In Another Universe

Friday 16:47 Somebody To Love

On Friday afternoon, Charlie held his promise. He was there for the school play reunion, even early. He had some trouble finding the theatre room, since this wasn't something he has paid attention to before, but there he was, sitting in the second row, on his phone, pretending not to care to too much. Drama had never been on his list of interests, he was more of a science kind of guy, but when you're new, it's always nice to be able to make new friends, or at least honour the few friends you already have. He promised Sophia he would come and he did. Oh yes, he also promised that his friends would come, actually that he would try to convince them to come but he had very little hope on that.

The school play wasn't as bad as the chess club in the school society ranking but it wasn't exactly great, and his friends weren't excited to be in it in the slightest of ways. But he still hoped they might show up, out of friendship, so he messaged them one last time before looking around. There was a small group of people, probably enough to do a small play, not that he was an expert on the number of people that would require. Charlotte, Sophia, and their two other friends, Frances and Ally, were discussing their speech, and mostly trying the calm Charlotte down.

16:47. It was already two minutes past the time that was originally set and there was no sign of his friends. But also... No sign of the curly-haired guy he saw in English a few days ago. Since their English teacher would  help with the play, he was so sure that the "see you on Friday" was what she meant, that he would be here. But maybe she was just referring to class...

As he was wondering all sorts of things about the whereabouts of the mysterious guy and his friend, the door open and he was finally here. In a simple khaki hoodie and a pair of jeans, he probably wouldn't have stood out if it wasn't for his downy smile. Charlie stared discreetly at him as he said hi to the girls and apologised for being late. He went by him and Charlie quickly looked down at his phone.

Charlotte stepped forward.

"Hi everyone, we're glad to welcome you all to the first reunion for the school play," she said tautly. "So... hm... don't hesit-"

She was interrupted by the door opening one more time to let in William and Jack, who sat down next to Charlie with a slight gesture of apology towards Charlotte who started again her speech about the school play and what it would entail.

"Where's Thomas?" Charlie asked.

"He didn't want to come, man. I don't even know why I'm here, we weren't gonna force him now, were we?" William said.

"Thanks for coming."

"Yeah, well, it better be worth it."

"It already is," Jack smiled, trying desperately to catch Charlotte's eyes.

He didn't, but that earned him a nudge in the ribs from Will. Charlie laughed before turning around once more. Lea, sitting a little more in the back, smiled at him when their eyes met. He smiled back, he didn't feel like he really had the choice. After all, he followed her back on Instagram. And he couldn't deny that she seem nice enough for the situation in which they met. However, her relatively excited smile made him slightly worried, so he continued to observe the room. His eyes quickly met others. That guy. None of them smiled, just stared for a few seconds before Charlie turned back towards the girls. He didn't dare to look behind him again but he felt eyes on him. The guy? Lea? Illusion. He wasn't going to try to find out, he just tried to concentrate on that school play.