Origin Story

Chapter 3

***Matt***

I turn to see who's volunteered and to my surprise it's the pretty girl I had been talking too earlier. I didn't realize she was the performance type never mind the comedy type. But here she is volunteering even Whitney's surprised, I guess she also took her for more of a tech person. Scott smiles and welcomes her up and she's greeted with the routine applause.

"Yeah Mal!" Cheers Whitney as I go to sit beside her. Mal I think that's a cute nickname. I sit down in Mal's spot and watch the game, wondering if this girl is any good. Mere seconds later I have my answer. Yes. Without really meaning to I switch into the mode I reserve for evaluating auditions. Even though I know that's not what she's doing. She has excellent facial expressions, not afraid of going too big, that's important, and she plays creepy in an impressively comedic way. I'm praying that Jason holds it together long enough for me to see more of her range but unfortunately he cracks quickly and I can't really blame them. This girl is funny. And it didn't help that she was an unknown quantity, he had no idea what stops she would pull out. I'm thinking so much about her specific strengths and areas to improve that I barely notice a minute later when she herself is out. She lasted longer than some but Natalie still got her in the end, to be fair noodle is a very funny word.

I'm pulled back down to earth a second later though when Mal comes to sit down, squeezing between me and Whitney and smiling at each of us.

"Great job Mal!" Whitney whispers to her.

"Thanks!" she whispers back blushing. She glances at me then but I make sure to keep my eyes glued to the game. The truth is that her performance was great, incredible even, but I don't want to tell her that in whispers in the middle of a crowded room. I want to explain to her all my favorite parts of her performance, I want to tell her every last thing that she has going for her that I've never seen before, and yes, I've made up my mind, I want to convince her to audition for Divine Comedy.

I only half pay attention to the rest of the game, still thinking about everything that I need to tell Mal. The game eventually ends and I find myself standing with Nick and Greg again as they have a conversation with me barely talking. People start slowly trickling out and soon enough the party is basically at an end. I notice Mallory saying goodbye to the people she had been talking to as she starts to turn to leave. I hurriedly make up an excuse to leave as well and exchange a quick goodbye with the guys before heading towards the exit as well. Whitney is still over on the opposite side of the room talking to Stephen so Mallory is all alone when I catch up to her in the hallway.

"Hey Mal wait up!" I call after her jogging up to her side. She smiles at me, though something seems off, different from before. "Can I walk you home?" I ask, my confidence is plummeting by the second, I don't really have a plan if she says no. Luckily, she's still smiling.

"Sure," she says, "because we all know what a scary and dangerous place BYU is at night." She giggles and I laugh with her, but then that strange expression is back. I shrug it off though as we continue to walk down the hall. We talk some more about the show and she mentions how she thinks she's going to come on as tech full time. I couldn't have asked for a better opening.

"Actually," I start nervously, "I was going to ask you, I think you should audition to be part of the cast." She blushes and avoids eye contact.

"Thanks, but I'm not really a performer or much of a comedian."

"Yes you are," I counter, "I can tell. Even back during bus stop you were great!" Suddenly the expression I noticed earlier is back, and stronger than ever, she looks disappointed.

"How come you didn't laugh then?"

"What?"

"Earlier, when I was trying to get Jason to laugh. Everyone was laughing, except for you." It all makes sense now, that's why she seems different she thought I didn't think she was any good. Curse my brain and its tendency to analyze.

"Mal, trust me, that wasn't it at all, quite the opposite actually. You were so funny that I immediately went into analytical mode, audition mode really. Mallory you've got something special, if I didn't laugh it's not because I didn't realize that, but because I was too captivated to do anything but watch you perform. I'm sorry if that sounds cheesy but it's true." She just stares at me, stunned into silence by my confession. I'm just about to say something, just to break the tension when—

"Can I have your phone number?"

"What, oh um yeah, yeah of course." I fumble to get out my phone and take hers to enter my number. It's silent for a moment while we both type in our numbers, I debate what to put as my name. Just "Matt" is a little presumptuous but "Matt (Divine Comedy)" seems to formal, in the end I just go with "Matt Meese".

"You work at the Bean Museum?" I look up, wondering how she knows, she turns the phone screen to me to show that listed above her name is "Michael (Bean Museum)".

"Um yeah I do, have you been there?" She shakes her head.

"No, it sounds really cool though, do you get to hang out with all the animals and stuff?"

"Yeah I do, I really love it there, I'll have to show you around it some time."

"I'd like that," we stand there for a second before she gestures to the building behind us. "Well I should probably get to my dorm, thanks for walking me home Matt."

"Of course," I reply but neither of us moves. I don't know exactly how long we've been standing in front of her dorm but it's definitely longer than one usually would.

"Well goodnight Matt," she finally says smiling and turning to leave. But I don't want her to leave so I act quickly.

"Wait Mal!" She turns with a questioning but happy face. I rush up to her and then my mind goes blank I didn't think past this point. So I just do what feels right— I kiss her.

She seems shocked for a second but then she relaxes and reciprocates the kiss. I don't know how long we kiss for but when we finally part we're breathing hard. She leans her forehead against mine and smiles. I can't help but smile too, especially since she's still so close to me. After a minute she looks up at me grinning.

"Okay now I really need to get to my dorm," we both laugh.

"Alright, well goodnight Mal."

"Goodnight Matt." We both turn away as she turns to go into her room and I turn to walk across campus to my dorm. Once again I find myself on cloud nine but this time I might be even happier than before.

***Matt and Mal***

mallory:) hey, thanks for walking me home tonight

Matt Meese Of course, I have to admit I'm glad I did

mallory:) i wonder why lol

Matt Meese It is very possible that I had alternative motives

mallory:) is that so?

Matt Meese Well you see I wanted to talk more to you. You're beautiful and hilarious and I really did want to convince you to join Divine Comedy.

mallory:) you're sweet lol and i'll definitely think about it for next year! i am going to be staying on to do lighting/tech for the rest of the year though

Matt Meese That's great! It's great to hear that, I'm so glad you're going to be part of the team

mallory:) yeah i'm really looking forward to it, you guys all seem like really cool people

Matt Meese I certainly think so! By the way there's something I wanted to ask you...

mallory:) yeah what's up?

Matt Meese Would you want to hang out sometime, outside of Divine Comedy that is?

mallory:) it sounds like you're asking me out mr. meese ;)

Matt Meese It's certainly a possibility

mallory:) haha i'd love to

Matt Meese Wonderful! Are you going to be at practice on Thursday? We could get dinner or something afterwards?

mallory:) i should be there! whitney is going to e-mail me the schedule sometime soon

Matt Meese Sounds great, well I should let you go to sleep now. Goodnight Mal. :)

mallory:) goodnight matt <3