In Another Life

Four

At least until they spoke up, anyways. "You alright over there?"

Mitch practically jumped out of his own skin at the sudden sound. He turned to face whoever had spoken to him, and was greeted with the sight of a very attractive boy.

A familiar looking attractive boy, with blond, curly hair and tattoos.

Oh. The night was slightly fuzzy, but Mitch could distinctly remember him from Scott's birthday party. He was the guy that Megg had been into.

The one who had turned out to be gay.

"I'm guessing that's a no?"

Mitch blushed, realizing that he'd been staring now for several seconds without answering his question. "You caught me," he replied, doing his best to sound playful in attempt to save himself. "I didn't expect so many people to be here, I'm definitely a little nervous."

A little was an understatement. But he doubted that this random stranger wanted to hear the gritty details of his anxiety.

To Mitch's surprise, the boy actually laughed. "You're not alone, trust me," he replied. Mitch doubted that somehow, considering how calm he seemed to be. "Did you know that they only accept two people out of all the auditionees? And Kelley, one of their best female singers, just graduated last year so I know they're mostly looking for girls," he added.

Mitch couldn't help but frown at the new information. Scott hadn't informed him of either of those facts when he had convinced him to audition that Monday.

It was almost like he wanted him to fail.

"Well It's a good thing I'm a high tenor," Mitch joked weakly.

The boy laughed again. "You're funny," he commented simply. He looked like he was going to say something else but he stopped himself, giving Mitch a onceover instead. "You look familiar. Do we have a class together or something?"

Mitch did his best not to seem too flustered under his gaze. "No, but I was thinking the same thing," he answered. "Do you know Scott Hoying? I was at his birthday party last week, maybe you saw me there," he suggested.

Obviously Mitch already knew for a fact that the party was where he'd seen him before. But he didn't want to seem like a creep for knowing that.

"Oh! You know what? Now that you mention it, I totally remember you. You were the one who was with him, like, the entire time, right?"

Great. He'd probably seemed like a helpless puppy following Scott around everywhere.

"That was me," Mitch smiled self deprecatingly.

"Well, you've got an advantage then. Being Scott's boyfriend and all. I know he's not the president or anything but I'm sure it'll give you a leg up."

Mitch was immediately caught off guard. His eyes went wide and he spluttered for a moment, trying to think of what to say. "I– no, no, we're not boyfriends," he corrected him quickly. Judging by how hot his cheeks felt, he was pretty sure they must be bright red. "We're just best friends. We've known each other since we were kids."

The boy nodded, seeming mildly amused by Mitch's vehement denials. "Good to know," he replied. "My name is Blake, by the way"

Mitch managed to smile just a little. "Mitch," he responded.

"Mitch Grassi!"

Mitch was startled slightly once again by the sound of his name. He snapped his head over to the direction of where the voice had come from; his eyes landing on a pretty, dark skinned girl who stood in the doorway of the audition room, holding a clipboard in her hand.