Keys to his heart

IV

The day of the talent show quickly arrived. The week flew by unbelievably fast, especially since I spent most of it texting Oskar. My weekend was almost exclusively spent in my room, playing the keyboard and replying to Oskar. While it was supposed to be just for piano, we would wander off the topic and start talking about other things, like sports or teachers we hated. He responded as quickly as I did, so we spent several hours at a time having long conversations. He often asked about the talent show, begging to know what I was doing. I refused to tell him; I wanted it to be a surprise for everyone who wasn't in the talent show.

Now here I was, standing in a red and gold marching band outfit that Mrs. Harin had been kind enough to lend to me. It wasn't perfect to what I needed, but it was close enough to the cover of the song. I just needed to look the part.

"On the agenda, we have the juniors performing! Martha Uran will be doing a hula hoop trick, Pedro Luther will be doing some gymnastics, and Callum Ronan will be singing a song!"

The audience cheered loudly from the other side of the curtain. Martha, Pedro, and I looked at one another from the wings, silently giving each other courage. Martha gave us a nervous smile before going on stage. The curtains peeled back, and her act began.

The audience shouted wildly as she went on. They screamed and hollered and cheered as she did feats that seemed impossible to do with the hula hoop, like balancing her weight on top of it. She was grinning the whole time, egged on by the crowd.

Once she finished, the curtains closed, and tech kids sprinted around the stage like chickens with their heads cut off, quickly setting up the equipment for Pedro. In the blink of an eye, the curtains were open again and Pedro was standing in the center of the stage.

Pedro started by flaunting his flexibility, bending completely backwards and walking like that to a balance beam, where he proceeded to balance with various items in his hands. The audience once again screamed, chanting his name.

With each chant, I felt my heart rate get faster. It was slowly getting to my time, the clock ticking closer and closer. I made eye contact with Martha, who was on the opposite side of the wings. She gave me two thumbs up, reassuring me.

Before I could give her thumbs back, Pedro came jogging over, grinning. The curtains closed and the tech kids set out again, speeding around the stage. Within a minute, Pedro's stuff was cleared and my props were set up. It was my time to go on.

I nervously walked out from the wings and approached the cardboard locker that sat in the center of the stage. I stopped in front of it and stared it down, taking a deep breath. Looking at the curtain people, I gave them a thumbs up before turning back to the locker. The curtains opened, and I could feel the gaze of the auditorium fall on me.

I pretend to be using my locker, grabbing at the fake lock. Pedro's steps grew close as I opened it, and I felt a pair of hands grab me. He shoved me into the locker, realistically but gently, then slammed the door shut. I tried to calm my breathing as I heard the music begin to play.

I got this.

I shoved open the locker door. "I've been locked in the locker,"

The crowd broke into screaming. It wasn't an incredibly popular song, but all of my friends knew it, and I had played it for several other people before. They quickly stopped themselves in an attempt to not drown out my words.

"I was picked last in soccer, and they say that it's all fun, but their fun, it ain't fun, man I'm done."

The words flowed off my tongue, ringing through the beautiful acoustics of our auditorium. The more I sang the more confident I felt, my stage instincts kicking in. I was in the spotlight, and it was my time to command the stage.