Bleed me Dry

chapter twenty

♡

Drama was a drag, and not at all what I'd expected it to be.

The stench of rivalry slithered through the room, everyone seeming to be out to compete with one another.

I'd stupidly assumed that Drama would be a friendly, inviting and close-knit environment, which originally worried me slightly, on the basis that they spent a lot of time together rehearsing or performing re-runs.

It was... interesting — to see everyone at each other's throats that is.

Class seemed to last forever, no one even tried to listen to our teacher, a tall willowy woman. Her bronze skin glowed from the bright stage lights, her hair dazzled in a deep walnut hue. 

Her eyes were filled with love for the script, reminding me of why I chose this class. The other student's eyes were gloomy however, perhaps lost in the sea of play after play without truly finding themselves in the act of acting.

"Does anyone have any questions relating to the script? Or perhaps about anything?" she asked, her worried eyes searching the room for a raised hand.

"Yes, Ms. Gupta. I was wondering, with Bonita Paulinho's leave from the class, what that meant for the rest of us? Will the roles be re-picked?" asked a voice behind me, worry seeping from her mouth. A few murmurs of agreement could be heard as our teacher fumbled for the right words.

Come to think of it, I hadn't seen Bonnie when I'd entered the room, nor around school for the past few days. Everything was beginning to make sense.  A certain girl piqued my interest, her face painted with a knowing smile. She was wearing a pair of bright pink trainers, something that reminded me of the locker rooms.

I scanned the room, people were gossiping, laughing or awaiting a response - but all they received was silence.

"Well..." Ms. Gupta said finally, after a series of uncomfortable facial expressions. "Since Miss. Paulinho will not be attending the class anymore, further funding for this curriculum has been suspended."

"What are you saying?" asked a short guy with worried eyes, his brown curls swooshing past his shoulders rapidly. "Could someone tell that to me in a basic way right now? Ya' boy is failing English."

"She means that Bonnie's father has closed the bank, removed his endless cash flow, deleted our chances of a performance this year. No more class, no more plays, no more nothin'." Snapped another, rolling her eyes and sinking further into the seat.

"Welcome to Drama." Muttered a voice behind me before the class erupted into loud shouts and over-the top screaming. The girl winked at me as I turned my head, her sea-blue braids adorning her arms as she rolled into laughter.

"Be quiet!" snapped Ms. Gupta finally, earning a swift silence. She sighed for a moment before taking a pen and walking across to the white board.

"Performances alone, on average, cost the school in excess of twenty thousand each year." She started, drawing 20k in big writing before circling it. "Bonnie's father would cover all of that, by donating to the school."

Drawing a cheque, she then pointed the arrow towards the performance fund before drawing an almost identical one beside it. "As well as this twenty thousand, he would donate more to cover other aspects of the school, like maths, sports and also ground repairs amounting to in excess of 250,000 each year."