Superimposed

28

"Ah Taron, up early" Mike chimed as he walked into the kitchen.
"Yeah, I've gotta be at the hall at nine" Taron rubbed his face and practically stumbled to the coffee machine that he could imagine Mike spent way too much money on.
There were dirty dishes everywhere, mostly from Mike where he'd make himself food and not cleaned up. The washing machine which sat next to the fridge freezer was full of Taron's clothes that he'd put in there when he got back from rehearsals.

So Taron spends the morning doing miscellaneous house work, dishes, laundry and some cleaning to make sure Mike comes back to a clean and tidy kitchen.

At quarter to nine, Taron makes his way to the assembly hall. Only stopping at the corner shop for another packet of cigarettes and as he smokes one on the way to the hall he has a smile on his face. Spending the entire night reflecting on everything wasn't such a bad thing and he felt content with how today was going to go.

Around lunchtime his mum calls him to say that her and his nan are at Dulwich station and going to be on their way to Bloomsbury soon. Phil had apparently gone fishing for the weekend with some guy from work and it seemed as though everything was going well.
The rehearsals continued to run smoothly and as much as Taron was looking forward to finally performing in front of his mum, he was also very nervous.
He hadn't seen his nan in so long, what does he say? Does he apologise, does he pretend nothing ever happened between the families?
With a sigh, he shakes himself from his thoughts and finds himself making his way outside for a smoke when the group break off.
His mind was elsewhere for that last half of the rehearsal and Taron hadn't taken in anything they'd told him.

After a few clicks of his lighter, the cigarette was alight and Taron rolled it around in his fingers. Watching as it burnt, producing smoke that floated away above him. He flicked the ash off and took another drag.
Lizzie hadn't followed him out this time because she hadn't noticed him leave. Sometimes Taron does this, if he's got a lot on his mind he'll just go silent; slipping away from the group he's with without them paying enough attention to notice he's gone.
With one leg against the wall, Taron watched as people walked down the high street; he thought about each of them and what their stories might be.

After a little while longer he'd finished the cigarette so he chucked it on the floor and went over to the small coffee shop across the road.
"Ah Taron, good to see you!" Harry, the owner waved to him as he entered. Taron returned the smile and wave.
"Can I get the usual please?" Taron held out a five pound note for Harry and he accepted it with a nod
"No problem mate, how's the auditions going?"

Taron had come into this quaint coffee shop quite a lot over the last few weeks and he'd gotten to know the owner, Harry.
"Good yeah, the big show is tonight" He says, leaning his elbows against the counter, watching Harry as he makes his latte.
"Ah, good luck - you'll smash it!" Harry says a little too excitedly and it makes Taron smile
"Thanks" Taron smiles as Harry hand him his drink. The caffeine was definitely a necessity to get him through the day having not slept at all. But coffee does make him shaky and being already nervous, he did feel on edge the entire day. But that was okay because everyone felt the same and he didn't seem to be the odd one out.

"Well done guys, you're going to do us all proud tonight. We're going to order pizza in so you don't have to leave here between now and showtime. But we can't keep you, so if you do want to leave and return later you're more than welcome to do so" Graham explained from his seat in the middle row. He'd been here watching all the young actors rehearse since the very first time till now and he wanted to oversee it all seeing a he'd written the script and helped cast the actors.

Taron saw that as his opportunity to slip out the back doors again for a smoke, but this time Lizzie noticed and practically ran after him.
"Is this where you've been disappearing to?"
Taron looked behind him to see Lizzie coming out of the doors and he sighed a little, he just wanted to be on his own.
"Yeah" He lit his cigarette and decided to sit down against the wall, drawing his knees to his chest like a child in a strop.
"Do you want any pizza?" Lizzie looked down at Taron who looked up at her with these blank staring eyes, but Lizzie decided to not ask and to leave him alone.
"Nah, I might go home to sleep before tonight" Taron pulled the cigarette to his lips and stared straight ahead. Lizzie didn't say anything else and just disappeared back into the hall, probably to hang out with people a lot more fun than Taron was being right now. He wasn't in his usual talkative mood and he could feel the butterflies in his stomach growing as it got closer and closer to showtime.

It wasn't a conscious effort to appear cold and antisocial, but sometimes he was caught up in his own head he didn't think about the people around him.

After a few more minutes of sitting on the ground, he made his way back to the pub and went silently up the stairs to his bed which he collapsed on almost straight away; just after he'd set an alarm to be up for the big show.