God I hated performing, I hated the people gawking at me, I hated that damn ringleader pretending everything was okay, I hated everything about it. Don't get me wrong I loved my acrobatics I just hated being in the spotlight. Mother was in my trailer by the time I walked over. I could tell from how the air just got colder. Opening the door my hunch was right. "Sephy what the hell was that?" She announced her disappointment. "What do you mean mother?" I replied trying to be as earnest as possible. "Your performance, you were all over the place! You didn't hit your marks, you stumbled on every flip!" She spat. "I'm sorry mother, I thought I did a good job" in fact I knew I'd done a good job from the way Walter caressed my hand when we bowed. I shivered in response. "Well you didn't and you will practice from now until the next show and after that show until bedtime, no dinner" she sniffed and walked out. Great, I thought. Whatever upset her today was gonna be taken out on me. Maybe Eugene had grazed her during one of the knife throwing bits. She hated him but she had no choice but to marry him after father died. Eugene wasn't a bad stepfather, he was just clueless and meek which just encouraged mother's dragon to wake.
I sighed and changed out of my stage uniform into my practice one and dragged myself over the smaller convention tent. It was empty at the moment since most performers didn't have to practice 24 hours of the day like mother would have me do if she could have her way. I breathed, this was the kind of space I liked to be in, and went on practicing, backflips, front-flip, handstands turning into walking handstands, splits and everything else that goes into my routine.
After some time I heard the tent door rustle and someone walk in. Thinking it was was mother come to scold me, I did another couple of flips and finished with the splits. However when I looked over, a man who I'd never seen before was clapping. "Oh hi, thank you, but um you're actually not supposed to be back here" I stammered out. "It's okay, I have special permission." He expressed, crossing over the short distance towards me. 'Special permission' that didn't sound good. What the fuck did that creep Walter do now? He reached me and offered his hand to help me up from the floor, even though I'm pretty sure he knew I could get up. I took his hand, trembling, my heart was beating faster and faster. I didn't want to do whatever Walter had signed me up for. But that required me to tell my mother, who one wouldn't believe me and two if she did by some miracle believe, she'd probably say it was the best for us. This man still hadn't let go of my hand but I didn't look up into his face, in fact I kept my eyes downcast as they swam with tears.
"Jack Osbourne's the name." He announced breaking the silence. Why was that name familiar? "Oh, from the Osbourne family circus?" I chimed interest peaking and finally looking him in the eye. Maybe he wasn't here on a sick request maybe he was a talent scout, maybe he would take me from this shitty circus and somewhere new. I mean I would give up performing in a heartbeat but moving away from mother, Eugene and Walter would be a start. Something I could do on my own. "The very same" he flashed a grin. It was beautiful, all shiny and white and my stomach did a flip not attributed to the horrid things I thought was going to happen. Now I was properly looking at him, he was beautiful, breathtaking even. He still had a boyish charm about him, but with an air of authority. He had cute floppy hair covered in a cap and sparkling blue eyes just like the sea in summer, again with the smile, one part seductive one part cheeky, it made my heart jump around. I relaxed and smiled back but removed my hand from his, it was doing things to me. "What brings you here mr osbourne?" I enquired. "Well I came to see you, Sephy, but now is not the right time to say why." He said. Another shiver, that didn't sound good, maybe he was part of Walters plan. "Don't look so scared little one, it's nothing nefarious. But I just want to wait to be absolutely certain." He grinned at me again making me relax. "Okay" I managed to squeak out. "Do forgive me, I have other business to attend to." He bowed and took off his cap, still wearing his beam and took off back out of the flaps.