Page 83 of Love Me Not
The pair radiated chemistry and embodied their roles. The innocence and optimism of youth weighed down by the angst that comes with teetering on the verge of adulthood. Tension easing out of my body, I took my seat in the wings, ready to feed a line if necessary, but mostly to enjoy watching the kids deliver a performance worthy of any stage.
By the end of the opening scene, they had the audience’s full attention. The play rolled from the innocence of two teens discovering each other, to best friends facing the consequences of a bad decision. The character of Darcy being bullied, then Connor putting himself in the line of fire to protect her, and progressing into both of them facing uncertain futures.
Every emotion was left on the stage.
In the end, Darcy stood up to her parents and Connor accepted the reality that he would never play sports again. Not an ending neatly tied up in a bow, but one that showed the imperfection and uncertainty of adolescence delivered on a sad but hopeful note.
When the lights came up, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house, including mine. The thought of giving this up opened a hole in my chest, and I knew I had to fight for these kids. For this club. Maybe a miracle would happen and I wouldn’t have to fight at all.
Wishful thinking, I knew, but even my cynical heart believed in miracles. After all, I’d just witnessed a pretty profound one. This ragtag group, assembled out of nowhere two months ago, put on the show of their lives.
I could not have been prouder.
Chapter Twenty
The kids were floating and I didn’t blame them. They hit every mark, delivered every line without my help, and even the spinning backdrop worked like a dream. There was the one cell phone that went off during act two, and Hannah’s sneeze when she was supposed to be unconscious, but neither of those occurrences dimmed the performance.
If anything, their ability to keep going despite those distractions was commendable.
“Lindsey, you should have warned us,” Becca said when they caught me after the show. “I would have packed a whole box of tissues.”
“It wasn’t that sad,” I said, giving her a half hug. “Thanks again for coming.”
“We never miss an opening night.” Donna nudged Calvin. “He cried more than I did.”
“Some of us have softer hearts than others,” he replied, staring at her with an accusatory expression.
She rolled her eyes as Josie said, “The kids were so impressive. Linds, you did a great job with them.”
“That was all their hard work and talent.” Turning to Miles, I said, “Thanks again for helping with the backdrop. It worked perfectly.”
“No problem,” he said.
“Will you go back to a musical for the spring?” Megan asked. “Or pick another drama?”
I still didn’t know if there would be a spring production. Tonight was nearly a sold out crowd, but who knew if that was enough to convince the powers-that-be not to cut our funding?
“Ms. Pavolski?” cut in a stranger before I could answer. “I’m Jordan Franks from the Gazette, and this is my photographer Vanessa Brooks. Would you be willing to give us a short interview about the show?”
“The Post Gazette?” I asked. Why would the biggest paper in the city cover our little play?
“That’s right. Two minutes is all we need.”
Confused but happy for the publicity, I said, “Sure. We can go backstage, if that works.”
“Perfect,” the reporter said.
Shooting a what the heck look at the girls, I led the pair to the spot from which I’d watched the production. Vanessa snapped pictures of the stage while Jordan swiped at his phone a couple times, then pointed the end toward me.
“Thank you for doing this,” he said. “Choices isn’t a play most people have heard of. What made you pick this production?”
“I was looking for something more relatable for the students. We’ve done well-known musicals in the past, which required elaborate costumes and sets, while dealing with few modern day topics. I liked that this one is more contemporary and covers themes and topics many students deal with today.”
I probably sounded like a goober, but it’s not like I did interviews every day.
“According to the program, some of your cast members have never acted before. Were you worried that they might not be able to pull off something this dramatic?”
Pausing to think about my answer, I realized that was never a real concern.