Haken High

Living a Life of Embarrassment

Lemon's POV:

Mrs. Wright didn't say anything to me for the rest of the class period. I can only wish for the best of luck tomorrow. Everybody was nervous and excited for the past years they told me that the teacher was really strict and expected our rehearsals. I haven't been in theatre before, but I had friends who were, and in lines to be memorized within a week. There was no way that was going to happen. Poor Bee.

We were all ready for rehearsal today. There weren't that many people there, so everybody had more than two parts, except for the people with really big parts like Bee and I. Ali had a big part, but hardly any lines. Also, Cody wasn't just Toto, he was also a flying monkey and some other side parts.

Our first rehearsal went very, very slowly, and we were expected to be on stage and act out the script.

''Come on, everybody! Let's move!'' Said the director. ''We've only got so long to get this thing together! Come on!''

''She is really bad,'' I said to Kaylee. ''I don't know how we're gonna survive this.''

''How you're going to survive this, you mean,'' said Kaylee. ''I'm on tech. She can't yell at me.''

''Heck yeah she can,'' I said.

''Try me,'' said Kaylee. ''She couldn't yell at me if she tried.''

''How do you know so well?''

''Because I'm not going to do anything wrong.''

''Great. Nice to know.''

''ON STAGE! NOW! TECH, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!'' The director screamed. ''BACKSTAGE! I'M NOT GONNA WAIT ALL DAY!''

Kaylee gave me the ''We're so dead'' look and sprinted backstage. I sprinted onstage.

''BACKSTAGE, LION!'' said the director. ''YOU'RE NOT ON YET! SCENE ONE, LET'S GO!''

''Wait!'' I said. ''Let me get my script! I left it in the seats!''

''No scripts!'' Said the director. ''Day one! You should know what you're going to say!''

That was when I had that ''Oh crap'' feeling. Well, hopefully everybody is just as bad as I will be.

-Little Lion

Cody's POV:

''Oh my gosh, can she ever be quiet?!'' Bee said. ''Seriously! Dorothy's not gonna be able to HEAR by the end of this!''

''Good luck!'' I said, running backstage. Soon the spotlight was on her and it began. I had no idea when I came in. I knew I memorized all my lines, they were all ''Bark! Bark!'' But you see, I didn't have my ques down yet.

''TOTO! ON STAGE!'' The director said. NO! I was in scene one!

I sprinted on stage in dog form. I was on my hands and knees, and started panting like a dog.

Dorothy didn't wait for the director. ''She isn't coming yet, Toto. Did she hurt you? She tried to, didn't she? Come on -- we'll go tell Uncle Henry and Auntie Em. Come on, Toto,'' she said. Next in the script was to pick me up. Ugh, please, no... Don't do this, Bee...

Yes! Bee didn't pick me up. She kept walking down the gravel road like she was supposed to and I followed her, whimpering and barking.

''Aunt Em!'' Bee said. And the play went on.

I have to say, Bee/Dorothy was really good. She knew all of her lines... At least until about halfway through the play, she started missing some words, and then some actions, and eventually she told the director that she hadn't practiced any further and needed her script. Surprisingly, the director took it pretty well. She was impressed at how much Bee practiced. I missed almost all of my cues, but I wasn't needed for that much of the play with Toto. Lemon came out as his Lion, and Ali as her wicked witch. It was really cool when he sang his solo, but he needed his script too after that.

''There's no place like home,'' Bee said dreamily when the play was about to end. ''There's no place like home... There's no place like home... There's no place like-''

''CUT!'' Said the director. Everybody stopped and looked at her.

''What?'' said Bee. ''Did I say something wrong? Trust me, I was reading the script this time.''

''Time to go home,'' said the director. ''See you tomorrow. Thanks for memorizing your lines, it helps me see that you all are putting effort into the play. Now that was day one. You all went with it really well, no matter what I demanded of you. Tomorrow we'll be using our scripts on stage. Have a good afternoon.''

-Toto Tot

Bee's POV:

The first thing I said after the director left us was ''OH MY GOSH THAT WAS HARD!'' I had SO many lines to memorize, and I had NO IDEA how I managed to do it. I made it halfway! Yes! After a while, though, I was scared how I was going to even find enough time to memorize my lines. High school is stressful! We had our first test in Algebra in the first week! Do they know how hard it is to study for a test when we find out about it seven minutes before it happens? Seven minutes is not enough!

''OH MY GOSH I KNOW I FAILED,'' I said to Ali when we met up in HOme Economics. ''I can't believe they didn't tell us it was happening! But then, bam, it's suddenly on the whiteboard. ' TEST TODAY, HOPE YOU STUDIED! ' Was that supposed to help us??'

'''No, Bee, it was meant to make us suffer,'' said Ali, but there was no sarcasm in her voice. I mentally agreed.

''Also, Home Economics is hard. I thought it would be easy! I already know how to work a washing machine!''

''Hey,'' said Ali. ''I have an idea for how to make it easier. Just bribe the teacher with chocolate.''

''Great idea!'' I said. ''What kind?''

''I hear she likes milk Chocolate,'' said Ali. ''There was a girl last year who bribed Mrs. Wright with chocolate and graduated with honors in her class.''

''Wow. I'll keep that in mind,'' I said.

Oh my gosh, Home Economics is SO HARD! They have tests twice a week. Not quizzes. TESTS! And they're not very hard, but they are pretty bad. The only reason I haven't DROPPED OUT yet is because it's one of the three classes that Lemon, Ali, Kaylee, Cody and I have together. The other one is BIology, where we never get to talk to each other, and then US HIstory, where we do sit beside each other and talk all the time while the teacher rambles ON and ON and ON.

There were really no classes that were easy enough to where you didn't have to worry about them. One of the reasons I love the gaming club so much is because all you do is code and play games and have fun! It's even better, of course, when your bestfriend rules it. And then there's all of those other clubs like the drama club and the cooking club and the martial arts club and cue all of the other club names that I've forgotten about.

I just hope that the year will get better. And easier. I still have to get my grades up, and it's only day 2!

-Hard Highschool Worker