Meet Me In The Wings ~ Ethan Nestor

12. Stuff

"One, one, one, one, RUBBER CHICKEN!" We all yelled with huge grins on our faces.

The whole cast were now gathered and in costume as we grabbed any last second props. House opened in five minutes and tensions were high, but good gods were we excited.

"You've got this, guys." Our director, Michael, assured us. "Rehearsals have been fantastic, and you'll absolutely kill this. Just have fun with it, and keep the audience engaged at the end."

We all nodded along, pushing down the nerves as we got ready for the pre-show.

Before we knew it, audiences were filing in as we rambled about the stage in character. We'd loosely rehearsed this part once or twice, but you couldn't guarantee how long it would take to get everyone in, so it was a fun improv exercise if nothing else. I headed upstage with my backpack full of party food and began rummaging in various random boxes that made up our 'village hall' set. We'd raided the prop store and filled boxes and baskets with anything we could find. There were old magazines, a tennis racket, a clock, a copy of 50 Shades of Grey, and a traffic cone among other things. I walked across to Hugh who seemed lost in his own little world as he tried not to acknowledge the people coming in.

"Vinny?" I began, tugging at a sheet that was covering something in front of him. "Is this a road sign?"

"What? No, of course not!"

"It is. It clearly says 'pedestrians' on it." I pulled the sheet further and looked at him quizzically.

"No, no! It says 'Ian's'," He pushed the sheet back covering half the sign, "it's my Uncle Ian's."

"Vinny, why is this here? Was it stolen?"

"Of course not, it belongs to the people."

"I'm pretty sure it belongs to the council..." I crossed my arms at him.

"Communism, Matt. Communism." As he spat that line out I nearly corpsed, and we hadn't even started yet. Hugh really had a way with words.

"You've got problems, Vinny..." I sighed as I walked away to mess with a different box.

"Capitalism has problems, Matt!" He yelled after me and I couldn't help but smile.

Soon the audience were in and the show began. We pretty much coasted through with very few mistakes. I did choke a little on a handful of shortbread biscuits that I had to force down my throat, and I tripped over the bunting, but that was in character enough to pass off as intentional. My panda monologue was flawless, Jayda's ukulele playing was perfectly bad, and we didn't spill the punch this time. Now it was just time for the finale. The plan was to invite the audience up to join the little birthday party. We set to work on our little preparation section, blowing up balloons and setting out snacks, and soon we were getting people up.

This was the first time I'd really acknowledged the audience throughout. It was a naturalistic play that rarely broke the fourth wall up until this point, so I'd kind of tuned out the crowd in favour of not freaking myself out too much. But now I had no choice but to focus on the people who'd been watching me like a hawk for the past hour. I pulled up a little kid from the front row, handed him a party hat, and lead him to the big bowl of popcorn. I was rejected by a disgruntled dad who clearly didn't enjoy the dogging jokes. And then I spotted him. Sat in the middle row, was Ethan...

He hadn't even mentioned the show since I sent him the information over a week ago; I didn't think he'd actually come. This was the first time he'd seen me properly act, since our classes had only really been short games and improv exercises so far, and I suddenly felt incredibly insecure. I mean, it's normal to want to impress your teachers, but this was somehow different. I was doubting every acting choice I'd made, and I could feel myself starting to irrationally panic, but I just shook my head, took a deep breath, and danced towards him.

"Well aren't you a dashing gent, join the party?" I offered him my hand which he instantly took, making me blush slightly.

"Well since you offered so kindly." He stood up and followed me onto the stage where we danced awfully to the royalty free music that echoed through the studio. He was grinning from ear to ear the whole time, and my gods was that smile contagious.

Soon a balloon fight broke out: absolute carnage. This was what I loved. Just having fun on stage with good friends and not worrying about the world beyond. Ethan being there was just a bonus, a very handsome bonus...

And as soon as it had begun, the show was over.

"Um, guys, my Dad says we have to be out in ten minutes so if you could, uh, go. Thanks..." 'Vinny' announced, and soon it was just us in the studio, clearing up.

As we tidied everything up and preset for tomorrow's performance my phone pinged in my pocket. It was a Teams notification.

Ethan: I'm downstairs in the café by the way. Fantastic show.

My heart skipped a beat. I guess my performance wasn't that bad if he was eager to see us straight after rather than waiting til Monday. I quickly rounded everything up, letting Quinn and Jessie know that Ethan was waiting for us, and ran to get out of costume as quickly as possible. I don't know what the rush was, but I was so excited to just ramble about the show to someone who had just seen it for the first time.

"See you tomorrow Michael!" I yelled as I dashed out of the studio with Quinn and Jessie, beaming.

We thundered down the stairs with a tad too much enthusiasm, and sure enough, there he was.

"Hey!" Jessie called, waving to Ethan.

Stood behind the other two, I tried to act vaguely casual, but I was still buzzing with adrenaline from the show and just couldn't contain it.

"Hey guys!" He put his phone back in his pocket and stood up to talk with us. "That was amazing!"

The smile on my face only grew in response to the praise. He went to give each of us a hug, and my heart pounded as I wrapped my arms around him. Maybe it was just my nerves, but it seemed as though he lingered a little longer with me, and it took everything not to collapse there and then. Okay, maybe I have a tiny crush on Ethan, but it's nothing I can't suppress. Right?

The four of us chatted away until Jessie and Quinn were each picked up to go home, once again leaving me and Ethan alone.

"Are you walking home?" He asked, glancing out the window to where it was now pitch black save from the streetlights.

"Yeah. Buses don't run this late on a Thursday and I don't drive so..." Once again, I caught myself rambling and cut myself off.

"Mind if I join you?" He flashed that charming smile and I was entranced.

"Of course, be my guest."

He held the door open for me as we stepped into the chilly outside, and began the trek home for the night.