Living Like Sleeping Beauty

Chapter Forty One - An Old Friend

The buzz behind the stage was electric. Hands patted my back while others continually congratulated me on my performance in the first part. If I wasn't so filled with adrenaline and focused on the the crowds of people returning to their seats for the rest of the show, I would have been able to thank them and offer some of my own instead of just grinning crazily at them. 

Piper moved along the crowd, telling people how great they did while simultaneously informing them on how to improve on their singing and acting. She finally made it to me, standing by the side of the stage and flicking the curtain back into place to speak to her. 

"Morgan, you're doing fantastic. I couldn't ask you to do anything better. Although you could work on your breathing during songs, you sound a little breathless." She commented, giving me a pat on the shoulder before moving onto Mikey who was grinning flirtatiously to a pretty girl trying to fix his costume. I stood watching, grinning as Piper stormed over to him, physically removed the girl from the equation and then began tell Mikey what she thought of the performance. I shook my head and returned to peering out of the curtain. The show was about to start again and when I saw Scott's seat near the front row, it was empty. I was allowed only a second to ponder his absence before the lights flickered and the booming voice overhead announced that the second half of the show was about to begin.

My outfit had already been changed for the next scene and I knew my lines in my sleep. The panic that had gripped me earlier had untangled itself from me and I felt ready for the next performance. When people began ushering me onto the stage to take my position I didn't hang back, I practically skipped onto the hard, black platform with small fake flowers adorning the corners in a flurry of lilac and blue. I climbed on top, careful not to disrupt the decorations and lay flat on my back, hands folded on my stomach and eyes closed with a serene look on my face. I heard the shuffle of the curtains opening and the rustle of the audiences returning their attention to the stage. The thump thump that echoed through the room was Mikey stepping into the spotlight, beginning to deliver his lines. 

His velvety voice was interrupted by the noise of something stepping onto the stage. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. There wasn't supposed to be anyone on stage during this scene other than Mikey and I. I felt a pang of sympathy for the person who had entered the scene at the wrong moment, both for the humiliation they would feel and Piper's wrath that would certainly be thrown upon them afterwards. 

But I still didn't hear the strange footsteps retreating hastily. It sounded as if someone was dragging something behind them. The noise seemed to be continuing until they were centre stage. Mikey fumbled in his lines, obviously as confused as I was about unexplained intruder. I ached to open my eyes to see who it was but I didn't want to break character. What if Piper had planned this and we were supposed to go along with it? 

Oh what the hell! 

I peeked open one of my eyes only for both of them to snap open as Chloe appeared, positioning herself right in front of me with a grin that scarily resembled a snarl on her face. Before I could demand what the hell she was doing, she spoke.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," She began, turning to address the audience who were torn between looking at the stage and looking to the person beside them hoping they could explain what was happening. Hell, I'd like someone to explain to me why this maniac was ruining what we have practised weeks for. "I'd like you to talk a look at our stunning sleeping beauty." I raised my head from the feather soft pillow and into her eyes that watched me as if she was the lion about to rip her antelope prey to shreds. "Then I'd like you to ask yourself, what is so special about her?." Her voice carried throughout the space, the evident venom capturing everyone's attention. The dragging sound I had heard earlier I realised was her foot, that still appearing in a cast.