FicWad

“Bryar? What are you doing here?” Gerard, Frank, and Ray were all standing in a corner of the hallway that adjoined the theatre. Sarah hadn’t been kidding when she’d said their department was all girls; there must have been at least thirty.

“Frank asked,” he grunted, joining their group; he was reluctant about it, but he looked glad to have found someone normal to stand with. Gerard looked at the smaller boy, who shrugged.

“I figured I’d try to help Sarah as much as possible.” Gerard smiled at that, but Ray, of course, just stared pointedly at a spot right above Bob’s head.

“Okay, everyone,” Mr. Karp, the drama teacher-slash-director said, emerging from the theatre doors with a stack of papers. “You’re all going to fill these out and hand them to me when you come in to audition. I’ll be providing you with the script, and I’ll let you know what part to read for when you walk in. Please try to keep the noise down in here so I can focus in there,” he added, gesturing to the theatre doors. He disappeared between them and an excited buzz ran through the crowd. The four boys groaned; this would be a long wait.

Gerard decided to read the paper he’d been given and see what it was he was supposed to tell this man. Name, age, weight, height...

“Hey, Sarah,” Gerard said, pulling the girl away from a group of her friends. “What is this? ‘I promise to accept any role I’m given and know that I am subject to consequences for quitting the show without viable reason’? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s mostly for the upper-class-men that have been in drama for all of high school,” she said, dropping her voice down to a whisper. “A lot of girls...well, they all want lead parts, but not everyone gets a lead. This is just basically Karp saying that if you get a role, you can’t quit just because it wasn’t the one you wanted.”

“Oh,” Gerard said, quickly signing it. “Alright, then. Hey, when is this gonna be over? I mean, I have to pick up Mikey from his friend’s house at six.”

“He always does the boys first, since there are so few. I’m sure you’ll be going within the hour,” Sarah answered before walking back over to join her friends. Gerard sighed.

“This is so lame,” he said, running a hand through his hair, which was growing shaggy already. “I have homework to finish, and I have to get Mikey. I don’t even know if we have food in the house. I should have gone grocery shopping. Maybe I’ll just order out. But that’s so--”

“Gerard!” Frank said, moving to put his hand on the boy’s face, but catching himself just in time. He placed it on Gerard’s shoulder instead. “Chill. It’ll all work out, I promise. Just stop worrying so much.” Gerard took a deep breath.

“I know, I’m just--” he began. Before he could finish his sentence, his name was called. “What?”

“You’re next. Go in,” some girl said impatiently. Gerard knitted his brows together before going through the same doors he’d seen the director go through minutes before.

It was a relatively large theatre; Gerard had been in here for assemblies before, but he’d never seen a show before. He wasn’t nervous or anything; it wasn’t like he cared about getting cast or anything. He figured he’d just blow it off completely and act like a goof. At least have some fun with it.

“You...Gerard Way?” Mr. Karp asked. He was sitting in the audience. He held out a script for Gerard to take and then motioned to the stage. Gerard sighed and went up the steps, wondering if he’d be cut off and sent away early if he messed up badly enough. He could only hope. “Okay,” said the man in the audience. Gerard had to squint through the stage lights just to see him. “I want you to turn to the first page. You’ll be reading for...hmm...let’s go with Brindsley.”

“Umm...Alright...” Gerard flipped messily to the page and cleared his throat. “Umm...just start?”

“Just start,” Karp said in an impatient tone. “I’ll read every other part. Don’t forget your British accent.” Gerard almost asked what he meant. Alright...British accent it was...

“There. How do you think the room looks?” It was a cross between the Lady Bracknel voice he’d used in English class when reading [i]The Importance of Being Earnest[/i] and James Bond.

“Fabulous. I told you it would.” Karp read tonelessly.

“Suppose Harold comes back?”

“I told you: he’s not coming back ‘til tomorrow morning.”

“But supposed he comes back early and sees we’ve stolen all his furniture!” Gerard threw his hands up in the air; he might as well have fun with it, he figured.

“Oh, don’t dramatize. We haven’t stolen all his furniture...”

It went on. Gerard was trying so hard to bomb it wasn’t funny. He was running around the stage, flailing his arms, screaming, using the most ridiculous voices, but Karp wasn’t stopping him. In fact, he seemed pleased. Finally, he closed his script.

“Have you ever acted before, Gerard?”

“Umm...no...” Gerard wondered if this meant he could leave soon.

“Really?” Karp leaned forward, his brow furrowed.

“Really,” Gerard said, inching toward the edge of the stage.

“Hmm...Alright. You may go.” Gerard booked out of the theatre so fast he forgot to even say goodbye to Frank. The other boy came running after him, calling his name.

“Gerard!” Frank ran toward Gerard when he stopped and turned around. “Gerard!”

“Sorry, Frankie.” Gerard looked around the empty parking lot before giving Frank a quick hug. He evaded a kiss. “Aw, c’mon,” he said sheepishly, looking around once more. “Someone might see.” With that, he ran to the car and got in, speeding the whole way back home.

He tossed his keys on the hook in the hallway and stepped into the kitchen. Rifling through the cabinets and fridge, Gerard noted that the only edible things they had were milk, potatoes, and shredded cheese. He sighed. He really didn’t want to go grocery shopping right now. Stupid play. Stupid auditions. He was tired from trying to act so ridiculous. He pulled out his phone and got on Google.

“Things...you can make...with...potatoes, cheese...and milk...” he murmured as he typed and hit ‘search.’ He scrolled through the choices, landing on a link to the Food Network website and, upon further inspection, making his decision. “Scalloped potatoes it is,” he said triumphantly. “I fucking love technology!” he yelled to his kitchen, beginning to take out pots and pans.

Two hours later, Gerard was marvelling that this dish could take so long to cook (it was only potatoes and cheese!). In the time it was taking for this stuff to cook, Gerard had gotten Mikey, finished his homework, and done two loads of laundry. Finally, the timer on the oven buzzed, and Gerard pulled his creation out of the oven. It smelled like happiness. This could last a good few days, it looked like. Maybe he’d just buy cheese and potatoes from now on...

"What is that, Gee?" Mikey asked, sniffing the air from his seat at the table, where he was doing his homework. "It smells good!"

"It's potatoes, Mike. We just have to give it a few minutes to cool. Finish up your homework and go get washed up before we eat."

"Okay!" Mikey picked up his books and ran them up to his room to put away.

Just as he was about to take a piece off the top of the potatoes to try, Gerard's phone started buzzing on the counter. He wiped his hands on a dishtowel and picked it up, cradling the receiver between his shoulder and ear.

"Hello," he said, not having bothered to check the caller ID.

"Gerard?" It was Sarah.

"Hey, Sarah," he said, setting the plates he'd been washing on the table and getting a couple of forks out of the cutlery drawer.

"Hey, have you checked your email since about seven, by any chance?" She sounded pretty shifty. Gerard was pretty certain from her tone that this was not good news for him.

"No..."

"Oh, well...Well, Karp emailed out the cast list to everyone who auditioned..." Sarah seemed to be dancing around something she really wanted to say, but was unsure how to word.

"Oh, and...?"

"Well...I got in...I got the lead, actually--"

"Sarah, that's great," Gerard said, nodding to the fridge when Mikey walked back into the kitchen to indicate that he should get himself something to drink. "Congratulations. I'm really happy for you. Good job. So, I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow--"

"Wait," she said quickly. "There's--there's one more thing..."

"Okay..." What else could she possibly have to tell him?

"Well...umm...This is kinda--well, I guess I'll just come out and say it: you got in, too."

Gerard was silent for a moment. She couldn't be serious. With how his audition had gone, it was hard to believe that the director ever wanted to see his face again. "Well...I'll just have to email him back and tell him I can't take the role, then."

"That's the thing, Gerard," Sarah answered quietly. "You--kind of...can't. Remember that paper you signed before auditioning?"

"You have got to be shitting me," Gerard said, gaping.

"Bad words!" Mikey yelled from the table. Gerard waved his arm angrily to shut him up.

"Sarah, I have absolutely no interest in being in a play."

"I know! I know! And I'm really sorry, Gerard. I'd just figured you'd bomb, I guess. This is all my fault."

"Did anyone else get in? Ray, Frank, Bryar, someone?"

"Sorry, Gerard. You were the only one out of your group to make it." Gerard sighed and rubbed his temples, squinting.

"Okay," he finally said. "Okay. I guess...I guess I have no choice."

"I'm really sorry, Gerard," Sarah repeated.

"It's fine. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Okay. There's a meeting after school in the drama room so you can get your script and stuff."

"Okay. See you then." With that, he closed the phone and sighed, sinking into his chair at the kitchen table.

"What was that about, Gee?" Mikey asked as his big brother spooned some potatoes onto his plate for him.

"Just the weekly pound of flesh, Mikes," he answered resignedly.


Ahh, I don't know what to say. Gonna keep this A/N short. Pretty long chapter, eh? And we see a twist. Gerard? A play? How? When? I guess you'll just have to wait for the next chapter. In the meantime, go comment/rate/subscribe, please. Thanks. OverAndOutxx