Drama By Name

Alex, Rian, Zack and Tay left room 15 in high spirits. It was the end of their first week without Mr Barakat as a teacher. His replacement, Mr Morrison, was an older man with a slightly hooked nose and no hair, but he was still just as enthusiastic as Mr Barakat had been. The way her read scripts was almost next level, as his deep, Scottish accent really added something to the work, making something a student had written sounds almost as high class as Shakespeare. The class had taken well to him, and he had taken well to the class. Everyone got on with him immediately, almost without protest from the Jocks or Lisa, which was a surprise to most of the group.

“So, do you guys want to do something now?” Rian asked, facing the other three and walking backwards down the corridor, “We could go to town, or...”

“Actually, Ri,” Alex cut in, “We’re all busy after school.”

“Yeah,” Zack spoke up, “I’m going to see Matt,”

“And me and Alex have an art project to work on.” Tay shrugged, “Sorry.”

“Oh, alright then...” Rian turned back the right way.

As they rounded the corner of the corridor, they spotted Cassadee walking out of her Algebra classroom and make a beeline for Rian. When she got close enough, Rian happily tucked her under his arm as they walked towards the front doors.

Cass quickly turned to Tay and grabbed her arm in excitement. “Oh, Tay! Guess who I was just talking to?”

“Who?”

“Patrick.” Cassadee smiled deviously, and Tay froze.

The group stopped moments after she did, and stared at her.

“What?” Zack asked, eyes narrowed.

Tay swallowed guiltily and made to keep walking out of school, but Alex caught her by the arm. She looked at him, eyes filled with mild panic.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.”

“Well,” Cass pouted, hand on hip, “ ‘nothing’ sure is an interesting nickname for your boyfriend.”

All eyes were suddenly on Tay. She slowly looked around at the group and swallowed hard again.

“What! I thought Patrick was dating Pete!” Alex exclaimed, catching Zack's attention.

“Pete? As in Pete Wentz, the one who cheated on Matt?”

“That’s the one,” Alex nodded to Zack, still looking at Tay in confusion.

“Oh, you didn’t tell them?” Cass asked, hand over mouth, “Shit, I’m sorry, ‘Tee.”

“No, it’s fine, I should have told them anyway.” She shrugged Alex's hand off her arm, “Can we keep walking though?” The group continued walking out of the school and down to the car park, Tay explaining as they went. “Well, yeah, okay, I’m dating Patrick. But,” she held up a silencing hand, stopping any reactions, “yes, he had been dating Pete.”

“But Pete was with Matt until he che- Shit.” The realisation hit Zack like a truck, “Pete cheated on Matt with Patrick, didn’t he!”

“Yep,” Tay nodded, still not looking at anyone as they walked, “and Patrick found out. He didn’t know that Pete already had a boyfriend, but when he found out that he had basically been the ‘other man’,” she put finger quotes around the phrase, “Patrick dumped him. I found him crying in one of the art rooms. I’ve known Patrick since forever, but he moved away in middle school and I didn’t know he was here. Anyway,” she sighed, “he told me what had happened, and I connected it all with what happened with Matt and Zack. Me and Patrick have been hanging out together whenever we can for about... three weeks I think. He asked me out the other day. We’re going to the cinema on Sunday.”

Tay smiled softly to herself as the group ‘aww’ed, coming to a stop next to Rian's Trans Am.

“Aw, ‘Tee, why didn’t you tell us?” Alex nudged her shoulder.

“Because,” she blushed, “I didn’t want to jinx anything. The relationships in this group have been rocky at best, well, apart from Ri and Cass.”

“Aw, that’s actually really cute,” Zack crooned, smiling down at the brunette haired girl, “You can have lots of little chubby art babies!”

“Oh my god,” Tay gasped, flushing crimson, “Shut up, Merrick!”

“Hey, I could have reacted a whole lot worse.” He laughed, hanging his arm around the smaller girls shoulder and giving her a half hug.

Suddenly, Alex remembered his conversation with Jack from the previous day. “Oh, guys, before I forget,” The four others turned to face him, looking expectant, “Do you all want to come round tomorrow?”

“Erm, I think I’m a bit busy...” Zack scratched the back of his head. The others joined in with vague excuses and Alex sighed.

“Okay, let me rephrase: Can you all come round to mine tomorrow. It’s important.”

“Why? What’s happening?”

“Well,” Alex turned to Zack and Tay, “you two already know, but I think Ri needs to know too.”

A look of realisation dawned on both their faces, and they nodded in agreement.

“Well, if they already know, why do they need to be there too? And why can’t you tell me now?” Rian looked puzzled and slightly annoyed. Alex sighed.

“Because, firstly I need moral support, and you may been restraining if your reaction is anything like Zee's-“

“Hey!” Zack exclaimed, “I wasn’t that bad!”

“Yeah, but,” Alex turned to him, exasperated, “Rian is fast and slightly unpredictable.”

“Oi, watch it.” Rian pointed a warning finger.

Alex just shook his head and carried on talking. “And secondly, it’s not... safe, to explain here, and it takes a lot of explaining. Just... trust me on this.”

Rian sighed and flapped his arms in a shrugging kind of motion, “Okay then... Can Cass come too?”
“Yeah, probably best...”

“It’s not... Well,” Cassadee spoke up, sounding nervous, “Anything bad? Like, you’re not dying or anything, are you?”

“No, I’m not dying,” Alex laughed as Cass' look of relief, “and I don’t think it’s bad, not for me anyway. Like I said, Ri might freak out like Zee did.”

“Yeah,” Zack chimed in with agreement, “But I’m over it now. So’s Tay.”

“Yep. Still a bit odd though...”

“Jeez, why can’t you just tell me now? You’re making me nervous.”

“Don’t worry, Ri,” Alex laughed, patting him on the arm, “It’s nothing to be scared of, just... prepare yourself, yeah?”

Rian shook his head and sighed, “Fine, then. What time should I come round?”

“About one-ish?”

“Okay, I’ll see you then.” Rian opened the passenger side door for Cass and walked around to the driver’s side, “You better not be fucking with me, Alex.”

“Don’t worry, just try to stay calm.” Alex called over his shoulder as he, Zack and Tay began to walk away.

“So,” Tay leaned towards Alex as they made their way out of the school gates, “How do you think he’ll take it?”

“Honestly?” Alex turned to her, cocking an eyebrow, “I have no fucking idea.”

Notes

Okay so I'm posting this final chapter in two...maybe three parts, just because I can :)

What do you think Rian and Cass' reactions will be?