As soon as last period was over, I was practically bouncing to get over to Drama. I shoved my work in my bag and left the room as soon as I was allowed to.
I knew it was bad but I was really excited about spending the evening with Mr Way. Even if it was to go see some play with the rest of the class. I would take what I could get.
I was one of the first to arrive and as his last class of the day were still filing out, we had to wait outside. As soon as it was clear, Mr Way suddenly appeared in the doorway with a big grin on his face. "Welcome!" He opened both doors again dramatically and spun around.
A few people giggled and I heard one person whisper that they were sure he was gay. I was cool with that.
We followed him into the room and he instructed us to just take a seat for now until the others arrived.
I grabbed a chair and sat near the back of the others, not really wanting to join in with the various conversations. My eyes kept glancing over to Mr Way at his desk. He was looking through the list of names and looking up every now and again.
The TA arrived soon after; a woman in her late forties, I think. She was smiley and made jokes and Mr Way got on with her immediately.
More people arrived while Mr Way and the TA talked about something I didn't really understand. I kinda wanted to be in on it though for some reason.
Willow wasn't going to see the play because it was her dad's birthday. So that meant that I would probably spend most of the evening by myself and I was perfectly cool with that. Being social was hard sometimes.
After ten or so minutes of waiting, practically everyone who was going had arrived so Mr Way grabbed his list and stood in front of the stage. He started calling out names and ticking them off the list.
I sort of zoned out while he did this but when he called my name, I had to double take a little. I said "Here" in response of course but a couple of people were looking at me with interest.
Mr Way had called out everyone by their first name like a normal teacher would. Although, when he got to me, instead of saying "Frank", he called "Iero".
It wasn't that strange but I was the only one he called by my last name on the register. Did that make me special or something?
I told myself to stop my wishful thinking. It probably didn't mean anything at all. He always addressed me by my last name.
Mr Way grinned when he had ticked off the last person. "Let us depart!" He called out to the class, folding the list and shoving it in one of his back pockets.
Everyone started getting up and putting the chairs against the wall again, talking. I did the same but in silence.
Mr Way was putting on his jacket and grabbing his keys and phone and sliding them into the pockets. He went to the door and started leading everyone down the corridor, outside onto the campus. The TA followed everyone else, making sure no one strayed from the group.
Even though I would have liked to have walked by Mr Way, I stayed near the back. I didn't want to make it obvious that I had a pathetic crush on my teacher. It was annoying enough as it was without people finding out.
We went out to the front of the school to find a bus waiting for us. Everyone filed on, immediately going for the back seats.
I made sure I was the last to get on just in case someone ended up sitting by me. I didn't mind sitting near the front and being the loser with no friends. I had plenty of practice.
There were only four seats left when I got on, parallel to each other at the front. I didn't give a shit as I sat down next to the window of one of the double seats.
The TA climbed on and sat down on the other window seat, smiling at me as she did.
I smiled vaguely in her direction, attempting slightly to be polite.
Mr Way climbed on, spoke to the driver, and sat down next to the TA.
"Is everyone here?" He looked towards the back of the bus.
There were various calls of "yes" in reply.
Mr Way grinned and said, "Let's go then!" He then turned back to the front as the driver pulled away from the school.
As he turned, Mr Way spotted me and smiled. "Iero, how are you?"
I couldn't help but smile widely back. "Good, Sir. How are you?"
"I'm marvellous," His smile grew bigger somehow. "It's going to be a beauteous night!"
I couldn't help but laugh a little and nod in agreement. It was really cute how enthusiastic he got.
The journey took a little over an hour. Apart from the noise from the back of the bus, I actually didn't hate the journey.
Mr Way would occasionally lean over and say something or ask me a question and I would reply almost too eagerly. Thank fuck he didn't notice.
The theatre we were dropped off at was small but promising. It wasn't a shitty little backstreet one; it was an official theatre in Jersey. I didn't even know this place existed.
When we made it inside, the play was more or less about to start so we entered the main theatre and took our seats. It took a while to sort out where everyone was sitting though.
The TA sat on one end of the first row of ours and Mr Way sat on the other end of the second row. Somehow, I managed to get the seat by him. I don't even know how that happened but I wasn't about to question it.
Just before the play began, Mr Way flashed his white smile at me and whispered, "It's going to be angelic."
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Why can't I find a groove with this story?
-Beth :3