The Torches Burn Bright (Smopkins)

One

"Where's-...?" Miss Peters began pacing around the stage, ripping the curtains open. "Where's Beatrice?"

"I- I don't know. She was here this morning, I think," Algie spoke up. "But I can text her, if that's-"

Earnest stepped forward, crossing his arms. "No, you idiot. She wasn't here today," he interrupted. "She's in the hospital having gallbladder surgery. Beatrice told me herself."

"What? Gallbladder surgery?... Well, how long does it take to recover from that? It's a minor surgery, right?"

Earnest pulled out his phone, typing before coming to a result. "Um... up to six weeks," he said.

"Up to six weeks?" Miss Peters sighs, shaking her head and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Petey! Is Petey in here? Someone needs to go fetch Pinky, and catch her up on her lines." Pinky was the understudy for the role of Juliet, and seeing as the play would show in less than two weeks, there was some practicing she needed to do.

Petey nodded and walked down the steps from the stage. "I'll find her. She's at the Harrington House?"

"Just go, Petey!"

He sighed and took off to go find Pinky. Meanwhile, Miss Peters picked up her book and ran her fingers through her hair, something she did when she was anxious. "Not like we need her. Let's just go over... act... act one, scene one. Okay? Everyone else, come down off of the stage and watch. I need Sampson, Gregory, Abram, Benvolio, Tybalt, Capulet and Lady Capulet, Montague, Lady Montague, um... Prince Escalus... and then Romeo... Jimmy. You know. You come in at the end."

"I know," Jimmy grumbled, pulling the curtains back while Algie and Bucky scampered to the front of the stage. Algie played Sampson, and Bucky played Gregory. Everyone else who was scheduled to come out later stood behind the curtains.

Christy and Thad made their way down the steps and stood next to Miss Peters.

"That's all?" Miss Peters asked, skimming her book again. "Okay, fine. We don't need anybody to move props, so you three can come out here and watch too." Mandy, Angie, and Gary came down off of the stage, joining Christy and Thad.

"Okay," Miss Peters started, gripping her book with excitement. "Go! And remember what I told you, Bucky, about your pronunciation."

"Gregory, on my word, we'll not carry coals," Algie began. While those two morons started theatre practice off, Jimmy got to thinking.

He got to thinking about how stupid it was to begin the play with two idiots who had no clue what they were doing. Not that he had any idea, either. Jimmy had his lines down as Romeo perfectly fine, but when it came to everything else, well, he was trash. It wasn't like he chose this path for himself, though. Miss Peters had blackmailed him into it, just like she had last year at the holiday pageant, and again this year for the stupid Romeo and Juliet play. The only reason she wanted him to play Romeo was because she thought it would attract attention for the role of Juliet. And yes, she was right. It did.

Originally Mandy and Pinky were competing for the role. Mandy stepped out because she had a thing going on with Ted, so the role was given to Pinky. But then Beatrice swooped in during tryouts, memorizing every line flawlessly and making Pinky look like a total idiot in comparison. Now Beatrice was out with gallbladder surgery, and Pinky had the part again. Jimmy was starting to think that girls were too much.

"My sword, I say! Old Montague is come, and flourishes his blade in spite of me," Tad announced. Jimmy tried to remember when he's supposed to come in. He knew it was after Earnest's long ass speech about how everyone was fighting, but...

"Thou villain Capulet! Hold me not. Let me go." This was Johnny. Johnny played his father, and Tad played Pinky's father, and the families were supposed to have some rivalry or something. Jimmy didn't pay all that much attention to what was happening, he just remembered his lines and when he was supposed to come in. He found the whole thing boring and unnecessary. If Miss Peters hadn't threatened his grades again, he wouldn't be on this stage right now. Or ever.

Oh, and Lola played his mom. Funny, because she kind of reminded Jimmy of his mom. "Thou shalt not stir one foot to seek a foe," Lola hissed at Tad. Nobody in the room was actually good at acting, and he wasn't sure why Miss Peters found so much joy in watching high schoolers fumble around on a stage and reenact Shakespeare characters.

Earnest dashed through the curtains, and although Jimmy couldn't see it, being backstage and all, he was sure Earnest was puffing out his chest, all proud-like. You see, Earnest had this big monologue that lasted at least five hours, and he was serious about it. He made the pauses as long as possible to have more time on the stage.

"Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace!" he cried dramatically. "Profaners of this neighbor-stained steel! Will they not hear- what, ho! You men!" Earnest exclaimed. Jimmy could imagine him now, looking at the other kids on the stage with disgust. "You beasts, that quench the fire of your pernicious rage with purple fountains issuing from your veins-"

Jimmy began to tune Earnest's voice out, and for the better. He figured he was supposed to come in sometime while Johnny and Bif were busy bickering with each other. Mercutio and Benvolio, if Jimmy remembered the names right. Or Montague. Fuck, he didn't know.

Didn't Trent play Mercutio?

Jimmy shook his head. Everything was all scrambled up, and there were too many characters and people that played them in this damn school. A good thing, though, was that Earnest's dramatic screeching was over. He heard Johnny's voice again, which was... a comfort. At least Johnny didn't take this whole thing too seriously.

"Did Beatrice die or something?" Jimmy heard Pinky's voice from somewhere, and he figured Petey had found her and brought her back. Miss Peters would brush her up on her lines, and the play would be saved.

Less than two weeks, and this whole thing would be over. Any longer, and Jimmy wasn't sure he would be able to stand it.