Rather, he didn’t see David as much as he saw David’s expression. He had just barged in, backpack on and whispering on his cellphone when he had stopped, mid stride and looked up at the stage as if Adrian had just been beamed down by Enterprise. Confusion, and then slowly it gave way to something that looked to be the strangest mix of genuine excitement and pride that Adrian had ever seen.

His stomach churned in on itself with a sharp twist. Tearing his eyes away, he brought his attention back to Clipboard lady.

“Anything specific you would like to hear?” he asked. He hadn’t given this as much thought as he should have. But she was shaking her head.

“Doesn’t have to be a song from a musical or anything, just whatever you would like to sing.” she said.

That hardly narrowed it down. But somewhere, he seemed to already have an idea lurking his head.

He waited a beat, inhaling a whisp of air. And before he knew he had courage that needed working up he had already thrown himself into it, singing without realizing that he had just started and the voice in his ears, the overwhelmingly loud voice that was now echoing around the theatre, was all his.

“It’s empty in the valley of your heart.”

He watched, his mouth moving carefully around the words, as David’s expression changed to sudden realization as he recognized the song. Adrian kept eye contact, realizing somewhere at the back of his head that David’s eyes were green behind his blocky fake hipster glasses, not just a clear green but a green that seemed to be so bright and vibrant that they stood out in the shadowy theatre like they had little bright lamps behind them.

“But I will hold on hoping”

He smiled at Adrian, and Adrian had to shut his eyes or he knew he would forget the lyrics right then and there.

“I won’t let you choke

On the noose around your neck-”

He was belting it out now, not caring anymore about anyone around the theatre or around them or even what they were thinking if they heard. It was like he was four years old again and didn’t have a care in the world, he was just singing, singing as loud and as proud as he could. Somewhere in his head, Adrian knew if he was going to completely expose himself to his peers, he mind as well do it with all the pride he could seize up from inside himself.

He ended softly, almost whispering the last few lines before cutting off the notes, and the theatre fell into utter silence.

Adrian didn’t open his eyes.