Falling Into Whatever This Is

March: The Competition

On the bus, I really wasn't paying attention to anything except Levi so I didn't know that there were about 7 other groups that were going to perform as well.

The competition took place at a college on the outskirts of the city. It was magnificent.

From the outside, you don't expect much, but once you get inside it's breathtaking.

Even though the school is small, the decor was so ornate. The floor was covered in marble tile and there were many staircases that led up to higher floors.

The auditorium, where we were performing, was the best part. The stage was a performer's dream. Both deep and wide with floors easy enough to dance on while still holding traction.

"Holy shit," marveled Levi. He was staring at the ceiling in awe.

"I know right!" I said to him. We had come in from backstage and were walking across the open floor used to express feeling and emotion.

"Dude," Levi said, still staring at the ceiling. He stopped with his arms in a "T" and Addy and I ran into them. "Can we please just take a moment..."

Levi took my hand and Addy's who took Hudson's. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Mrs. Wood hold the other kids back in the wings and pull out her phone, perhaps to take a picture.

Levi looked over at me with a smile on his face, then over to Addy and Hudson.

"This is it," I said and Levi raised our hands in the air.

***

After our "moment" we sat down in the front row of the auditorium, Levi and Addy on either side of me.

"You have no idea how excited I am," Levi whispered to me and grabbed my hand on the arm rest.

"I think I do."

I knew exactly how he felt. The nerves of competition mixed with the excitement. It was exhilarating.

"May I have your attention, please," called a woman standing on the stage. We were the only school in the auditorium because this was our day of competition. "Welcome to Pittsburgh Performing Arts competition, sponsored by the Pittsburgh Acting Academy. I am Eileen and I will be judging you, along with Head Professor Robert Gleeson and Head Director of Acting at the school. We will be judging you on your emotion, pronunciation, and connection between the people you are performing with." I squeezed Adalyn's hand and she squeezed back. Levi could barely sit still, tapping his feet and bouncing his heels.

"Levi," I whispered. "Calm down! We're gonna be great."

"Oh I know, Ellbud, I'm just excited to perform with you." He tapped my nose gently with his pointer finger and smiled. He then resumed tapping his feet.

"Our first group of the evening is Lauren and Kent performing a duet. Please take the stage, state your names, ages, and the song or act you'll be performing."

Lauren and Kent walked on stage, hand in hand, and looked like they were meant to dance together.

"Hi, I'm Lauren," Lauren said, waving.

"And I'm Kent. We're performing a duet titled "Prom"." Kent explained.

"Please proceed," said Mr. Gleeson.

The dance was performed to a beautiful song about young lovers finding love. They were perfectly connected and finally at the end they ran together and kissed. It was the perfect ending to the best dance I had ever seen. They were so in sync that it made me feel embarrassed. They were in 11th grade and I was starting to get nervous.

More groups went and performed skits and dances and songs until finally it was our turn.

"Next please." I looked over at Levi to see him shaking. It was pure adrenaline and I was loving it.

"Let's do this," I here Hudson say and we all stand up. Taking the stage was probably the most exciting part of the performance

"Hello," I say confidently, "My name is Ellie Leftwick and these are my friends Hudson Davis, Adalyn Palmer, and Levi Cellios. We are going to be performing a scene from Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.'

"Very well, please proceed."

We took our positions for the beginning of the scene. Levi is quite a good actor. He had the right amount of confidence and character that meshed perfectly. It was especially surprising that he didn't always work on musicals or plays. The scene went just as practiced, except better. Our voices echoed throughout the auditorium and the on lookers were fully drawn into our performance.

Life was good.

Until the end. It wasn't as though something bad happened, just something that wasn't supposed to happen. Levi sprinted up to me, as Demetrius, and grabbed my face in his hands.

"My dear, Helena. Do choose wisely," he improvised and placed a light kiss on my lips. IN FRONT OF EVERYONE! Like I appreciate the gesture, but in front of everyone?! REALLY?! Okay back to the story.

"But, Demetrius! Lysander!" Addy called, as Hermia.

"Be gone," Hudson snarled as Lysander to Levi. Please keep in mind, Levi still had my face in his hands and was staring intently into my eyes.

"I don't know where life has taken me..." Adalyn said, watching the scene unfold in front of her, "You fellows seem to have no interest in me so... I'm gonna go." She quickly hurried off stage, crying.

"I said to be gone." Hudson had come over to where Demetrius and Helena were...i don't even know what was going on and I was Helena!

This had snapped me out of my daze of confusion.

"Listen to the boy. Go, be gone. How dare you!" I yelled at Levi and he backed away, eyeing Hudson.

"And scene," I called to the judges. Levi came out from stage right with Adalyn, her face streaked with tears.

"Thank you," the professor told us.

As we got off stage, I turned to Levi.

"What the HELL were you thinking?!"

"I was THINKING that Demetrius should be the one who gets Helena. I don't actually know how the story plays out, but..." he gave me a sarcastic smile.

I shook my head with a strange frown on my face.

"You guys are quite something," Mrs. Wood scolded us playfully.

"Honestly, I'm not sure what happened up there. Levi decided to add some much needed PDA to the scene, I think," Hudson laughed, while sitting back down. Addy winked at me.

"It was nothing more than the truth."

That boy really was something.