I too; faced the curtain, half wanting it to retract so I could finally rid myself of this peculiar adrenaline of anxiety that was forcing my heart into the deepest bowels of my gut. On the other hand, I half wanted it to simply never open, for fear of the consequences of it doing so.
I hazarded a guess that it was surely time for my entrance soon, but it never came. Eternity was nothing comparatively to how long I waited. The cheap plastic clock was moving at the speed of a drunken slug, but it transformed into a pounding cheetah when I heard my cue in the back of my mind. I snapped out of my daydream frantically, and as the curtain opened, my heart fell so far down my shivering anatomy; that it missed a beat as I haplessly clutched to the fading memory of those oh so vital lines. I bit my lip like that cheetah would do its victim, and hastily walked on stage.
I faltered. “This is it.” I thought, yet my lines, they seemed to blurt out, it was a mind-boggling feeling. I was so happy that everything was going according to plan, I nearly let out a sigh of relief mid-line. I felt like I was being programmed to talk at high speed as the words were on a mission to make themselves heard. I wandered off the wooden stage with my head held high, and the I saw was dainty little Francesca, who did her trademark grin and more importantly, gave me a thumbs-up, which satisfied me no end.
I carried on through the rabble of the backstage area and joined my pack of mates.
“Dude you rock!” exclaimed Michael. He gave me a high-five.
“Heh, thanks.” I said, with a failing attempt to be humble. It was almost an honour to be recognized in such a light by Michael, the proverbial ‘leader’ of the pack. He was the ‘leader’ because he was the oldest, at ten years old, which was surprisingly old from my perspective at the time.
We had a time-filling chat about this and that, until Michael mentioned Francesca.
“Hehehe, I think Ryan here has a crush on little Francesca!” he said, sniggering.
“I do NOT!” I retorted, enraged. “Sure she’s a nice girl,” I thought, “but fancy her? Get real!”
“Nah, I was joking mate.” he said cheerfully, clearly expecting his apology to be accepted, but I was being ignorant, and refused to acknowledge him. Just then, I heard my second cue, it could not have come at a better moment as the group had grown silent and tense. I hurried onto the stage once more, to show the audience my pizzazz.
When I came off-stage for the second time, I made sure that I stayed clear of the group, and so I planted myself in a corner. I gazed aimlessly into empty space for a few minutes until I heard some raised voices from the general direction of the gang. There I saw a distressed Francesca being harassed by them, Michael in particular.
“Leave me alone!” she cried. I leapt up and ran to her aid.
“Get off her!” I demanded.
“Ohhhhh no! Whatever shall I do? Frannie’s boyfriend is here to stop me!” He couldn’t have been more sarcastic if he tried.
“WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?!” I shrieked. I nearly threw my fist at him, but the thought of being treated for two broken legs at the pediatrics unit in Torbay Hospital stopped me.
“I got no problem, but it sounds like you have lil boy,” he said, smugly.
“OI! MICHAEL! LEAVE THEM ALONE OR ELSE!” came the loud yell of my instructor. Michael gradually released Francesca and (with his gang tagging along) trudged along to the far-side of the room.
A few minutes later, we all had to go on stage together to bow for the audience to mark the end of the performance. Luckily, as we went out, Michael was a good distance away. We all put our hands together, and produced a magnificent bow, which was greeted with rapturous applause. I caught a glimpse of my mum and dad, and my face lit up.
Once the performance was over, I got my stuff together and ran out to see my mum and dad, I found them and charged up to them, they greeted me with open arms.
“Good job!” my dad said (he appeared very proud), and ruffled my hair.
“I’ll look forward to next year’s!” my mum assured.
“Yeah, me too.” I murmured, and as we trotted out of the theater, I looked back and noticed Francesca, all smiles with her parents.
THE END
