Tear In My Heart

8th Grade

Okay, so Maya is really into musical theater.

You only repeat this once but the emphasis is ungodly because she told you last week that if she were to be shot and killed on the corner of the Broadway Theater that she would thank her killer with the words of Eponine's last breaths in her death scene of Les Mis (respectively in the style of none other than Broadway's best Eponine, Lea Salonga, who she acknowledges as the only Eponine besides Samantha Barks on the film). It's a bit much and it makes you laugh because your best friend is a dork; such a dork that when her grandparents decided to take her to New York for her fourteenth birthday, you and her bubbe plan to surprise her by buying tickets for you to take her to see the Cinderella revival during your stay. (One of her most desired shows and the first of four that you will see during your trip.)

Will is with your dad who called you four times after only an hour and a half in the city and you carried the tickets in your back pocket that got mailed to you last week and you were really excited to see her so excited because all she talks about is Laura Osnes's limited year as the star and how she watched the Julie Andrews version constantly with Riley growing up and how she always wanted to play Ella because she knew the songs front and back. You even surprised her with the tickets on your walk up Broadway and she was so happy when you did that she started to actually cry on the sidewalk in New York in front of the giant poster of Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana dancing at the ball.

(It's a beautiful picture but it really has nothing on her.)

You had the plan to take her breath away and ultimately show off how cool you could be when trying. You sort of failed at cooly surprising her but it helped level the playing field of embarrassment a lot matched with her tears.

(Instead of smoothly doing so, you awkwardly shoved the tickets from your pocket into your air while announcing that while you guys are there, you might as well go in like a total loser, but she still cried so whatever.)

You just kind of assume the show was amazing but you're not exactly sure because you spent most of the time watching Maya's eyes light up and her bounce in her seat and sing along and it was so cute. She looked like a kid in a candy store and she turned to you after nearly every song and scene to make sure that you were as engrossed as she was.

You pretended to be but, honestly, if you were asked the evil stepsister's names at gunpoint, the result would most likely be your death- sans a monologue from Les Mis.

After the show, Maya is dancing on the sidewalk beside you and it's kind of amazing because she seriously seems like she's trained for it and then you remember that she was trained her entire childhood and she pushed for it because she's dreamt about Broadway her entire life. You even stayed and waited backstage and you got the stars to sign your playbook which was awesome, but now you guys are walking back towards the little loft her grandparents rented online for the week and she's singing to you.

"Ten minutes ago, I saw you. I looked up when you came through the door." She bows gracefully and reaches for your hand. You're tired, but you're fighting it because Maya is wide awake and beaming with joy. When you take reach her grasp, she tugs you close and you're dancing with her. "My head started reeling, you gave me the feeling the room had no ceiling or floor."

She has a gorgeous singing voice and you love moments when she sings to you because you're dumbfounded every time at your amazing best friend with her flawless voice and perfect smile and that look in her eyes because she's so damn happy.

"Ten minutes ago, I met you. And we murmured our 'how do you do's. I wanted to ring out the bells and to fling out my arms and to sing out the news;" She picks up the pace of your dance and you're dodging people on the street but no one seems to mind you two. "I have found him, he's an angel, with the dust of the stars in his eyes. We are dancing, we are flying, and he's bringing me up to the skies."