Jamie has it all - depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and a hate for her endless acne. With no friends, a distant family, and a nonexistent love-life, Jamie has made it through her twenties by hanging onto her dream of becoming a professional si...
The 2022 Holiday Parade starts at 10 a.m. Originally, Deonte, a few other artists, and myself were to perform indoors. This morning, during setup, the stage caught fire. Now, the indoor artists have to perform outside. I was okay with it until they said we have to perform on top of floats.
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Yeah. Just about everything that could go wrong popped up in my head. Even the incident where the Barney balloon ripped. I was trying not to think negative, but I'd never performed on a moving platform before.
My makeup artist just finished my makeup. My hairstylist quickly fixed my bangs before putting a red sequin hat on my head.
"Jae, you got this. We'll see you outside."
"Thank y'all." I waved at them as they left my dressing room.
I looked in the mirror and adjusted my sunglasses. They were black and severely tinted. I knew I should've brought a backup. How am I going to see where I'm walking?
There was a knock on my door. "Come in!" I picked up my phone to see the time. The parade just started. My performance is at 11:45 a.m.
The door opened and Deonte Way walked in, wearing a smile.
I turned around. "I thought you were the stage manager or somebody."
He closed the door. "And I thought you'd be happy to see me."
I stood up. "I am happy to see you."
We embraced one another.
"Wait. Are you nervous?" He asked me.
Of all things, I asked, "What if I fall?"
Deonte replied, "We're gonna be on the same float, and you don't even have to move around. When you perform, I'll be your model. When I perform, you can be my model."
"So, just stand there like this?" I put one hand on my hip and waved with the other.
"Now you look like a pageant winner. Okay. Don't be a model. Be the hype man." He took my hand on his hand. "The ride is twenty minutes. Our performances are ten minutes together. Don't overthink it. If we mess up - so what? Keep going. Get involved with the crowd. Act like... act like it's a concert."
I took a deep breath. "Okay."
"Good?"
"I'm good."
He released my hand. "Besides, people gonna pay more attention to what you're wearing. You look cute in your western holiday costume. " He pinched the sleeve of my white fringed jacket.
"Cute?" I spun around. My attire was a red sequin western hat, white fringe jacket, a short red flared skirt, and red sequin boots. Before I could finish my turn, I bumped into a rack of clothes.
Deonte grabbed me before I could fall. "Be careful."
Once I had my balance, I nodded my head. That was so embarrassing. "It's these dang glasses. They're so dark." I started to take them off, but I remembered he's never seen me without them.
