High Drama by Brandon Terrell

Author:Brandon Terrell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group

CHAPTER SEVEN

The remainder of the day was uneventful. I wish I could say the rest of the week went the same way.

It didn’t.

On Wednesday, Quan came into the auditorium looking distraught. In his hand was a stack of pink flyers. “Somebody’s been tearing our signs off the walls,” he said. He held up the flyers and shook them. “These are just the ones I picked up off the floor. I found a whole bunch of them in the boys’ bathroom next to the gym. They were in the ... well ... ”

He didn’t have to finish his sentence. And even though we didn’t know the culprit, it was pretty obvious to me who’d done it.

Then, as William walked into the auditorium on Friday, I could tell something was wrong. He wasn’t his usual, jovial self. But then Maisie gasped when she hugged him, and said, “Oh, my God. William, what happened?”

The DC-ers all ditched what they were doing and crowded around William and Maisie near the orchestra pit.

Under William’s left eye was a purplish bruise.

“Gym class Neanderthals,” William said off-handedly. “The risks of playing handball.”

“Someone hit you?” Quan asked.

“Our good friend Coen Marsh, actually. We were both going for the ball, and his elbow ‘accidentally’ found its way into my eye. Yay, me!”

I shook my head in disgust.

“Now,” William said, “Let’s get to work, shall we?”

And so we did.

When Kat and I had finished painting the castle, we went to work building a set for the tomb where the two lovebirds croak. (Spoiler alert.) That was actually a bunch of fun, making the wood look like stone, building a sarcophagus for them, and draping the set in fake cobwebs.

The following week left just a few days until opening night. At practice, the actors all came on set in costume and makeup. Mr. Baker had them run through the entire show from start to finish. Kat and I stood backstage. “Cool,” I said. “If they don’t need us, we can probably jet.”

Kat shook her head. “Can we stay?” she asked. “Mr. Baker said anyone who wants to can sit in the auditorium. I want to watch the show.”

“Okay,” I said, surprised at how easy it was to convince me. “We can stay.”

But as Mr. Baker prepped some freshmen for the fight scene that opened the play, Arwen found me and Kat sitting in the second row and jumped down off the stage to join us. “Hey, guys,” she whispered.

Kat sat up in her seat a bit, eager to answer. “Yeah?”

“We’re gonna need a few hands moving sets around. Do you want to help?”

“Sure,” I said, not looking at Kat, knowing what she’d say anyway.

So we stayed and watched but did it from backstage. I never realized what went on behind the scenes. So much work. It was like a dance. Actors moved back and forth across the darkened backstage area, lit by small blue lights. Arwen was in her element. She called lighting cues on the microphone, positioned actors, and directed us where to be for each set change.

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