A Tale as Old as Time

i

a/n

PSM: Professional Stage Manager

ASM: Assistant Stage Manager

;

It had been a few days into John's junior year at his high school when the morning announcements mentioned that there would be a drama club meeting after school and that it included the tech crew part too. John, being the PSM of tech crew, let out a small groan at the idea of the meeting but he knew he had to go to show a good impression. Plus, Tyler, Craig, and Marcel would all be there to provide (hopefully) some sort of entertainment to him. Tyler and Marcel were also in tech, which is why John had joined, meanwhile Craig was an actor and Tyler's boyfriend. They had been friends for a long time, seeing as though they found themselves bonding over their shared interests and they just ended up sticking together throughout the years.

Shaking his head as the bell for his class rung, John began to wonder if the rumors he had heard of what the musical for the fall would be was true. People said it would be Beauty and the Beast but John had only really heard that from some actors, and not any adults yet. While John would love to trust some of the actors, he knew he didn't have the energy to put his faith into them and so waiting the next seven to eight hours to hear the truth of what the musical this year would be was fine with him.

His classes passed slowly and when lunch arrived, John was surprised to see that some new people joined their table, which usually consisted of Marcel, Craig, and Tyler. The group of four were close and so to see a couple of new people who sat with Marcel on the end surprised John. When the brunette sat down, he was greeted by familiar faces from Drama Club but he had never actually talked to them.

"John, this is David and Lui. Lui's a techie as you know and David's an actor. I don't think you guys have ever officially met so here you go." Marcel finished and John nodded towards them, pulling out his lunch that he made the night before. John was excessively observant, which made up for his occasional lack of speech. His eyes would often flicker between the two new-joiners opposite of him at the table and would pick up on the small glances they shared, their eyes filled with something hard to distinguish. John, however, brushed it off as just plain friendship.

Conversation flowed between the group and it's two new members, which John was happily surprised that the duo fit in easily. Plus, they were able to go along with the crude humor that the group shared, so that was even better. Lunch was over before they knew it and John did feel a pang of sadness of having to leave his friends but he knew that after school he'd be seeing them all again.

As John arrived at his next class, he pulled out his phone to see a personal text from Marcel.

oreo fucker

Sorry about bringing lui and david to our group so suddenly, I know you arent the most outgoing but you did well! Anyways, I invited them since they shared the class with lunch before me and we all started talking about theater and shit and we connected so i thought we'd all connect! I think we should give them more chances and if you really dont feel comfortable then I can make up some shit to get them out of our group?

John felt his heart warm up at how thoughtful his friend was and sent a quick message back, which in return made Marcel start to send wholesome memes and that was what John did for most of his English class. His last class arrived, Physics, and he felt his mind wander the whole time. While it was only the first week of school, he knew he couldn't let his focus on school worsen. He needed this year to go well.

The final bell rang and John was quick to clean up his things and head to the auditorium where they'd be holding the Drama Club meeting. Upon his arrival, he could already see Tyler's tall figure looming over the large crowd around him. John also spotted Craig leaning on him, and the two were talking to two people, knowing who they were but he realized he had never actually talked to them outside of tech. John began to look for Marcel in the crowd, but to no avail he didn't spot the male so while letting out a quiet breath, he slipped his way through the crowd of people and closer to his friends and the people they were currently talking to.