We later crossed paths again in August, when production season began. He was 18 that year, and I was 16. I always had a passion for being on stage, speaking and being involved, but as it was my first school play, I decided I should ease into it by joining the backstage crew. I should have known, but I wasn't the only one that had joined the school play. Milan had been cast as the role of a lawyer and was playing in a significant portion of the show. When rehearsals began, it was hard to focus on the show, as the behind the scenes work was very hectic. Occasionally, I would be able to take brief glances at the stage from behind the curtains. His acting was very good, I came to notice. Funnily, he also had a musical singing part in this role as well. Behind the stage, there were two large curtains from where the props, and the actors, would enter. During rehearsal, we would find ourselves crossing paths a lot due to the limited space available. I must have been staring at him unknowingly, because I kept finding our eyes meeting quite a bit. I would glance up to look for props, and I would instead find myself locking eyes with him. This happened frequently, and I had started to search for him in every room, so that we might have the possibility of making eye contact . Ellie, the backstage leader, was often in a tense state. Anyone could tell that her role was taking a toll on her, and her stress manifested in the form of frequent orders. One rehearsal, she had gathered us all behind the curtain, and whisper-yelled to us 'Where on earth is the dog statue!". I racked my brain trying to remember the prop of the little dog with its tongue sticking out. Ellie continued to fret over it understandably as we only had two days till the show. She cornered me outside the theatre hall, where the actors would get into costume, and asked 'Wrynn, I really am counting on you to find this statue. It is essential we find it before the end of today.' I swallowed slowly, aware of my strong hatred for deadlines. Although my anxiety started to build up, I nodded frantically and answered 'Yes of course'. Once she left the room, I raised my head to scan the area for any potential places with the statue. I remembered suddenly that this was the room where most of the actors would be, so I asked one of my upperclassmen, Nira, if she had possibly seen the statue of the dog.
"Oh that bald little thing, hmmm, I don't think I have." she replied. Exasperatedly, I sighed knowing it was going to be very difficult to find that small statue by the end of today. As I moved to exit the room, a hand grabbed at my elbow, pulling me back. "You're looking for that dog piece right?" Milan asked.
"Yes, how did you know?" I questioned.
"I overheard you asking Nira, you sounded kind of worried" he replied sheepishly, avoiding eye contact with me. I didn't think it was anything to be embarrassed about, but I didn't question it.
"Do you know where I can find it?" I asked desperately once again, my hands coming together in a plea. He nodded and said "I saw it in the cupboard, in the staff room." I let out a gasp in relief. Finally, someone had seen it. I dashed out of the costume room, but abruptly came to a stop as I realised something important. I slowly turned to see Milan watching me, leaned against the door frame. He raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at me and said "You don't know where the staffroom is, do you?"
I nodded abashedly.
"Cmon, follow me" He said, leading the way down a hallway. I followed his steps carefully, pacing right behind him. He suddenly came to a stop and I had to cement my feet down so that I wouldn't run into his back. I observed shamefully, that he indeed had a nice back, with broad shoulders. The cast and crew shirt he was wearing, gripped tightly to him and his back muscles were visible. He opened the door to a spacious room, and gestured for me to go in. As I went in, Milan closed the door, leaving me alone and mouthed the words "Good Luck" with a thumbs up through the window. "Dickhead," I whispered to myself. Now what was I going to do? I looked around the room noticing that there were multiple cupboards. Cursing him silently, I approached the first cupboard, digging through it desperately. I spent another ten minutes there, searching through each cupboard. As I rummaged through the storage, I heard the door click and someone come in.
"You still couldn't find it?" Milan scoffed. I rolled my eyes at him.
"I'm beginning to think you lied to me." I muttered. He went silent and then motioned for me to come closer.
"Sit." he said abruptly as I stepped forward. I sat on the chair he pointed to, and waited curiously for him. Suddenly, I saw him reach above the area that I was looking in, to reveal a small ledge at the top of the cupboard. I had completely missed it in my search on all fours and could feel my cheeks heating up in embarrassment. He took the box of props from the ledge and passed it to me. I went to grab the box, finally content that we had found the dog statue, but as I reached out, Milan pulled the box back.
"Hey, why'd you do that?" I grumbled at him.
"I cut down on my precious rehearsal time to come help a crew member do their job, the least you could do is something for my entertainment." he replied. My face started to tingle as I suddenly became wary of what he might ask me.
"Look inside the box." Milan gestured. As I peered inside the box, I saw that along with the dog statue, there were an assortment of costume accessories.
"Put them on for me." He teased as a smirk crept its way to form on his face. "No way!" I screeched as I noticed there were moustaches, and feather scarfs, and silly headbands. Slowly, he picked up the large rimmed green glasses, and started approaching me. I backed away knowing his plan too well, and warned him to stop. The sheer senselessness of this act made me unexpectedly laugh. Sooner or later, the glasses had forced themselves onto my face and we were both laughing hard. He had also begun to stick the moustaches onto me, and wrap me in feather scarfs, just for me to end up looking like a cartoon character from a silly little show.
"You look dumb" he chuckled, half hunched over in laughter. It wasn't even that funny, but I couldn't help but feel glad to see this side of the Head Boy. A wish formed in my head as I foolishly began to hope that he would only be this way with me.
Milan's name got called and he had to rush out back to rehearsal. Leaving me in the room alone, I felt a burning sensation on my face again as it started to heat up from the blush. At that moment, I realised that I desperately wanted to get to know him better. And that's where my crush began