Page 11 of Reaching Avery
Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose. “You are such a sarcastic buttwipe.”
I grinned and took a bite of my pizza.
“Do you think Mr. Lee will tell us today what production we’re doing this fall?” she asked between mouthfuls of her food.
I’d decided to take drama again that year, because I’d had way too much fun with it the year before. It was next period, right after lunch.
“I don’t know,” I answered. “Doubt it, though. He’ll probably want everyone to introduce themselves and play that game where we all have to say something interesting about ourselves, which will take up most of today’s class.”
A few baseball guys came over to our table after that. Sarah seemed a bit uncomfortable at first, but they were nice guys and didn’t ignore her or treat her badly. Two of them—Travis and Ricky—were my only other close friends at school.
“Dude, I was so stoked when I saw you’re on the team this year,” Travis said to me. “We’re gonna have a kickass season.”
The baseball season didn’t start until early spring, so there was still a while, but we started training early. My last class of the day was set aside for it, and we’d lift weights, run, and all of that. Basically, a free period where I got to work out.
“Some guys are ticked that you aren’t playing football,” Ricky said.
I’d debated on playing football too, since it took place in the fall, but I’d chosen drama over it. The Friday night football games would’ve interfered with the theater shows too much. Baseball games normally happened earlier on in the day and wouldn’t cause a problem for me to do both in the spring semester.
“Well, I hate to break it to you, boys,” Sarah said, draping an arm around my shoulders. “But Mav the Super Amazing Athlete is in drama again.”
The guys smirked at her, and one of them—Steven—made a somewhat rude comment about theater kids, but Travis shut him down real quick.
Sarah smiled at Travis and adjusted her glasses before looking down at her half-eaten food.
After lunch, Sarah and I walked to the performing arts building. Once inside, we entered the auditorium and moved toward the stage. It was hard to explain, but there was a particular scent in the theater that comforted me. The sight of all the aisles of seats and balcony above them added to that feeling.
Mr. Lee was on the stage, sitting in a chair with other chairs around him, making a huge circle. His last name was really Cheng, but he liked for us to call him Lee. His black hair was longer than it’d been last semester, and it nearly fell past his ears.
“Hey, guys!” he greeted upon seeing us. We were some of the first ones in there. “Have a seat in the greeting circle.”
“The greeting circle?” Sarah asked, taking the chair beside him. “You’re going to scare away the new kids.”
“If they’re going to be in drama, they need to at least be able to talk in front of their own classmates,” Mr. Lee said in a matter-of-fact tone. His brown eyes always looked so warm, and his welcoming smile never faltered. “I’m glad you’re with us again, Maverick.”
“Me too,” I said, feeling a fluttering in my chest.
It felt good not to be mocked or looked at like I was crazy.
When other people arrived, I recognized a lot of them from last year. Most of them lived and breathed the theater, and a lot wanted to continue that passion after graduation. Chris had been like that, which was why he’d moved to New York to pursue that dream.
I still hadn’t talked to him, and I didn’t really know what that meant.
New faces then appeared, some looking uneasy and some excited. But when a certain face came into view, I stared stupid for a second or two.
Avery took the last vacant chair in the circle and kept his gaze lowered to the stage. His over-sized T-shirt engulfed his small frame, and his skinny jeans—as well as his shoes—had holes in them.
Mr. Lee began the class, and after a few minutes, he announced his idea of going around the circle and having each person say their name and one thing about themselves.
Avery lifted his head at that, and he looked horrified.
I wondered why he joined drama class if he appeared so against the idea. In the past, though, the school administration had been known to just put kids in there when they had nowhere else to put them. So maybe that’s what’d happened.
His gaze darted around the room before settling on me.
I froze, embarrassed that he’d caught me staring at him, but then he looked away.
Sarah spoke first. “I’m Sarah, and Iloveeverything about theater. This is my fourth year in this class, and let me tell you, it’s the best class ever. All you newbies will love it.”
