Viva La Vie Boheme

"Words"
'Thoughts'

Connor twitched with anticipation. His mile long legs that were clad in tight black denim jeans jumped up and down as he inhaled another drag of sweet nicotine. He clutched the script in his pale hand until his knuckles were pure white.

“Hunny, calm down, it’s just one audition,” Javier, or Javi, whispered in Connor’s ear. Blue eyes traced over his Latino friend’s delicate frame. The taunt creamy coffee colored skin covered the striking bone structure and accented his unusually warm honey eyes and wavy black hair that reached down to his shoulders. All in all, Javi was worthy of being a model. He didn’t turn heads; he broke necks. In Connor’s mind, it was so unusual to sit next to someone so amazingly beautiful when he considered himself so plain.
He was average height, average weight, mousey brown hair, and none-to-blue eyes. Connor traced the lower ridge of his jaw bone that still held some acne scars from his awkward teenage years. Most of it had cleared up, but some of the scars still remained.

“Stop doing that!” A hand with French tipped nails slapped down Connor’s hand, “baby, don’t worry! It’s one audition for five minutes for one play. There will be thousands of others-”

“No, actually, there won’t… It took me so much to even get the director to even listen to me. His policy about every actor at least being in one of his music classes is usually iron-clad. It took me weeks-months even, to get him to budge on that,” Connor snapped back. He ran a hand nervously through his hair until one finger snagged on a tangle of hair. Hissing softly, he pulled his hand to freedom right as an aged man dressed in a moth-eaten maroon sweater patched up with brown leather at the worn elbows and a dramatic orange scarf strode into the once quiet auditorium that Javi and Connor had been sitting in for the last hour.

“Okay, Mister…?”

Connor leapt up from seat almost tripping, “Edwards! C-Connor, Connor Edwards, sir.”

The director patted his blond toupee and fiddled with it till it lay on his head in a “normal” fashion, “yes, Mister Edwards, it has come to my attention that you wish to become a part of our little production here, but it seems that you do not take any of the required musical education classes at this university. Now how do you plan to join our musical without the requirements?”

“I-I, um, w-well-”

“He hoped that if he gave you an audition that was nothing less than spectacular, you would forget the rule and let him join the cast even if it was just in the chorus,” Javi interrupted walking toward Connor’s shaking body and wrapped a friendly arm around his friend.

The director smiled briefly, “Javier Cortes, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

Javi giggled briefly before hopping to the director and sitting himself down upon the piano bench next to where the director was leaning, “I came to support my dear friend, Connor, here. He really does have an amazing voice, and he works harder than any man I’ve ever met.”

“Does he now?” the director set his gaze upon Connor, sizing him up, “you’ve got one chance with one song, think you can do it?”

“Y-yes s-sir,” Connor replied hesitantly shaking a little still as he made his way onto the dimly lit stage. Soon he stood in the middle of the empty stage. Staring down at the taped line he stood in front of, he jumped a little when a soft tune began to play.

Gathering up what little courage he could, Connor slowly looked up and sang, “How do you document real life when real life is getting more like fiction each day? Headlines -- bread-lines blow my mind, and now this deadline, ‘Eviction -- or pay!’ Rent!” He threw the script to the floor as if he were actually angry and glared
at the empty seats as Javi jumped on stage.

“How do you write a song when the chords sound wrong though they once sounded right and rare? When the notes are sour, where is the power you once had to ignite the air?” he joined in acting angry with Connor as well.

“And we're hungry and frozen!”

“Some life that we've chosen!”

They both turned towards each other and sang in unison still acting as if they were furious at something, “How we gonna pay- How we gonna pay- How we gonna pay last year's rent?”

In the background, the director sat amazed as the duo sang together. ‘Those voices… they are like angels in human flesh… how is it that this boy- this Connor Edwards- escaped from my acting troop?’ A similar thought ran through another man who had been standing at the auditorium door the entire time. His dark chocolate brown skin perfectly hid him from the other’s views as he watched the duo his eyes completely focused on them watching their muscles contract and relax as they sang and acted.

“'Cause everything is rent!”

Connor and Javi stood there panting. Sweat ran down Connor’s forehead till he was forced to take off his glasses to whip his eyes and face. The director stood up clapping his hands astonished, “Magnificent! Amazing! Yes-Of course you may be in our production… but I will ask that you come in early each practice to catch up with what you have already missed in choreography. Practice is every day beginning at five and running till nine in the evening, don’t be late.”

Connor jumped into Javi’s arms, and they fell to the ground in a fit of joy as they received the good news. The director left rolling his eyes and waved to the man in the back as he passed him at the door when he exited. The dark skinned male strolled down the aisle gracefully as a cat, “Good job, fresh meat, you were above par.”

Javi stood up from the ground and glared at the black man standing in front of the stage, “you know he was better than any other person you’ve heard audition for this musical, Nathan Kitson, but you’re too scared to even admit it that he may be better than you!”

“Yeah right, and you’re the fucking tooth fairy emphasis on the fairy part, faggot,” Nat replied icily glaring back at Javier with the same amount of intensity. His muscles tightened under the black wife beater he wore as if ready to pounce should a fight break out, “see you at practice faggot, fresh meat.”

Nat turned on his heal just in time to miss Javier flipping him the bird, “go fuck yourself, Nathan!”
Connor laid there on the cold stage his eyes transfixed on the leaving figure. When he finally gathered his wits, he managed to ask Javi about the man who had just insulted them both. “That would be Nathan Joseph Kitson… he’s Collins. No doubt we’ll see him later.”

“W-wait… if he’s Collins a-and y-you’re-”

Javi inhaled deeply and tried to smooth out the wrinkles in his clothes, “yes, because he plays the part of Collins and I’ve been cast as Angel, we’re technically-” He shivered in disgust and flinched.

Connor stood up and embraced Javi close to his body in a tight hug. Javi leaned into his hug tucking his head beneath Connor’s chin. At that moment, the same thought ran through their heads. The thought was just one word: ‘boyfriends.’