Curtain Call

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

       I startle awake when someone suddenly leans close to my ear and says, "Boo." Once my rapid heart slows down after being scared, I turn around to face the culprit, who's just smiling widely as if frightening me is the funniest thing in the world.

       I glare at Jerome before turning in the chair I'm sitting in, closing my eyes again. "It's not polite to wake someone up when they're sleeping."

       "If they're sleeping in the middle of the auditorium, I think it's okay," Jerome says as he hops over the seat beside me before sitting down in it. 

       "Aren't you the one who sleeps in the middle of class?" I ask.

       "Yes, but that's class when we're learning boring things. This is theatre where we're all here voluntarily."

       "Rehearsal hasn't started yet, so I think it's suitable for me to sleep so I don't pass out durning rehearsals. I think Ms. Salazar said we're going to be working on Born to Hand Jive again so it's good for me to be well rested."

       "Are you actually going to pass out during rehearsal?"

       I shake my head. "Probably not. I've run on no sleep before. I may be tired, but I won't actually pass out." I hope. I really have run on no sleep before when I just couldn't get any sleep at night thanks to my anxiety. Some nights just aren't the greatest, but I'm able to stay awake until I get in my bed. 

       Or if I'm napping somewhere like here. 

       "Need an energy drink?" Jerome asks.

       "No, I'm good," I say. "Buttloads of caffeine isn't good for me anyway. I'll be fine. I did get, like, three hours of sleep last night so I'm good."

       "Three hours of sleep doesn't sound too good."

       "It's better than nothing. I promise I'm fine."

       "Fair enough."

       It's not long before rehearsal starts and just like I thought, we're going to be learning more for Born to Hand Jive so Pilar has come back seeing as she is the choreographer. The first thing she tells us to do is to let the music play and do our parts when it comes to see if we mostly remember it.

       Some people don't do that well with their parts, either because they forgot the cue, they forgot some choreography, their partner forgot some so they couldn't really do anything, or they just hadn't rehearsed it enough in their own time. Honestly, I probably would have been one of those people but my and Jerome's part is so fun that we can't help but randomly run through it when we have the chance.

       As soon as Pilar stops the music since we've run through all the parts we know, she says, "Well, that could have been better. Danny, Sandy, Doodie, Frenchy, Putzie, and Janet, thank you for all remembering the choreography. Rizzo and Kenickie, I saw that you tried but your partner didn't remember, which is unfortunate since this is a partner's dance. And Vince, thank you for remembering when to tap out the couples. This is probably the most difficult scene in the whole play because of all the choreography, so please do your best to remember it so we can move on to other scenes. Alright, take five minutes to review the choreography before we run it again. Those who don't get the dance right will have to help with some sets tomorrow during lunch."

       "What?" Dirk asks. "No, you can't do that." He looks at the drama teacher. "Ms. Salazar, tell Pilar that she can't do that."

       "Well, if you don't mess up, then you won't have to worry about it," Ms. Salazar says. "I suggest you take the five minutes seriously."

       "Since everything I do is perfect, can I take a break for the five minutes?" Jerome asks.

       "Sure," Ms. Salazar says. "If you want to paint sets tomorrow at lunch. It's great that you remembered the choreography, but there is always place for improvement so spend the five minutes doing so."

       That's exactly what everyone in this scene does, and thankfully everyone is able to do it properly this time. There are a few missteps, but not enough to warrant staying in during lunch tomorrow to work on sets. Honestly, I wouldn't have minded if I had to. I loved working on sets in the past and I'm going to miss it, but I don't know if I'll have enough time to work on it since I'm in the play this time.

       All of the rehearsal is figuring out the rest of the choreography for the song since there's still the part where Danny and Cha Cha dance together. At least while they're working on that, I get to sleep for a bit. Well, I try to sleep. I'm unsuccessful but at least I got to rest my eyes for a bit. It's certainly better than nothing.

       The moment rehearsal ends and we're all dismissed, I grab my backpack and follow my siblings outside so we can get home as fast as we can. I definitely need to nap for a bit before going any homework I have, which thankfully isn't a lot.

       "How was rehearsal?" Mom asks once we're all home. 

       "Exhausting," Orchid says. "We've been working on Born to Hand Jive and my partner is the worst. He didn't even remember the simplest moves beforehand so he almost made us have to work on sets tomorrow at lunch. I think it's very unfair that all my siblings have partners that take that scene seriously."

       "I would offer to switch partners, but I want to stick with Brandon," Alan says.

       "You can't switch partners anyway," Ryder says. "That's not how it works."

       "Good, because like I said, I want to stick with Brandon."

       "I'm sure it will get better," Mom tells Orchid. "You're still at the beginning of rehearsals. Once you've done that scene enough, your partner should know it well enough to not mess up."

       "I sure hope so," Orchid says. "If not, I'm kicking his ass."

       "You most certainly are not," Mom says.

       "I'll do it," Alan says.

       "No, you won't," Mom says. "No butt-kicking."

       "How about punching?" Ryder asks.

       "You're all unbearable," Mom says. "Just go do your homework or something."

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poppy, that's not nice :( they're not unbearable :(

(okay maybe a bit but i still love them lol)