Theo and Julian sit together during lunch every day of the following week. They spend half of each lunch period chatting about nonsense, and the other half trying their best to go over lines. However, when Mrs. Reba asks Theo to rehearse the scene off book again after their week together, she is pleasantly surprised by his progress.

“I’m glad to see your lunchtime tutoring sessions were effective,” she tells the boys after rehearsal.

“Yeah, it was nice to have someone to practice with,” Theo admits. “My mom and dad work a lot, and none of my other friends really get why I have to rehearse, but Julian makes it easy to learn.”

Julian smiles at the ground, hoping that Theo can’t see him blushing. It’s a relief to hear that he wasn’t the only one enjoying their lunches together. He had been especially nervous after their third day, when Jessica stopped by the table only momentarily to say she was going to sit with some girls from her dance team. She didn’t come back to the table for the rest of the week. Theo had told him not to worry about it, and Julian tried his best not to feel like he was intruding on their time as a couple.

“In that case,” Mrs. Reba continues, “perhaps it would be beneficial for you to continue practicing together? I know it can feel more overwhelming as you work on memorizing more of the script.”

“Oh, I don’t want to intrude-” Julian starts to protest.

“I think that’s a great idea!” Theo interrupts.

Julian stares at the tall, pale, dark-haired boy beside him for a few moments. “Um, yeah… yes. That is a great idea,” he says awkwardly. Why wouldn’t Theo want to be rid of him as soon as possible? Didn’t he miss having lunch with his girlfriend? All they did during lunch was chat about nothing and go over lines… why isn’t he bored of him yet?

“Then it’s settled. Next week I’d like to start seeing scene two come together, so make sure you tie up your loose ends with scene one, alright?” Mrs. Reba gathers her things and heads for the door.

“Right. See you later, Mrs. Reba!” Theo says with a wave, which she happily returns. The girls, who had all been standing in a huddle near the door to wait for them, shout their goodbyes as she departs.

“Ready to go?” Tracy asks, leaving the huddle to join Theo and Julian by the desk Mrs. Reba uses.

“Where exactly are we going again?” Theo asks.

“Honestly, you’d think HE was the one that just moved here, not Julian,” Val scoffs, earning a glare from Julian.

“Karaoke, baby! The Mexican place on 4^th Street has karaoke Thursdays!” Susan says, practically jumping with excitement.

“I already regret agreeing to this,” Julian grumbles.

“I think it’ll be fun!” Theo says while wrapping an arm around Julian’s shoulders. “Do you want to ride with me?”

“Huh? Oh… Yeah, that- that sounds good,” Julian stutters, flustered by the sudden contact.

The group heads for the parking lot, and the girls give Julian knowing looks, which go unnoticed by Theo. They load into their cars and head out, hoping to get seats before the restaurant fills up with Baby Boomers.

“So… are you really OK with us doing more lunch rehearsals?” Julian asks.

Theo gives him an incredulous look. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, it’s just, I noticed that Jessica stopped sitting with us after a couple of days with me being there. I don’t want to come between you guys, or cause arguments, or something stupid.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Theo says, waving a dismissive hand at him. “We aren’t super lovey-dovey like most kids are during high school. We break up sometimes, but we always work it out.”

“I didn’t know you guys had broken up before,” Julian says, twisting his backpack strap in his fingers.

“Yeah, it’s no big deal,” Theo says with a shrug.

Julian can’t help but feel immensely uncomfortable while hearing Theo talk about his girlfriend this way. He had just assumed they were together all the time, like a high school power couple, but now he’s learning that looks can be deceiving. From what he had heard when arriving at school, they had been dating since freshman year. By now, wouldn’t they be inseparable? Or at least more dependent on each other?

“Do you love her?” Julian asks suddenly. He is immediately shocked by his own boldness and he wishes he hadn’t said anything.

After a few moments, Theo responds with a sigh.

“I guess.”

I guess? What kind of answer is that? Julian thinks to himself.

The rest of the ride passes in silence. Not the awkward silence, like after Jimmy’s, but the kind of silence that doesn’t carry any emotion. They were both thinking awfully hard about things, things they didn’t feel like sharing. But that was OK, and they were both content simply existing near each other for a few moments.

Julian was thinking about their lunchtime interactions in the past week. He found himself looking forward to his lunch period, hoping it wouldn’t end when he was with Theo. He had never felt like that before. Most times, being in the cafeteria made him anxious, what with bustling students and possible harassment. It was different with Theo, though. They hardly had any awkward moments between them, not since the first day, and they were always laughing.

They hadn’t talked about Jessica yet, though. Julian didn’t know how to go about asking someone questions about their significant other, especially since that significant other had made it blatantly obvious that she wasn’t a fan of him. Theo didn’t talk about her too much, just mentioned her in passing. Stuff like, “oh, Jessica likes that show,” or “Jessica told me about that one thing,” or whatever. Theo also didn’t seem to notice the daggers Jessica glared at him every time he came to sit at their table.

Over in the driver’s seat, Theo was thinking hard about something similar. Julian hadn’t brought up Jessica very often, other than to just check that he wasn’t overstepping boundaries. He was really considerate like that, making sure Jess wasn’t uncomfortable at the table or missing Theo while they rehearsed. Theo wondered why he didn’t think of things like that when he was with her. Was he a bad boyfriend?

He had always thought of him and Jessica as separate entities who happened to make out sometimes. It was harsh, but that’s what it had always felt like. They weren’t terribly involved in each other’s lives, they didn’t know each other’s friends, and they didn’t tell each other everything. Was that weird?

That was how his parents had always been. They had separate everything; separate closets, cars, checking accounts, cell phone bills, et cetera. He hadn’t though about the possibility of intertwining parts of his life with another person.

It would be nice, though, he thought to himself. It would be nice to have someone I could depend on like that.

Now, Julian had asked him if he loved her. He always assumed that he did. He liked being around her, he liked talking to her, and he liked kissing her. But did any of that stuff add up to him loving her? And did it really even matter if he loved her? They were still in high school; it wasn’t like they were getting married or something. Up until now he had felt content saying that he was in love with her and leaving it at that. So why did he say “I guess?”

Theo also found himself wondering if Jessica felt the same way. She never acted like she was super pleased with him, more just like she was content. But that’s not a bad thing, right? Does love always have to be exciting?

The boys are pulled out of their thoughts when they arrive at the Mexican restaurant, “Los Gringos Locos.” They wait patiently at the hostess stand for a table for eight to be prepared, the girls chatting excitedly about what songs they’re going to sing when it’s their turn. They decide that everyone has to sing at least one song. If someone doesn’t, that person has to pay for cookie dough flautas for the table.

Once they are seated, the girls order without looking at the menu. They frequently visit the restaurant on Thursdays to participate in karaoke night, and thus each have a usual order. Theo and Julian, who are far from house regulars, take a few extra minutes to browse their options.

“Who wants to sing a duet with me?” Susan asks, tapping her hands on the table.

“Me! Me!” Elena shouts, tugging Susan by the hand to talk to the DJ and join the karaoke queue.

The rest of the girls quickly decide their configurations and head to the DJ booth. Val decides to sing a solo, and Tina, Quinn, and Tracy decide to sing all together. Theo and Julian order their food, then sit quietly side by side.

“Julian, do you want to sing a duet with me?”

“Wait, you’re going to sing a song?” Julian asked with an arched brow.

“Well, yeah. I saw the cookie dough flautas on the menu, and an order with enough for all of us is not cheap,” Theo chuckles.

“Alright then… what would you like to sing?”

“Hmm… how about we do that one from Grease? With the ‘hoo, hoo, hoos?’” Theo suggests.

Julian can’t help but snort with laughter. “You want to sing ‘You’re the One that I Want,’ from Grease? In a crowded restaurant? With me?”

“Uh… yeah? You can be John Travolta’s part, if you want,” Theo says, not understanding Julian’s hesitance.

“Well, if we’re going to do this, I am Sandy all the way. You can be Danny,” Julian laughs.

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll go add our names to the list,” Theo stands, and heads to the booth, where the girls are finishing up their song requests.

Julian only realizes he’s watching him go, wearing a soft smile when Elena comes back to the table and promptly begins teasing him.

“So, you two seem pretty comfy, eh?” she says, wiggling her eyebrows at him.

Julian immediately wipes the grin off his face to glare at her. “Shut up, we are not.”

“That’s not what I saw,” Susan says, sitting across from him next to Elena. “He used to be rigid as hell, but look at you guys! Touchy feely, hanging out on purpose, and did I just overhear you’re going to sing a duet from Grease?”

“It was his idea,” Julian mumbles.

“Ugh, I can practically hear the wedding bells already!” Elena says while throwing her arms into the air. “I better be your best man!”

“Oh my god, would you shut up?! He has a girlfriend, for crying out loud!” Julian says, in a harsh yet hushed tone.

“Who, Jessica Turner? They’ve been on-again, off-again since like, forever ago,” Susan says. “I’ve seen them in the halls. He doesn’t smile the same way when he’s with her.”

“I noticed that too! His eyes have like, an extra sparkle when he’s looking at you,” Elena agrees. “I’m not saying anything… but I’m just saying.” She leans back in her chair with her hands up in mock surrender.

“What a pity, I thought we finally had a straight guy in the Drama Club. I guess I’ll never get a boyfriend now, since Julian stole the most eligible bachelor,” Susan says, sniffling pitifully.

“Susan, I swear to god-”

“You swear to god, what?” Theo asks, arriving at the table with the other four girls.

“He was just arguing with us about whether or not water is wet,” Elena explains nonchalantly. “His stance is ‘this is too stupid to argue about,’ so I guess we’ll leave it at that.”

“You guys are weird,” Val says as she arrives at her seat.