The Suburbs

n i n e

c h a p t e r   n i n e

t h e    d a y s   t h a t   f o l l o w e d

l o u i s

Louis felt like he was connected so much stronger to Harry after learning about his family, and hearing about his distant and not-so-distant past, and the thought of the younger man plagued his mind for the next week as he pushed through with the play. Every day passed quicker than the last, and Louis felt like he was losing his mind to Harry, his focus on the play slipping drastically, to the point where his students were checking to see if he was okay, or even paying attention to them.

He found he spent more time apologizing than actually helping, and he knew it was wrong to be acting the way he was, but he couldn't help it. He was so affected by Harry that his mind was failing to function properly.

It had been a little over a week since Louis' canoe ride, and a couple of days since he'd seen Harry who was constantly busy with his home renovations, and Louis was swamped with his marking and directing, but the two had decided to have lunch that afternoon and take the canoe out again. The last ten days had been beautifully sunny and warm, and they wanted to make the most of it before the rain set in.

Louis was sat up the back of the drama class, watching as Marcus and Nora tackled their kissing scene with amazing enthusiasm and a light in their eyes he'd never noticed before. They knew their lines like the back of their hands, and were able to just act, and god were they doing a good job.

"Louis?" Louis heard a voice whisper from behind him, and he turned around quickly to see one of the only people he considered a friend within the teaching staff standing in the doorway.

"What can I do for you Liam?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at the P.E teacher.

"I got a free slot now, you mind if I take a sneak peek?" Liam said hopefully, and Louis nodded, letting the P.E teacher slip into the room silently, making his way up beside Louis to watch and admire the young adults work their magic on the stage.

Louis and Liam sat in silence as they watched the rest of the scene unfold before their eyes, Louis writing down a couple of notes occasionally where things went wrong or the actors did something they weren't meant to be doing.

They continued on for the next ten minutes until the play drew to a close, and Liam got up on his feet and applauded which made Louis smile and the kids seemed a little surprised but he could see the delight on their faces when they saw that Liam was clapping for them. He was a favourite teacher among basically all the students, so praise from him was up there with getting an Oscar for some of these kids.

"Good job guys, take a seat and we'll run through some notes," Louis told them, and they bustled around the stage, getting themselves comfortable as Louis turned on the main lights.

"Absolutely wicked," Liam said to Louis as he sat back up beside him, and Louis grinned.

"So Mr. Payne thinks you guys are absolutely wicked," Louis hollered to the class, and some of them were clapping while others got to their feet cheering and yelling which had both Louis and Liam laughing.

"Yeah yeah calm down," Liam called out, and they settled down immediately.

"Okay, now we need to work through the . . eleventh and twelfth scene still, it needs a bit of fixing up. Uh . . there's a few technical things that need work, but I'll sort that all later, sorry about the slip ups with that, it should be sorted next rehearsal. Andie, you need to work on your projection, I had a bit of trouble hearing you most of the time, so just be aware of that. Nora, I want to see the sparkle in your eyes okay? Keep your eye line high, I know it feels unnatural looking so high, but it doesn't look it, so keep that in mind, same goes for Marlee and Sam. Uhh, Marcus your monologue in the first act? Absolutely flawless, well done," Louis said, and stopped to let the class applaud him, letting the young boy have his moment, grinning at the praise.