on a cold cold day

Nothing phased Derrick, anymore. A part of him thought he had more confidence now, landing the lead in the high school musical. It didn't exactly start out that way. He was going out for the supporting part, which he got. Then he learned the lead's lines and when that football player dropped out..well, guess who got it?

It was a fun surprise. Sort of. Sure, it was hard work. And a lot of pressure, but he was resilient. He was up for it. Unfortunately, he lost Ian in the process. It was a time issue, actually. He'd put the Lola and Ian thing behind him. He didn't have time to dwell about what Ian may or may not do. Besides, he had a whole new crowd of people to socialize with and that was the clique that appreciated him.

Still, Ian hadn't decided to say they were through. Of course, he did bring Lola with him on Opening Night at the school musical. Yet, Derrick hadn't let it provoke him into some sort of madness. Instead, he immersed himself into another play.

This time around, he worked on the technical aspect of it. It was hands on. But fun. Painting sets with friends, working sound. It was a whole new world, and he was always needed for something.

Yet, the phone calls and texts became less and less. He really needed to give up on Ian. Possibly, it was over, this rift between them.

"I hope you haven't gotten me anything for Christmas." Derrick knew that sounded cold, but as it was he was sitting out on the steps by the props room waiting for one of the girls to get there to open it. He'd finally remembered to call. Before Ian could say what was on his mind. "Look, I haven't gotten you anything. I dunno ..if I even have time for Christmas, you know." He'd been asked to be in a city wide Christmas musical, and he'd been happy to be a part of it. The stage did something to him. Maybe it was even better than being in love. Or was it love for an audience? "I don't mean to be so selfish, but you know, you have your stuff. Now I have mine."

He listened to Ian go on for a while about how he'd missed him. How he didn't know what went wrong. "Are we breaking up?" Ian's words finally woke him up.

Just then he saw the theater geeks he knew climbing up the stairs. Some black girl named Nicole wanted to know who he was talking to. He smiled without meaning to. "I guess we are."