29 FEBRUARY, MONDAY, AFTER SCHOOL
While memorizing the script (in a single hour! I was amazing, yes), I thought about how I had wanted to play Bulliet like Bell's ex - you know, the gorgeous blond who sounded like Bubbles the Powerpuff Girl when she spoke. I was going to make it all very funny, the way she'd hold Henry's arm, I mean, Horneo's arm and simper in a cutesy Bubbles voice, and then turn outright evil witch the moment Horneo's head turned.
Maybe I was just the tiniest bit jelly about my mate's ex. Just a very tiny little bit because she was so much more blond and beautiful than I was. Was that Bell's type? If I believed the rumors about Bell and Ruby, then there was a distinct pattern in the kind of girls Bell like, and it was nothing to do with their hair color. I'd say Bell's type was the drop dead gorgeous, seductive and scheming, evil type.
So maybe I was also feeling a little spiteful about it, because I knew I wasn't anything like them. I don't mean the evil part, I mean like... the physical parts. You know...I don't have to spell it out right? I score an A in that department too, but it seems like a C or D was considered a better grade.
But while reading the script now, I realized that playing Bulliet as an act of vengeance against all the girls my mate had ever liked wouldn't be doing the character justice. Yes, I wanted to make the audience laugh, but could I make them cry too?
So I made a few tweaks to Bulliet. She still sounded like Bubbles when she wanted Horneo to love her, but other times, she was the spiteful little girl that I become when I know very clearly that I'd never grow to have their full figures - not even in a million years. And Bell was going to have to do without that much... uh, cushioning in his life. And when all her schemes fell through, Bulliet would pretty much go ballistic a la Ruby.
Why? Madam Silvia always spoke about the objective behind each character.
I knew exactly why. Because Bulliet wanted to be LOVED.
That's why she had to act disgustingly cute, scheme, plot, fake smiles, backstab, bully, cultivate an eating disorder... she just wanted to be accepted, admired, appreciated...aka loved. Ironic, I know.
But this was going to be Bulliet, she was going to take the stage and fight to be loved. To be loved by Horneo, to be loved by her general school population, to be loved by the audience.
I didn't have time to go through each scene line by line and craft my response as Bulliet, so I decided to wing it. All I had to do was say those lines at the right time, and do it like I was Ruby in a Bubbles costume. No problem.
So it did come to quite a shock to me when I couldn't wing it exactly like I had imagined. But I wasn't the biggest problem. In fact, it was a clear indicator that a show was a disaster if the fact that the female lead did a half a**ed job memorizing her lines was the least of the play's troubles.
When theater practice started and we did all the warm ups and were ready to release our true thespians into the spotlight for the world to see, we were all so shockingly bad that I felt terribly sorry about inviting Jasmine's parents to watch their daughter's first play.
Let's start with the smallest problem on the set - me. It turned out that just memorizing the yellow lines in the script and coming up with a great character motivation didn't cut it. Because there were these huge uneven chunks of script that had no yellow in it, it was very hard for me to know when it was my cue. And because there were so many yellow lines, I had no idea which line I was supposed to say next.
"What the hell, Sam!" Henry pretty much accused on the second consecutive line I could not say immediately, "You didn't learn your lines, did you?"
So never mind the ambitious acting plan, it was impossible to act when you were too busy trying to figure out what line came next.
But it was only a small problem because I got a quick solution to it. I gave Fluffy the script and he was supposed to mindlink me the prompt when it was my turn.
"You'd never be able to say the line in time." Henry had said.
But I was, because I did memorize it, I just needed to be prompted which line to sprout, or which action was about to take place. I beamed at Henry when our first scene got through okay. Better than okay, I even managed to do the Bubbles turn evil switch at the second half.
"Very promising." Madam Silvia clapped, "Now let's hope we only get better from here."
We all hoped but it got worse. The girl playing Nerd (or Nurse in the original play) was missing, and then we found out that she hadn't come to school today because of chicken pox.
"It's just chicken pox!" Mr Devon was furious, he pointed at me, "She had a bomb explode on her this morning and she's still here! The show must go on!"
We made EJ (who was just standing around anyway), put on the dress and play her role. He was disturbingly good at it. Even though he was really tall for a girl and would probably make you wonder why Nerd was Nerd and not basketball star of the girl's team - he also liked to break out into acrobatic stunts whenever Bulliet's back was turned. I thought it lent a nice comedic touch though so Bulliet continued to be unaware that Nerd was really a cheerleader in disguise.
Anyway, Madam Silvia, Ki, and Pete put their heads together and reset the stage with platforms so that I was always on top of a raised surface, and Nerd was always a step or two down so that I could talk down to her, I mean him, I mean... you know what I mean.
"If I were a guy, EJ as a girl would totally be my type." I teased when we were back stage.
EJ whooped and then he told me seriously, "Then if pretty Alpha was a guy, you'd be my competitor."
Apparently, EJ was playing his perfect dream girl.
"I thought you like mature women?" Wasn't that what he said when we met?
EJ nodded, "Yes. It's true, but now I think high school girls are the best!"
Which would've sounded wrong, but EJ was in highschool himself, so the girls around us just giggled and offered to help him do his hair.
{If I were a girl, I'll be more your type than EJ.} Fluffy smiled at me.
I flared, {You're suppose to use this mindlink to prompt me - not use it to talk nonsense!}
The platforms presented a new problem, some of the set had to be refitted or re-positioned. The spot lights too, but this would require adjustments that would require ladders and stuff.
"The blokes on lighting promise they'll have them adjusted in time for tomorrow's rehearsal." Ki smiled, "For now, please ignore the spotlights and take your new positions instead."
He made it sound so easy, but of course everyone - and I mean EVERYONE was confused and every scene began with some kind of shuffling and exchange of places because no one knew where they ought to stand.
It wasn't just standing positions that had problems. The walking paths on the stage were all changed too. I didn't think it would be a big deal until Marcus actually tripped over a whole desk. He pretty much walked straight at it, and then flopped over it while speaking his lines. I laughed out loud, but the other girls gasped, and I felt a little bad about thinking it was hilarious. (But it really was funny.) There were a few other smaller, not so funny trip ups because of the platform's varying heights, and some cables which the "blokes on lighting" forgot to tape down.
"The blokes on lighting", came as a set with the sound guys. We had a professional lights and sound crew who set up their turf at the back of the hall. But even professionals mess up sometimes and the mics clashed in loud occasional screeches.
The lead professional sound engineer guy had a beard. He wore a checkered shirt over his large bear like build and I would have mistaken him for a lumberjack. Either that or the giant rogue's little brother. But he seemed friendly enough. He said Winderhill's equipment was too old and he suspected some of our cabling were rusty, thus the screeching speakers.
"All we can do is cross our fingers and hope for the best." He concluded.
So I knew he wasn't a rogue terrorist. If all rogue terrorists had such finger-crossing and hopeful attitudes, they wouldn't have been so much of a terror.
"Where did you hire these guys?" I overhead Ki asking Pete.
"I'll send you their company link." Pete said.
"Thanks." Ki smiled, "I want to make sure never to accidentally hire them again."
I'm not sure what Ki expected them to do though, re-wire and replace Winderhill's outdated sound system overnight?
"Never again." Pete shook his head with a wry smile. I wasn't sure if he meant the professional light and sound company, or managing another high school theater production.
I think everyone was stressed out to varying extents. By now, Mr Devon and Madam Silvia had made it known to us in no uncertain terms that their reputation and very lives were dependent on our performance on Wednesday morning, and with every hiccup, the atmosphere got more tense.
Even Ki stopped smiling when we reached the point where Buliet returned to school after her suspension, only to find that Horneo had gotten himself permanently expelled. Gasp!
I turned Ruby. I did pretty good too. EJ said he was so scared that he nearly peed in his pants - but he didn't. Jasmine said she was so scared she froze, but she had a non-speaking role and was frozen in the right position. Overall we got through the scene so we weren't why Ki stopped smiling.
Ki had stopped smiling because of Madam Silvia. The both of them would walk about as we rehearsed. Sometimes they would watch the scene from the center of the audience or the front, and every now and then the back of the hall. It was very distracting. They would also check the left and right wings, especially if Ki noticed if someone left pieces of the last set in the walk way out, or if there was trouble with the costume. Sometimes they would point at the lighting, or the platform, or us... it was very distracting.
So while I had flared out my ever expressive hair in anguish at the news of Horneo's expulsion from school, and then wailed and decided upon my own expulsion to reunited with him, Ki had stopped pointing and inspecting in the left wing to watch.
Madam Silvia smiled and leaned in closer to him to whisper something in his ear.
And Ki's smile stopped.
I almost stopped too, but luckily I just finished my line and EJ, the nerd, who turned out to be a rather tall and cute girl with an atheletic streak continued the show by totally encouraging me to go for it. I mean, Bulliet had been making Nerd's life miserable all highschool, so I guess Nerd was naturally keen to see her go for good.
Anyway, it was just for a few seconds. Madam Silvia nudged Ki's arm with a knowing smile, and Ki recovered enough to turn to her with the gentlest of smiles.
{Oh happy comb...} Fluffy prompted into my mind.
I forgot I was Ruby and just recited the lines. And then Ki clapped, "Bravo. We've got this beat in the bag. Let's move on."
"Yes, that was very good." Madam Silvia praised, "Normally, I'll have to tell the lead to raise the stakes, but this is spot on. I love the hair. It is really chewing the scenery."
Urm... thank you? Okay, I totally didn't understand her. I discretely checked to make sure my hair wasn't actually eating anything. So far, I've figured out that anything that sounded ridiculous was probably not meant literally - like telling your students to go break a leg, but I never heard about eating the set before.
At the end of rehearsal, Ki told us all to go home and get rest, we'll have our last full dress after school tomorrow. Madam Silvia assured us that it was good luck to have everything go wrong in the dress rehearsals, so we were off to a good start.
Seriously?
But she was the expert here so okay.
Then we were dismissed to go change out. Pete kept reminding us to take care to return the costumes with all their accessories and to put the costumes that needed alternations in a separate pile. Most of the costumes didn't fit all that well, I'm not sure why. But I had the extra advantage of Ki magic on board, so of course all of my outfits were perfect.
I put away my costume changes, I even double checked everything and handed them to the lady in charge of collecting costumes. Pete had hired a professional costuming department from some fashion house or something to help out. It seemed to me that Pete had an exceptional ability to hire a professional for any task under the sun.
Anyway, after handing my costume changes in, I realized I had left my script with Fluffy. Besides feeding me my prompts over the mindlink, Fluffy had been in charge of hair and make up, so I went to the backstage to look for him. He wasn't there, but Ki and Madam Silvia were.
I immediately dropped back behind the curtain. Why? I couldn't explain it myself. I just did it instinctively.
"I believe you owe me dinner, beta." Madam Silvia's voice was coy, "But maybe I want a bit more than dinner tonight."
Was Madam Silvia going to make Ki buy her dessert too? Omo