearsal is cancelled?” a boy exclaimed.

“Not quite–” 

“So we can go now?” another person asked.

“No, rehearsal will still take place.” Spencer quickly and firmly said before anyone else could say anything.

“Anyway, so Erika’s not here and I will be the director today...so, yeah.”

Spencer frowned when no one made any move to shuffle around and get to work. He was done making his announcement and no way in hell did he plan on giving them a pep talk.

“What scenes will we be rehearsing today?” someone finally asked.

“Oh,” Spencer said, realizing he had forgotten to make plans about the scenes they were supposed to rehearse. “Whatever you want, I guess.”

A sound of whispering and talking erupted amongst the crowd and Spencer patiently waited until someone asked yet another question.

“Then seeing as there’s nothing for us to do, can we just leave?” A girl standing in the front row questioned.

“No, you cannot just leave!” Spencer exclaimed, his voice had risen and he was surprised they were all so eager to leave. Weren’t drama geeks supposed to like acting and rehearsing?

Spencer was about to tell them random acts and scenes to go over until something suddenly dawned on him. There really was no point to have a rehearsal. Erika wasn’t there and clearly they didn’t want to do it. Besides, it wasn’t like she would find out if he happened to give them permission to leave anyway.

“Actually, you know what, rehearsal can be cancelled on one condition,” he watched as they gave a mini cheer. “No one should tell Erika about it.”

Nearly all the cast started agreeing enthusiastically and thanking him. Spencer smirked and walked off; it was like a scene from a movie and a feeling of pride had come over him.

He then went to his locker, grabbed some random books and binders of stuff he probably wouldn’t do, and left to go home.

Like usual, Spencer took the bus. Everything was the same, really. The ride was fairly short and loud, insightful, indie rock music blared from the earphones he had on as he stared out the window. 

After Spencer got off, he walked the short distance home. 

“I’m home!” he called out as he entered the house. Having heard no reply, Spencer carelessly dumped his stuff on the middle of the ground and went to the kitchen.

Feeling hungry and having no cooking skills despite the Foods and Nutrition course he was taking at school, Spencer opened the fridge door and pulled out assorted food items such as bread, ham, and ketchup. Much to his dismay, he found no mayonnaise. But, nevertheless, he then put it all together and prepared himself a large sandwich which he devoured over the course of a few minutes.