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“The Drowsy Chaperone.”
“The what?” Dan questioned.
“The Drowsy Chaperone,” PJ repeated. “That’s the show this year. It’s pretty much a spoof of Broadway shows. It literally ends with three weddings on an airplane. But the set will be really cool! The show is meant to take place in an apartment and on a Broadway stage simultaneously so like I get to be very creative with the set.”
Dan ran his hands through his hair and cringed as he realized that they had two laps left to go on the track and his hair was already starting to curl. “And you want me to join because…” Dan trailed off in question. He really didn’t know why PJ was encouraging him to join technical crew for the show. He was useless at sketching things. He was awful at painting. He definitely was too weak to move any giant set pieces around. PJ had been working on designing the set for ages. Wasn’t he worried Dan was going to, like, set a set piece on fire or something?
“It’s my senior year, Dan. I want to be able to actually spend time with you after school. Plus, it would get us both away from this demon.” PJ tilted his head in the direction of the coach that was forcing them to run laps for as long as he saw fit. PJ ran out of breath then and paused with his hands on his knees. Dan slowed down to a walk. PJ looked up after him. “Just think about it, Dan. Who knows, maybe you’ll make some new friends.”
The only other person Dan knew who was involved in the musical was Louise. He still didn’t think it would be something he would like to do but, well, his resume was pretty thin. (Not that his parents reminded him every time they saw him. Not at all.) Maybe Louise could talk him into it.
Louise was cast as Mrs. Tottendale, an old woman who was hosting a ginormous wedding but would fall in love with her butler and get married also. (The plot was convoluted to Dan, but Louise told him it was meant to be that way.) She had been preparing for the part for months, running lines with Dan even whilst she was still working on the fall play. Needless to say, Louise was excited about the show.
“Hey Louise, wait up.” Dan chased her down the senior hallway.
“Dan!” she shouted, picking him up in a hug as if she hadn’t seen him just a few hours before at lunch time. “Ew, you’re sweaty,” she muttered as he dropped him.
“Ya, afterschool athletics will do that to you.”
“Well, you know if you joined the musical, you wouldn’t have to do afterschool PE,” she claimed in an overly sweet falsetto.
Dan groaned. “Oh, so PJ already got you in on this.” He groaned, not even pretending it was a question.
“Yep,” she chirped.
He didn’t say anything.
“Don’t act like you don’t want to do it Dan,” she said, turning towards him. “You just go home and sit in your room in the dark. You’d like it, actually interactions with other people who are just as awkward as you. You’d get to spend time with me and Peej. Plus, I heard that the tech crew head provides an endless supply of cookies.”
Dan grunted noncommittally.
“Not to mention all the parties we’d get invited to! Cat and Tyler’s afterparties are the stuff of legends.” Then she smirked, “Who knows, maybe you’d even get to hook up with one of the featured dancers.”
“Ew, Louise stop.”
“I’m just saying, the cast and crew are awesome people. You need to make some friends. Peej and I will be graduating. We don’t want you to be lonely without us.”
Dan didn’t like to think about it. Leave it to him, a socially anxious nerd, to only befriend two people who’d be going off to college and totally forget about him in a year. Maybe he should do it. Maybe there would be some other kids like him, with pierced ears and dark black clothes. Still, he wasn’t a theatre person. “But, like…” How can he phrase this delicately? “Don’t only gay guys do theatre?”
“You’re ridiculous,” Louise claimed and slapped his arm. “I totally hooked up with Mike O’Brien at last year’s cast party.”
They walked in silence for a moment as Dan tried to weigh the pros and cons. As much as Louise liked to talk, she was good at judging when Dan needed to think.
“I don’t know, Louise…”
“You don’t need to decide now, Dan. Just… think about it okay?” Most people would stop then, but this was Louise. “Plus, I totally have a video of you singing "I Am Adolpho" that would get my Youtube channel some hits.” She began to pull out her phone.
“Ok, okay.” She really was perfect for the role of Mrs. Tottendale. She had the nurturing wisdom of an old woman, but knew exactly how to get her way.
“Well, I guess it wouldn’t be too bad to get some free cookies, even if it means hanging out with you and PJ all the time.”
“Hey!” she shouted playfully, shoving him in the arm. They walked down the hallway, Louise going on and on about how cool the set design was going to be for the show.