Page 80 of Love Me Not

But I still wanted to talk to him. I missed the man, which was the toughest pill to swallow. The me of three months ago would be very disappointed at this development. And to be honest, present me wasn’t too happy about it either.

An hour later, I could tell that nerves were getting to everyone, which meant it was time to go home. They were as prepared as they could be, and the last thing I needed was my entire cast second-guessing the whole production. Time to let go and let the drama gods take it from here.

“Ms. P.,” Aiden said as I was packing up to leave, “can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure, but if this is about tomorrow you’re going to be great.” I couldn’t have asked for a better male lead. His chemistry with Emma was palpable, but he also conveyed teenage angst without overdoing it.

“It’s not, actually.”

“Aiden, are you coming?” Emma called from the edge of the stage.

“I’ll catch up,” he said. “Go on without me.” Turning my way, Aiden slammed his hands into his pockets. “The cast is meeting at Delta’s for shakes.”

As Emma walked off, I dropped my half-packed bag to a seat and lowered into the one beside it. I’d come to like this young man very much, but he wasn’t exactly an open book. We’d spent hours talking about the play, and I knew virtually nothing else about him other than that he played football.

“Have a seat,” I said. “What’s going on?”

He remained standing. “You know how we all got tickets for our parents to see the show tomorrow?”

“I do. Do you need more? I’m sure we can arrange that.”

“No,” he replied, shaking his head. “It’s not that.” Eyes on his fidgeting hands, he said, “I haven’t told my parents that I’m in the play.”

Wait, what? “Where do they think you go every day after school?”

Aiden shrugged. “They work a lot, so no one really knows when I’m there and when I’m not.”

Sadly, I’d had many students over the years with the same circumstances.

“Why haven’t you told them?” I asked.

He continued to avoid eye contact. “Dad has ideas about things. I don’t think he’d be real supportive of me doing this.” Finally looking up, he shook his head. “He’d have made me drop out if I’d told him.”

A conversation with Trey played back in my head. Something about Aiden not always being heard. Now it made sense.

“I can talk to him, if you want. Maybe if he comes he’ll understand.”

The boy shook his head. “That isn’t a good idea. I don’t know how he’d react and you don’t need to be in the line of fire like that.”

A choice of words that said volumes. “What about your mom?”

Aiden lowered into a seat. “She might come. If I tell her.”

That was a big if. “You aren’t required to use the tickets, and no one will think less of you if they aren’t here. There’s no pressure to tell them if you don’t want to.”

My heart broke for him and the countless kids who never knew unconditional love.

He nodded. “I know, but there’s something else.” I stayed silent, waiting for him to go on. “I like this acting stuff, and I thought maybe I could do some more of it.”

“Aiden, I’ll put you in any play you want to be in. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Like, in college,” he said, taking me by surprise. “People do that, right?”

Not sure what his grades were like, I had to tread lightly. The last thing I wanted to do was get his hopes up or mislead him.

“They do, yes. Have you been looking at schools?”

“Emma says the one here in town is pretty good.”

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