This is for Friday cause I'll be awayyyy
ASTRID
Just before curtains up this evening, Mr Orten calls us all together backstage. That was including me, even though I wasn't actually in the play.
"You guys are going to be awesome," he says. "Break a leg. Oh and Amber, I'll need you to take a photo for me at the end of the show, when the cast comes out to take their bow. Could you just nip onstage and grab a few shots?"
I feel a sudden flash of fear. This will mean going up onstage in front of a whole hall full of people, which is my worst nightmare. I wanted to say that I couldn't, but then Mr Orten races off to check the videographer is ready to begin filming and the others all take their places backstage.
I fetch my camera from my bag and take my seat in the wings. It'll be fine, I tell myself. After all, it's not as if I have to remember any lines. All I have to do is go up there, take a picture and come off again. What's the worst that can happen?
***
The play runs without a hitch. Everyone remembers their lines and says them in exactly the right places. By the time it reaches the scene where Juliet dies, I can actually hear people from the audience sniffling.
As Mr Orten bounds backstage for the curtain call, he looks at me and grins.
"Wasn't that amazing?" He gushes.
I grin back at him. "They were brilliant."
"Don't take the picture until the whole cast has lined up for their final bow."
I nod and turn my camera on. As the actors come out from the other side of the stage to take their bows, the applause builds, until it reaches a roar for Holly and Damian. And even though Holly has made me want to punch and kick her over the years, I can't help but feel the same excitement rush through my body.
I wait for them to reach the centre of the line and then I make my way onto the stage. And, even though I've been dreading this moment, it isn't that bad at all. The audience are so busy cheering the actors that I actually feel invisible. And for once that's a good thing.
Until I take the picture and go to walk off the stage. That's when the whole world seems to tilt on its axis. Only it isn't the world that's tilting, it's me. I tripped on the lace of my shoe and managed to go staggering forward. I can already tell this won't be one of those many falls that goes by unnoticed.
I basically face plant into the floor at an angle so awkward just that I wouldn't break my camera. I stay on all fours, paralysed by a skin crawling mixture of shock and horror. But then the audience start to cheer again. But not like before. These cheers are mocking and interspersed with wolf whistles and shrieks of laughter. I look up and see Holly glaring at me. I also see a hand reaching out to me. It's Damian's, and this just makes me burn with embarrassment even more. But instead of standing up and running, I make another terrible decision. I stay on all fours and crawl off. In slow motion. Or at least it feels like it. By the time I make it back into the wings, the hall is echoing with laughter. I stumble to my feet, grab my bag and start to run.
***
I don't stop running until I get back home. I stagger into the hallway, gasping for breath. I race up to my bedroom, avoiding all human contact inside the house, and collapse in my bed. I am so embarrassed that I can't even bring myself to tell anyone. Instead, I'm just going to lie here and hope that eventually I will become so hot and flustered that I actually melt and never have to face anyone ever again.
But I will have to face people again. Especially for the next few weeks in New York. Apparently according to Miss Penny, we're not staying at hotels. We're staying at our classmate's relatives houses over the Christmas period.
And guess who I'm paired up with? None other than Henry Hiccup Haddock himself.
Yay.
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Well hello there my peeps. How are you all this fine day? I really don't have much to say besides
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PEACE ✌🏼