Theatre Kids

Chapter 7

Sean was slumped into his seat as far away from me as he could possibly go. I knew he was always overdramatic, but at this point in time I could see why he was so pissed off. In the past months, it was like he fell off the face of the earth aside from the show. He lost his group of friends after breaking up with Lauryn. Suddenly, he had no reason to socialize. His once bubbly persona died from a shout to a whisper and I longed to help him. His radio that had once played the latest hits had fallen eerily silent. For some reason, I began to miss the stupid pop songs he used to blast.

A couple of times in the car I would open my mouth to speak and quickly close it. I'd never seen him look so depressed. He could've lost everything that mattered to him, but I never thought he'd lose himself. We arrived at my house after an excruciating amount of time that somehow still didn't feel like enough.

"Thanks for the ride." I made no attempt to leave the passeneger seat. Sean didn't speak. "If you want, you can come in and we'll have leftovers or something."

"Please, Alannah, please just don't." I noticed his silent tears and frroze. I used to know all the right things to say to him, but now it seemed I couldn't do anything without fucking up. I felt the anger build up in my chest.

"Sean, I'm trying here!"

"Trying to do what?! To lead me on again? To use me as a shoulder to cry on when your oh-so-perfect life isn't so perfect anymore?"

"Perfect life?! You're joking, right? You can't even see past yourself for one minute. I lost my best friend too, okay? Fuck losing you, I don't know if you've noticed that the only people who talk to me these days are Ivy trying to get drunk or high or Matt telling me I'm fat or untalented or worthless in general. Haven't you noticed that I hate both of them?! But they're the only people that I have left. And maybe I shouldn't have chosen Matt, seeing that the bruises litering my body are his doing, but you haven't seen those either, have you?! Oh, and see how there's no cars in the driveway? I have no fucking idea where my parents are right now but I bet it's some foreign countries that they're jet setting to so they can forget that I'm the little bitch who ruined their marriage. So don't give me your bullshit, because I honestly don't think I can take it."

Sean had a crazed look in his eyes but kept his mouth neutral and face relaxed. When he finally spoke, it was a calm and unshaken voice. "Matt did what to you?"

My body felt numb and I unwillingly began to sob grossly. Sean dropped all of his weight onto the gas pedel and backed his truck off my street. He sped back to the theatre at such velocity that it's a miracle we didn't crash or get pulled over. At the theatre, he ran out of the pickup practically before he even parked and I chased after him into the dressing room. Matt was huddled over a notebook with Henry and I could see them discussing their studies. Nobody had seen Sean fly into the room.

Sean tipped Matt's chair over. "What the fuck did you do to Alannah you piece of shit?!" He demanded and began drilling punches into Matt's face. "ANSWER ME!"

Sean pulled Matt up by his shirt collar and threw a right hook into his jaw. "You can beat a girl but won't dare to touch me?! You're worthless." Matt landed a punch into Sean's nose and was rewarded with a crack. It fuled Sean's fire and the fight intensified. I slunk to the ground and cried.

Tyler ran to the two. Despite his flamboyancy, he was quite strong and managed to pull Sean off of Matt and keep them separated.

"Get the fuck out of here," Sean spat. "And if you ever, EVER, try to talk to Alannah again, I swear to God I'll kill you. I'll fucking kill you."

Matt wiped blood off of his face with his forearm and looked at everyone in the room. His eyes fell on me last and I dropped my gaze. Surprisingly, he left wordlessly.

I looked to Sean who simply nodded at me. His nose was obviously broken, so I rose despite my jelly legs and sat him in a chair in the corner. I acquired a wet cloth and began to clean him up. Thankfully, nobody questioned him or me. They understood to leave us alone. As I began my work Sean would occassionally wince from my touch on his broken bridge.

"You have to see a doctor," I said softly. He shook his head. I hadn't seen Matt hit his jaw, but there was an obvious bruise there. I traced it with my thumb. "Thank you, by the way. I'm sorry I brought you into this."

"Just promise me something?" He asked.

"Anything."

"Well, two things. First, the next time you think of falling for an asshole you remember me getting my ass kicked for you. And, if anybody asks about my face, tell them that they should see the other guy." A smirk I had missed so dearly returned to his face and I giggled for what seemed like the first time in forever.

"I'm glad you're back."