The Heart Of Friendship

Part 27

Daniel

We were backstage at school now, and it was quarter to five. Only fifteen minutes left until the show started. And I was nervous. I was fine before really, until I realised that there were only minutes till the show started. I won't mess up. I can't mess up. Remembering what mom told me was seriously the only reason I haven't backed out yet.

"Daniel!" Alec yelled snapping out of my thoughts. Mrs Simphiwe was calling us to get blue glitter on our faces and I hadn't heard her. The glitter was applied with two blue stripes on our cheeks. "Are you okay?" Alec asked me when Mrs Simphiwe was done. I realised that since I met him, he has asked me that question more times than I can count.

"Yah I'm fine." I lied. He didn't have to worry about me. It was just having a ridiculous meltdown anyway and I had to pull myself together before we got on stage. "I'm going to ask mom if she needs help." I told him before I went over to my mom. She was putting glitter on some of the kids now. "Mom, do you need any help?"

I didn't realise that Olivia was the one she was about to put glitter on until she moved aside, and I saw her in front of her.

"Oh yes, thank you honey." She handed the glitter to me. "Now be pretty precise and don't spill." She kissed me on the head, and I swear my cheeks turned red. She was embarrassing me in front of Olivia. And now I had to put glitter on her and not spill. My hands were literally shaking. I was about to tell her I couldn't do it, but she was already gone. Great.

"Hey." Olivia smiled at me. I don't know why she was so nice to me when I pretty much always tried to not to talk to her.

"Hi." I managed to smile at her.

"What your mom is doing is pretty cool." She told me "And this was an awesome idea."

"Thanks." I told her. She stopped talking so I could put the glitter on her, but my hands were too shaky. I think she noticed.

"You're pretty nervous huh?" She must have thought I was nervous for the show, but it wasn't only that, it was mostly her now.

"Yah, I am." I admitted.

"You don't have to be, you're a pretty good dancer." She told me

"How do you know?" I asked

"I saw you guys dance with Mr Eric in the hall. You were really good."

It seriously seemed like everyone had saw me dance by this point. Did Allie know too?

"Thanks. You're a good singer." I told her, and she asked me how I knew "I heard you sing when you auditioned."

"Thanks." She was really pretty. She had her hair in spirals, and she was wearing a sliver glittery dress with blue shoes. The gold glitter I was holding almost fell to the floor and she held my hands to steady it before it fell, and I swear I could feel electricity spreading through my veins.

"Are you sure you're going to be able to put that on me?" She asked still with a smile. I am surprised she hasn't noticed I like her yet. Everyone else seems to notice.

"Need some help?" Tim appeared from behind us. He knew I liked Olivia and he must have known I would not be able to put the glitter on her. "Yes. Thanks." I handed him the gold glitter.

The show started ten minutes later, and Alec and I were the fourth out of eight acts to perform. To say I was freaking out was an understatement. Despite my mom and Olivia's words now, I still couldn't shake of the nervousness, and it got worse the closer we were to performing.

The first act was poetry and the kid did a poem about the negative effect of bullying and why it should stop. I couldn't listen to half of it due to my nervous state, but the ending was captivating. It was like coming out of the darkness and into the light and finally being happy and getting through it.