To Center Stage [20/30]
“Yeah sure I don’t see any problem with that.” Next to Brendon Ryan smiled and looked at the stores they passed, hoping to see a book store where they would be able to find the journals they were looking for.
“Do you know where a book store is? I haven’t been in this mall since I was little, and that was just to go to the arcade right next to the entrance. Is that place even there any more?”
Brendon thought for a moment. “I think they moved. I use to go there once and awhile with Jon. The book store is a little further down if you would like to go there first, then we can go get your shirts if that’s what you would like to do.” Ryan nodded and they continued down the length of the path till they reached a three floored book store and Ryan’s heart stopped beating for a minute. “I take it you like books?”
Ryan walked in slowly, almost like he was walking on glass and a false move will shatter the whole floor. “That’s an understatement.”
Brendon chuckled. “Well, I guess we’ll need to pick some up then. We can’t have you having withdrawals. What type of books do you like to read?”
“Anything really. I mostly read mystery, like detective books, but they like to depict that stuff to be so easy when in reality it’s not. Once in awhile I indulge in a sci-fi book or romance novel.”
“Wait, you read romance novels? Aren’t those for chicks?” Brendon asked.
“That’s so stereotypical of you Brendon. Have you ever read one before?” Ryan didn’t even wait for an answer before he was pulling Brendon over to a computer catalog.
“No I haven’t because they are all the same.” Ryan shook his head and turned his head to face Brendon, while his fingers typed away on the small keyboard.
“They are not all the same Brendon. Am I the same as every boy you’ve met?”
“No of course you’re not.” Brendon sighed. “What book did you have in mind?”
Ryan smiled and hit a button and a reminder slip was printed out and he was already taking off into the direction of the book shelf it was located on. After weaving through shelves, almost knocking a lady over, and throwing a few books around, Ryan finally found the book.
“This book was the first one that I read. It was awhile ago so I don’t really remember much of it, and I was young so a skipped over most of the ah, graphic scenes.” Ryan held the book out to Brendon who took it and started reading the back cover. “At least you didn’t judge it by the cover. I may have had to shove it down your throat.”
Brendon leaned against the bookshelf and began to read:
Taking place in the time of the Salem witch trials, a young man struggles to find who he is in the town. With the rumor of his long time girlfriend Alicia being a witch, he’s not sure what he should do. What does it take to stand up to a village of unforgiving and stubborn citizens who wouldn’t listen to you even if you could prove it? What if the one you truly care about has the threat of being burnt alive, for witch craft she never performed, but you yourself?
“You sure this is a romance novel Ryan? Sounds like something that we would read in school.” But when he looked up Ryan wasn’t standing there any more. After a moment of pure embarrassment of talking to himself, Brendon began searching for Ryan.
He went through the shelves of horror books; the piles of text books, the seemingly endless supply of biographies on people he didn’t even know existed and he even cut through the café that was connected to the store. Only pausing for a moment to smell the wonderful pastry and coffee being made, he made his way over to the music department of the store. It was only a small section and it only took a quick glance to notice that Ryan was no where to be found.
Mean while, Ryan was over in the journal section looking for the perfect journal. He had assumed that Brendon would have remembered that that was the main reason they went into the store in the first place and would find him over here. Not worrying to much, seeing as Brendon was a big boy and could take care of himself, he looked up and down the long wall of several journals. Some were just not him, some he knew Brendon wouldn’t like, and others he didn’t even know why they bothered trying to sell them.
“Ah, here you are!” Brendon said wrapping his arms around Ryan from behind.
“Well, this is why we came in here in the first place. I see you still have the book, are you going to read it?” Brendon nodded and Ryan leaned back. “Maybe we could read it together. Like I said I haven’t read that in forever. It may be fun.”
Brendon chuckled. “So let me get this straight. We are going to be writing journals for each other to read, be acting the main parts in a play together, and be living in the same house in the same room. Now we are going to be reading a book together? I wonder if we’ll get to see each other at all.” Ryan laughed softly.
“It won’t all be happening right after another. We don’t have any classes together except when they let either of us go to the other’s drama class. And we won’t see each other when we are sleeping. I say this is a sufficient amount of time together. How about these ones?”
The rest of the day went by quickly and before Brendon and Ryan knew it, they were ready to leave. It was only two o’clock, and instead of being in the way while Brendon’s dad put in the new bed, Brendon decided to bring Ryan to rehearsals to meet Spencer. His best friend and his boyfriend have to meet at some point don’t they?
The only people in school that knew about Ryan and what he went through were his teacher and the principle, and even they didn’t know the main story. When they got to then entrance Brendon turned to Ryan.
“Do you want to walk in hand in hand or would you rather just get use to everything first before we let this out?” Instead of answering him, Ryan grabbed Brendon’s hand and pulled the door open. Brendon smiled and walked through with Ryan right behind him. When they got into the theater, the lights were darkened, but Brendon could see that the tech booth was lit and Spencer was sitting there looking drop dead bored. Looking toward the stage, Brendon saw no one however. Confused, Brendon made his way over to the booth knocking on the door softly.
“Who is it?” Spencer called.
“It’s Brendon, I want you to meet Ryan,” he called back. Before he knew it the door was open and he was being pulled in.
“Shut up, will you!” Spencer yelled.
“Why aren’t you being quiet then!” Brendon yelled in a hush voice.
“Because it’s not weird for me to be here!”
“Why do I need to be quiet?”
“It’s not that it’s weird for you to be here. It’s Ryan.” Brendon got a confused look on his face and Ryan was right there with him.
“Why is it weird for me to be here? I’m one of the main characters.”
“It’s Jon Brendon, the things he’s saying it’s unbelievable! I’m surprised you haven’t heard them. You were probably too worried about Ryan, which I would have been also.” Spencer shook his head and sighed. “Seriously I would never had expected it from him.”
Brendon looked at Ryan who had an expression on his face that was a mixture between, mad, curious, sad and confusion. “What did he say?”
“I can’t say it.”
“Spencer, if you are my best friend, you will tell me right now!” Brendon screamed.
“Calm down Brendon. It’s obviously something difficult for him to say. I would like to know, but I understand if you can’t say it because you don’t want to get into the middle of things-“
“Oh no, it’s not that. He and I aren’t friends any more. And I guess you have a right to know considering you have been out this whole time.” Spencer stopped and Brendon and Ryan waited in silence for him to continue. He sighed once more and walked over to the sound board looking out the window at the stage. “I tried to stop the rumors Brendon. I really did. They say you beat Ryan, that’s why he hasn’t been here.”
Ryan’s mouth dropped and Brendon clenched his hands in anger, in the process crunching Ryan’s that he was still holding.
“Why would they think that? I swear Brendon has never laid a hand on me!” Ryan pulled his hand away for a minute then grabbed Brendon’s hand again once he realized what he was doing.
“I’m not too sure. I think Cash told him something. Cash was pretty pissed when you wouldn’t tell him what was going on. He thinks you told me everything, but I told him you told me nothing. The only thing I knew was that you and Ryan were, well are, dating. Which he already knew.”
“I don’t even know what to say...” Brendon said quietly. “Getting angry won’t solve this, right now. I’ll just show everyone that Ryan means the world to me and I would never hurt him.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“He’ll do it on stage. Even when you are faking some emotion, you can usually tell where it’s coming from. Where is everyone?” Ryan asked Spencer.
“Mrs. Clayton thought they would like to practice outside. They are coming back in here to rehearse on stage. I’m supposed to be programming the lights for the show. I had that done in 2 seconds.”
“Well then let’s do this. We’ll go and pretend we were practicing, and then when they walk in, we start the song at the end of the movie, when they are in the garden. Does that work for you Brendon?”
“Yeah. Before we head down to the stage, Spencer this is Ryan, Ryan this is Spencer.”
“It’s nice to meet you Ryan, though I wish I didn’t have to tell you what I did,” Spencer said sadly.
“I understand it is what it is. It’s nice to meet you too. Brendon has told me a lot of good things about you.” Ryan gave Spencer a small smile and Brendon pulled him out of the room and down to the stage.
Once on the stage, they began to hear voices of people coming down the hall.
“Well that was quick; we didn’t even have to pretend to rehearse. Do you remember the words to that song?” Ryan nodded and once the doors open, Brendon began singing loudly, due to their lack of microphones.
“Do I love you because you’re beautiful, or are you beautiful because I love you? Am I making believe I see in you a boy to lovely to, be really true? Do I want you because you’re wonderful or are you wonderful, because I want you? Are you the sweet invention of a lover’s dream? Or are you really as beautiful as you seem?” Ryan walked away from Brendon and began talking with his back still to him.
“Well maybe you are imagining me, and maybe I’m imagining you too.” Ryan turned around to face Brendon. “Am I making believe I see in you a man to perfect to, be really true? Do I want you because you’re wonderful or are you wonderful because I want you.”
Brendon came into the song and they sang together. “Are you the sweet invention of a lover’s dream? Or are you really as wonderful as you seem?”
There were a few things going on in Brendon’s head at this point. He remembers the movie, he remembers this part. The Prince kisses Cinderella’s hand, then her cheek. Well, maybe Brendon should just kiss him, and show everyone what he really means. Then again, he doesn’t really wan his first kiss with Ryan to be on stage in front of people, trying to prove his point.
After a quick battle back and forth with his head, he decided on doing both in a way. He quickly walked over to Ryan and gave him a small kiss on the edge of his lips, just barely touching them. He didn’t even give time for Ryan’s react before he was saying his next line.
“I always dreamed that it would happen this way, and now it really has. I never want this night to end.”
“Neither do I.”
“Are you the sweet invention of a lover’s dream? Or are you really as wonderful as you seem?”
Just when they finished the lights cut out and Brendon felt himself being tugged. He was brought down the stairs, stumbling at the bottom, and didn’t even get a chance to regain his balance before he was being pulled into the direction of the exit. The doors open and he could see the outline of Ryan as he went into the light and his whole figure came into view.
Ryan kept walking out of the building and Brendon was right behind him. “Brendon I need to ask you something.”
“Okay you could have done that without ripping my arm off.”
“Sorry about that.” Ryan kept walking, but let go of Brendon’s arm. Brendon rubbed the spot where Ryan’s death grip was while running to catch up.
“What is it that you have to ask me?”
“Are you not comfortable with showing affection in public? And I don’t mean saying like I love you and that sort of stuff.”
“No of course not, why would you think that?” Brendon said grabbing Ryan’s shoulder to stop him.
“Back there, when you were going for the kiss, I could tell you were debating it.”
“Ryan...” Brendon raised a hand to Ryan’s check. “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, I just didn’t want our first kiss to be on a stage trying to prove to people that I don’t hit you. I want it to be more special. Not that that would have been special at all.”
“Oh. I’m sorry Brendon.” Brendon grabbed Ryan’s hand and gave him a smile and nodded in the direction of their house.
“Should we go home?” And Ryan for once, got to go to a home where he knew he was safe, loved, and belonging.
A/N: It's been awhile. Oh well, i think this long chapter should make up for it. Just to make a note the book description is not from Cinderella, but it's also in italics. I just wanted to point that out. Anyways, the second part of my Out of my head story should be done by Friday. Another chapter of this by Sunday.
A link to Out Of My head is here.