Learning to Fly

Chapter 1

I can clearly remember the night of my first performance. My heart was beating faster than it had ever before, my palms were sweaty, and my legs were shaking terribly. I remember looking through the cracks in the curtains and seeing the whole audience filling the seats from front to back, the bottom floor to the top balcony.

I was going to faint.

I wanted to run.

I wanted to hide.

Yet, something inside of me kept me there. I didn't run, and I didn't hide.

The bright lights dimmed, signaling my group to go on stage. I swallowed my panic and my fear and stepped onto the stage with a prayer in my heart and a smile on my face...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I groaned as I rolled over in my bed. The night before, I had spent four hours working on my homework until 12:30 am. My brain was clouded and my eyes were foggy. I reached over to my nightstand to check the time and when my eyes cleared up, I saw that my alarm clock read 8:03 am... 8:03 am... Wait... 8:03 am!

I jumped out of my bed and ran across my room, flung open my door, and ran down the hall to the bathroom. My heart was filled with pure panic. I only had 15 minutes to get ready! This was an absolute disaster! There was no time for a shower today. Kudos to those who sit by me in class, because I probably wasn't going to smell my best today.

I ran down the hall again and grabbed some clothes from my room. Were they a bit rumpled? Probably. Were they my nice jeans and fancy shirt? Absolutely not. Today we only had time for an oh, so flattering hobo look. Sweats and a tee shirt. Nice.

There was not time to straighten my hair, so I quickly brushed through my rat's nest and applied a spray-in conditioner. I tried to part my hair in its normal way, but my hair was not having it, so I just threw it into a floppy bun. I applied a little bit of makeup to my face but definitely wasn't satisfied with how I looked. When I was finished getting ready, I ran downstairs and saw my dad reading a book on his tablet, and my little brother coloring in his dinosaur book.

"Dad!" I yelled. "Why didn't you wake me up!"

He looked up from his tablet. "Sorry, sweetie," he replied. "You looked so peaceful this morning and I knew you had worked so hard last night on your homework. I wanted to let you rest. I called the school and excused you for your first class, but it looks like you might make it."

I stared blankly at him. "So I could have slept in?"

He nodded his head.

"Arggghhhh!" I yelled. "Do you know what kind of stress I was in? I had a mini heart attack when I saw I had slept in late! Why would you do this to me?" I moaned.

My dad chuckled and I rolled my eyes.

"Well, I missed the bus already so that means you'll have to drive me today," I said.

"Fine by me," he said. "Oh, and I made breakfast this morning. Waffles and fruit. Want me to get you a plate?"

"Yes, please... and thank you. Even though you did almost give me a heart attack," I said.

He chuckled again and I smiled this time, knowing that my dad was always trying his best and always helping me out in any way that he could. I knew that he would always help me and my brother reach our full potential and support us in whatever we chose to do, no matter what it may be.