Everything was easier when Danny was on the stage. The glaring spotlight, the pairs of eyes assessing his every moment, none of them mattered. Sure, he could never have pictured that his passion would be in entertaining people---letting the words on the pages and characters behind those words inhabit him, bringing mere ideas to life through movements and speech---but here he was.

That was the magic of it all. On stage, he could be anyone---anything---it didn't matter as long as it wasn't him up there. The awkwardness and anxiety disappeared when he was Apollo, or Romeo, when he had been the orphan who always asked for more or the hero whose heel brought his downfall.

Today, he was the valiant one, Macbeth.

"False face must hide what the false heart doth know," Danny recited the line, looking down at the script in his hand. He said it again, hand at his chest as he paced the stage.

The words felt strange on his tongue, strangely satisfying in a way that had him chuckle as he repeated it. Over and over and over until it didn't make sense anymore.

Satisfied, he plopped himself down on one of the chairs in the front row of theatre after jumping off the stage, shoes squeaking when they landed on the polished floor.

He was flipping through the pages he was yet to memorize, the sound of paper rubbing against more paper masking the footsteps that approached.

He didn't notice her until she stood a distance away.

"Hi," the girl said, eyes darting around the room as she tried to catch her breath. "Is this where the cast for The Wolves are supposed to rehearse?"

"There wasn't..." Danny paused, clearing his throat. "No rehearsals today."

"Oh okay." She plopped herself down in one of the chairs, immediately pulling out her phone. 

From the corner of his eyes, Danny watched her fingers slide across her phone's screen at a ridiculously fast pace. She then sighed, head resting on the back of the seat as her eyes stared at the ceiling before falling shut, her heavy breaths accompanying the rise and fall of her chest.

Danny closed his own eyes, trying hard to remember the line he was repeating to himself when she had walked in. It had something about hearts... or was it spades?

He groaned as he flipped through the pages once more, getting annoyed when he realized he was lost now.

"I like your hair."

Unconsciously, Danny's fingers ran through the strands of brown-- now stark white with visibly darker, tell-tale roots-- for a second, before he dared to sneak a glance at the girl as he said, "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She smiled a big smile which revealed bright, perfectly straight teeth.

Now that Danny thought about it, everything about the girl seemed perfect. Despite her hair being tousled and a bit of a mess, it fell over her face in beautiful waves when she looked down at her phone. Her eyes were another story, and even though he had only caught a glimpse of the dark browns, he could picture the defined swirl of colour in them.

Danny's hand rubbed as his face, running over one jawline which felt, and probably was, higher than the other. His face wasn't perfectly aligned or symmetrical but it made him special. Everyone told him so, he believed them.

"What's your name?"

"Huh?"

"My friend's asking where I am and I just told her I'm in the theatre with this guy," she said looking up. "But I don't know your name."

"Danny," he provided. His voice sounded too hoarse for his own liking.

"You have white hair, your name is Danny..." The dark-haired girl observed as she counted off her fingers. "Sounds like that Nickelodeon cartoon. Next, you'll swear your surname is Phantom." She laughed. It was a nice, light-hearted laugh. Cute even.

Deciding to humour her, Danny shifted in his chair so he was facing the girl directly. "It's actually really close to Phantom. There are additional letters."

"Okay," the girl leaned forward as she put her phone away. Now, they were facing each other, each having the other's attention fully. "Hit me."

"It's dot e-x-e."

"You have a dot in your name. Seriously?"

"Seriously."

They both broke out in laughter, the sound echoing in the empty room. When it died down, they made eye contact again, briefly this time.

Danny's eyes trailed down to the script again , eyes skimming through all Macbeth's lines until he found where he had left off.

"That's not the script for The Wolves you have in your hand, is it?" She rummaged through her bag as she spoke, pulling out her own copy of a script, fold lines and dog ears abounding. "Because it has an all-girl cast."

"Why don't you come find out for yourself," he replied without taking a second to think about the words he uttered.

In a short while, she was in the seat next to him, reaching for his script before he knew what she was doing. His hands still held on when she grabbed the sheet, making their fingers brush.

Then she was holding onto it, him. Danny looked at her with wide eyes, wondering what in blazes was happening, until he realized she was only trying to look at the first page. 

"Macbeth," she whispered. "Well, Mr. Tragedy, I'm Celia."

"Your real name or for the... play?"

"Why don't you come find out for yourself?"

Before he could say a word, her friend burst through the door, prompting Celia to stand and leave. She waved before climbing up to meet the girl who smacked on her chewing gum too loudly.

Danny could swear they were squealing with excitement as they left. He could swear even harder that Celia had winked at him when he looked back at her. He wasn't entirely sure, the theatre was too dark to make out something as subtle.

She had asked him to come find out for himself. That was exactly what he planned on.

~~
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