High school, how did he ended up in this place?
He dodged eager students who unlike him, knew where they were heading to and tried not to make eye contact with anyone. “Sure, let the old one go back to high school, I’m so not up to this.”
When he finally found it, he made a dash across the hallway and pushed the door open without any second thoughts. He wondered which ‘clique’ he belonged to. Immediately, Kevin knew why he was there in the first place; he needed to see what he looked like in this alternate universe.
He had successfully managed to ignore the group of loud guys and went straight to wash his hands just because he needed to have a purpose to be there. He loosened up a little, seeing that he wasn’t about to become the boy who had his head stuck in the toilet bowl by some bullies.
Kevin almost laugh.
He wasn’t as tall as he would be and had a physique of a regular high school teenage boy. His hair was blonde and long, just like Nick’s Millennium haircut and his eyes were hazel brown, reminding him so much of Howie.
This time, Kevin had to smirk. If he had not known any better, he could as well be Aaron Carter.
The bell rang and everyone was out in a jiffy. Kevin stood there, still unsure of where to go. Late and with no hall pass, just what he needed to add to this crappy day. And then, the brightest idea that he could come out with being not even a day old blonde, he searched the pockets of his worn out jeans for his wallet. He paused for a few seconds to acknowledge his wardrobe. Simple black shirt and a faded blue jeans. At least he hadn’t lost his sense of fashion.
The driver’s licence read ‘Marcus Johnson’.
Kevin walked out of the restroom in search for the school’s office. If he could convince the receptionist that he had lost his class schedules and got a new copy, he wouldn’t be so lost.
“Please don’t let them call me MJ around here.”
-
It was lunch break and Kevin had managed to go through half of the day in school unscathed. There were kids who seemed to know him well but none of them had mentioned a name that would clue him in as to whom he was sent there for.
Maybe, he wasn’t sent there as a friend. “Great, so I have to start looking for him now?” Kevin muttered as he made his way to his locker. Thanks to the receptionist and some acting on his part, he managed to get the number and combination to his locker. He couldn’t wait to dump the Algebra text along with the homework due the next day in there and never to be seen again. To send him to high school was one thing, to have him do homework was another. Been there, done that. Never again!
Lady luck must be on his side, because standing in front of his locker was none other than AJ Mc Lean.
The eighteen year old, high school student AJ Mc Lean was pretty much the AJ Mc Lean he knew. His hair was dyed copper brown, his attire was pretty much the same as Kevin was wearing then. A shirt and a pair of worn out jeans, except that AJ had a cool denim jacket to top it all up. And surprisingly enough, he was wearing glasses that made him looked intelligent and smart. Kevin bet there were no tattoos on him but predicted he would have a couple by the time he was in College.
“Have you checked the notice board yet?” AJ asked, sounding as hyped as AJ Mc Lean could be. Kevin decided to play it safe and started to lock in the combinations.
“Should I?”
“Should you?” AJ sighed. “You don’t wanna know if you got a part?”
Kevin shrugged, eyes now curiously studying the contents of the locker. There were pictures of him and friends in different costumes, making silly faces. It took him awhile to realise that he pretty much belonged to the art kids. The ones who got involved in plays and music. Not much surprise there.
“Sure I do,” He replied, now having a clue of what AJ might be talking about. “so, did you get it?”
AJ smiled. Of course he did. “I’m directing the play your moron and I’m not letting anyone forget about it either.”
Kevin raised an eyebrow. “You wrote the play?”
“Come on Marcus, we found that script in that eerie old bookstore, remember?” AJ snapped. “I’m thankful for the script but I’m never going back there again.”
“Yeah.” Kevin said, unprepared to say anything else. ‘Yeah’ was the safest way to go for now.
“By the way, you get to play Mark, I know you hate that character to death but Mr. James thought it fits you perfect.”
Kevin slammed the locker shut, pretty disappointed that there were no hints of him dating someone. “That’s boring don’t you think, I pretty much play my own name.”
“That’s what you said the last time too.”
Oops. “Yeah well, so I’m stuck with it. What’s the story about?”
“What’s wrong with you today?” AJ had started walking and Kevin decided that it was the safest for him to follow.
“I’m a little distracted…what’s the play about?” Kevin asked, playing it innocently. It seemed to work because AJ shook his head and sighed. He wondered if it was the same look Nick always gave them to get out of sticky situations.
“Read the script Marcus, it helps.”
Kevin decided he needed more time being a blonde. And twice the time to master that ‘look’. “Sorry man, sometimes the blondeness in me gets in the way.” AJ laughed and Kevin relaxed, happy that he had managed to calm the tide between them. Now if only he knew where AJ was heading to, he could prepare himself for it too.
“Oh hey, you gotta help me out with biology, I seriously don’t understand why I have to write a report on a freaking dead frog.”
Kevin assumed that he must be good in biology for AJ to ask his help. It made him feel useful for once. “Tell me about it, I got tons of algebra to do. I hate Maths.”
“Mr. Noel already did that with us yesterday, if you’re stuck, I can help you out.” Kevin nodded, secretly glad that he wasn’t drinking when AJ had said that. The AJ Mc Lean he knew hated Maths.
“Just a thought, didn’t you hate maths?”
“With a passion my friend.” AJ smiled. “Seriously man, maths come easy for me but that doesn’t mean I love it.”
“You still up for basketball after school? We can run through some lines together while at it.”
Kevin figured there was no harm there. Besides, it wasn’t like as if he was thrilled to get back home and find out who his parents were. “Yeah, I’m game.”
“Cool, then we’re all up to it.”
As they entered the huge cafeteria, one thing kept ringing in his head. Who are ‘we’?
-
By the end of the day, Kevin had learnt that ‘we’ were AJ, his best friend, Steven, the Basketball player and Jesse, the class clown. Around them, Kevin felt plain and blended, the way he wanted to be.
The rest of his classes after lunch break were with AJ and in most of them, Steven and Jesse too. AJ seemed to be preoccupied with study and his friends, there were no signs of ‘the Playa’ in him. Talks were mostly of basketball, music, acting and scoring auditions. Steven and Jesse seemed to share the same passion although neither were in the drama club that they were in. By then, Kevin began to wonder if there was a purpose for him to even be there. Everything seemed to be going well for AJ, although the fact that he never met with Nick or Howie was unfortunate. He did questioned him of the auditions he had gone to and never once had he heard the mentions of a certain Nick Carter or Howie Dorough.
By the time they reached the Mc Lean’s, Kevin was eager to see Dennis, wondering if she too, would look different. Disappointingly, Dennis was still at work, a cook at a diner. The only other person home was his grandmother. There was no difference there too, AJ loved the old woman more than his life. While the rest of them were having small talks around the small dining table, appreciating grandma’s home cook lasagne, Kevin couldn’t help blinking away the on coming tears. What would he tell AJ if he asked about his alternate self?
Oh, by the way AJ, I got to eat your grandma’s home cook lasagne, I forgot how delicious she made them. How fair would that be?
When they finally reached the garage, where the basketball net was, Kevin and Steven had decided to start on their Algebra homework while AJ and Jesse played one on one. It wasn’t something Kevin looked forward to, but if he was to be cursed with another day in this world, he wouldn’t want to start the day getting detention.
“What’s the square root of 136, quick!” Steven blurted out all of a sudden. Kevin reached for the calculator next to him.
“Eleven point six or twelve if you round it off.” AJ said as he dribbled the ball pass Jesse.
Kevin stared at the digits on his calculator and then to AJ, who was oblivious to his shocked expression.
“Thanks.” Steven said, without even looking up from his book.
“I start filling my College choices last night.” Jesse said as he snatched the ball away from AJ. “I can’t wait to leave this place.”
“What, leave Florida?” Kevin asked.
“Yeah. I wanna go to the Big Apple, that’s where the party’s at man.”
“Away from your family, no restrictions, that’s what College is all about.” Steven agreed, already side tracked from his homework.
“Start a new life. Nobody knows your past.” Jesse added.
“I like New York.” Steven said, nodding his head as if he was thinking hard.
“Then we should all go there, it’s gonna be like one of those trekking we used to do together.” Jesse said.
“Only this time the booze will be easy.” Steven laughed.
“So, whatcha think Mark?”
Kevin shrugged, thankful that he remembered his name was Mark. “Sounds cool to me, besides, we could land ourselves in Broadway if we’re lucky enough. Don’t you think so J?”
AJ blocked a throw by Jesse but failed. The ball went in with a whoosh! Annoyed, he smacked Jesse from the back and snatched the ball back, sitting on it as a makeshift stool. “That sounds great and all, but seriously, how far can we go in Broadway?”
Kevin was taken aback by the answer. AJ was questioning his own passion? Since when had anything else mattered as long as they got what they had always dream of? “With a guy of your talent, I’d say very far.”
AJ smirked. “You’re not getting anything out of me for that comment buddy.” Kevin feigned innocence. It was great to be blonde sometimes. “I can’t leave my mom alone out here.”
“Your grandma and granddad are here J.” Steven said. “Besides, I thought we agreed we’re gonna go to the same College.”
“Sorry guys, but plans change sometimes,” AJ said, wiping the beads of sweat on his forehead with the sleeves of his shirt. “somebody’s gotta keep a look out for my gramps, I can’t leave them alone at home when my mom’s working. Speaking of which, we’re running low on budget as it is, I’m thinking of getting a job to help out.”
“You already have one you goof!” Steven laughed.
“Seven Eleven ain’t job, that’s slavery.” AJ complained. “Look, I promise I’ll give this another thought all right? I might still pack my stuff and go to New York with you guys.”
“That’s better!” Steven cheered. “It’s always been the four of us bro, it’s gonna be different without you.”
Kevin sat there studying AJ as the trio ended the conversation and decided to shoot more hoops. Life would definitely be different without AJ McLean around. As much as he was glad that the alternate reality AJ was doing fine on his own, Kevin couldn’t even begin to imagine life without knowing such a complicated guy like him.
-
That night, Kevin had stayed around for dinner and ended up sleeping over at the Mc Lean’s. Kevin also found out that Marcus Johnson lived only a few houses down from the Mc Lean’s and as much as he was curious to see his ‘family’, he decided it would be best not to get emotionally attached to this temporary world he was living in. He knew he had a sixteen year old sister because AJ kept talking about her and part of Kevin wanted to see her, wanted to know how it feels like to have a kid sister.
The play that they were in was written by a writer who went by the initial ‘K’. The original script that AJ had shown him was nothing more than a pile of papers secured together with a blue bind. It was typed out neatly although judging by the tattered edges and yellowish tint to it, the script was written quite a while ago.
“I think when K wrote this script, he was in the middle of a huge crisis.” AJ said, pacing the room with a copied version of the script in his hands. Kevin nodded since he hadn’t even read the play.
“I think he was one of the characters in this play only that he didn’t reveal it. I tried to figure out which one is him too, but I can’t seem to find one. It’s like he’s all of them but also just one of them.”
“You’re confusing me.” Kevin said.
“I always confuse you my friend.” AJ smirked as he stopped his pacing. “So anyway, I think when he wrote this script, he was having all these mixed emotions in him and the only way out was to write it down. That’s why this script is raw, it doesn’t hide anything, he wasn’t afraid to show the ugly side of what was supposed to be perfect.”
By then, Kevin was lost. He needed to read the script before AJ started asking his opinion on it. In between listening to his friend, he ran through his character and hopefully could think of something smart to say.
Mark was the gullible one, the one who doesn’t seem to see the dangers and accept people around him readily.
“It’s because I’m blonde isn’t it?” Kevin joked. “That’s why I got Mark.”
AJ nodded his head and suppressed the laughter he was about to burst. The laughter never came though, AJ had gone to his serious mode once again. “But see, Mark isn’t just about the obvious, I really like the way how K turned him into a monster.”
Monster?
“Oh?”
“Yeah, he made him looked like he was betraying his friends. I mean, come on, between them, Mark would be the least suspected to throw a bomb on them like that, but he did. He got everyone pissed, even his own best friend Kyle.”
“So I’m actually the bad guy?”
AJ chewed his lower lips, a sign Kevin had learnt, that he was thinking. “That’s the beauty of it, it’s up for interpretation to anybody.”
Kevin nodded, buying his time. When did a school play suddenly became so serious? Shouldn’t they be acting out Romeo and Juliet or To Kill A Mockingbird? Not only was the author called ‘K’, the script was independently published.
“What do you think J?”
“I think…I think Mark is just human you know... I can’t really blame him.” AJ’s straight posture suddenly became hunched. He was tired and troubled, Kevin had noticed that for awhile now, but he was still unsure if it was any of his business to ask. If he was back to his world, he would have asked him point blank, but in this world, he realised that he couldn’t. “It’s just like making a decision to stay here with my mom or leave with you guys to New York and chase my dream.”
“I understand this is hard for you J, just so you know, I’m with you, no matter what your decision is.”
“But I don’t think Steven and Jesse felt that way.” AJ replied. “And I don’t blame them. I mean, if I stay here, I know I’ll look back and regret not taking this chance. And if I do leave, I know my heart’s in this house. I can’t leave them just like that Mark, I owe them so much.”
“Hey, don’t worry, I won’t turn out like Kyle.” Kevin said. AJ snorted. “You know, I didn’t want to go on with this play at first, I found so much similarities between the characters and the four of us. Okay, so there’re five of them and we’re only four, but this script means so much to me. I wish I know where I can get in contact with this K guy.”
“We’re characters too AJ.”
“Sure, you’re gonna say we’re acting too.”
“We are. Life is a stage of plays, only it takes quite a while to end.”
AJ shook his head and climbed up his bed, yawning loudly as he did so. “Okay then, I say it’s time we end part 101 and bring down the curtains, actors need to sleep too. Night.”
“Night.” Kevin yawned. “Hey J?”
“Hmmm?”
“I think you’re gonna ace with this play man.”
“Yeah, you can start kissing my ass right now, I’ll make sure you get credit for it.” Kevin smiled and crawled to the folded mattress Dennis had laid out for him. Dennis was still the same Dennis he had known for years. The only difference was, she looked more tired in this world.
With only the night light on, he decided to stay up and read the script. If he were to stay in this world for more than a day, he’d better get his lines right.
He didn’t know how or when he had fallen asleep but the sensation of being awaken in the middle of the night disturbed him to no end.
“Kevin, wake up.” Did someone just called him Kevin?
“Vin?”
“Shh! Don’t wanna wake the kid up now, do you?”
“Oh.”
“It’s time to go.”
“Already?”
“Yeah.”
Kevin pushed himself up, knowing what he was supposed to do next.
“Kev, you might want to leave that book behind.” Vinhorian said, pointing at the script still in Kevin’s hand.
“Oh yeah.” Kevin took one last look at the book, felt rather disappointed that he couldn’t be on the play. He placed it next to AJ who was sleeping peacefully. “You’re gonna ace Finding Brotherhood man, good luck.”
“Ready?” Vinhorian asked.
Kevin nodded and grabbed his hands. “Just a little pointer Vin, if we do this again, try it in the morning, when I’m awake.”
