In The Wings

Act I Scene I

The lights flared up, nearly blinding everyone on stage, whether they were in the wings or on the stage. But one girl kept her eyes open the whole time, as she had trained herself to be used to all the bright lights. This girl was destined to be a star-at least in her own mind.

Carly stood up in the smack center of the front of the stage. She always tended to drift there, even when the staging had put her somewhere else. That was just Carly's way, and no one else would have enough time or energy to convince to do otherwise.

Christine and Meg, best friends since they met in dance school when they were little girls, watched from the wings. Meg hated how Carly acted and loved to make fun of it. Christine, on the other hand, was quiet and tended to hide behind her dark curls and daydream. But the two girls went together very well, nonetheless.

It was time to rehearse Carly's big solo. The show this time around was Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, and Christine had initially been excited. She had thought that maybe now that she was a sophmore she might be able to snag a good role. Christine had thought she might even get to play Cinderella herself. But she had forgotten about one thing.

Carly. Carly was a senior, and had been getting leads in the musicals from the very beginning. No one was quite sure if it was because of her talent or her attitude. She certainly had both, although significantly more of the latter. Personally, Christine thought that Carly was too bold to play Cinderella.

She leaned over and whispered this to Meg. Meg nodded her head, starting to get a little bit of a smile on her face. Even when Christine tried to be serious about something, Meg tended to turn it into a joke.

"I agree, Christy. I mean, the only thing bigger than her chest is her ego."

Christine didn't want to laugh, but the fact of the matter was that Meg was completely right. She let out a loud laugh and immediately clapped a hand to her face. Carly turned around, giving them a glare. Her solo had been moments away from happening, and she wasn't going to have two little sophmore ensemble girls mess that up.

Then the music began to play, setting up for Carly to begin singing. The piano part was lovely, and Christine wished she could be the one to open her mouth and sing along. But she could not do anything except watch Carly take the limelight.

"In my own little corner, in my own little chair, I can be whatever I want to be."

On the side of the stage, Christine's musical training immediately started floating around in her head. Without even knowing that she was saying anything, she muttered, "She's making it too dark, so now the vibrato is overkill, the tone is much too heavy for Cinderella, it's like she's trying to sing a deep opera..." Christine kept on going on until Meg put a hand on her arm and a concerned look.

"You okay there, Christy? I mean, you're totally right and all but..."

"Oh!" Christine said, her eyes bugging open. "I didn't even realize I was saying any of that out loud."

Meg smiled and nodded, about to start a new little conversation when suddenly there was a huge crashing noise right on stage. One person screamed. Many people jumped and gasped, then rushed forward to try to see what happened.

Carly didn't make a sound.

She had been in the middle of her big solo. She had been singing her heart out, and now suddenly it had been interrupted by some techie's mistake. The scenery had fallen over. It was some heavy scenery, made out of wood.

It had been inches away from hitting her. She could have gotten seriously injured several weeks before the show.

And she had been in the middle of her big solo.