Proving Webster Wrong

Chapter Fifteen -- Chloe

Chapter Fifteen

Chloe

I finished hanging up all the schedule posters and returned the tape to the room I had borrowed it from. Things were coming together nicely and there didn't to be anything left for me to do. I made my way back to my parents' classroom to see if they needed anymore help. Dad was teaching the sixth grade class and Mom was acting as assistant. By night three Mom was usually begging me to fill in for her so she wouldn't have to deal with the anymore. Having four kids of her own didn't mean that she was good with kids.

I stood watching from the open door as Mom went around the room straightening things up after Dad fixed them. I watched her do this every year but for some reason that time it bothered me a lot more. Before I made it inside to ask if they needed my help Pastor Parker spotted me. He walked over and rested a hand on my shoulder.

"Chloe, I have a huge favor to ask you. It's last minute notice but I need someone to take on the music for next week. I thought since you are our resident drama student you may be interested." His dark, kind eyes reminded me of Andrew begging me for help.

"Sure, I can handle it."

He patted my shoulder. "You're a good girl. Just go see Mrs. Walker and she'll give you the information."

I nodded and turned to find the woman in charge of directing this whole thing. Finding the VBS director is like trying to find a stage manager right before a big show. They're everywhere and no where at the same time. Usually, there is a lot of running around in circles asking people if they've seen so and so only to have them send you back the way you came. After going through this pattern several times I managed to located Mrs. Walker standing against a wall trying to catch her breath.

"Mrs. Walker?"

"Yes?" she snapped. Then she looked up and saw who was talking to her. "Oh, sorry, Chloe. I'm just a little stressed at the moment."

I smiled and nodded my head. I had filled the role of stage manager before so I knew what she was feeling. It was exciting and tough. The hardest job in theatre a person could take on, and in my mind directing VBS was nothing less. "It's okay. Pastor Parker told me to come find you about the music job," I tried to make my voice as soft and sweet as possible.

"You'll do it?" I nodded again and her whole face lite up. "Thank you so much! I didn't want to cut it but it was looking like I was going to have to. What sort of person calls on the day of set up to say that they got their dates mixed up and scheduled their vacation at the same time as VBS? I think she was just trying to get out of it. Ten years of doing this and you think she would know to change her mind at a different time," she launched into a monologue about the woman that always took the music. I won't name names because that would be rude, especially with Mrs. Walker launching into her like this.

I kept my face in a tight half smile while I waited on her pause for a breath. "Um, so I just need the DVD and CD."

She slapped her forehead. "Oh, right. It's on my desk. And did he tell you that we're working it back into class time this year?"

I just nodded again. I had just hung up all the schedule posters, I knew about the change, even if no one had actually told me.

"Great, so the stuff is on my desk. I've got stuff to get done so just help yourself."

And then it was off to find this desk she spoke of. It was hard to say if any of the desks shoved around the church actually belonged to anyone. They were just sort of rotated as needed for things throughout the year. Eventually I found a desk cover in VBS things and surround by boxes. After some rooting around I found the music kit. Now I just had five days to learn the stuff.