Were the writers always out of names for the characters?

Kiri remarked, “Why… aren’t you playing Shane properly? You’re giving Kristian a headache.”

This was the fifth time someone had made Harrison roll his eyes again. “He’s giving me a headache by making me do something I have no interest in. He dragged me here because he thinks I look good enough to be the male lead”

“But you aren’t even trying to be good, let alone be the best.”

“Do you have selective hearing? I said I have no interest in all this.”

“Oh…” Kirin looked down. “Well, I’m going to do my best! It’s our last year after all. Kristian and the rest of us want to make it worth it and memorable.”

Harrison slung his bag over his shoulder, disinterested. “You do whatever you want.” To Kirin’s disapproving look, he was walking away with a stoic expression. By now he was too exhausted.

The last thing he heard as he exited the auditorium was: “You should call Kristian and finalize things with him. Don’t be a pain in the rear and wear everyone down.”

By the time he reached home, his annoyance had cooled down slightly.  

He couldn’t understand what he did wrong and what they expected him to do. Why on earth did she call him that when he wasn’t in the wrong in the first place? Did she say it because of his stupidity or his rudeness?

Both, Kristian would’ve said, to which Harrison chuckles. For some reason, he always found Harrison really amusing. It did bother him at some point, as if he was aware that he’s a highly unlikeable person, but still… Kristian being his friend did make his school lives more tolerable.

The phone rang, startling him out of his thoughts. It was Kristian.

“Speak of the devil,” Harrison said. “I was just thinking about you.”

There was a pause, which Harrison assumed that he must’ve been taken by surprise. “Oh- I’m very honored… though if you were thinking about me, that means that you’re really annoyed right now.”

“How do you know that?”

“You don’t need to know that. Anyways, before I say anything, tell me why you’re so annoyed.”

“I got called a pain in the rear by Keychain.”

“Kirin.”

“Her.”

“Doesn’t everyone call you that? I do it, mostly. Or is it different when a girl calls you that?”

Harrison hated the fact that Kristian was the only one being amused by this conversation. “Bye.”

“Wait- wait, hold on. I’m sorry. I just wanted to properly apologize.” His voice dipped in sincerity. “I shouldn’t have forced you to do something you didn’t like. I just wanted this whole thing to be perfect, as it’s our last year. I got so wrapped up in everything else that I completely disregarded your feelings. I genuinely want to apologize. And even today morning- I was really rude to you… which came out of frustration. So, I’m really really really sorry.”

Something about this whole speech reminded how excited Kristian was when he first told Harrison that he was going to direct the play this year. That day, something about that expression made Harrison’s heart warm- like he wouldn’t dare to do anything to extinguish the spark.

He was so wrapped up in his own feelings that he completely disregarded how Kristian really wanted to make this work.

And rudeness- he was plenty rude to Kristian as well! Why was he apologizing on that matter as well?

“Well, I’ll leave you with your afternoon naps,” Kristian laughed awkwardly, misunderstanding Harrison’s silence as that he would never be forgiven. “Though it’s almost evening-”

“I’ll do it.”

“Yeah bye- wait what?”

“Only four lines, right? I’ll do it. But just because I’m letting you go does not mean I’m letting Keychain go for calling me a nuisance.”

Harrison could only hear a muffled giggle, finally understanding what Harrison meant. “Yeah, yeah. Only four lines. Andy’ll handle the rest.”

“Good.”

“Though if I had known you’d agree so willingly, I’d have apologized sooner.”

“That’s manipulation.”

“Yet you agreed to do it.”

“Bye.”

“Wait-!”

***

“What if I said I was sorry?”

There was a hush in the crowd, waiting for the male lead to drop his line.

“There is no point in pointless apologies. This must end here. Now.”

“Ugh!” Kirin, who was playing Alianora, stomped her feet and stormed offstage. “Your horse is more interesting than you!”

The final day of the play was a blur. Harrison was very sleep-deprived and he recited his lines with barely any energy. To his surprise, the more monotone he sounded, the more everyone swooned. “Your looks make up for it,” Kristian said in a straight face before bursting into laughter.

The play went well, according to a lot of people. Some said they hadn’t laughed this hard in a while. Some said they couldn’t understand why the horse had two different colored tails. A lot of people, though, liked how organized and professional it was all done. Everyone congratulated the members, but Harrison was the first person to congratulate Kristian for his hard work.

Kristian’s face beamed. “I genuinely didn’t know you could congratulate someone! I feel like my baby’s growing up.”

“I take it back.”

“Nooooo, don’t go.” Kristian wiped off the drawn mustache from Harrison’s upper lip. “Did you congratulate Kirin?”

“When I saw her, she simply just bowed and apologized to me. She said that day whatever she was saying was out of frustration- that practice was pretty terrible after all. She still thinks I’m a pain in the butt though. So, no.”

“I’ve called you that so many times, back in the days,” Kristian said in a deep voice to imitate an old man. “You never were this stubborn.”

One thing about Harrison was that he was always aware of the wrong things. How bad he was with names, how rude he was at times and plenty more. Another thing he was aware of was that despite having a lot of flaws, Kristian still was his friend. Willingly.

Harrison said nothing for a while, to which Kristian smirked and smudged the ink on Harrison’s nose. “So, it’s only reserved for me?”

“You sound weird.” Harrison had enough. He turned to leave when Kristian wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him back.

“Thank you,” he said comfortably, and Harrison could tell that he was smiling. “For forgiving me and everything else included.”