Dear dream-book,

I think it’s now safe to say that I really struggle to understand my friends and they also struggle to understand me. I really don’t get them these days to be honest. It’s like every suggestion I make to them is wrong nowadays, what’s happening?

So, in school, I signed up to act in the upcoming school play that happens at the end of every year. It was my first time doing this so I was a bit nervous because I didn’t know what the other guys would think, and I don’t like speaking in public and I don’t know what everyone else expects from me. I’m still doing it though, because I think Idris Elba is G, maybe I’m G also.

Obviously because of my beard, I can’t act like a young boy any more so they gave me the role of being the father of the main character or “protagonist” as these play guys call him. It was cool, I like acting because I get to be someone else and act like someone else. It gives me room to express all the weird things I wouldn’t normally do in my own skin. Anyway, so when I was going to tell my homies that I’ll be acting in the school play, they all looked at me so weirdly, and Fred even started laughing. What?

So Fred asked me “Why the hell are you acting man? Like why?” Then they started laughing again. I didn’t understand why they were laughing though, because Adrian does chess, Brian does French, Fred is in the freaking choir. The choir! What are they laughing about?

“Yo, why are you laughing?” I needed to know, before I decided to stop acting. I don’t like being laughed at, especially by my friends. “Which cool guy in this school do you know in drama club? Everyone in drama club is a wimp man, look at Sydney, he’s a sissy; he even plays volleyball man. What are you doing there?”

Fred had a point. All the guys I was with in drama club were weird guys. Sydney usually played the women’s roles because we are an all-boys school so there are no girls for the feminine roles. Ah! But I like acting! Fred had started laughing until there were tears in his eyes, and now I felt bad for real.

“But you sing soprano in the choir man!” I told Fred, and he stopped laughing. He knew what I was saying; that girls are the ones who usually sing soprano in the choir, and there were no girls in this school, so he did it, and he was good at it.

“Would you stop singing just because someone told you that soprano is for girls?” I had to ask, and he paused, and shook his head. “And you Adrian would you stop playing chess just because someone said chess is for nerds and geeks?” Adrian just looked at the ground and didn’t say anything. “Would you stop going for French classes just because someone told you that French is for girls and boys learn German?” I asked Brian.

“No, I wouldn’t, I’d do both French and German!” Brian replied and then gave Fred a Hi-5.

“We get what you’re saying bro, we get it. You do what you have to do, and tell us when that play is. We’ll come there the way you’ve been coming for our gigs.” Fred said, finally standing up.

I like acting, and I like the feeling that I get when I act. It is happiness and fulfilment and I feel it also when I play football. I don’t want anyone to stop me from doing what I like doing just because of what they think. My friends don’t understand me sometimes, so either I can help them understand me or do what I need to do any way.