Drama (And some acting, too)

This is where it starts to get interesting. Some changes are brewing. Hold on to your hats, folks! And Koira- thanks, as always, for your enthusiasm!

Enjoy.

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“I told my mom last night.”

“Hmm? Told your mom?” Sarah asked, distractedly, apparently daydreaming as she drove.

“Sarah.”

“Yeah? What?” She glanced over at Ryan, and then looked back at the road.

“I told my mom.”

“You told her… WHOA- you told her?!” She was gaping at him, her expression lingering somewhere between wonder and unease. “So… what did she say?”

“Oh, it was exactly like I thought it would be. She told me that she’s known for years, she was just waiting for me to feel like I was ready.”

“Aww, that’s really sweet. See? I told you, buttface.” Sarah had been trying to get Ryan to come out to his family quite consistently over the past year. “So did you tell your dad too?”

“No… I told mom not to say anything to him yet. I don’t know how he’ll take it.”

“I’m sure he’ll be cool with it,” Sarah reassured him. “I mean, honestly, he probably already knows anyway.”

“Come on. I’m not that obvious,” Ryan smirked.

“Yeah, okay,” Sarah laughed. “Mister musical theatre major.”

“Hey. There are a lot of straight men on Broadway.”

“Mhmm,” she mocked him. She was smiling now. Ryan couldn’t help but smile along with her.
He was thinking about what an awesome mom he had, and what an awesome best friend he had- and right then, it didn’t matter that Finn knew he was gay. Because he had been made fun of for as long as he could remember, and he just didn’t care anymore. They could call him names all they wanted. Right now, all was right in the world. For a little while, anyway.

“Sarah,” he said, softly.

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry I got so upset with you before. I was just afraid.”

“I know. I’m really sorry I told him…”

“It’s ok. Everything’s okay now, I think.” He paused, thoughtful for a bit. “So Finn has the hots for you, huh?” He asked, mentioning the subject for the first time. It hurt a little bit in some dark corner of his heart, but at the moment he was ready to let his friend be happy for once.

Sarah looked at him warily, and saw him smiling. “Yeah, I guess he does…”

“It’s ok. I think it’s funny. The only girl in the whole freaking school who doesn’t like him. Ha.”

“Yeah. It is kind of funny,” she said. She was distracted again. Her brow was knit with thought.

“Do you like him back now?”

“Um.”

“Sarah, it’s ok. If you like him, you should go for it. I mean, we know he’s straight now. And he’s gorgeous. There’s no reason you shouldn’t go for it.”

“But Ryan…”

“It’s okay,” he assured her. “Really. I want you to be happy.”

She looked at her best friend then, really looked at him, and saw the face of someone who knew defeat, but also knew how to take it. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Ryan had always known that things wouldn’t work out with Finn. That it was just a fantasy. So they looked hard at each other- he with an intent calmness, and she with a weary pallor.

“Are you sure?” She asked after a moment,

“Yes.”

“Are you positive?”

“Yep.”

“Are you sure you’re positive?”

“Yes. I am absolutely, without a doubt, one hundred and seventy-three percent sure.”

“…surely?”

“Don’t call me Shirley.”

And they laughed together. And Sarah felt at ease for the first time in days. And Ryan, despite a deep aching in his very bones, felt as if he could let go a bit and try not to think about it very much.

It took about three days for Sarah to muster up the courage to talk to Finn again. Sarah had the most understated and incredible confidence that Ryan had ever seen- she could walk into a room and own it instantly without even realizing it. It was just something about her. The way that her style was completely funky and original and just slightly off- it unnerved people- but it also attracted people to her.

She was incredible at getting people to notice her; she just didn’t know that she was doing it. So she convinced herself that she wasn’t ready to talk to Finn, and continuously worried about it and brooded and fidgeted around and made excuses and generally skirted all things Finn-ish. Ryan had to practically shove her across his path to get her to finally do it.

A buzz had gone out throughout the school about Finn’s messy breakup with Lyndon. The poor girl had thrown a tantrum in the lunchroom and poured her lemonade on Finn’s head. It was a big hit as far as the gossipers were concerned. Sarah took encouragement from this embarrassing situation.

“Ok, so what’s worse than having lemonade poured on your head in front of 300 high school students?” Ryan asked her. “Seriously. That’s public humiliation. He’s probably pretty down right now. He needs you.”

“I guess…” was her response. But she finally worked up the courage and approached him at the end of chorus.
“Finn,” she began, apprehending him as he put away his music folder.

“Wow,” he said, smiling wryly. “So I’m not invisible after all.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I haven’t been avoiding you. Kind of.” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Ok. Maybe just a little. But you just really threw me off. And… there were… interpersonal issues that needed to be taken care of.”

“Um. Yeah. About that,” he shifted his glance to Ryan and then quickly back to her.

“Yeah. About that. Um, we talked. And everything is fine. I mean. If you’re fine. He’s fine. And I’m fine. I think.”

“So, you’re ok with what I said?”

“Uh… yeah? I mean… yeah, of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Oh. Well. I just thought maybe that’s why you were avoiding me.”

“Wait, why? Because you thought I was freaked out that you said you liked me?”

“Yeah. I mean, you totally just stopped acknowledging my existence after I told you.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. That’s definitely not why. I’m totally cool with it. I was only worried about Ryan.”

“Ah. Well, that’s good. And he’s ok with it.”

“Yes. He said he’s fine. So… I guess… it’s fine?”

“Um… I guess? What does that mean?”

“I don’t really know. Uh… are you… do you still…” she sighed, hating to skirt around the actual conversation but not wanting to actually get into it directly.

“Yeah,” he said, straightening up a bit. “I still…” he nodded, finishing the thought mentally. “And you? What do you think?”

“Um,” Sarah said. And bit her lip. “Well… I mean, you just broke up with Lyndon…”

“Yeah, well. She was a crazy bitch and I think everyone pretty much knows it. Does it bother you?”

“Not necessarily,” Sarah tried to explain. “It’s just so soon. Maybe you need time to think it through?”

“Maybe. But I’m pretty sure… but… yeah, if you want time, it’s fine.”

Sarah sighed with relief. “Yeah, that’d be good. Just take a few days, think about it… you know. Let me know how you feel once this whole thing with Lyndon settles down.”

“I can do that,” Finn said, and smiled. And for the first time, Sarah noticed how incredibly perfect his teeth were. And she smiled back.