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Caleb doesn’t really understand theatre kids.He does tech, sure, and maybe he spends all of his time in the theatre anyway, but he'll never really understand the actor psyche. And what Caleb really doesn’t get is how loud they are.One could be working in their own bubble, completely silent and focused in the scene shop, and suddenly hear an outburst of
screams and singing through industrial stage doors and go, “Well, guess they’re warming up.” And don't even get him started on how asinine the Red Leather Yellow Leather tongue twister is. Coffee Pot is much better.Another thing that he doesn’t get is how theatre kids can cause so much destruction. Everywhere they go they leave a trail of discarded wrappers and lost scripts. They don’t really realize that a broken prop means twelve straight hours of work for a poor tech kid later. The spotlight missing them is as a result of them missing the strike or the sound sample not coming is because they didn't say their cue line loud enough. It's not often a tech kid snoozing, like the actors believe.
Caleb may not understand them, but he loves them.Techies live in a world of darkness and labor, but it really is all for the actors. For Caleb, the bright tornados of actors never fail to keep him busy. Keeping busy is very important, sometimes you would rather be busy than realize your darker thoughts.Though sometimes they keep him too busy.Currently, he's tackling the issue of repainting the platforms black after the some kid decided that neon
yellow
was a good idea for a color motif. The two-by-fours hadn't been striped for reuse since the tech teacher wanted to keep the structures for next time, since they were pretty solid work.The platforms are stacked by height near the
shop
door, a door quite like a garage door but far taller so one can bring larger set pieces in and out. Below him and filling the rest of the room, except the meeting nook in the back right.There are closets, two on each side. The ones on the left hold paint storage and the other holds the "vanilla tools." The doors on the right lead to the power tool storage and the largest storage room for props. There is another garage door leading to the parking lot and dumpster bins outside directly opposite of the shop door.Caleb hears someone speeding down the stairs which lead down from the loft on the left. It holds extra furniture and prop storage, so of course Caleb's favorite props person comes careening down the stairs.
Nott's frizzy black hair is a mess that bounces with each step. She's running down kicking up her oversized sneakers. Her olive skin, pale from spending her days in the shop, is flushed red. Nott's smile is wide and all her crooked teeth show. She seems thrilled, and that makes Caleb happy, but frankly a little afraid.“Hey Caleb, when you finish up, Beau says we can watch the audition stuff!” Nott calls up at him.Oh, that. Of course.Caleb looks over the edge and sees Nott practically vibrating with excitement. She's bouncing up and down in nervous anticipation. Since she is a true musical theatre geek at heart, auditions never fail to send her over the edge.The two of them lead the scenic design team. People often say that they’re an odd pair, but Caleb honestly would never trade Nott for anything. She’s saved his ass plenty of times, and he’s done it a bit in return. That and the fact that they're each other's best friend.Nott does propwork, since she has such a good eye for finding interesting items at antique, thrift, and variety stores. She often gets so excited that she leaves the antique stores and such with the item in hand without paying. And so Caleb often accompanies her for the purpose of making sure she pays for everything, and if she forgets, talking their way out of getting fined or arrested. They usually go get lunch after they search, piling all the props in the back of Caleb's car.Caleb is head of set design.
He's often
covered head to toe in splashes of paint and saw dust. He spends all of his days locked away in the scene shop or buried in graph paper creating new set schematics. Caleb has a tendency to forget the rest of the world exist, so Nott has taken up the mantle of reminding him to eat, often actually covering the lunch cost when he forgets money too. Sometimes they sit in mutual silence just painting and Caleb never feels more calm.“I’m good for now, I can paint the
platforms later,” Caleb places the brush back in the paint basin and eases himself into jumping from the height.He drops down next to her and grabs the paint can and lid. Caleb places the paint lid on the bucket and hands the mallet to Nott to pound the can back closed. Every time he opens up a new paint can, he always enlists Nott to close it up. She gets to pound out her anxiety and the paint gets to stay dry, it’s a good system.Caleb carries the bucket into the paint storage and Nott pads closely to him."I'm really digging this shade of black," Nott stands at the doorframe picks at a dried piece of the paint on her wan skin.Caleb picks up an old rag and lightly grabs her arm to wipe it, "It's raven black, since licorice black was had too much of a red undertone."Nott doesn't resist him wiping her arm as she attempts to comfort him, "I told you, no one noticed Caleb.""Perfectionism though, ja?"He puts the rag
once again on the table and grabs his oversized sweatshirt. He turns
around to her as he pulls it on.Nott tugs his giant sleeve forward, trying to get him to follow her to the auditions, “I’ll help you paint those flats later, if you want.”“That’s very kind of you,” He smiles as he lets her drag him down the hall to the choir room. He wonders if it’s actually going to be as thrilling as she hopes.They exit the shop, which is nestled in the far back of the performance arts building. They pass the black box and main stage to head for the choir room where the auditions are going down.Through the walls
of the
locker rooms leading up to the choir room, he can
hear
the nervous actors. He can’t see any hear any clearly enough to recognize them or the audition pieces.“Beau says we should be getting an idea of what’s up, the mood and all,” Nott explains as Caleb opens the choir door for her. "But mostly us coming is for fun!"They step into the choir room. It has vaulted ceilings for acoustics and plastic chairs for affordability. The plastic chairs lead all the way back onto risers where the choir typically sings. For now, the casting team sits on the risers while the actors will stand on the ground, one at a time to belt their hearts out.Nott and Caleb stand at the bottom of the risers and glance to the assistant director, Fjord and the stage manager Beau.Fjord is a very nice man. Caleb worked with him last year on
Legally Blonde,
when Fjord was the assistant to the assistant director. That had been Keyleth’s last year as assistant director after she took up the position sophomore year. Fjord had been a steady and organized hand under Keyleth’s sometimes frantic fancies. Even if she was a wonderfully creative director, Caleb can’t help but be happy that Fjord is the AD now.Sitting next to Fjord is the stage manager Beau. While she’s often crass and rude, was a pretty good assistant stage manager to Vax last year, so Caleb is a bit excited that she’s stage manager this year. Not that he’d ever tell her that.She'd find some way to make it a joke.The two old friends seem to be discussing something heatedly
from their perch while the director and head of tech are going over notes. Fjord’s head turns when he hears Caleb and Nott enter. Beau looks over and gives a small salute in greeting as Fjord waves them over.“Caleb, Nott,” Fjord acknowledges them in his smooth southern drawl.Beau leans back, “You came just in time. Mr. Mercer and Lord Cabbage are just about to start the singing part.”Fjord and Beau are what many people would define as ‘bros.’ Their relationship is 'ride or die' and they share a similar 'macho' quality, or whatever Nott explained it as. They’re a good team to head up the musical this year, even though they sometimes get in a lot of trouble together.Correction, Beau gets in trouble and drags Fjord into it.Fjord whips his head around to her, “Beau, you can’t just call Mr. Foster, Cabbage Lord.”“Dude, it’s a techie inside joke, he’s totally cool with it.”“She’s right!” Nott agrees, turning to
yell at Foster. “Hello Mr. Cabbage!”Nott flaps her arms around and shouts to their teacher from across the room, calling the attention foremost of Foster, but Mercer turns
around with a small smile as well.Foster laughs at the odd display, “Ah, my favorite props gremlin! And Caleb, nice to see you out of the dungeon. Here to see the audition?”“Ja, Mr. Foster,” Caleb responds.“No need to be so formal,” Foster quips.“Of course, Mr. Foster,” Caleb deadpans as Nott snickers a little.Brian squints his eyes with a smirk as his final response before turning back to his work.Brian Foster had been their tech class teacher since Caleb’s freshman year. Most of the techies love the guy, even if he’s a bit weird and tells really bad jokes. He treats his students like adults, which is pretty rare for a teacher. All the tech kids call him some variation of Cabbage Man, a joke that Caleb doesn’t really know the origin of and is afraid to ask.Matthew Mercer is the other adult in the room, far more intimidating than Foster in a quiet genius sort of way. Mercer is a true visionary of a director, always taking the musicals to new heights. He’s a pretty cool guy too.Mercer nods at Caleb when they make eye contact in kind of a nonverbal way of saying, ‘you can stay.’ Caleb doesn’t know whether to be intimidated or pleased. Probably both.Caleb and Nott walk up the risers and sit next to Beau, who has to move all her stage schematics out of the way since she’s disorganized in an organized way.Nott’s leg bounces up and down in excitement as she waits for the show to begin, as it were. In contrast, Caleb pulls out a his Chemistry textbook, ready to get ahead for the week.He's been worried about how this year's show will compare. Last year was Legally Blonde, and people loved it. Even Caleb would catch himself stopping at stage doors to watch the rehearsals. No one could beat Vex’ahlia at Elle Woods.People were actually kind of scared that last year’s show would be it for the achievements of the theatre department. So many of the leads and cast had been seniors, and the same for the tech staff. No one really knew what to expect.If he had to be honest, while Caleb is excited to see where the show goes, he isn’t entirely sure how show stopping these auditions will be.“Hey, Nott?” Caleb whispered as he saw Fjord’s little freshman assistant pop in the door and duck out. “What musical are we doing?”Nott’s eyes widened and Caleb braced himself as he saw her yelling mode resurface, “You don’t even-!”Fjord clears his throat. Nott looks over at him sheepishly and takes a deep breath.“Caleb,” She whispers urgently. “You don’t even know what musical we’re doing? You’re designing the whole stage!”“I know,” Caleb kind of wants to evaporate as he sees that everyone in the room is pretending not to be listening to him. “I was focused on disassembling
last year’s set.”Beau chuckles a bit, probably at Caleb’s expense, “The techie grind never stops, especially for a tech theatre vampire like Caleb.”Caleb glares at Beau in return and soon glares a bit at Fjord and Nott when they giggle in response.“Well, Caleb, you have to admit that you do have a certain vampire like
look to you. Something like that ain’t too hard to remedy though, just get you a bit of Vitamin D,” Fjord who has no idea what a sunburn is because he’s a tan god tries to lessen the blow.Caleb breaths in through his nose, "Nott often stays inside as well.""At least Nott has naturally darken skin," Beau states. "You look like a saltine."Nott pats Caleb lightly on the arm, “Don't worry, Caleb. I like you just the way you are.”“Thank you, Nott.”Fjord’s freshman assistant opens the door again and flutters back up to her boss and plops down next to him whispering something.Fjord stands from his seat, “Hey, Mr. Mercer, the actors will be in in two.”“Thank you, Fjord,” Mercer’s steady voice replies. “Remember to take notes.”“Course I will, Mr. Mercer.”Foster turns around sharply, “Beau! Take notes, but make sure that they’re kind of unhelpful, just like my dad was.”“Will do, Cabbage man.”Beau leans back and pulls out her binder filled with roughed up notebook paper and starts to draw spiral looking triangle things. Caleb vaguely thinks he
might have heard them called shurikens. He almost laughs when she pulls out a red pen and adds blood splatter on them.Next to her, Fjord is organizing paperwork and the little freshman is helping him out by writing on sticky notes to label the new piles. Caleb sees a couple of names and phone numbers and a multitude of blank lines.The freshman starts to whistle a tune, like an anxious little songbird as she writes more labels. She looks up and is spooked to see Caleb and Nott listening in, and promptly stops whistling.Nott gives her typical toothy and nervous smile before whistling the melody in response. The two continue to whistle and Caleb has the suspicion that he has heard this music somewhere before.“Nott, what are you whistling?”“Oh, it’s just the
overture of-”“Jesus Christ Superstar Vocal Auditions begin now! Please line up in alphabetical order,” Fjord says as the actors begin to shuffle through the open door.Oh no.Musicals with catchy music are the bane of Caleb’s existence. They get stuck in his head and it never leaves him, and they’re doing a whole musical comprised of basically only catchy songs. Pure torture.Of course Caleb can’t show his displeasure and settles himself with looking back his textbook again, anticipating a bumpy road.The actors take their seats
against the wall in chairs that face toward the casting team and behind whoever will preform.Mercer stands up and starts to talk to the actors about auditions and how they’re going to go. He addresses that their choir teacher Dani Carr wouldn’t be able to make it today so Kiri would be filming it for her to review later.Fjord’s assistant stands up on a chair with a black case with a giant yellow eye on it. Caleb vaguely remembers Beau accusing Fjord of being part of a cult, but apparently it’s just an anime thing.So apparently the fluffy haired freshman is named Kiri.Mercer continues on, asking that the actors sing in order of their last names alphabetically and do a typical actor’s slate: “Hello I’m Actor McActor and today I will be auditioning for the role of That One Guy with That Song.”Caleb starts sketching out a diagram for the process of oxidation for his next chem class, kind of wishing that he could allow himself to work on some sketches for the stage.The auditions begin. Caleb tunes out the first few until he hears the voice of one of his personal favorite actors, and techie, Caduceus.Caleb’s head whips up as his friend steps forward and introduces himself. Caduceus's hair is freshly dyed his standard pink for the occasion. He wears the good luck bracelets the techies had made before the show last year, and Caleb is secretly touched.Caduceus spots Caleb, Nott, and the others up above and gives
a slight wave to the people up on the risers. Caleb gives an okay symbol in response and Nott returns the wave with a thumbs up. Caduceus's slight amount of anxiety seems to melt out with his friends' responses.
Then, Caduceus sings the sample for Jesus. Caleb is a good deal impressed as his voice captures the fear of fate reflected by Gethsemane."Look at our boy!" Nott whispers to Caleb as their friend sits back down. "I feel like a proud mom."Caleb nods at Nott with a small smile that's only a little bit at her expense.A few more auditions go by, including the
somehow comedic performance of the Gethsemane sample from Lionel, one of the seniors, and Gilmore who follows him up with a beautiful sample of Herod’s music.Caleb keeps on his steady path of homework, but does glance up when he recognizes the one of the costuming techs, Nila’s, voice as she gives her best at Pilate’s Dream. It’s always strange to see techies go for acting roles, but he can’t help but admire the bravery.A few more kids audition before he hears a familiar voice.“Ayoay! It’s me, Jester Fancypants Lavorre and I’m auditioning for Mary Mags with I Don’t Know How to Love Him," she calls out with her typical furor before focusing her gaze on Fjord. "This one goes out to the assistant director!”Caleb chuckles inwardly as Fjord chokes and breaks the lead on his pencil. Beau starts flat out laughing until Fjord hits her to shut up.It’s common knowledge that all through the musical last year, Jester loved to flirt with Fjord to embarrass the hell out of him. Nott used to rant to Caleb about how there is definitely more to the picture, but nonetheless, it’s hilarious to watch the slow blush spread across Fjord’s dark cheeks as Jester flawlessly sings the love ballad without breaking eye contact with him.After Jester finishes with a wink, a couple more people audition and Caleb
buries himself in his
chemistry book once more, now working on explaining the difference between red and blue fire scientifically. He listens to the deep timbre of Shakäste with Caiaphas's sample, and then tunes everything out completely.That is until Caleb hears Nott giggling.He looks
to Nott and sees her jabbing Beau with her elbow, cracking up while Beau’s face breaks out in a blush.Caleb turns to see the titan of a woman who introduces herself as Yasha and breaks the mold by signing a Caiaphas, a typically male part. Caleb looks at Beau as she practically melts into her chair in a mix of awe and embarrasment. Caleb is quite inwardly impressed with the the new girl’s range, singing in soprano, alto, and tenor tones is no small feat.“She’s perfect,” Beau whispers, almost as if she couldn’t tell she was saying it.Caleb rolls his eyes back to his homework.He hears Keg belt the Simon Zealotes, yet another mold breaker, and a freshman named Calianna quietly but beautifully sing I Don’t Know How to Love Him.There is a bit of silence. So Caleb looks up.Time stopped.A tall and beautiful person with bright mane of purple hair contrasting his tanned skin. He confidently adjusts their technicolor dreamcoat as he saunters forward with a bright grin. Jewelry drips from his ears and neck as he hands his form to Mercer and Foster.“Good evening,” A lightly accented voice rings through Caleb’s ears. “I’m Mollymauk Tealeaf and I’ll be auditioning for the role of Judas with the song Heaven on their Minds.”Before beginning, Mollymauk scans the risers, obviously sizing each person in their row up. He meets Caleb’s gaze for a split second. Mollymauk grins from where he
stands confidently
on the ground. Caleb breaks the eye contact. The second felt far too long, for some reason.No one seems to have noticed.Scratch that, Nott definitely noticed.Caleb looks back again as
Mollymauk begins belting his sample. Moving with the whole music,
Mollymauk's body possessed with character, Caleb cannot help the feeling of awe that spreads through him.The actor
bows and prances
once again into line with a thank you.A few more people audition, like Kima and a couple of underclassmen, but Caleb is too lost in relief to focus.With the group of old standards like Kima, Gilmore, Shakäste, Caduceus, Keg, and Jester and the new members like Calianna, Yasha, and Mollymauk, there is some real authentic talent.Maybe this show will be good.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After all of the actors had finished their singing, Mercer called a break so that they could drink some water or collect themselves before transferring into their monologues and dialogues.Caleb observes as everyone pairs up into scene partners, with predictable duos like Kima and Gilmore or Jester and Caduceus. His curiosity is sated when he sees that the two new kids end up paired together, actively seeking each other out.Caleb doesn’t really know why he was that curious though. It’s not like it affects him.“Okay, Fjord, bro,” Beau claps her hand on her friend’s shoulder as she stands up. “Loved the whole audition process, but now I’ve got a couple ideas and I’d like to hash them over with my people.”At their mention, Nott and Caleb rise from their seats as well. A couple people turn to the movement, since actors are easily distracted.Nott and Jester make eye contact for a moment, and Nott seems a bit frightened before chancing a customary Nott wave. It’s less of a wave and more of a landing signal for airplanes. Jester seems to brighten and responds with her own in return.Caleb stops watching as the two have reached the point where they’re competing to see how long they can do it. They remind him distantly of birds.“Nott, what the fuck,” Beau crosses her arms impatiently.“I can’t let her beat me!” Nott responds between flaps. “My pride is all I have left.”“Are you sure about that?” Beau scoff as she starts to head down the risers. Caleb follows her sluggishly, allowing enough room for his very short friend to catch up if she wants to.“You can never beat me!” Jester shouts from below.Nott sighs and gives one last flap before running down the risers to follow Caleb closely as she often does.Caleb hears Jester bragging to Caduceus about her victory, and so he turns to look down at Nott, who looks a fair bit disappointed.“Look Caleb, I’m not sad I lost. I’m sad that I didn’t fly.”Caleb has a good little chuckle at that as he catches the door behind Beau to hold it for his friend.“You need more feathers for that my friend,” Caleb responds as Nott passes through the door, sulking too much to think about saying thank you. “Like Icarus’s wings.”Beau smirks from ahead of them, “I’m more concerned about making Jesus fly right now. Honestly, how the hell are we going to find the budget to lift him into the sky on the cross?”“Theft!”“No.”“Scamming!”“No.“Sell Caleb as a prostitute!”“Nein!”Nott shrugs at the other two, “No one can say I didn’t try.”Caleb ruffles Nott’s hair before looking back to Beau before they return to the scene shop, “Beau, I think we will have to try an avant garde approach. We cannot actually fly the students, but we can fly the cross.”“I’m listening.”They enter the high ceilinged room they call home and make their way over to the unofficial tech theatre meeting space. Often when furniture props get too worn to use, but not worn enough to throw out, the techies will add them to their eclectic collection of furniture in the back corner.Some furniture highlights include but are not limited to:The special chair for Sweeney Todd which is great for the murder scenes but horrible for anything else. It is considered to be the most dangerous piece of furniture they have, so naturally it’s “Beau’s Throne.”The window seat from Arsenic and Old Lace, accompanied with a fake corpse hidden in it.A old puffy reclining chair and its corresponding tiger carpet from when someone decided to do a Juno adaptation as a senior project.A weird lamp with an owl cover that Nott found at an antique store and Beau peer pressured her to buy it. They call it the Professor for some reason.And finally, a generic shays lounge that has a horrible pattern on it so no show ever wants to use it, but it's comfortable. Caleb would often take naps on it face first during finals, and any other time actually.It’s an
nice space with hung curtains and haphazard clotheslined blankets enclosing their weird little nook into a space of its own. Posters of old shows are hung along the alcove as well as costume designs and stage blueprints. There is a table littered with coffee rings and scratch paper.Most techies, Caleb included, will fight to keep this space a refuge from any and all actor drama. Drama being an amazingly fitting word. Actors are unofficially banned from the alcove, on pain of death.Actually, more like on pain of Nott kicking in their kneecaps.They arrive to see Allura curled up in the reclining chair sketching. Her reading glasses are on and her hair is pulled into a messy bun. She keeps scrunching up her face in concentration before erasing again and again. Basically, Allura is in her work mode.She startles a bit at the change of light from Beau charging through the curtain, “You’re back! How did they do?”“You mean how did Kima do?” Nott teases as she jumps on the shays, patting the spot next to her for Caleb.Allura laughs good naturedly, “Of course! She told me I wasn’t allowed to watch or she’d mess up. I’m sure she was flawless though.”“Ja, she was very good.”“Thank you, Caleb,” Allura adjusts to sit up, rising from her fetal like position. “What a relief!"A loud creak is heard as Beau scales her throne. She sits proudly on the barber’s chair, with her legs far apart as some show of dominance. Apparently, it’s called manspreading, as Nott has attempted to explain. Beau is certainly not a man, but she is certainly spreading.“First order of business!” Beau hits her fist on the wall behind her as if its a gavel. “Five separate techies have made the worst decision of their lives and auditioned as actors, but according to the survey I sent out, there are like seven actors who are interested in moonlighting tech, four of which are the auditioners.”“Who’s the extra?” Nott yells as she jumps up from her seat. “I’ll stab them.”Caleb rests his hand on her shoulder and slowly guides her back down to sit next to him again, “Better to convert them.”“True!”Beau pulls out her phone and starts to count under her breath. Caleb, out of habit, counts along too.“Anyway, Allura we have Nila, a junior, and Jester, another junior, interested in costuming,” Beau states as Allura jots down the names on another part of her sketchbook.“Make up as well?”“Only for Jester. Nila says in the survey that she does love sewing and mending.”“Excellent,” Allura nods with a bright smile across her face before she starts to tap her pencil on her nose in thought.“Caleb.”“Yes, Beauregard?”Beau rolls her eyes before continuing, “Clay would like to continue to help out with set design work and the leading of the set crew. We also have a sophomore transferring in, their name is Bryce Felid.”“Ja, that’s good,” Caleb nods before getting a bit concerned. “And who wants to be on set crew?”“Nila, again, Kitor, Horris, and Dolan all said that they were interested.”“Ja, ja, I can work with that,”There is a bit of a pause before they all jump, startled to hear a shout from the storage loft, “Who’s interested in light and sound?”“Lionel is still interested, Cassandra,” Beau shouts up.They look up and see a thumbs up jutting through the railing above that swiftly disappears back through.“What is she doing?” Nott rasps. Everyone else shrugs, because no one knows and no one is about to tell Cassandra de Rolo what to do.“Anyway, since we have all of the leaders for the teams here, what are we thinking?” Beau moves backwards in her chair and crosses her legs. “So far we’re thinking a sort of industrial feel, like dystopian modern shit.”“So, like that John Legend thing?” Nott nods with understanding.Beau shakes her head, “Not quite. They’re doing this whole like anti-establishment thing with the show. It’s kind of ballsy but I think it’s gonna go well. In any case, Cabbage Man told me to think about like trussing and rebar. Just like, exposed industrial shit.”Caleb sits in thought for awhile, “So, some should be exposed platforming, but maybe in the center there should be elegant looking opulent housing.”Beau looks over at him end rests her head in her hand thoughtfully, “Maybe it could be like taller than the rest of the set as a metaphor.”“That makes sense, but it shouldn’t be too far so that the actors can get back and forth without having to climb down,” He posed the idea.“There should still be an intense contrast!” Nott cries excitedly. “Imagine how awesome it will look when you can see through the scaffolds and rebar and then there’s this shiny mansion.”“We’ll workshop it,” Beau leans back grinning. “Glad you’re thinking about it now though. So we’re thinking modern but with dystopian leanings. Al, Nott, think you got that?”“Of course, we could even use pieces of clothing from the actors or other technicians.”“Herod is gonna get the shiniest shit I can find.”Caleb glances over at his best friend who is yet again shaking with excitement, “I can drive you to some shops next week.”Nott gives him thumbs up before running off to her props closet, probably to scramble through everything. She always gets excited when she gets caught by an idea. Nott will probably be in there awhile.Beau hops down from her pseudo throne, “Okay so all the other techies will be here in about thirty minutes for announcements. I’m gonna find some diorama boxes so we can get started on plans pretty soon. Sound good Caleb?”Caleb thinks for a second, “Ja, okay.”“Also, make sure that Nott is there for announcements,” Beau clasps her hand on his shoulder as he moves along past him.What? Is Nott in trouble?Caleb immediately begins to try to catalog why she’d be in trouble, as any good friend would do.Was it when she threw a banana from the catwalk to see if it would explode? Was it when she stole the fake robot chicken they use for Into the Woods? Was it when she pickpocketed Beau’s pocket bacon?How would Caleb fix this? There has got to be a way.He sits back down near Allura, “Might I borrow a sheet of paper? And a pen?”Allura looks up and then her face seems to scrunch up in concern, “Of course, Caleb.”She rips a sheet from her sketch pad and hands him one of her trademark fancy fountain pens. He takes them gently, attempting to keep the paper as crisp as possible and begins to pen an apology letter on behalf of his friend.“What are you writing, Caleb?” Allura’s voice gently rings from where she’s sketching again.“I believe that Nott is in trouble, so I would like to clear her name.”Caleb turns, confused, as Allura starts to laugh quietly.She shakes her head, “Don’t worry, Nott is definitely not in trouble. Beau just has something important to tell her, it’s all okay.”“Oh, ja, okay,” Caleb looks down at his already half written note. “I’m going to finish it, just in case.”He doesn’t hear a response as he continues to write but he hears the her pencil gliding over the paper. Caleb is quite used to writing essays and emails, so he is reasonably okay with the letter he is in the process of writing. It details the good qualities of Nott, her loyalty and dedication to the tech theatre program and her all around fun demeanor.He stops writing for a second to be embarrassed, “Allura, if this is not actually needed, don’t tell anyone I did this.”He looks up to Allura, who’s smiling sweetly, “I won’t tell a soul.”Caleb nods at her in acknowledgement before folding the letter up and stuffing it in his jean pocket.He then leans back and let’s himself think. Jesus Christ Superstar? So, Caleb kind of knows the plot, it is the plot of the Bible, but he really hasn’t watched the show. He knows about one song and that’s it.But what sort of musical is it?Is it going to be good?Maybe he's just being a perfectionist again, but he is entirely baffled.A flurry of noise is heard from outside of the tech shop, since actors are always incredibly loud, and everyone perks up.“So some of the techies will be coming from their auditions,” Beau announces as she heads back over to the meeting area with a clipboard and her laptop in hand. “Get something to take notes down.”“Nott, it is time for notes,” Caleb calls out as he heads over to meet her at the props room.As he reaches the door, he hears a loud crash and Nott yelp before she hurriedly pops out from the room. She’s holding a shining trumpet in one hand and a war hammer in the other.Caleb furrows his brow and looks up and down between Nott and the contents of her hands, “Why?”“I just kind of got whatever seemed fun,” Nott shrugs.“Hm, okay, we are meeting with all of the techies now,” Caleb nods before turning back to the alcove.Nott practically prances over with him, “That means Jester’s coming, right?”“For sure!” A distinctive voice rings out through the scene shop.Caleb turns to see a familiar figure, with her hands squarely on her hips, in all her flamboyant glory. Nott takes off running and launches into a jumping high five with Jester, which is missed by both of them.He remembers how they originally became friends. They were assigned to decide what counted as a prop and what counted as a costume last year, meaning they had to spend hours digging through both closets. They took on the persona of two detectives tackling the case.While Caleb waited to drive Nott home, he could hear them yelling about something or other from across the scene shop, and they sort of just ended up good friends.Jester seems to have by now changed out of her fancy audition clothes into typical Jester patented waist high shorts and a baby pink crop top, tying her black wavy hair in a messy bun to get to work.“You were fantastic, Jester!” Nott fawns, hanging off of her barely taller friend. “You really sold the whole sad, sexy thing!”Jester gives Nott a big grin, “Why thank you, Nott! It was so fun, did you see how blushy Fjord got!”“Of course!”Caleb gives Jester a quick wave, “You did well.”“Caleb, did you fall in love with me? I don’t blame you, I’m very pretty,” Jester bats her eyelashes at him.He just stares at her blankly, “Nein. You are not my type.”She gasps dramatically, “I’m everyone’s type.”“Sorry I took so long, what did I miss?”Caduceus ducks past the door, followed immediately by Nila and Kitor. The three of them are all pretty good friends since they have all been working on an independant gardening elective since their freshman year.Caduceus has also shifted out of audition appearance by tying back his hair in a ponytail and unbuttoning his dress shirt so that his Arms and Sleepers shirt shows. Nila has changed from her blouse to a red T-shirt and Kitor remains in slacks and a dress shirt.Briefly, Caleb wonders what it must be like to audition. His anxiety is already so prevalent, he doesn’t need to exasperate it.“Just giving some deserved compliments,” Nott pipes up, “Speaking of deserved compliments, good job you guys!”“Thank you,” all three ring out almost in unison.After a bit more small talk and chit chat, the group heads over to the tables in the middle of the room reserved for building and painting work. The last few techies file in from the hallway, so about everyone is here.Everyone grabs a seat on the stools facing Beau, where she sits in a spinning stool behind the podium usually reserved for Mr. Foster. She pulls out her notepad and lollypop pen, a gift from Jester, and flips to the announcements.“So, here’s what up,” Beau leans over on the podium tapping her hand with her words. “As I’m sure you all know we’re doing Jesus Christ Superstar as our fall musical. School starts on Monday and after that we’re going to have rehearsals after school every school day except Fridays.“Even though we’re techies, you guys are expected for the first two weeks so we can figure out exactly what we’re doing and hopefully be done with the set by the third week, or at least the basics.“The heads of our teams this year are Cassandra de Rolo for light and sound, Allura Vysoren with costuming, and Caleb Widogast for scenic.”Beau points the end of her pen out, “This will be Allura and Cassandra’s last year, so we will be accepting applications and evaluating throughout the musical who will head up the divisions next year.”Everyone dissolves into excited hubbub. Caleb briefly glances at Nila and then Lionel. The former seems to have perked up slightly, most likely at the idea of succeeding Allura. The latter has a big old grin on his face and has begun elbowing Cassandra.“But most importantly,” Beau cuts through the subsequent chatter, “You all have probably noticed that I don’t have an ASM. Cabbage Man told me to pick a person to train to take my position once I graduate, and I’m pretty sure this person can do it.“She’s a sophomore right now, so she’s got a bit more life in her, and she is always here after rehearsals and during the school even though no one calls her. She crazy, but she’s crazy about our program, so…”Caleb has stopped breathing by now and Nott’s hand is tightly fastened in his hand, squeezing for dear life.Beau smirks across to them, “Nott, do you wanna be a stage manager.”Everyone turns to stare at Nott, who is leaning into Caleb’s side. She looks around nervously, before looking up at Caleb.“Do not worry, do it if you want,” Caleb smiles as he whispers. “You will always have time for props.”“Count me in, Beau!”Beau smirks wider, “Sure thing, Rat Girl.“With that out of the way, remember, our motif is modern dystopia and you need to be at rehearsals for the next two weeks UNLESS you clear it with me. Everyone else can check with me about their assignments. Get outta here and have a good day or don’t, it’s not up to me.”All the techies start to break off into their friend groups, while Caleb and Nott stay right where they are. Nott seems to be in a case of shock and Caleb begins consolidating all their stuff for the drive home.“I’m the ASM.”Caleb looks up from packing her satchel, “Yes, you are.”“Caleb! I’m the ASM!” Nott yells as the excitement light bulb turns on in her head.“Yes, yes, you are,” Caleb ruffles her hair. “I am very proud of you Nott. You deserve it.”“Not sure about that, but I’m not gonna argue,” Nott grabs her satchel from him before marching off.Caleb follows along in tow, “We should go to a celebratory dinner. Somewhere nice, like Spice Market.”“Nope, we’re going to The Clasp!” Nott announces as they push out of the scene shop.Caleb wants to argue, but he figures he should just let it go. After all it’s her celebration, and he’d do just about anything for her.