The End of the World

Finn took a moment to glance at his fellow actors on stage. The Von Trapp clan was stretching their arms out, chatting quietly amongst one another; a line of nuns scurried off stage, their black habits molding to their faces in such a way that they appeared like giant, wandering black toes. Finn noted Carter, on the other side of the stage, being reprimanded ("you can't just improvise lines like that. Yes, it was funny. But it's a serious moment and you're supposed to be a Nazis commander, not picking on Finn for his living conditions"). He shot Carter a sympathetic grin, before turning to look for-

"Looking for me?"

Finn rolled his eyes, turning to find a smirking Lisel there. He shook his head. She wasn't Lisel- it was Grace. Grace Upland. His girlfriend. The girl who snuck into his dorm room and let him fondle her rolling curves and kiss her smooth skin and call her his. Not that he should be thinking about that here. Not because he was worried about getting publicly aroused (quite the opposite, actually), but because he might get too caught up in the moment and accidentally blurt out the word "penis." It had happened before, after all. But, no, his relationship was fun, Finn supposed. He liked Grace, with her dry humor and feminist rants and shared love for musicals and all things Taylor Swift- but there was something wrong. Something wrong with him. Something be needed to tell Grace about. Finn's stomach turned uncomfortably at the thought as Grace snatched his hand.

"That was a poorly placed question," Grace continued on, ignoring Finn's lack of response. She knew he got lost in thought sometimes. It had been happening a lot, lately. "Of course you missed me. Who wouldn't miss me? I'm fucking fantastic."

"There will be no swearing in my theater, Miss Upland," Mrs. Dunn snapped, stepping away from Carter. She wore long leather boots, jeans, and a gray cardigan that Finn knew she had gotten at Macy's (don't ask how he knew that). Tucking a spare strand of hair behind her ear, the drama teacher turned to glare at Grace through her slanted eyes.

Everyone ooh'd, including Finn, in response to Mrs. Dunn's comment. Everyone knew that when she used your last name, you were in trouble.

"And all I have to say about that is ... no," Mrs. Dunn continued, after a dramatic pause. "No, no, no. And no."

Grace scowled. "I thought that scene went great."

Mrs. Dunn threw her hands in the air (figuratively. Her hands were very much still attached to her wrists). The drama teacher tended to emote with her hands and be quite dramatic, and that was in theater standards. "Well, I'm sure that scene would've been just stellar when you were in school-"

"College counts as school," Finn muttered.

"But you're not in high school anymore," Mrs. Dunn corrected with a roll of her eyes. "Look, you two make an amazing theater couple. That's why I gave you Tony and Maria last quarter, and Curly and Laurie the one before that. But you guys could be Sandy and Danny, Eponine and Marius-"

"Sharpay and Ryan," Carter added. It seemed like everyone was listening.

Finn was amused, nonetheless. "What team?"

"Wildcats!"

"That's the spirit," he mused, proud of his cast's ability to respond to High School Musical references.

"I'm surrounded by idiots," Mrs. Dunn muttered, looking out into the audience as if she were reciting a monologue. "Complete and utter idiots."

"Uh, Mrs. Dunn?" Grace asked.

The aforementioned teacher blinked. "What was I was saying? Oh, right. You two make an amazing theater couple. One day you might even make it to Broadway, you could play Elphaba and Fiyero-"