After a resumed routine of waking up early to get ready for school the next morning, I found myself on the bus headed for school. I found myself even more reluctant to get back into it than I had been at the end of summer. Sitting there on that seat, back in my school uniform and seated next to Ty as the bus made its way through the city, it almost felt like winter break had been a long dream -- at least until Ty pulled out his phone and, with a look of amusement, faced it to me so I could see the Panarena forums.

“You save any of those vault-bosses for the rest of us, Dans?” he asked in a faintly sarcastic tone.

“Ah-heh-heh-heh...” I returned sheepishly, and he shook his head. “Guess we just got lucky that day.”

“You got that right,” Ty replied as he put his phone away.

A moment of silence passed by. The semi-monotonous landscape of the city passed by us, occasionally broken up by some glitzy corner-mall or performance venue highlighting their existences with flashy lights and signs. Yet even these were somehow monotonous to the eyes at the moment. Mondays... I softly grimaced to myself.

“Man, it's gonna be an even bigger pain coming back next year from summer break...” Ty remarked, also gazing lethargically out of the window.

“Right?” I quietly sighed in agreement.

“Gonna be a wild ride this spring, Dans; I saw that poster a while back. You got that Robin Hood thing goin' on, and I've got this engineering project I'mma be working on; and we got that guild competition too... y'all gonna be stretched thin for that.”

“Heh. I think we have enough of a reputation that people won't just blindly go after us.”

“Ain't gonna be like that,” he returned, flicking the side of my head. “They'll all be super wound up and cautious about going up against you.”

“Ahh... that's true...” I admitted as I caught on to his reasoning. “Still... I can't imagine we'll be the only targets. You guys will probably have your hands full as well.”

“Maybe.” Ty shrugged back. “We're staying out of the Wildlands, though. Rumors say that's gonna be the hotspot for actual fighting.”

“Wildeye doesn't want to be part of that?” I wondered with surprise.

“Nah, Dans. He's workin' on some arrangement with that MacYnduff guy from Gears and Wheels, though.”

“Heh... everyone's probably working on an arrangement with them...”

“'Got that right.” Ty returned. Silence resumed, and I reflected on our little exchange in the lull.

Mountain Tigers will probably stay focused on the Aldholt and possibly nearby regions; some of the other guilds there might compete with them for its resources as well, †SOVEREIGN† for sure, and possibly Flamehearts. Others like The Lightbrook Brigade might take a wait and see approach. As for the guilds around us in Xunapu... Jade Lotus and Heavenly Dragons are two I know to have a big reputation... and I've heard about Guardians of the Eternal Citadel enough from player forums to know they'll be into it with a will. Not many of them competed in the tournament, and from what I've heard none of their best players entered. And then another I saw someone note down was King-Priests of the Demon Sands... I don't have a clue about any of them, but they sound dangerous... along with that Venomheart guild... now that one's a real mystery...

“Heard anything about that Venomheart guild, Dans?” Ty quietly asked.

“Just the name. What about you?” I wondered. How coincidental it was that we had both been thinking about them at that moment.

“Wild' thinks they're poisoners of some sort; not sure how many of them there are, yet, but they're definitely shooting to get in on the action. Probably aiming for your guild the most.”

“Ehh?”

“We got a whole month or so until we have to worry about that though.”

“Ah. Right. The competition won't officially start until after the Valentine's Event.” I recalled.

“Dang... that dumb holiday... 'though I guess it won't be so dumb for you this time.”

“Ahh... heh-heh...”

***

After arriving at school we went through our usual parting routine to start off the day, and I soon found myself at that familiar locker near homeroom. I had mixed feelings about seeing the thing: on the one hand, it meant I was back in the land of education and uniforms. Yet on the other hand, it also had a more favorable nostalgia going for it as well. After all, it was the place where I had met Rachel and exchanged some memorable first words with her. A small smile came to my face, and I paused a moment as I sorted my books out for the morning.

“It's not so bad here at school after all,” I quietly remarked.

“Definite agree.” a soft voice said next to me. It was Rachel. We smiled at each other, and continued readying ourselves for morning classes.

“But it is gonna be hard to get back into it...” I sighed as we shut our locker doors and headed inside.

“And then some,” Rachel reminded me. We made our way to our seats and sat down, and then the meaning of her words suddenly struck home.

“Ahh--! Oh... right... the musical...” I said, recalling that Ty had mentioned it to me as well this morning.

“Mm-hm; and the Valentine's Gala...” she remarked innocently.

“Huh...?” I wondered blankly.

“Don't tell me you missed that on the events board?!” she exclaimed with a hint of indignation.

Uh-oh. Wait, hang on here...

“You know I don't go in the front door like you and Andrea!” I softly protested.

“Ah! Oops... sorry!” she smiled goofily.

Phew, I inwardly sighed in relief.

“Hmm... something green this time... or maybe pink and red...” Rachel softly mused to herself.

If she's not planning out our wedding now she definitely will be come senior year.

“P-pink, you say?”

“Oh, I'll be pink and you'll be red is what I mean.” she smiled at me again.

“Hmm...?” I returned with a more interested tone. She softly winked at me, and then our homeroom class was called to order.

How quickly I remembered the routine of being instructed in the finer points of grammar and literature, led along through the pages of history, tortured by the tenets of mathematics, and then bewildered by the wonders of science. It was almost a culture shock to go back to it, the kind I imagine is felt by those returning to their home country after being abroad. When that lunch hour came along, I was more than grateful to scramble out of that room with Rachel to grab our lunches and head to the club room.

The two of us found ourselves there first, and we sat down at our usual spot on the sofa, heaving sighs of relief as we nearly melted into it.

“Just a couple more months... just a couple, and then we'll never have to take another math class again.” she reminded me, patting my hand.

“Yeah... can't wait,” I returned, softly clasping her hand in mine.

“The heck? Are you two done in already?” Ellie said as she arrived with Andrea, Thomas, and Mary. Anhe came in just behind them, shutting the door behind her as she did so.

“Can't blame them. I didn't think I was going to last through that one lecture myself,” Thomas remarked.

“Blehh. I guess I can't blame them either. I'm actually looking forward to work this week instead of problem-solving that second-year math course I somehow wound up in.” the blonde girl shrugged.

“You ended up in it because you were thinking about a career that required more advanced math at the time.” Andrea reminded her.

“Oh. Right.”

“Really? High school advanced?” Mary scrunched up her face as she heard the words, unpacking her lunch.

“Gotta build a foundation in it somewhere,” the other girl said.

“Hmm.”

“Still, these two might have the rougher jobs this spring... hard to believe they actually scored the big parts in the musical!” Ellie grinned.

“And you also get to study yet another foreign language with my mother and I!” Anhe softly smiled at us.

“Now that I'm ready for.” I remarked.

“Meaning you're not ready to be the star of a musical?” Mary smirked.

“G'hyeck!”

“That's a no.” Rachel said as she took out her lunch. “We'll be fine, though.” she smiled at me, and I managed to smile back as I got my own lunch.

“I guess so.”

We ate our lunches in silence for a few minutes, quietly pondering the spring ahead of us. Andrea's face suddenly slid into a thoughtful expression, and when she had finished the sandwich in her hands she leaned back in her chair.

“We'll have to pick another workplace or two to visit soon, and of course our summer trip after that...” she remarked.

“That can wait for Tuesday, probably,” Mary said.

“True, but let's get thinking about them anyway.”

“Oh definitely.”

“Speaking of things that are getting planned out, the cast and crew of the musical is supposed to meet with Miss Andrews after school in the theater, aren't they?” Thomas suddenly said.

“Are we?” I looked at Rachel.

“I don't remember... I guess we'll find out in class.” she replied.

“True,” I agreed.

“Hmm... I'll have to check with Bill... and I'll have to start talking with Fun Castle about my shifts again...” Thomas then mused.

“Oh right; well, at least you won't have to be there all the time.” I said.

“I guess not, but there's more to stage crew than rolling curtains and pointing lights. Some of us are going to be painting scenery and arranging props as well, and that can take time.” he told me.

“Ah, true... didn't think about that.”

“She's going all out with it too this year, isn't she?” Andrea remarked.

“Dad and a lot of other people in the education system really pressured things to get money flowing into the arts and education again, so Miss Andrews is trying to repay that by showing off a bit,” Mary told us. “So the two of you in particular need to be on the A-game with this musical. All the cast and crew, really, but you two most of all, being the stars of the show.”

“To make all of the big-wigs and such see that we didn't waste their time, huh?” I remarked thoughtfully as I took a sip from my drink.

“Exactly.” Mary nodded at me.

“Hmm...”

“We can handle that!” Rachel said with a smile. “It might be a little shaky at first, getting to know all those new people, but I'm sure you'll do fine.”

“You're not worried about yourself?” I asked her.

“Hmm... I'm used to adapting to new people.” she shrugged.

“Ahh -- true.” I returned.

“Sean has been doing fine with us; I think he will get on fine with them!” Anhe smiled supportively.

“You'll get on with them for the msot part, I'm sure.” Thomas said. “Stephen and Joe act like goofballs, but they're good guys. Marcus, Herby, and Matthew seem laid back and nonchalant, but when it's time to work they go for it. But then there's Joanna...” he added with a hesitant smile.

“Joanna Love?” Mary said with a knowing smile.

“I don't like where this is going,” I whispered to Rachel, who subtly nodded.

“Well, they'll find out sooner or later.” Ellie said with a wink.

“Hm? Hmm??” Rachel looked around at them with a bemused smile.

“It's best you find out yourselves,” Andrea smiled bashfully.

“Okay. Now I'm worried.” I sighed.

“Anyway, good luck!” our club leader said to us. “Get those lunches down, we only have about five minutes left!”

“Ehh??”

Anyhow. Afternoon classes came along, and in Theater we found out that we were indeed going to have our first meet up with the cast and crew after school that day. That, and in our last class of the day we got our introduction to learning the Japanese language. On the one hand, I had an impression it might be slightly easier to learn than Chinese; on the other hand, I about lost that impression upon learning that there were three writing systems used simultaneously for the language. Imagine writing English with the alphabet, runes, and pictograms.

Wait, that actually sounds kind of interesting...

But anyway, I'm sure Rachel and I will have plenty of help learning our second language of the year. After our last class, Thomas met up with us at our lockers, saying that he would give us a ride home afterward.

“You did tell your parents you'd be coming home later?” he asked us. “Wait, that was a silly question for Rachel... Andrea'll tell her folks,” he amended with a faint grin.

“True!” Rachel nodded. “Don't tell me you haven't said anything?” she then turned to me.

“Did I even tell them I was in it...?” I wondered aloud.

“Huh?!” my girlfriend stared at me, mouth agape.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Ahh...” Thomas smiled bemusedly.

“Ah--I mean--I'll send a note, or something... honest!” I hastily said.

“Sheesh!” Rachel sighed. “I know you don't get on all that well with your mom, but your dad, at least...”

“R-right,” I replied. “I'll send a note to him before we get started there,” I added, pulling out my phone to do so.

“We won't be too late going home... I'd be surprised if today's meeting goes over an hour. Just enough time to get each other acclimated to one another so that we know what we're dealing with for the next couple of months,” Thomas told us as we approached the auditorium.

“And maybe go over some scenes? Build up a rapport?” Rachel asked.

“That too, yeah,” the older boy nodded. “And like I said earlier--!!” he began, but then cut himself off as we stopped in front of a girl near the doors. “J-Joanna...” he stuttered out.

The girl before us was around Ellie's height, maybe a bit taller, her brown hair arranged in a page cut, and almost cat-like green eyes. She smiled at us, nodding to Thomas and then looking towards us.

“Joanna Love.” she introduced herself. “And you're the two lovebirds making a stage debut as two lovebirds: Sean and Rachel.”

“Nice to meet you!” Rachel smiled back at her. I saw Thomas quietly sigh in resignation.

Wh-what's the deal here, Tom? I wondered to myself.

“Good! Nice to meet you as well; oh, I'm playing someone you might find interesting for the next several weeks: Guy of Gisbourne.” she told us.

“Hmm...?” Rachel returned with interest.

Hmm... her voice is pretty deep, for a girl's, and in the right costume you'd never know she was a girl. !! … Waaaaaaiiiit a second... aren't there some versions of the Robin Hood story where--

“Yep! I'm gonna be the third wheel of our on-stage love triangle!” the older girl said enthusiastically, unwittingly replying to my unspoken question.

“Huh?!” I quickly returned.

“L-love triangle, you say?” Rachel said with a more befuddled smile.

“Hahh... this is why I tried to warn you...” Thomas softly remarked.

“Oh, don't worry, Tommy; sure, my personal feelings help the situation, but it's not like I'm going to actually steal her away from him!” Joanna smiled brightly.

Heh?! Steal!? Rachel?? Hah?! Oh...

“M-me?” Rachel laughed nervously.

“No time, cuteness; let's go in before Andies yells at us.”

“A-Andies?” I wondered in a nonplussed tone as we entered the auditorium.

“Sh-she's Miss Andrew's second cousin.” Thomas told us.

“Huh. Neat.” I said. The three of us took some seats near the edge after walking in; Joanna sat nearby us, looking over with a wink as Miss Andrews clapped her hands to call us to order. There was another woman next to her with a pad in her hands.

“All right! So this is Holly, my aide; she was checking you all in as you entered, and it looks like everyone is actually here! Welcome, everyone, to this year's musical production of 'Sherwood's Merry Men, a Robin Hood Story'!” our teacher began, and we clapped in reply. “Today, I just want you all to get to know each other a little bit. Some of you are old hat at this, but there's several new faces as well, including our lead roles, so I'll give you about an hour or so to talk with one another and then before you go I'm going to hand out scripts and songbooks. And since you're all in one or another of my classes, remember that your participation and performance in this will count towards your final grade for the end of the year! That's all I have for now, don't forget to pick up your reading material after our little social! Oh, and there's ice-cream and pop in the foyer.” she added with a smile, and with that we started breaking off into small groups.

Funny enough, Rachel and I found ourselves instantly surrounded by the Merry Men: Matthew Siemann, who towered over all of us, playing Little John; Herbert or Herby Jones, a near perfect image of the character he was playing, Friar Tuck; Henry Anderson, a guy from our class, playing Allan A'Dale, also the narrator; and there was Joey Winters, playing Will Scarlet, along with Leslie Hope, Maggie Rivers, and Jacob Sherman, who were going to be outlaw extras for the production.

A few paces away from our “outlaw” group was Stephen Kent, a senior, who was playing the role of King Richard; Joe Dunn, also a senior, was with him. He was going to be Prince John. The sheriff, named Sheriff Mortimer in the production, was being played by their friend Marcus Donovan; Marcus' brother Brian was playing Sir Richard, that one knight who gets helped by Robin in his dealings with the Bishop of Hereford, who was being played by Malcolm Love, who was Joanna's older brother. The two brothers were laughing with each other, and the other sibling pair were quietly observing the room near Stephen's impromptu posse. Allie St. John, a girl form our grade, was playing the sheriff's daughter Genevieve.

The rest of the cast, the townsfolk extras, tournament archers, the royal hunters and knights, the guards, and so forth, mingled with each other or with one of the other two camps that had popped up.

“We should definitely get together and run some lines,” Matthew said to our own group.

“Dude, I haven't seen this one in forever. I wonder if she'll keep all the scenes in?” Joey wondered.

“Probably. It's Miss Andrews, after all. She's a perfectionist.” Henry shrugged. “Anyway; Herbs! Way to go on snagging Tuck. You've got the best lines here, pal!”

“Aw, shucks; I'll just be glad if I don't trip on my tongue during the actual performances.” the other boy said.

“You'll be fine.” Leslie reassured him. “You always pull through in the end for us.”

“True!” Matthew agreed.

“But anyway; kudos to the teach' for picking an actual love triangle for the story's love triangle, eh?” Joey said with a smirk. “Though maybe that was a bit of a surprise to the two over here!” he added, nodding towards the two of us.

“Hahh...” I sighed.

“Hey! At least it's not another 'Sean's-got-another-girl' tale.” Maggie remarked to cheer me up.

“Hmm...? I guess you're right,” I suddenly noticed, faintly smiling.

“That was a bit of a shock,” Rachel said with an anxious smile. “Although she promised not to steal me for real.”

“Niiice.” Maggie quietly laughed. I could see Joanna looking over towards us from the other side of the room; she turned away when I looked over, and I turned back to the others at hand. “Oh, hey Brian!” Maggie then said as our bishop-plagued knight came over to join us.

“Yo!” he said, sitting down with us. “So, Henry, how d'you feel being the gears of the performance? Being the narrator to drive us on and such, that is.”

“Hmm... it's definitely a switch from being background last year,” he said with a nervous grin.

“Lucky you, being the only person in the entire school that can actually play a real lute,” Leslie quipped.

“Don't forget he sings, too!” Maggie poked her friend.

“We all sing, airhead.” the other girl retorted, and we laughed.

“Hmm? I know I've heard Rachel sing a couple times when we went with her and Andrea for girl's nights, but what about Sean?” Maggie wondered. I quietly opened the soda-pop I had and started drinking it to avoid answering.

“Hmm... I don't think I've heard him sing either, come to think,” Rachel remarked.

“Yo! Buddy!” Matthew began, softly poking me repeatedly. “Hey! Yo! Yoo-hoo! Oh buddy! D'ya sing? Do ya? Do ya? Do ya sing, buddy? Old pal, old friend? Huh? Do ya?”

“Let up on him, Matt,” Thomas said as he came to my rescue. The poking stopped.

“Oh hey, Tommy! Does this guy sing?” Matthew returned, pointing at me. I was still deep in my drink. Still avoiding the question.

“Heh, dunno; it's funny, I've spent a fair amount of time with him and it's never really come up. Not even on our holiday trip.” the other boy replied.

“Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough. His opening lines are a song, after all.” Brian noted. I briefly choked, and then coughed for a moment or two while I set the drink down.

“Huh?!” I asked with fear after I had recovered.

“Ah, that happens in some musicals, a main character coming in with a song. Robin's got a fun one that comes in on the coattails of Allan's introductory ballad.” Henry said enthusiastically.

“Don't feel awkward about it; Marion has one too. Hers is a sub-song in Genevieve's introductory number, since Marion in this play starts off as her handmaid.” Maggie smiled.

“Heh...? Kind of a Cinderella thing going on, then?” I said with interest.

“Cute!” Rachel remarked. “That sounds like a lot of fun to play!”

“Oh def!” Leslie nodded. “But yeah, you should really poke this one with a stick a bit to get him singing later.” she said to Rachel.

“Will do!” my girlfriend replied all too eagerly for my liking.

“Ah-heh...” I smiled ruefully. I then felt someone's hand on my shoulder. Joanna was there when I looked up, and she had a subtle grin on her face.

“Something else you should know,” she said to me.

“What's that?”

“Gisbourne and Hood have a big on-stage duel in this play... so I want to spend some time with you to see how good you are with stage-fighting.” Joanna said.

“S-stage-fighting?” I wondered curiously.

“Sure, he's been in a fight or so; but play-acting a fight can actually be harder,” Herby remarked.

“We'll have to do the same for our little skit,” Matthew told me. “Or did you forget how Robin Hood and Little John meet?” he asked with a grin.

“That's about the most iconic story from the tales,” I replied. “Along with the Friar Tuck bout, of course.”

“Ohh, that's right, I get to whack him too!” Herby recalled. We laughed again at his quiet enthusiasm, though I did start feeling a bit more reserved about what I had gotten myself into.

“Yep yep; the three of us get a chance to go toe to toe with him,” Joanna remarked. “Of course we all know that you've been in a fight or two, and that you've had some karate classes or whatever, but stage-fighting truly is different from anything you've done before.”

“I'll have to remember that.” I said with a nod.

“Good!” she smiled. “Oh, and Rachel? Come with me for a sec?” Joanna asked, and Rachel nodded, standing up to follow her. The rest of us continued on with some light banter, eagerly heading over to the ice-cream before it was all gone.

A few minutes later I felt a hand slip into mine; Rachel was there, her face bright red as she pressed closer to me. I put a hand on her head, softly patting her.

“You okay? What happened?” I wondered. A moment of quiet passed.

“Tell you later?” she then replied.

“Sure, Rey,” I answered, and she looked up with a smile again. We then shared a bowl of ice-cream with each other; I saw Joanna smiling like a cat over at us, and quietly put the pieces together. When it was time to go, we grabbed our scripts and our songbooks before heading out to meet Thomas at his car. She kept hold of my arm the whole way to the car.

“You two okay?” Thomas asked as we set off. Rachel nodded, and I softly smiled, turning to her.

“H-hey, Rey... ahh... did Joanna... did she...?”

“Kissed me.” she said, blushing. “M-Miss Andrews was there. There's a scene where Guy forcibly kisses Marion in the play, so she wanted to okay that with us.”

“Ah -- ahh...” I nodded. “I'm not... hrrmm... I mean, if you're okay...?”

“I am... it just... caught me off-guard.” she said, smiling again as Thomas drove away from the school.

“She can do that. She's not very inhibited sometimes,” Thomas told us. “But she is a good person, and she's very respectful when it comes down to it; that kiss probably won't happen again until more serious rehearsals.”

“Mm, gotcha.” Rachel nodded, and then leaned on me as we cruised through the city to where she lived. Thomas looked back at us in the mirror and smiled.

When we got to Rachel and Andrea's house, Andrea herself was on the porch waiting in a more casual outfit; she got into the car up front with Thomas as Rachel and I exited the vehicle. I grabbed my bag just in case, sensing that the older two were going to be headed off somewhere on a date.

“I was gonna drop you off next anyway, but if you wanna get out now that's fine.” Thomas told me.

“I can walk... you two have fun!” I said, and he gave me a thumbs-up.

“Have fun, Andrea!” Rachel said.

“See you later tonight!” Andrea said in reply, and the two of them took off down the street.

“There they go,” Rachel said.

“On a Monday, of all days,” I said with a bit of surprise.

“True. But he probably works a lot this week, so maybe it was his only day off.”

“Hmm, could be, yeah.”

I looked over at her, and she looked back at me, smiling. I smiled in relief.

“Feeling better?” I asked her.

“Almost.” she replied; before I could ask, she pulled me close, pressing her lips to mine in a passionate kiss. It ended reluctantly, and then she smiled again. “Now I'm better.” she said with a giggle. I wrapped her up in a hug.

“I'm glad.” I told her.

“I wish we could stay like this,” Rachel said, “But your folks'll probably want you home soon.”

“Probably.”

“See you after dinner?”

“And for homework.”

“True! But Panarena is more fun.”

“Oh definitely.” I smiled as we let go of each other.

“Then hurry home!” she smiled, kissing me once more before dashing into the house with a wave. I made sure she was inside, and then headed home myself.

As I got close to my house, I saw that somewhat mysterious young lady whom I suspected was Myanihia passing by on the other side of the street. She didn't seem to notice me this time, but my mind started wondering again as it had a few weeks ago: just how close does she live to us? Very quickly I snapped myself out of it, catching sight of a familiar vehicle pulling in to the driveway a few houses ahead. Mom was home.

You're home early for once, I muttered internally as I resumed walking. She almost sprang out of the car, and then dashed into the house. I sighed; it was probably going to be a quick in-and-out for her. When I got to the door myself and headed inside I could hear her softly bantering with the old man about where a dress of hers had gotten to.

Definitely a new or important client again. I quickly stole up to my own room, and had just gotten to the door when dad caught sight of me.

“Oh, hey, buddy!” he said.

“Hey.” I replied.

“Albert, focus!” my mother said sharply, and then poked her head out of the door. “Hi, Sean. You're home a bit late; it's not a club day, right?”

“Nah, just a theater... class thing.” I returned, still a bit hesitant about revealing what exactly I had gotten myself into.

“Theater class 'thing'?” she returned with a more interested look, stepping out of the door and into the hallway to zero in on me.

“Theater class 'thing', huh?” dad echoed.

“Ahh... d-don't you have a--”

“I have forty minutes until I actually have to be where my client is, and in the meantime Jessica can do a fine job on her own. What is this 'theater class thing' you have going on? I'm getting very surprised by you this year, young man, whatever you think of me. I thought for sure that thing in your room your aunt gave you would rot your brains out by now, but you've nearly been the star of your school for a while now: getting a girlfriend, starting a club, managing your anger better, going out with actual friends... and now you're involved with the theater?” my mother returned at once, fixing me with that certain look. You know, the one that demands answers in full and complete sentences, preferably within seconds of the question being asked.

“Ahh... I... buh... it's a... musical... thing...” I stuttered out. She raised her eyebrows, and my dad began to faintly grin. “Ahh... and... she had us... the teacher, that is, we did -- we had a, a meeting... kind of... about the musical... thing... and that's...” I continued somewhat blankly, and she then gently sighed, stepping forward to gently pull the backpack off of me to open it up and look through it, espying at once the script and the lyric-book it contained. Her eyes widened as my dad came over to look as well; he began quietly cackling at once and my mother looked at me with surprise.

“You're in a musical!” she exclaimed, and then opened the script to see the unfortunately highlighted specifics of my script, whereupon her surprised doubled. “Sean Daniels, you're playing the lead role in a musical for your school?!” she cried out in a tone of high-pitched amazement that I had definitely never heard her use in my entire life.

“Ahh... I guess... yeah... ah-heh...”

“Yeahh, buddy!” my dad said at once, thumping me on the back proudly.

“Good gracious! Why didn't you say something earlier?!” mom asked me.

“Ahh...” I scratched my head in bemusement, uncertain of what to say.

“Albert, we have to tell the grands, we have to tell your sister!” she continued with excitement.

“I know, I know! What about your folks?”

“My folks! They'll definitely fly in to see this, I'm sure of it!”

Oh, yeah, so dad's folks are in that retirement center we visited a couple months ago. My mother's folks are still spry, and they travel around the world with no fixed address. They're basically photo-journalists and bloggers living life to the fullest. I think we vacationed with them once when I was three or so. But anyway; so they're doing a tour of South America right now, and the word was that they'd be working their way back up from Tierra del Fuego to Panama or something like that.

“Ahh, look at this! Rachel's got a part too! I wonder if her mother will fly in, too?”

“Well! Look at that!” my dad remarked with approval. “Sean, you little rascal, how long've you known about this? Wait! Don't tell me -- since before break.”

“G'hyeck!”

“Sean!!” my mother exclaimed with a slight disappointment. “Well we know about it now, at least.”

“So we can expect you home late quite a lot this spring, huh?” dad said to me.

“Ahh... I guess so.”

“All right, all right; here,” he said, gently taking the two books from my mother and handing them back to me. “Go do your homework and stuff, eh?” he said, and my mother nodded.

“R-right,” I said, and with that I ducked into my door to do just that. Well, after getting out of that constricting school uniform, anyway. I set my books and homework out upon the desk, and then switched on my monitor, connecting it to my phone. Rachel was already on-screen, waiting for me.

“What took you so long?” she said to me with a funny look.

“Ahh... Spanish Inquisition,” I said with a wry grin.

“Hmm...?” Rachel returned with a knowing look. “They found out today, huh?” she said with a smile.

“Y-yeah.”

“Looks like they took it well!”

“Maybe a bit too well,” I said with a faint laugh.

“Maybe!” she grinned.

“Hm? Oh, that's right... ah, um... so...” I started hesitantly, and her grin became more lopsided.

“Do my parents know, right?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Hmm... mom knows, so she's promised to fly in. I told Joshy, too, so he'll probably tell dad, but we know how I am about him...”

“I remember.” giving her a sympathetic smile.

“Yeah.” she smiled back sadly, then lightly slapped her cheeks. “Anyway! That math homework though...”

“Right... pages two-thirty to two-fifty-one tonight... ugh.”

“Right??” Rachel sighed exasperatedly, and with that we began tearing in to our homework.