Kitten

Hey Kitty, you’re late,” Ryan’s director said flatly as Ryan dashed on stage.

“Don’t call me that, Eric,” Ryan said just as flatly. “You know that’s not my real name.”

Eric rolled his eyes. “Yeah and I also know that you were really eager to make that your stage name,” he said snidely. “Wouldn’t hear of using any other name. What’s up with that?”

“A friend of mine calls me ‘Kitten,’” Ryan said, blushing.

“Cute,” Eric said. “Maybe we should start calling you that.”

“Um, excuse me?” Craig, the guy playing Dracula, interrupted. “But can we being rehearsal now?”

Eric nodded his head curtly and Ryan stood there, boiling with rage. No one calls me ‘Kitten’ but Brendon, he thought as he moved into position. That’s his name for me and I don’t want anyone else calling me that.

After rehearsal, the cast decided to go out for lunch and Alicia, one of Dracula’s vampire brides, told them about this cozy diner where they could get a meal for a pretty cheap price.

“It’s called Murphy’s,” she said. “It’s on Main Street.”

“No,” Ryan said firmly. “We don’t want to go there.”

“Why not?” about five different people asked.

Alicia looked at Ryan in confusion. “Aren’t you the one who told me about Murphy’s in the first place?” she asked.

“Uh, no,” Ryan lied. “You’re probably confusing me with Jason.”

“You’re confusing me with Ryan?!” Jason exclaimed. “But he’s, like, a girl!”

“Guys, guys, calm down,” Eric said, touching Ryan on the shoulder. “Let’s just go to Murphy’s and have lunch. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to, Ryan.”

Ah fuck, there’s no way I can win. Either I go to Murphy’s and Brendon sees me or I don’t go and Brendon asks me why I wasn’t with the rest of the cast, Ryan fumed. “Fine, I’ll go,” he snapped and unhappily followed the rest of the cast out into the parking lot where people scrambled to make sure in they rode with their friends.

No one wanted to ride with Eric, least of all Ryan, so he crammed himself into Alicia’s car with rest of the girls in the cast.

“So why didn’t you want to go to Murphy’s, Ryan, hmm?” Jo asked. She played Mina and Ryan thought that Jo felt like that entitled her to be all best friends-y with him. “Trying to avoid a past love?”

Or perhaps a future one, he thought, choosing to ignore Jo and instead stare silently out the window.

“Ryan! You can’t freeze out the entire cast,” Jo said with a pout. “Come on, share a secret with a fellow girl.”

“I. Am. Not. A. Girl!” Ryan hissed, whipping around to glare at Jo.

“Is that so, Kitty?” Alicia asked mockingly.

“I have a penis, you bitch,” Ryan growled, hands jumping to the zipper on his pants. “Would you like to see?”

An uncomfortable silence hung over the car for the rest of the drive, and Ryan was already in a foul mood when they got to Murphy’s.

“Oh, wow, big group,” Ryan heard Brendon say with a slight laugh as they piled into the diner. He hadn’t seen Ryan yet. “How many of you?”

“Uh …” Craig mumbled, doing a quick headcount. “Eighteen.”

“We’ll have to split you up, is that okay?” Brendon asked, grabbing a stack of menus and leading them to a group of tables.

“Sure, as long as I’m not with Ryan,” Alicia muttered under her breath.

“I’d rather be with him than with Eric,” Jo whispered back. “He gives me the creeps.”

Ryan pretended not to hear them and chose a booth with Craig, Jason, Lizzie, and Louis.

“Kitten?” Brendon asked in surprise, dropping a couple of menus when he saw the older boy. “What are you doing here?”

“Cast lunch,” Ryan mumbled, blushing and staring down at the table.

Brendon could sense Ryan’s discomfit and quickly passed out the menus before running off to beg Lisa to cover the group.

“’Kitten?”’ Craig asked teasingly. “Well, now we know where you got your stage name, Kitty.”

“Please don’t call me that,” Ryan said quietly.

Jason laughed and shook his head. “So, who was that?” he asked. “The reason why you didn’t want to come here?”

“Yes, if you really must know!” Ryan hissed, grabbing his menu and hiding behind it.

“Ex-boyfriend?” Louis asked with a surprising amount of sympathy in his voice. “That’s tough.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Ryan said through gritted teeth.

Lizzie watched him, trying to figure out her co-worker, trying to solve the enigma that was Ryan. “Leave him alone, you guys,” she said, glaring harshly at Craig and Jason. “He’s obviously not comfortable talking about it.”

Before Ryan could give her a grateful look, Eric swung around from a nearby table and grabbed Ryan’s shoulder.

“What’s with you and the waiter, Kitty?” the director asked sharply.

“None of your business, Eric,” Ryan muttered.

“Really?” Eric drawled. “’Cuz I think it is.”

Ryan grabbed Eric’s hand and carefully peeled it off his shoulder as though it were poisonous. “Leave me alone, Eric,” he said coldly.

“You know you’re kinda an asshole,” Lizzie said casually, leaning back and narrowing her eyes at Eric.

“Oh, cry me a river,” Eric muttered, swinging around but leaving Ryan alone.

“Asshole,” Lizzie mumbled under her breath. “Why’s he always out to get you, Ryan?”

Because he thinks I’m pretty, Ryan thought, biting his lip to keep the tears from spilling down his pale cheeks.

The rest of lunch was spent in uncomfortable silence and Lizzie kept glaring at Eric every time the director glanced at Ryan.

“Okay, everyone! The bill’s here and we’re splitting it evenly,” Alicia shouted. “No matter how much or little you ate.”

I didn’t even eat anything! Reluctantly pulled out a five-dollar bill, Ryan slammed it down on the table and got to his feet, pushing his way past his co-workers to the restroom in the back of diner.

“Hey, you okay?” Brendon asked, catching Ryan’s arm as the boy walked past the counter.

“No,” Ryan answered truthfully, unable to met Brendon’s concerned gaze.

“Oh, Kitten,” Brendon said and the look in his eyes made Ryan want to break down and cry.