alexander

I felt so much pressure leave. Because I was saying things I'd been dying to get off my chest. "That's more than I have. How can you be so social? How can you be this popular?" I stated.

"That's how I was raised. If you don't have friends, you have nothing. That was my mother's motto growing up, and as much as I hated it, and still hate it, I still live by it. But why does that bother you? You have such a wide ass vocabulary and you talk literally non-stop," John replied like the smartass he is.

I chuckled. "There's a difference between talking and being social. I'm on the lore awkward end of the spectrum, and I've never been good at making friends. I was raised to treasure my education over everything else. I've always envied your ability to keep conversations going so easily. How easily you can make friends. How you can go up to a random person and talk for hours where as I would get shooed away in a matter of seconds."

John shrugged. "It's how you were raised I guess."

"I guess." It wasn't late, like at all, maybe 3 o'clock. "Um J-"

"Do you wanna go for a walk?" he asked. Sit definitely caught me off guard.

"W-What?"

"A walk? Like you and I... I-I mean, just so we could get to know each other...." he trailed. I looked down at my empty cup.

"Sure. That sounds good. It's nice outside."

He smiled softly and we left. It really was nice outside. I kept my hands in my pockets and my eyes forward. And John did the same. I assume, I wasn't staring at him. But I did look at him from time to time. We didn't talk much, but it was okay. For once, I didn't want to strangle him.

"What's your favourite colour?"

"Blue."

"Me too," he said. "What's your favourite food?"

"I don't have a specific. I'll eat just about anything you put in front of me. But I am a sucker for pasta."

"Really? I'm a sucker for burgers."

"Good to know," I chuckled. It settled on me after my laugh how awkward that really was "What's your favourite... Uh.... animal?"

"Really?" he laughed. "Turtle."

"Dog."

"What's your favourite music genre?"

"I'm a sucker for pop but also classical."

"Really?"

"It helps me stay calm and focused."

"Oh. I really like rock, but I'm a sucker for classical too. Maybe a little Broadway."

I stopped. "Broadway?"

He stopped. "Yeah. I mean, you gotta pick up something in New York."

"Have you ever seen a show?"

"Two. I've seen Phantom and Newsies."

"Phantom?"

"Phantom of the Opera."

"Oh..."

"Wait, you're telling me you've never seen Phantom of the Opera?"

"No, I've never even heard of it."

"Really?"

"Yeah... I've only ever seen Cats. I've never seen anything else."

"That's what we're gonna do!"

"What?"

"This week. To bond. We're going to see as many shows as we can afford, starting with Phantom of the fricking Opera. You'll love it!"

"O-Okay..." I just went along with it.

"Let's go see if there's tickets for tonight still available." He practically ran, dragging me behind him. I'd never seen someone so excited. And certainly not over a musical.

We waited in line, which actually didn't take long. John went up and asked for five tickets for orchestra level seating.

"We only have two available sir."

"Two?"

"Yes sir."

"D-do you wanna just go another time or..." I started.

"I'm sure the others won't mind. We're supposed to be bonding right?"

"Uh, yeah.."

"We'll take them, thank you."

So the lady handed him the tickets and we went back to the dorm to get dressed. I had never expected my simple apology to go this far. Just the other night I wanted to hold his pillow over his snoring face.

"Um how do you dress for a show?"

"Didn't you say you saw Cats? Just dress how you did for that."

"I was thirteen and watching it on a DVD."

"Oh... Well just nice. You know, button up, dress shoes. You don't have to go full out."

"Right okay." I grabbed a severely wrinkled grey button up shirt and a pair of black jeans. I slipped on a pair of black dress shoes and fixed my hair some.

"What time does it start?" I asked.

"7."

"Will we be locked out?"

"Nah, the dorm building doesn't lock until 10:30. Plus Lee loves me."

"Lee?"

"Charles Lee, the RA. The grumpy kid who always sits with his feet propped up at that fancy desk by the entrance."

"Oh."

"C'mon. We can wander around and you can make a list of other shows you wanna see this week."

"Okay."

I trailed him like a lost puppy. And I kinda was. I mean, I had no idea where we were going. He could've led me down an alley and stabbed me to death, and I would never have known. I guess you could say I trusted him. We wandered down the streets and I saw beautiful signs that lit up the sky. They were huge and glorious. I made a mental list of the ones that stuck out the most. I loved looking up at the signs, so much so that John was like a guide dog because I was looking up so much I almost ran into people due to my lack of attention to them.

"We're here, and a little early. But cmon, I wanna show you the set. It's breathtaking." Then John mumbled something under his breath, but I was too amazed by the sign itself to ask what he said. He tugged my in by my bicep and we were seated. My breath hitched on the absolute beauty of the stage. The hanging chandelier above us. The lights looked beautiful and as people came in to fill the seats around us, I took a deep breath and was just in awe of everything.

"This really is breathtaking John. Thank you so much for bringing me. Oh! How much was the ticket? I'll pay you back."

"Don't worry about paying me back, my treat."

"But John."

"I insist. You'll just owe me one, okay?"

"Okay," I sighed. More and more people started to come in but luckily the seat next to me remained empty. I enjoyed my space. John was on the end seat and I was right next to him. The chairs had very little room between each other. The armrest was very thin, and I tried leaning against the other one so he could have the others.

The lights began to dim and the orchestra started up. The hairs on my arms stood up and I shivered. John leaned over to me. His lips were just centimeters away from my ear lobe, and his breath made me shiver again.

"Are you cold?" he whispered.

"I-I'm fine," I said, rubbing my arms. He sighed and took off his jacket and handed it to me.

"No, John I-I said-"

"I have a long sleeve on. You don't. Theatres can get cold sometimes, its okay to wear a friend's jacket."

"Thanks," I whispered, putting on his jacket. The end of the sleeves draped over my hands a bit, because it was about two sizes too big for me. But it felt so warm and I practically melted into the scent of Old Spice deodorant, coffee and money that was left in the dryer. I smiled a bit into it and glanced over at him. He was like a little kid on Christmas morning. So in awe of everything that was going while I was so obsessed with his scent, too much to notice the wonderful art right in front of me. I watched carefully, sinking into the warmth of his jacket. I leaned over, and felt something soft. It was his shoulder. I panicked and just sat up straight.

"Sorry," I murmured but he didn't seem to notice. He was too captivated by the play to notice me or anything I did.

His jacket was styled like a letterman. Fake leather and cloth at the collar and the ends to the sleeves. The collar smelled the most like him, and I had it pressed under my nostrils like I had a runny nose. When it came to the 'Masquerade' scene, I was completely captivated. Taken away by the colours and everything on stage. My breath caught when the Phantom came out and fire shot out from the corners. They say there's no such thing as a perfect show, but God this show looked like there was never a flaw in it to begin with.

I was so intrigued by the show that when it came to intermission, the lights coming on definitely caught me off guard. "What do you think so far?" John asked. He smiled like he'd never been happier before in his life.

"It's amazing. I love it. Thank you so much for bringing me John. I-I really appreciate it."

He smiled and shrugged. "I'm glad you like it so much. Burr didn't really like this show. None of them did. But this has always been my favourite one."

I smiled back at him. "It really is amazing. Hey um, do you know where the bathrooms are?"

"Yeah, just through those doors and to the left." He point to the same doors we walked in through. His instructions were vague but the only instructions I had. So I followed them and after two more minutes than I had originally planned for, I found the men's bathroom. I stared at myself in the mirror. What the heck was I feeling? Why was I so vulnerable with every breath I took in that carried the scent of John to the back of my head?