The week of the play drew closer. Needless to say, we were all excited. Kai most of all. We rehearsed every day and Kai was constantly acting out her lines. Mark and Sam were so involved with the sound effects; they didn’t get into trouble, or miss a day.
Shay and May were working round the clock on last minute props and affects. The world seemed to warm up the day before the Spring Festival. As we made our way around campus, there were piles of sweatshirts and jackets. Kai and I were sweating as we set up the stage. Moving things around stage, hanging lights, and wiring floor microphones.
One last rehearsal and we adjourned to our own homes. As Kai and I packed what we will need for the play, I could hear her singing out through my open window. The next morning Kai and I left for the festival around nine. We weren’t scheduled to go on until three. But we wanted to set up then have time to enjoy the festival with the rest of the student body.
Kai hung up her costume and I checked the robot and the stage. Mark and Sam tested the sounds and music, and May worked on the microphone volume for her mic. After an hour of setting up, Shay and may had to go work on their class booth. Mark and Sam were hungry.
“Jade and Travis are having a Skate show in twenty minutes. Are we going to watch?” Kai asked as she pushed the table to the right spot on stage.
“Sure, we have everything done anyway. When we get here all we need to do is lower the white screen behind the wooden wall with the window,” I said pointing to the rolled up sheet attached to the ceiling.
She nodded and we left the auditorium. We went around back to the Skate arena, which was mostly just a dent in the ground with metal skate ramps and other stuff. I saw Jade talking with Travis on top of the hill. The rest of the club was on the ramps and rails. Jade waved and pushed off on her board with Travis close behind her.
I got Kai popcorn and me a pop then we sat on the bleachers to watch the show. Kai was at the edge of her seat the whole time. I watched her more than the skate off because she was too funny. She grew up with baseball mostly, and never really watched anything other than that.
By the end of the performance, she was on her feet cheering Jade on. Kai was so excited; she wanted to go to every show. I looked at the schedule. The next big show was the basketball game. So, we went to that.
For the rest of our free time, Kai was wowed with other clubs performances. An hour before our show, we were passing the Art club’s station when she said, “Blake, do you think that we can pull off this play?”
“Kai, you were so pumped these last three weeks, don’t tell me you are just now feeling stressed? All the planning is over, everything is ready, and the play is perfect. We are going to be great!” I held up my hand.
She punched it and smiled, “Yea, you’re right.”
She threw away her trash and we made our way to the stage in the auditorium. Mark and Sam were sitting on the floor, faces stuffed with hotdogs. They handed Kai one, which she politely refused. May skipped through the rows of chairs, “What is she doing, Shay?” I asked Her sister who had appeared next to me.
“She is releasing stress. Don’t ask me why,” Shay explained.
Kai ran and jumped off the stage and joined arms with May and they skipped all over the room. She laughed, “Come on, join us!”
“Oh no!” I shook my head, “If there is one thing I definitely don’t do, its skip.”
Shay grabbed my ear, “Come on, party pooper,” she dragged me off the stage. Kai linked arms with me and I fell into motion with her and May. I heard Shay use her drill sergeant voice and get Sam and Mark to skip behind us.
I heard Mark say to Sam, “Shall we skip like manly men?” then I heard the familiar sound of Sam’s fist hitting Mark’s face.
For ten minutes we skipped. When we stopped, Kai and May were laughing, Shay was hanging onto Mark and Sam’s shirts, I was panting, and Jade- who came in with Travis during our whole ordeal- was laughing.
People began to filter into the room. Kai went to get into their costume, and I finished setting the stage behind the closed curtain. The stage was set up to look like an old wooden house. No other rooms, just a table and a chair in the center of the room. There was a white sheet in the corner of the set and a pile of old, rusty pieces of junk.
Behind the table, was a three window apertures, which were basically just three windows next to each other to make a very wide window. Behind that was the white sheet and big light which we covered with a stencil that was cut to look like floating little lights.
The play was going to open with May’s voice over the loud speakers, and then Kai would open the prop door and walk to the table. The lights in the auditorium dimmed, phones and pagers were silenced, and the music started. It was our nice, soft piano beginning. May’s soft voice rippled its way over the speakers. I took in a deep breath, “Here we go.”
