Harper
I was standing just behind the curtain listening to one of the final songs of the night. Thankfully the entire show had gone off without a hitch and the guests seemed to be enjoying themselves.
When putting together the line up, I enlisted Aaron to help me organize what sequence the singers would go in based on what song they wanted to sing and how many they wanted to do. Thanks to his input the show is going better than I could have done on my own. Walking away from where I was standing, I moved through the back to make sure all of the kids were lined up and didn't have any last minute questions.
I made all the last minute changes to the order the kids were in just as I heard Aaron announcing us. "Hello again everyone. I hope all of you have enjoyed yourselves so far, we have been lucky so many talented people have made time to come out here and support these kids. Speaking of the kids, they have a special surprise for you. Along with Harper, hey have out together a performance to hopefully show who you will be helping with your money. So, without further ado, give it for Harper O'Connell and a group of these special kids."
Walking out to the crowd still clapping, I made my way to center stage and the microphone. When I first came up with this idea, I instantly wanted to do a song that I sung for the soundtrack of the movie, The Greatest Showman. This song (This Is Me) was so inspirational and had such a great message that I thought would be good for the kids to learn and for the crowd to hear from them.
I stood at the microphone staring at the floor as I listened to the first few bars of the song. Reaching my que, I look up the crowd and begin to sing. As the song progressed, the kids came onto stage and joined me. As we continued singing and the choreography we came up with to go with the song, I looked into the crowd and saw the awe struck faces of everyone. I continues scanning the faces until I came to the one face I was searching for. Ryder was watching me like a look of pride and affection. I smiled to myself as we came to the final notes.
When the music stopped, we were met with silence for a few moments. Suddenly, everyone in the audience was on their feet applauding. I turned to the kids, waving them to take a step forward and take a bow. Their faces were worth all of the hard work that went into making this night a success. Children who were never given any positive attention or affection were now being applauded by hundreds of people because of what they were able to do. It might not be having a family to love and support you at all times, but it was something that could show them they are capable of so much more than they think. All they have to do is have the courage and work ethic to go after it.
I gave them all hugs before they left the stage. I walked back to the microphone to address the audience one final time before the night ended. "I hope everyone enjoyed our performance. Those kids worked so incredibly hard to make that a success. Those were only a few of the dozens of kids that are at Head Start at any given time and all of them have talents of their own. Unfortunately, many of them have not yet had the chance to discover what their talent is or where their interest lay. But, at Head Start, they may be able to. Being surrounded by people who care, for most of them this is a first, they are able to find themselves and chose a path that leads them to a life of success and happiness. If you were not convinced early tonight to donate money, I hope our last song will inspire you too. These kids have been through so much and that does not make them less, they need a place to become confident in themselves and that everything they have been through makes them so strong and to never be afraid of scars life has has given them. Thank you all for your time tonight."
I walked in the back and was instantly swarmed by hugs from a few of the kids. Hugging all of them back, I took the time to speak with all 20 of them and talked about how they felt. Eventually, we all made our way to the main room to mingle for a few remaining minutes with everyone.
All I wanted to do was find Ryder but everyone else seemed to have something else in mind. I was continually pulled in different direction as I tried to make my way across the room. I got so sick of it, I escaped to the outer edges of the crowd hoping to have more success making it to my final destination then I did in the center. Ryder must have saw me make my way over to the side because he met me there shortly after.
I was pulled into a tight hug as his lips met mine. In a gentle kiss, he whispered against my lips, "That was the best I have ever heard you sing. That was a great choice to perform and i'm sure it did it's job in convincing these people to pull out their wallets.
I smiled up at him, "I hope so. I think it went well tonight but we'll have to see in the morning when Mrs. Frizzle has the final numbers."
"When can we get out of here? I had to share you all night, I want a personal performance from you."
A shiver of anticipation ran down my spine at the thought of getting away from here with him. "I should be able to get out of here soon. The caterers are being paid to do all the breakdown since we did the set up and the person in charge has a key to lock up for the night. Let me just go make sure everyone is ok then I'll come find you."
"Sounds good angel, I'll be by the door with the rest of the group."
On my way to leave I ended up pulled into more conversations but most people seemed to be heading home for the evening so it wasn't any where as bad as earlier. When I made it ti Mrs. Frizzle I checked to see if everything was handled and she all but pushed me out the door herself, stating that I had done more than my share and I was off duty. I gave her a hard hug before gathering my stuff from the back and began searching for my friends.
I found them all huddled near the exit, right where Ryder said they would be. As I got closer, they all looked a little tense and worried (which of course got me tense and worried). "What's going on guys? Why do all of you looked a little pissed off?"
Ryder stepped forward, grabbing my hand, "Angel, I have some bad news. I don't really want to tell you here but it can't wait. Just as the show was staring, Colt got a call about the alarm at your house going off."
At his word I stilled and my body tensed. Not my house. Not the one place I'm supposed to feel safe from this asshole whose terrorizing my life. "what happened?"
"I promise it's not as bad as you're imagining. A bunch of your downstairs windows were broken. No one got into the house and the dogs are completely fine. Colt went and checked it and talked with the police, they're going to come by in the morning to talk to you about the phone call earlier tonight and the incident at the house. Colt already boarded up the windows and contacted a friend of his about having them replaced in the morning. There isn't anything you need to do except deal with everything, which is hard enough.
Ok, I could handle this. It was only a few broken windows, no one got into my house and took away that feeling if safety. My boys were ok and all the logistics were handled. Ryder was right, all I needed to do was find a way to deal with all of this. To start, I wanted my house full of the people I care about, a cuddle from my dogs, time alone with Ryder so he could make me forget, and a good nights sleep. Determined to get this, I convinced everyone they needed to crash at my house so they could all be there first thing in the morning.
I have a feeling none of them bought my reasoning, but they didn't call me on it. They all just agreed to stay the night and we all left the building to go to our separate cars. Ryder had gotten a ride with someone else, so he steered me to the passenger seat of my car and helped me in. He held my hand the whole ride to the the house and when we pulled into the driveway and parked, he seemed to sense that I needed a minute.
And I did. I thought I was fine with the windows being broken but as I sat in my car looking about close to 10 boarded up windows, I got mad. "What the fuck! was messing with me before an important night not enough for this jack ass? Why did he have to mess with my house? Huh? Why did he have to do this. Following me and terrorizing me isn't enough, now he has to break things I love? I want to kick him in the knee really really hard!"
As I finished my angry rant, the emotions suddenly left me feeling tired and sad. Seeing the shift in my mood, Ryder was instantly out of the car and by my side. "I don't know why this fucker is doing this but I promised he'll be stopped. And I'll make sure you get to kick him in the knee."
He pulled me out of the car and helped guide me to the door. Once we were inside and the dogs had surrounded us, I dropped to my knees and pulled them both tight to me. I needed their unconditional love at the moment. Everyone followed us in and they must have seen that I needed some time to myself because I faintly heard Aaron directing everyone to various rooms.
Once everyone had dispersed, Ryder picked me up and carried me upstairs to begin the next phase of our evening and I was looking forward to losing myself in him for awhile.