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A dozen of their classmates were scattered in the first few rows of the worn-looking maroon seats, while Mrs. Lovell stood at the foot of the stage with the two other teachers who had watched him audition.

Nat was on her tiptoes by a row of seats on the opposite end of the room. Beside her, Yu leaned back, bobbing his foot like he was already bored.

“You’re messing with tradition, dude,” Nat said.

Arlo had mentioned that she usually picked him and Yu up so they could get food and sing along to the cast CD on the way over. He thought he’d gotten a bead on Nat and hadn’t expected her to actually mind, but there was a hint of shame in Arlo’s voice as he replied. “Sorry, I just wanted to—”

“Suck face with your boyfriend on the way over? Just try not to forget your friends. Senior year and everything.”

She grinned at them and Arlo’s face relaxed.

“Don’t you keep sayin’ you see too much of me already?” Bren asked as they sat down.

“Fuck, you’re right,” Nat said and bowed her head to Arlo. “Thank you for the peace and quiet.”

“You’re just as loud as I am.”

“Yeah, but I’m a delight.”

“Debatable,” Yu said.

Bren expected Nat to take a swipe. Instead, she gave a nod of approval and leaned back into her seat. She made a cute sound when Arlo leaned his head on Bren’s shoulder.

The buzz of multiple conversations grew over the next thirty minutes. Bren was distracted from Nat’s story about messing up a line in Into The Woods last year when Dustin barged through the door with a loud whoop.

Rather than one of his usual bellowing hellos, he gave them a nod but sat down next to Morgan.

“Hey, is Dustin friends with you lot or not?”

Nat rolled her eyes and Arlo looked like he was trying to smile but just gave off an air of exhaustion.

“Depends on the time of year.”

“And if he’s trying to get laid,” Nat added.

Bren waited for them to explain, but when all Nat did was make a disgusted sound, he elbowed Arlo in the side.

“He was really friendly during fall play back in grade nine. Like, we’d do homework at each other’s houses, hang out on the weekends sometimes. Then fall play ended and he sort of just—”

“Turned into a two-faced cock-womble.” Nat finished.

Arlo shook his head. “He wasn’t ever, like, mean or anything. But he never wanted to hang out anymore, so we just stopped asking.” Arlo leaned his cheek against his palm as his eyes drifted up to the catwalk. “Then the musical started up and he was eager to be friends again. We were hanging out, but then he started dating Brittney Tanner and he had better things to do.”

“And now he’s trying to stick his dick in evil,” Nat grumbled.

Bren’s brow furrowed. He still didn’t get what Nat’s problem was with Morgan. He’d only run into her a couple times since that first day, but she’d always been nice, if a little exhausting.

“Alright, everyone. Time to get started,” Mrs. Lovell shouted.

The conversations petered out until the room was silent.

“I think the best place to start is with introductions. I’m Mrs. Lovell and this is the fortieth musical I’ll be directing at Peacock.” She pushed a strand of grey hair towards the knot that was bundled loosely at the base of her skull. “Joining me, as usual, is our music director and conductor, Mr. Greene.”

The immediate spike of affection Bren felt whenever he encountered a fellow ginger waivered when Mr. Greene bowed in their direction. Perfect teeth, a square jaw with stubble that looked effortlessly rugged and a pair of arms that were putting the sleeves of his polo through its paces. It was like looking at a version of himself in a world where Arlo got hold of a monkey’s paw.

He leaned over to whisper something that he hoped would make him blush, but he was too late. Nat was fighting for her life next to him and, after shoving him in the shoulder, took an elbow to her side.

“And this,” Mrs. Lovell continued, gesturing to a woman in her thirties who wore a pair of yoga pants and an oversized t-shirt. “Is Mrs. Dénommée.”