My feelings can best be expressed in a song from the hit musical "Evil Dead."

[owingnobody]

Who: Boy and Trod. Toy and Brod. Oy. Nod.
When: IMMEDIATELY after the musical thread.
Where: A broom closet, or the first private place Bod- Troy? Sheesh- can find.
What: Well, what do you think?
Status: Closed (for the moment)

Comments

[owingnobody]

Bod put his hands over his own face. "Do you even LISTEN to the words people say? Or do you just hear every second one?" He took a deep breath. "I did not say I hate you. I said I wish I could, but you're too damn nice and sympathetic and bloody perfect and it drives me absolutely crazy but I can't hate you for it. You've managed to win Clarice over- I've seen the way she smiles at you- and you make her happy, and I can't hate you for that. You are spectacular to watch on stage, you are talented and wonderful and EVERYONE likes you-- and it's easy to see why, because in spite of everything, I CAN'T HATE YOU!" Practically panting, he gritted his teeth and said, "I'm not even really angry with you. I am angry because this hardly seems like the time for this to happen! Did you hear what you said a minute ago?? I got your part. Oh, WONDERFUL. I've never been on stage before, never stood in front of an audience, and what happened out there on that stage tonight might have provided me with the most fear I've ever had-- and now I'm to take on a role that is easily four times the size of it?" He gestured wildly with his hands. "Opposite someone I- noI'mNOTgoingtothinkaboutTHATrightnow--" He took another ineffectual deep breath. "If I stop to think about it I am going to be scared to DEATH, and if yelling at you over stupid things is going to keep me from a complete meltdown, then so be it!"

[troyboltonav]

If Troy could've melted back through the wall, he would have. He heard what Bod was saying and was beginning to get it, but having someone yelling at you in a small, enclosed space? Wasn't fun.

"Well then I'm...sorry I drive you crazy. And like I said before, I'm not perfect. If you knew me better you'd definitely know that." Troy paused, thinking hard about what to say. "Um, thank you. You're good on stage too. I mean, you've never done this before, but you're pretty much a natural at it. And stage fright is normal, man. I get it every time I'm about to go out there."

Troy crossed to Bod, a little afraid to touch him, but still hovering nearby. "Look. I get it. I do. And here's the thing. We'll do whatever makes you comfortable, ok? If you want to play my part, I'll help you. You probably already know the lines and songs, you've been at rehearsal all this time. If you really can't stand the idea, you can play your normal part and I'll play the other one. Also, Neil might not be himself either, depending on how many people this happened to. So maybe there won't even be a play. I don't know."

[owingnobody]

"...oh my God," Bod breathed. It hadn't even occurred to him that other people in the cast might have gotten swapped. This could be a disaster of epic proportions. And really, what a nasty trick to play on a group of people who had been working very hard to put this show together.

There was more shouting in the hall, and Bod pressed his ear against the door. "...I'm going to imagine that more people were swapped," he said slowly. "It's hard to tell how many-- it's pretty noisy out there." He turned around, looked at Troy, all of his anger draining away, replaced with a sort of sick dread. "It probably would be better for you to just play the part in my body, wouldn't it," he murmured. "You've done it already-- and it's your part, after all." He bit his lip. "But I'm afraid of what's going to happen if we walk out that door and tell the director that you're not... you, anymore. I think he might have a nervous breakdown. Can you hear him shouting?" It was the ranting of a hysterical man.

[troyboltonav]

Not much had changed for Troy, really. He was still a guy, after all, even in this body. He was roughly the same age. Yeah, he looked different, but since he didn't spend a whole lot of time looking in mirrors, that probably wouldn't make too much difference.

Troy whistled at the sounds from outside. "Yeah, I'm guessing so too. Wow." He shrugged at Bod's suggestion--he could tell that what Bod was suggesting maybe wasn't what he wanted. Or maybe he was just imagining that, but anyway, he wanted to be fair. "Hey, man, if you want the part, go for it. Seriously." Troy winced at Bod's words, nodding in agreement. "Yeah...he sounds pretty bad out there. I haven't heard him scream like that since the day Sister Chantelle fell into the orchestra pit." Troy shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "So...are you saying...you want me to be you? To pretend to be you?"

[owingnobody]

If anything, Bod looked a little bit more sick when Troy suggested he wanted the part. "I'm sorry, and no offense," he said, "but I never had any designs on the role of Jason. He is... he is a character that I felt I couldn't begin to relate to, y'know? How could I play someone like him?" He shook his head. "And now I've spent weeks figuring out how to play Zack- and he's a very small part, but there was a lot going on there that I had to figure out how to play, and it took a lot of my attention, so no, I don’t really know Jason’s part at all, and I don’t really want to play it.” He sighed. “And if this all gets straightened out before Saturday, then hopefully I won’t have to.” He looked at Troy worriedly. “I mean, how long do you think we’re going to be this way? It can’t last for more than a few days… can it? I wonder if it would be worth it, to pretend to be each other, if it meant everyone would feel a little bit calmer… just for a day or two. And just here.” He bit his lip. “I wouldn’t want to lie to Clarice. It wouldn’t be fair to her.”

He actually managed a wry smile at the mention of Sister Chantelle’s mishap. “That… wasn’t the best day, was it?” he said. “Though I have to admit, it was kind of funny… she was there one minute, and gone the next…”

[troyboltonav]

Troy shrugged. "That's okay. I guess it's lucky there was a part like Jason for me to play because he's a lot like me. Or like how I was in high school. Except, um, more suicidal." He coughed. "Anyway."

Troy frowned, shaking his head. "I don't know. Nothing like this ever happened to me before." He nodded. "Ok. At rehearsals, I'll be you, and uh, you be me. But I'm totally with you--no lying to Clarice. She needs to know which one of us is which."

Troy smirked. "It was only funny because she wasn't hurt too badly. That and the little 'whoops!' sound she made when she realized there wasn't any more stage."

[owingnobody]

"Right?" Bod laughed. "Though, the 'crash' was somewhat less funny, and slightly more terrifying..." He shook his head, smiling. "Okay, so we're agreed, then. Just until everything calms down-- or we get switched back, whichever comes first."

He reached for the handle of the door, then paused, thinking. "You say Jason was a lot like you," he said. And he knew full well what Troy had meant, but he'd opened the door- wide- for this one. "So, you were secretly in love with your best friend in high school?" he deadpanned.

[troyboltonav]

Troy made a face, remembering the crash and how scared everybody was. "That's true." He nodded. "Ok. It's a deal."

Troy nodded. "Yeah...having a secret other people would reject you for. I totally get that." Another day, he might've laughed at Bod's deadpan words, or explained that the similarity wasn't like that...but he was feeling a little wistful because of the emotion of the play, and he nodded. "Yeah. Gabriella was my best friend. And honestly, people didn't think we should be together either."

[owingnobody]

That brought Bod up short. "...Why?" he asked. Was there ever really a good reason why other people could think that two people shouldn't be together? "Did they somehow think that their opinion was more important than your feelings?"

[troyboltonav]

"Well, she was a school brain and I was a basketball player," Troy said. "The only thing we had in common was that we liked to sing. We wound up trying out for the spring musical almost by accident...and my friends and her friends worked together to keep us from doing it, and from being together. I guess maybe they thought if we were close, we wouldn't have time for them anymore? I don't know."

[owingnobody]

Bod thought about it. It seemed... awfully contrived. "I don't know, either," he said. "It seems like a silly reason for two people not to be together. But then, I think that the fact that Peter and Jason are both boys is a silly reason for them not to be together, especially when they obviously mean so much to each other..." And what does that mean for YOU, in your OWN life, Owens? he asked himself. Feeling his ears turn red, he shook himself, and said, "I'm sorry they did that to you."

[troyboltonav]

Troy nodded. "I think so too. You know, this sounds a little weird, but sometimes I wish this would be the time the show would change...the time that Jason would figure out it's ok to love Peter and live and get together with Peter in the end. I know it can't, but you know. I wish it could." He gave Bod a friendly smile. "Thanks, man. I guess it doesn't matter now, but you know. Sometimes it's hard to forget stuff."

[owingnobody]

"...yeah," Bod said. "I know what you mean." And he did. In both instances. He sometimes wished that the ends of things-- books he'd read, movies he'd seen- had had different endings. Sometimes, before going to bed, he'd written his own endings to things, changing them to his liking. He didn't know why he hadn't tried with this one. It went right along with his wondering why he couldn't wrap his brain around his own feelings towards... other people.

He also understood about the past, and how it never quite let go of you, and how hard it was to put it where it belonged: in the past. "I know what you mean." Looking up, he reached for the door handle again. "Shall we go?"

[troyboltonav]

Troy nodded. He was glad that he and Bod were talking again, that they seemed to be getting along reasonably well. He was also grateful that Bod wasn't going to use his time in Troy's body to completely ruin his life--it had occurred to him during one of Bod's angrier moments, but he hadn't said anything because, just in case Bod hadn't thought of it, he didn't want to give him the idea.

Troy smiled at Bod, adopting a horrible British accent. "Right ho, guv'nor!" He held up his hands to show he was joking. "I'm just kidding. I know you don't sound like that."

[owingnobody]

Bod blinked, surprised. "Oh, NO," he said. "I haven't the FAINTEST idea how to do an American accent! Is it awful? You can TELL I still have my accent, can't you?" He put his hands over his face, then pulled them back quickly, disconcerted by the differences in bone structure. "Oh... hell."

[troyboltonav]

Troy shook his head. "No, don't worry. Listen, here's what we'll do. We'll say that we bet each other that we couldn't go a whole week talking in each other's accents. Actorly training or something like that. The director's so into AC-TING! he'll probably buy it."