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Christine Zhang was meant to be a star.
At least, that was what she was thinking as she shuffled awkwardly onto stage in a half-made blue dress. They still hadn't found a fashion designer yet.
"Okay, Burn, take one!" The girl sitting next to Ms. Raquet shouted, Crystal, that was her name.
"I saved every letter you wrote-" Christine was interrupted- rather rudely- in the middle of her first line by the one and only Ms. Raquet herself.
"Aren't we doing Helpless? No, we're doing that would be enough. Anthony, get onstage! What do you mean Anthony isn't here?" She barked at Crystal and a loud sigh came from somewhere in the bleachers. Craning her neck to see how it was, Christine felt on top of the world. The reason why? The 6 girls who ran the school were sitting right there.
OMG. This was the coolest thing that had happened to Christine since she saw Reese Witherspoon on a vacation to LA. (Squeal!!) Maybe she could join them. She would get SO much credit, and people would FINALLY take her seriously.
"Ms. Raquet, we are doing Burn, and Tony isn't here because Mr. Fatness died." Ms. Raquet raised an eyebrow at her, as if to say 'who is Tony, and who is Mr. Fatness?'
"Oh whoops. Umm...Anthony," Crystal said the word like it was made from beetle juice. "Is Tony, I've known him since we were little. Yeah, Mr. Fatness is his cat."
"Well then. We need no more Burn, we're doing Helpless, and Timmy, you are gonna sing Tony's part. Good? Good." Ms. Raquet said, and Crystal made a gesture that said 'I hate you Ms. Raquet, but I also worship you'.
"I guess I'm going on stage then," Crystal muttered, and ran up the stairs in heels. (Somehow) She arrived, and Ms. Raquet clapped her hands, and ushered them on.
"SOMEONE SAY HEY!!!" Ms. Raquet yelled, and Timmy sputtered out the words quickly. Christine cleared her throat and smiled. She loved this song.
"Ohh, I do I do I do I Doo-" Christine sand the rest of her part and felt herself on the moon as she kept on singing. That was until, Timmy's part.
"Where are you taking me?" He said, his voice barely a whisper.
"I'm about to change your life," Crystal said, cringing at the weird expressions the boy was making. Ms. Raquet slapped her face with her palm, and everyone in the audience seemed to show a collective sigh as Timmy sang the next part.
Despite Timmy's (Horrible) singing, and the way the six girls were judging them,- 5 girls, Kim seemed to be in her own world- the practice was great, and Christine had hope for once as she twirled and sand, her words like delicate daises floating in the wind.
Now imagine those daises as clown juggling pieces.
"Hey kids! It's Sunny the clown, and today, I'm here to tell you the story of the wacko dog, Wooferoo!" 14 six year olds began cheering, and Christine smiled through the layers of clown makeup she had on. Everyone had to have an out-of-school job right? Right.
One kid at the front snorted, and whispered something to another boy who laughed. Christine didn't hear it, but she got the gist of it. Kids.
Tossing and turning, twisting and laughing, she watched as all the kids (Except for the two snobby boys) all clapped and sung along with her. It always cheered her up to see other people happy. Except for the magician, he was a jerk.
After 40 minutes of nonstop dancing and singing until her voice broke, she *FINALLY* finished. Peeling off her frilly costume and popping on some jeans, she ducked out of the dressing room before realizing she still had clown makeup on. Whoops.
Smearing it off, she ran to the food tables. She was preforming for a kid named William Anderson-Henson Blaire the 4th. It was really hard to say in a song. She finally managed to sneak a bite of the party favors, which was amazing, because usually she wasn't allowed to eat with everyone else.
She was halfway through eating her 5th slice of pizza when a girl came up to her. She looked about the same age as Christine, and she swore she had seen the girl around before. Oh, at school! She still had the resemblance of someone Christine had seen, and her brain shifted levers inside as it finally clicked. This was the sister of the whispering boy! (Not the one that had gotten whispered to) Wait, a girl from her (private) high school with a snobby younger brother? This should be fun.
"You are a clown." The girl said to her, and Christine felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. That was, until the girl sputtered her next sentence. "OMG!!! I am SOOOO sorry. I meant you were like AMAZING!!! Sorry about my brother I swear he is SUCH a jerk. He should just go and DIE. You hear that AHMED?! DIEEEEE!!!!" Christine blinked twice. She wasn't exactly used to people coming up to her and cursing their younger brothers. A bee crawled up to her leg, and the girl shouted a string of words that Christine wouldn't mention to her younger sister. Then again, Anika did curse a lot for an 11 year old.
"I'm Zara. The delightful boy that UNFORTUNATELY is my brother is Ahmed, and his MUCH KINDER twin brother Aziz, is over there being a DECENT human being, unlike SOME people." Wow. This girl- Zara- yelled a lot. "STUPID BEE YOUR SOUL WILL ROT I-" She looked at Christine and offered a half-hearted smile. "Sorry! WHICH I HAVE THE DECENCY TO SAY INSTEAD OF SOME PEOPLE." She cocked her head towards her brother, and rolled her eyes, before clapping her hand over her mouth. "I fink wyou swhoulf tawk noe." She yelled through her hand.
"Okay. I'm Christine, and I'm going to be an actress some day, no matter what my younger sister said. Her name is Anika, and yes, she's adopted. My dad died a couple years ago, but we're making it work. I think you need to talk to your brothers. Both of them. I also kind of want to be a therapist too." Gee Christine, oversharing much? Christine smiled through her teeth. "A lot of people call me a 'theatre kid', but I don't even sit with them at lunch. I sit with the ODDBALL SQUAD. Name copyright Christine."
"COOL Christine! You go to my school right? Got any tips on how to SURVIVE as a freshie?" Christine felt confused about her question until it registered in her. Oh! Zara thought she wasn't a freshman. Christine was actually considered tall! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!
"Oh! I'm actually a freshman too. Or freshie I guess." The word Freshie felt strange on her tongue, as it was something the sport kids usually used, not the ODDBALL SQUAD.
"Okay, well I got to go herd my two brothers. Though I KNOW ONE will come without causing ANY disturbance. I can't say the same for the other ONE though. Catch you later! You seem pretty cool UNLIKE certain people." Christine was half laughing as Zara directed comment after comment at Ahmed.
"Bye Zara!" Christine felt the wind whistling in her ears as Zara escorted her brothers away. She didn't quite hear her response as Zara shouted over the newfound wind, but she got the gist of it. Zara had said they could hang out sometime.
