Author's Note: This is the last "SFYS" I'll be submitting. As always, I don't mean to offend anyone with my writing. This story is complete fiction. And happy holidays!
This is it. Performance night.
6:30. I walk in backstage to see kids running around with costumes and props. Half an hour until show time.
6:40. I'm in my red pants and white shirt, and I've found Karen. No sign of Kathy or Grace yet. Twenty minutes until show time.
6:45. Friends and family are being let into the auditorium. Grace and I wish each other luck, and she runs off to help someone with their costume. Kathy isn't here yet, and I'm starting to panic. Fifteen minutes until show time.
6:58. Kathy arrives with her arm in a sling, and tells me that I should go break a leg. I think she wants revenge for her broken arm, but I can't tell if she's joking. Two minutes until show time.
7:00. Ms. Wang shoos us onto the stage and tells us all to break our legs. Maybe she heard Kathy saying it to me earlier.
"I don't actually want you to break your leg, you know," Kathy whispered. "It's theater talk, for good luck." That explained it then.
I opened my mouth, but then closed it as I was hit full in the face by a beam of light. The stage was so covered in glitter, it was blinding. Probably Grace's work again. That girl has a serious addiction to sparkles.
What was I doing? This wasn't the time to be daydreaming! Focus Summer, focus.
I knew my parents were in the audience, but I couldn't spot them as we shuffled into rows. Kathy shot me a quizzical look, and I realized that she didn't know our places had been switched. I stepped down from the riser, to where she was supposed to be, and she took the spot where I had just been. Maybe I should have spoken up. Well, too late.
I looked out into the audience and my stomach clenched. I couldn't make out a single face in the crowd -- they were all just dots. Moving, swirling, laughing dots. My head started to spin.
Karen looked sideways at me, and I nodded my head a little to tell her I was alright. But I wasn't.
The only light was coming from the stage, and it was focusing on the teacher who was introducing us. I crouched and tiptoed backstage. Ugh.
I threw up. I can't believe I threw up.
Before anybody could notice, I was back onstage. I had to close my eyes a couple of times to keep from getting dizzy again, but it was okay. I didn't realize that the chorus was about to launch into our fist song until the spotlight was on us. The heat was suffocating.
My voice came out as barely more than a whisper, but I mouthed the words and tried to look enthusiastic. It was enough.
I think I was okay after that, but I don't remember. The rest of the show was a blur. I remember Karen hugging me backstage between scenes, and Grace stepping up with the costume crew to take a bow at the end, and Kathy getting nearly crushed by a mob of kids who wanted to sign her cast. All those weeks of work for what felt like a few minutes in front of an audience. I guess life is just strange like that.
Well, happy holidays,
-Summer
