My Golden Life

Chapter 42

Like I had mentioned earlier, out of all of the classes I was studying, there was one in particular that I enjoyed the most. And that was drama. Not just because Artie and I were in the same class, but we had a fantastic teacher, Mrs. Hagmill. Yes, that was her name. I still find it funny to this day. She would make each class so much fun and would go above and beyond so that everyone would perform to their utmost potential. 

One lesson of hers is particularly memorable, mainly because that class changed everything. And I mean everything. You could say that it kick-started what soon lead to where I am now. Let me explain...

It was a Thursday afternoon, and my last two lessons of the day were drama. People were sitting around on the floor, talking to one another. Some were discussing the upcoming Christmas ball; Artie and I included. Our conversation then ended when Mrs. Hagmill strolled in with her usual beaming grin.

"Ok, my wonderful stars," she announced. "Settle down, please, so we can get up and running."

For the first period of the lesson, we learned about the different ways of characterisation. She got us to do several small activities, which totally got me into my acting zone. By the final period of the day, she had the main task she ready for us to do.

"Alright, my lovelies, so we're going to continue looking at Shakespeare and the concept of emotion and proclamation." She began. "The majority of his characters, at some point, have a moment where they proclaim their emotions. I would like you all to do the same thing."

She then handed each of us a piece of paper with some writing on both sides.

"Let's see," she said, scanning the room. "There're five boys and five girls here, so I would like you all to get into pairs, please."

Before she even finished her sentence, everyone dashed around to find a partner. I looked around, and the only person who wasn't in a pair was, of course, Artie.

"Sorry, Katie looks like you're stuck with Artie." Someone blurted out, making everyone in the room chuckle. Artie frowned, looking down at the ground.

"Alright, that's enough." Mrs. Hagmill clapped. "I'm giving you all twenty-five minutes to practice working on this scene because, after that, you and your partner will be performing it in front of the class."

Everyone then got up and went to different parts of the room to go over their lines. I shuffled over to Artie and gave him a slight nudge on his arm.

"Hey, don't listen to them, ok?" I said. "I would have picked you anyway."

A slight grin grew on his face before we got up and sat on the mini stage to go over the scene. I stared down at the lines printed in front of me.

"Romance?" I thought. "Not at all surprised."

The scene was between a farm boy named Jacob, who was confessing his love to his friend Annabelle, the daughter of a duke. The weirdest thing about it was that the girl's appearance was quite similar to what I looked like before I changed my hair colour. It was as if this role was made for me.

Ten minutes into our practice time, and I could see that Artie was struggling.

"I just don't know if I'm saying the lines right," he said. "I've never done anything like this before."

"Me neither," I replied. "But don't worry, you'll get it once we perform to the class."

"That's the thing, I know I won't. I get all nervous and with people watching me..."

I placed my hand on his shoulder, looking at him straight in the eye.

"Listen to me, you don't to be anxious about anything." I smiled. "When we show what we've done, zone out everything around you, and focus on me—nothing else. Think about someone you truly care about with your whole heart and channel that into Jacob's character. Picture what he will be feeling, his love for Annabelle; do what you think he would do. As Mrs says, 'Perform with true passion and feeling, and you will be great.'"