Though the school day was no shorter on this particular Wednesday, it definitely seemed to pass quickly for Theo. Especially after Mrs. Reba’s class, when she had given him something to really focus on.

Lunch was uneventful, since Jess had thoroughly engrossed herself in the world of social media. He still wonders how he ended up dating Jessica, who was practically high school royalty, when he had overheard many peers lamenting on just how plain he was in the past. But today when he looked up from his script, Theo caught an eccentric looking boy staring at him from across the room. It wasn’t often that Theo caught anyone’s eye. And why would such an interesting boy like that be staring at him? There had to be more interesting things in the bustling cafeteria to look at.

The boy wore a button-down shirt with pastel-colored flowers decorating the left shoulder and stretching down his chest. Theo thought it looked like something his mom would buy for him to wear for church on Easter, but when the tan boy wore it, the shirt looked hip and fashionable. Fashionable in that way where you need to have confidence to pull it off, and even though the tan boy looked away quickly after they locked eyes for a second, Theo could tell that there was confidence hiding somewhere under the surface.

He had wavy brown hair with blonde streaks. If they weren’t in the middle of a particularly frigid January, Theo would think this boy had just returned from a beach vacation. His blue eyes had some sort of sparkling quality to it, like the ocean shimmering brightly while the sun sets. His whole ambiance felt warm and exciting. Theo wondered how he could feel that from just a quick glance.

He didn’t want to freak the guy out by staring at him, so he quickly stuffed the purple book back into his bag and started a conversation with his girlfriend, who looked miffed about being distracted from her Instagram scrolling. They talked about their plans for later in the day and the rest of the week, but Theo felt himself watching for the tan boy from the corner of his eye, maybe even hoping to catch him looking his way again.

There were three more classes after lunch, none of them being Theo’s electives. He sat quietly at his desk during each period, thinking hard about Mrs. Reba’s words from before lunch while his teachers droned on about topics he couldn’t focus on.

I know you have a passion unlike my other students. I know you act indifferent, but when I assign something that catches your interest you put your heart into it. And I want someone who puts their heart into their work to be in this show.

Was he really all that passionate? Theo tried thinking back to the assignments he had worked especially hard on in Mrs. Reba’s class. Some of the books they read had been sort of interesting, but he didn’t remember working too hard on any of those assignments. Maybe it didn’t feel like work when he enjoyed the stories. Is that why he can’t pinpoint any moments of passion for English?

The bell rings shortly after the afternoon announcements are finished and Theo quickly heads for his car in the student lot. It usually takes a while to get out of the parking lot, but if he moves fast, he could miss the bulk of the traffic. On his way out, he spots Mrs. Reba standing outside her classroom watching the wave of students flow out the front doors. She spots him in the crowd and gives him a friendly wave. He half-smiles back in her direction before powering through the horde, hoping she didn’t have something else to talk to him about.

He hoists himself into the driver’s seat of the SUV he inherited from his grandpa and turned off his radio that he always kept on. He needed some true peace and quiet to think about the offer. During the day, he only had a few moments here and there to read the script he was given, but the moments he could spare for the story were his favorite moments of the day. He tried not getting too invested at first, only reading excerpts and short scenes. Unfortunately, the short scenes sparked his interest and he wanted nothing more than to go home and read the whole thing in his room.

But just because he liked the story didn’t mean he could commit to three months of rehearsal. Not to mention the fact that he might not even be a good actor, or he might not even enjoy time on the stage. There was a lot he still needed to consider, and he felt grateful Mrs. Reba had given him until the coming Monday to make up his mind.

He waved half-heartedly at a few acquaintances he saw in the parking lot and soon he was on the open road, headed for his house that was maybe ten minutes away. He rolled down the windows for some fresh air and felt pretty good, considering the fact that he was at risk of either failing a core class or humiliating himself in the spring play.

He parks his car behind his dad’s truck and notices that his mom’s little blue Prius is parked next to it. That’s odd, he thinks to himself, since his mom often worked at the hospital until seven, and it was just barely 3:30.

“Hey, I’m home,” he hollers into the empty foyer as he kicks off his sneakers and set his bag down at the base of the stairs. He takes a few steps in the direction of the kitchen before he hears hushed voices arguing.

“I don’t understand why you can’t clean up your act, Paul,” he hears his mom say with a bitter tone.

“Yeah? Well, I don’t understand why you’re always up my ass, Sherry,” his dad responds sharply, before he hears the scraping of a kitchen chair being pushed back. “Maybe my ‘act’ is my business, and you should stay out of it!”

“I’m your wife. Your ‘act’ is my ‘act,’ or did you forget after the last mess I had to take care of for you?” she responds calmly.

“I don’t want to hear it! I’m going out,” his dad bites back, and Theo hears footsteps coming in his direction. Before he can head upstairs, he sees his dad through the archway of the kitchen, moving briskly towards the door.

“Hey, dad,” Theo says quietly as his dad pushes past him for the door, slamming it behind him. Theo turns back to see his mom approaching him, still in her light blue scrubs.

“Hi, honey,” she says wearily, reaching out to place a hand on his face, “how was school? Anything new?”

Theo leans into her hand for a moment before responding. “It was fine. Mrs. Reba offered me extra credit.”

“Do you need extra credit?” his mom looks at him with an arched brow, now wearing that “mom” look for when she wants him to tell the truth. Theo had not brought up anything about classes he was struggling in, and he kicked himself for bringing it up after what had looked like another sour argument.

“Ah, um… maybe?” he says, hearing his voice become higher pitched with his lie. “But it’s enough credit to bring me up to a B-.”

His mom lets out a deep sigh and shakes her head. “I won’t even ask what you have right now. Just make sure you graduate, ‘kay?” she says, giving him a pat on the cheek.

He smiles at her sweetly as she heads towards the hallway. “I’m going to lie down for a bit. Got off early for some work stuff and I am not going to waste some nap time,” she says as she enters her dark room.

“I’ll be sure to keep it down,” Theo jokes, before heading up the stairs with his bag.

He closes the door to his room and finally settles in to read the play, starting from the beginning this time. Before he knows it, two hours have passed. He has dog-eared his favorite pages and reread his favorite scenes.

“Do you really think we can make this work? Hasn’t it been too long?” Rowan, the male lead, says in the final scene.

“I think we can do it. But love is a team effort. I can’t give you my all if you can’t give yourself right back. So tell me, Rowan… can you meet me halfway?” Marissa, the female lead, responds.

Theo feels his heart flutter as he reads and rereads the final scene, feeling the love these characters thought was unrequited for so long finally being communicated. He feels his cheeks flush when he reads the simple stage directions instructing the two actors to kiss.

He knows right away that he will figure out a way to be in the show. Though it may be rough, he’s going to make it work. He needs to. Even if he doesn’t know why yet.