All the World’s a Stage

Akia Blakemore

I never knew my parents. All of my life was spent living with various relatives that took me in for a short time then threw me away like a used toy, a toy that nobody wanted. It was horrible, especially my living quarters now. I thought I had finally found a family that loved me, I was wrong. Horribly, terribly, wrong. They only took me in because they owed my family a favor and this was their way to pay us back.

Who are these people? My mother's best friend's family, supposable anyway. I've met my mom's best friend before and she wasn't this horrible. I live underneath the stairway with the vacuum cleaner. Her son is the only one in the family that I can stand, except for the dog. I consider Alexander "Alex", my mom's best friend's son, my best friend. He's the person I can share EVERYTHING with. And for the most part, he understands what I'm going through. And the dog, Sunshine, is the closest thing I have to something that understands me totally. Sometimes I think that she talks to me.

"Torrin Daniels! Get downstairs RIGHT NOW!" Gina Frederick shouted from the kitchen. What she had forgotten is that I don't sleep upstairs, I sleep under the stairs. But I don't bother to tell her these things, she just yells at me not to boss her around and all this other junk about who's in charge of the house.

"Coming, Gina."

"Well hurry up! This isn't like at your house, we can't stand around here waiting for you, Cleopatra!" she shouted back. Again, she forgot that I never really lived in a house long enough for me to relax.

"What a bitch, how can Alex stand to live with her? She's so fucking pissy that I don't see how my MOM could stand her. Unless my mom was a bitch!" I couldn't help but laugh at what I was thinking. I really don't think I control what I think, sometimes I'm smarter than I think I really am…It's weird. Anyway, I hurried up and rushed out of the house with Gina pushing me all the way.

Alex was already in the backseat of the car. His head was rocking back and forth listening to his music on his CD player. In some ways, Alex was also my enemy. Gina hates me, Alex doesn't. Gina doesn't hold it against him; she holds it against me. Alex is Gina's baby, there's no way he can commit a crime. I bet if Alex and I were to commit a crime (not that I would), it wouldn't be his fault in any way, it would be all mine. I would have been the one to "force" Alex to do this with me. That's the way it always is, he gets rewarded, I get to clean the windows and wash the car and cook dinner for a reward.

"Get into the car, wench, you're holding us up," Gina snarled. I glared at her and flicked her off. I hated this family; I hoped they all burned to a crisp in hell.

"Fine, I'm hurrying. Chill out," I muttered as I got into the back with Alex. He gave me a sympathetic look before turning back to his music. I turned my attention to outside the window, what I wouldn't give to live at any of these houses. I'm sure they had wonderful, happy, families. What I wouldn't give to have a family like that…

School was almost as bad as at home. Even though it was my last year at this hellhole it felt like there was absolutely nowhere where I was actually "happy." The only thing I looked forward to was Drama, where everyone in that class was a "family" and close knit. Once I walked into the theatre, I felt happier and like I was finally at home. The group was made up of 10 guys, and 8 girls (including me). It was a group of tryouts only. And I have to admit; this was the only place I felt truly safe.

The only other place where I felt truly safe was up on stage. Whether it was performing a monologue, a play, singing, playing…I felt completely at home on stage. I wanted to learn everything about a play, see it from all angles. From stage managing to directing, from a minor character to a major character, from behind the set to from up in the tech room running the lights…I wanted to do it all.

If I could, I would stay in Drama all day I loved it that much. This year we had decided to put on a musical. And with 18 people it would be quite the production, and since the number was so small, we would be holding tryouts to just be in this play (for the minor parts). The 18 people that were the original group would get the more major parts. I couldn't wait. But that would be more in the middle of the year. Right now we were working on our first play.

"Hey, Tori, you gonna go head up and start painting the sets?" Fideline Harrison asked me. Lin was our leading lady for this play, and she was an awesome actress as well as artist.

"Yeah, you know me; I always try to find an excuse to miss class!" I responded grinned. Lin laughed.

"I'll come with you then, Tori; I was going to go there anyway."

The two of us walked in a peaceful silence to the theatre, the two of us were totally close, and Lin was the first person to befriend me in this group. Not that the others didn't, I just felt closer to her than some of the others.

"Well, here we go. The telling point in our lives, turning the door to the theatre," I muttered. Lin laughed.

"Just turn the knob, Tor!" she joked. I pulled the door and we stepped into our home. My dream family and my confidants were all gathered in there working. I grinned as I saw all of my best friends.

"Tor, Fi, just the people we were expecting!" Derrik Barker exclaimed melodramatically. Another thing I loved about this group was that we were so nutty.

"It's so nice to be expected," I joked.

"Now, go and help Yandra with the sets!" he ordered smiling.

"Oh, Der, that hurts! I mean me, the star of the show, getting PAINT under my nails? How DARE you suggest something like that to ME!" Lin joked.

"Now, this is exactly what we don't need!" Joanna Bergmyer burst in, "a DIVA!"

"But she isn't a diva, Jo," I responded. Joanna nodded in agreement.

"She's a Star Bitch!" we said together, laughing. This was a joke Jo, Lin, and I had.

"Excuse me, you didn't just call me a BITCH, did you BITCH?" Lin responded grinning at us.

"Yeah, asshole, what are you going to?" I retorted back at her, laughing non-stop now.

"Well, I don't know, jackass, but it'll be something so I can kick your ass!" she responded.

"Whatcha gonna do, bite me?" I announced laughing.

"Alright, alright! That's enough profanity, ladies. Now go and help Yan with the damn sets, gosh damn it!" Brett Mason broke in laughing. I looked at Brett for a moment, so today was I good day I assumed. Brett had his on and off days with me. Some days he would be the sweetest guy ever, other days he would ignore me. I didn’t know what was going on with our friendship that had seemed so strong a while ago.

I had come to Jackson High a scared sophomore, after bouncing from relative to relative. I was shy (which I surely wasn’t now), quiet and meek. I was skittish, the smallest sound or touch freaked me out. That was until I decided to take Drama. That class had changed me, for good or bad I had yet to find out but I met friends that would stick with me for life. Brett being one of them, probably my closest friend, next to Lin.

Brett and I hung out a lot that year and I started to develop feelings for him. Of course I was scared to tell him so I kept quiet about it. That year he started to date Haeley Burghart. From then on I realized I didn’t have a chance with him. That was when our relationship started to deteriorate, and it had only gone down hill from there.

Now I was lucky if I even got in a few words to him. Our distance was beginning to make the Drama group a little nervous, they were wondering if our animosity (or none thereof yet) would affect the rest of the group and so far it hadn’t. We were actors, we could act like we got along, put up a façade to fool everyone.

But still I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to our strong relationship. Once Brett broke up with Haeley at the end of last year I thought I had had my chance. But obviously not since he hadn’t really talked to me all that much about anything meaningful. To make matters worse, home life was awful. And Alex wasn’t helping. His attitude had definitely changed once he made the football team.

All of my former friendships were falling apart, Alex, Brett, even Lin was being a little distant. My once perfect family was being separated. I was confused and hurt, but I knew that ‘families’ had their differences and these breaks in our friendship were probably going to be healed by the end of the year.

"Whatcha gonna do if we don't, ass?" I responded to his command trying to keep a straight face.

"I don't know, bitch, but it'll be good!" he retorted back.

"Thanks, Brett, that didn't get us anywhere. It just made you INCREASE the fight!" Derrik complained. That made all of us crack up laughing even more, until we were interrupted by Yandra Daniels.

"Hey, guys, I know what you're talking about is really amusing, but I could use some help here!" she called out.

"Sorry, Yan. Come on, guys, let's go help her!" and then I pulled Jo, Brett, and Lin over to help Yan.

Just as we were finishing up and starting to act out our parts, Alex came barging into the theatre after his football practice.

"Now what, Al?" I asked wearily. He looked at me.

"Well, if you're just getting started getting to know your parts, I won't bother you about a ride. I can just hitch one with James. Is that alright with you?" Alex asked. I slapped my forehead.

"Damn, I totally forgot about that. Hey, guys, is it all right with you guys if I bail and then come back? Gina's gonna freak if I don't drop of Al!" I told them all. They all shook their heads.

"Don't worry about it, Tor, we'll cover for ya!" Lin told me and then turned to all of my friends, mock glaring, "Won't we?"

They all nodded abligingly. Soon, Alex and I were on the road to "our" house. I stayed long enough to please Gina and then took off back to the school. Finally all of us, the 18 of us, were able to practice without interruption. Until…

"Hey! Lin! I know you're in there!" a voice reverberated from the hall in front of our theatre. Lin suddenly stopped her lines, and got a frantic look on her face.

"Help! You guys gotta hide me! Say that I already went home! You got that?" she asked the others and me. I immediately nodded.

"Don't worry, Lin. You can count on it!" I told her. And I gathered the others and quickly told them what to do.

Soon the guy came into the theatre and I saw that it was Lin's boyfriend, Michael Glenn. I knew he wasn't that good of a character.

"Hey there, Michael," Brett greeted.

"Hey," he said grudgingly, "You seen, Lin Harrison, here?"

I stood up, "Look, Michael, she left about 5 minutes ago, headed for home. And I wouldn't suggest going after her. She's kind of steamed from practice today. We let her go home early because we wanted her to cool down. So unless you wanna get an ass whoopin' I would suggest not going after her!"

He nodded and left, as soon as we heard the door slam, we all hi-fived.

"Hey! Lin, you can come out!" I exclaimed. And she walked out.

"Thanks guys, I owe you one."

"Hey, you know you could pay us back right now!" I told her, my eyes lighting up.

"Uh – oh! Torrin's got an idea!" Brett teased. I gave him a withering look and continued.

"You could tell us what's going on with you and Mike!" I told her. She looked skeptic. I raised by eyebrow. She relented.

"Fine, Mike and I have been going through a tough time," she was interrupted.

"You think?" Brett interrupted. We grinned, she glared.

"We've been fighting more and he's getting more and more irritable. I think he's cheating on me. He says he isn't, but I know it isn't true. He's never been this way before," Lin explained. I glared.

"Is he hurting you, Lin?" I asked her. She winced but didn't answer.

"I'll repeat, is he hurting you, Lin?" I asked again in a louder and more forceful tone.

"Yes. And he uses that tone with me. I hate it. I can't believe I'm such a wimp. And if I disobey, he hurts me even more!" Lin exclaimed angrily. My eyes flamed.

"Kuso!" I swore. The guys all looked at me curiously.

"Japanese for 'shit,'" I explained quickly, "Look, Lin. I'll scout around for you. Maybe look around corners while going to and from class. If that helps."

She nodded, "thanks, Tor."

"Don't thank me, the only way you can thank me is to drop that guy as quick as you can. He's a jackass, kid, and you're wasting your time with a guy like that. I mean, there are plenty of nice guys that you're missing out on, like Alex!" I exclaimed to her, wiggling my eyebrows. She flushed a deep red.

"Ooh, I think somebody has a crush, on Tor's best friend!" Brett joked. I laughed.

"No shit, Sherlock!" I shot back sarcastically. Brett grinned.

“But I’m Watson!” he joked.

“Yeah, you’re the trusty sidekick that I always get to explain things to!” I exclaimed excitedly. Brett laughed.

“Until the one time comes that you don’t understand a thing going on and I have to explain it to you!” Brett predicted jokingly.

“That’s not going to happen, Brett,” I told him confidently.

“Oh it will. I know it, you just wait and see,” Brett told me mischievously.

I laughed, “Sure it will, Brett. In your dreams.”

“Anyway, are we all finished here? I have to start getting home to Miss Queen herself,” I asked the group. They looked around and saw that there was basically nothing to do around here and nodded.

“Anyone need a ride? Offer ends in 3…2…1-”

“I do,” Brett spoke up. I turned.

“Okay, Brett. Gather up your things. You’re coming with me,” I told him.

“As scary the thought is, okay,” Brett joked.

“LIN! YOU WANT A RIDE?” I shouted up to the sound-booth, she was doing one last check on the lights and sound before leaving. She gave me a thumbs-up and I nodded.

“Okay, Brett. Let’s go, Lin’s going to meet us at the car,” I told him, “No wait, you go to my car, you know what it looks like, and wait. I’m going to walk out with her.”

Brett understood my reasoning and walked out of the theatre.

“LIN, let’s go!” I shouted up to her. She nodded and started to walk down the stairs.

“So, what’s going on between you and Brett?” Lin asked me curiously. I stared at her.

“What do you mean? There’s nothing different about our relationship,” I told her. It was her turn to stare at me, and she rose her eyebrows.

“What do you mean ‘there’s nothing different about our relationship?’ It’s completely different. Today when you were talking to him you actually seemed nervous around him! I’ll ask you again ‘what’s going on with you and Brett?’” Lin pried. I shook my head.

“Honestly? I don’t know. Things between us have just gotten weird!” I told her.

“No kidding, you don’t even have to tell me that twice,” Lin joked.

“I don’t know what happened. Brett and I used to be such good friends, and now things are just so strange between us. I want things to be back to normal!” I complained.

“So does everyone else that lost a friendship with a guy because things got weird,” Lin explained. I shrugged.

“I just hope I can figure things out before we actually lose the friendship,” I put in, and to change the subject I brought up the subject of Alex, “So…What’s going on with you and Alex?”

I wiggled my eyebrows and looked at her curiously. “There’s nothing!”

That was her excuse, I was growing tired of her protests, “There’s nothing my ass! I can tell there’s some chemistry between the two of you. Now I want you to break up with Michael and go out with Alex!”

Lin looked at me pointedly; “You know how protective Mike is. I can’t very well just walk up to him and tell him I’m breaking up with him to go out with another guy!”

“Look, just tell him that you don’t think things are working out and that you guys should break up. Because from how he acted today if you don’t break up with him things are only going to get worse,” I advised her, “I’m telling you though, you should make your move. Alex really does like you, you’re all he talks about. And he’s not going to hurt you either. He’s one of the sweetest guys I know and you’d do right to start dating him.”

Lin considered what I said, “I’ll think about it, but I’m not making any promises.”

“All right, let’s get the show on the road!” I exclaimed, and with one last ‘YEE-HAW’ we left.

“So, I don’t know what to do. It’s just strange, I mean Brett and I were best friends…Lin, it’s just…weird,” I told her. She shrugged.

“I don’t know what to tell you, hun. Thing’s will right themselves when it’s the time for it,” she told me simply. And before we could talk anymore, we were at my car.

“So what were the two of you talking about so animatedly?” Brett asked curiously. I shrugged.

“Nothing important, B,” I told him seriously. He shrugged.

“Fine, leave me out of things. I thought we were better friends than this, Tor,” Brett relented, his feelings hurt.

“I’m sorry, B, but it’s not something you want to know about. Girl stuff, ya know?” I asked him. He just nodded and became unresponsive, “okay, Brett. How about this, anything that I think you should know, I’ll tell you first okay?”

Again, he just nodded. I sighed, “What do you want me to do, Brett? I’m truly stuck, so why don’t you tell me. Maybe it’s my fault that our friendship is falling apart, but I honestly don’t know anymore.”

“It’s not your fault, Tor,” he put in. And then, as always, he went silent again.

“Look, obviously, you two are in need of a chat, so I’ll be getting out here,” Lin told us, uncomfortable with the situation. I opened my mouth to protest, “Honestly, if I get into trouble I’ll call you. But I don’t think that’s going to happen. Besides, I saw Alex, I don’t know why he’s back here but I saw him. Maybe it’s a sign that I should make my move. Have a nice chat, see you both tomorrow.”

I waved to her and gave her a wink (and I saw her give me a wink back), and then turned my attention to Brett.

“What’s going on, B?” I asked, “We used to be such great friends!”

He sighed, “I don’t know, Tor, I honestly don’t know. But it’s not your fault.”

I laughed, “Well, that’s good to know. Now all the pressure isn’t on me.”

He grinned, “But it’s not my fault either. I think it’s just because we’re getting older. It’s predicted that those who you are friends with in high school probably won’t be friends with you in college.”

I sighed, “I always hated that statistic.”

Brett grinned, “I know you hate depressing things. But it’s true.”

I scowled, “There’s no need for you to remind me.”

Brett sighed, “And there’s no need for you to get defensive.”

“I’m not getting defensive, Brett! I’m just worried about our friendship! Some days you’re so cold to me other days we act like nothing has happened!” I shouted. Brett stared at me.

“Friendships don’t last, Tor, maybe ours is one of them,” he stated bluntly. I glared at him not accepting his words for a second.

“Stop pushing me away, Brett!” I responded loudly, “I’m not going to hurt you! I value our friendship above everything else! I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on with you!”

“There’s nothing going on with me,” Brett responded his voice raising, “Look, I don’t think this is a good idea, maybe I should just go.”

I whipped my arm out and stopped him in his tracks, “No way, dude, you’re not going anywhere until I find out what’s going on, Brett. You’ve never treated me this way before this year, what changed?”

“Nothing changed, Tor,” he protested. I didn’t accept his response.

“Bull shit. Everything changed once you broke up with Haeley. Why did you push me away?” I asked. Brett avoided my glance.

“If it’s any consolation, I pushed away everyone around me,” Brett responded, avoiding my question.

“Why are you avoiding my questions, Brett?” I asked, ignoring his comment, flinging my hands up in frustration. Brett still avoided my glance and said nothing.

“Look, I just want to know what’s going on!” I exclaimed, losing patience. Brett looked at me surprise written all over his face at my outburst.

“Fine you want to know?” he yelled back, “I love you, Torrin. I always have. You were just too damn dense to notice! The first time I saw you I was in love with you damn it! And it’s been killing me to tell you, but I didn’t know how, when, or where. Believe me this wasn’t how I wanted to tell you. But you asked for it, and my hiding this has been screwing this whole thing up. And I only went out with Haeley to make you jealous, but you couldn’t even realize that. It seemed like I couldn’t even grab a second glance from you that implied anything but friendship and it was eating me alive. I was so in love with you but you didn’t return my feelings and it –“ he wouldn’t shut up despite my protests, so Iwent to my last resort.

I walked up to him and kissed him smack-dab on the lips. He seemed to agree with me on this one, the first time in the last few months.

“- From you,” he finished after we broke apart, “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted you to do that.”

I laughed, “Can’t be nearly as long as I have. And it’s total bull shit that I don’t return your feelings, because I do.”

He grinned widely, “This is like a dream come true.”

“Hey, I told you it would only happen in your dreams,” I joked.

Brett laughed as he hugged me tightly, “And I told you there would come a time when the sidekick would have to explain something to you.”

I laughed, “Yeah well, that’s a first.”

Brett laughed. “You know, if I didn’t love you, you would be dead by now.”

“You know, I was so jealous when you were dating Haeley,” I confessed, growing serious. He laughed.

“That was so last year!” he exclaimed. I shrugged.

“Yeah, so? I so desperately wanted that to be me,” I admitted. He laughed and gave me hug.

“Didn’t you know that if you had told me I would have dropped her in a heartbeat?” he asked. I scowled at him.

“Don’t you think I would have told you if I knew?” I retorted. He laughed, and pulled my back against his front, “honestly, B, I didn’t think I would have a chance with you.”

“Don’t worry, you have your chance now,” he whispered in my ear. I grinned. I did have my chance, and I was never going to let it slip by me again, I had him nowand I wasn’t going to give him up.