The whole cast and crew were wearing their Les Mis shirts and handing out flyers like evangelists in New York City. Except instead of shouting hellfire and damnation, they were yelling, "Les Mis- This weekend!" "Get your Tickets at lunch!" "Your chance to impress your girlfriend!" "So Awesome you'll wet yourself- Bring Depends!""Quite possibly the best thing you'll do all year"
Julian would miss this when it was over. She loved the theater crowd, it was like being friends with condensed personalities--all the wishy-washy oscillation of inactivity that usually defined her peers had been boiled off. The stage and the adrenaline rush of performance had concentrated all of their humor and vibrancy of life right on the surface of their skin. She didn't want to think that in four days she would hardly see this temporary family again.
There was a happy buzz to the cacophony of lockers shutting and teenagers shouting over one another. Julian always loved Fridays. They were full of potential. But tonight, the Friday potential was ten times more potent. Julian walked three blocks to Subway to grab an early dinner before she needed to head back to the auditorium to get on her costume and do mic checks.
She noticed a gumball machines by the door--the square kind that usually hold neon-colored sticky-hands or unicorn stickers. This one held little holographic tokens like an eagle mid-pounce and a running mustang, but the one that caught her eye was an eclipse. She ordered her "roast beef on toasted honey-wheat with lettuce, tomatoes, green bell peppers, southwestern sauce, and lots of salt and pepper," after which she asked the guy at the cash register if he could give her change in quarters. He rolled his eyes but since she was the only one in the store and he was bored, he obliged.
She noticed a gumball machines by the door--the square kind that usually hold neon-colored sticky-hands or unicorn stickers. This one held little holographic tokens like an eagle mid-pounce and a running mustang, but the one that caught her eye was an eclipse. She ordered her "roast beef on toasted honey-wheat with lettuce, tomatoes, green bell peppers, southwestern sauce, and lots of salt and pepper," after which she asked the guy at the cash register if he could give her change in quarters. He rolled his eyes but since she was the only one in the store and he was bored, he obliged.
Five dollars and seventy-five cents later, Julian was the happy owner of three alien heads, two cats, a spider, and one eclipse token. The guy at the cash register snickered as she danced a little bit when the she opened the last little toy capsule. Julian didn't care. She had a plan. Julian shouted "have a great weekend" on her way out the door.
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The dance floor was already full of people when Kate arrived. The community center looked pretty awesome for having held a senior citizen bingo night five days prior. Large plywood screens painted with stars and comets covered most of the advertisements for Coca-cola, or Mr. Collar's Dry Cleaning. Little glittery globes hung randomly across the ceiling. Little pockets were formed on the dance floor by different groups, the soccer team all dressed up in rented tuxes, the swimmers, a circle of highly made-up girls who did dance together, and slightly to the right of the entrance a bunch of choir kids. More specifically, most of the people from Vermilion They looked sickeningly happy. There was a palpable sense of camaraderie and general well-being emanating from their little group. They were like an island of fulfilled dreams, of mutual congratulation over being so talented, confident, and loved. The sight of Lauren Lance beaming in the middle of this convivial circle made Kate more jealous than Othello.
Kate was painfully aware of being a self-invited tack-on to Rachel's group, escorted by a guy who would have been much happier with someone else. But with the small shake of her head Kate was reminded of The Hat and the fact that she was actually looking pretty great. She placed herself in their new clump so that she was looking towards the other side of the room from the merry Vermillion-ites. And wonder of wonders was actually enjoying herself, bobbing awkwardly (but collectively) to the fast paced generic hip-hop songs they always played at school dances. Later Kate and Chris sampled the Sam's Club supplied hors d'oeuvres, ate a few cheese cake bites, and returned to dancing.
Chris leaned over and shouted over the reverberating bass, "Hey, I've gotta pee. I'll be right back."
"Okay," Kate yelled back.
Almost as soon as Chris left the dance floor the song ended, and was replaced by a strumming guitar that signaled the start of one of the night's few slow-dances. So far Kate had dodged the bullet, last slow dance she had been safely tucked away behind a table eating bagel chips and cheese cubes. She was congratulating the excellent timing of Chris's bladder when she realized that she was left in the middle of a collection of couples stuttering in place.
She quickly pulled back to the edge of the floor watching the shimmer of reflected light dance over the sea of hobbling teenagers. The catchy lyrics of a Taylor Swift song reminded her that she would love to be shuffling along with someone right then.
In a daydream she imagined some guy she had never seen before being impressed from afar by such a classy hat. He would tap her on the shoulder, and say something along the lines of, "Hi, I'm Harry. Sorry, I don't know you--you see I just transferred here from Glasgow... I uh, saw that lovely Hat and wondered if you wanted to dance." And Kate would smile at his charming Scottish accent, and say yes.
Kate laughed at herself, but over the course of the song the she couldn't keep the daydream from replaying itself with slight changes.
"Um, hey, sorry, this is weird...I just saw your hat and I was reminded of how cool you are. Want to dance?"
"Yeah, I would love to Aaron." Kate's dreamself said demurely. "You sounded great by the way. At the concert."
"Oh... thanks. Yeah, I really liked that Kyrie. I was surprised that you didn't get the woman's solo. In fact, I was surprised that you didn't get into Vermilion. You're the best alto in the choir, and also the most enchanting girl I've ever met."
Kate sighed.
The entire song played out without a tap on her shoulder. The deafening beat started back up along with hardly discernible but vaguely obscene lyrics. Chris returned, his shirt not quite tucked in all the way around. And Kate realized then, that unlike a movie, there would be no magical turning point for the evening. The Hat was really just her own version of Chris's Hassidic rodeo get-up. It suited her, but still was just a physical manifestation of her fish-out-of-water self. Chris Hemming and Kathryn Roy, king and queen of their own outcast homecoming court.
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The curtain was a few short minutes from rising. Mr. Todd called everyone together in the theater shop off of backstage. Everyone had their arms thrown over each other's shoulders like a giant group hug. Julian had tried to nonchalantly position herself by Walt but had already been embraced by Renee and another tech she didn't know very well when Walt reached backstage.
Mr. Todd in the center spun in a slow circle in order to make eye contact with everyone. "It's a full house tonight." He paused as everyone let out a small cheer. "I'm proud of all of you, now go make yourselves proud. Remember your notes from yesterday--" He gave a meaningful look at Julian who tried not to look as shamed as she felt. "---Remember to keep track of the scenes and be ready in the wings a full scene before you need to enter."
"A moment of silence." Mr. Todd bowed his head. Julian looked around the circle taking in the energy that pulsed through their intertwined arms like the bottled energy of five hundred children about to walk into Disney World.
Mr. Todd looked up, ending his secularized prayer, "Keep us safe. ...Now, let me in." Mr. Todd squeezed into the circle next to Walt. He pushed the circle right, then left, until everyone picked up the rhythm. They swayed back and forth picking up speed. Mr. Todd yelled, "One...Twooo...Three. Break a leg!"And the whole cast and crew jumped in the air. As soon as their feet touched the floor techs ran off to the light booth or to their spots backstage and actors ran to their places for the opening scene.
Julian caught Walt's sleeve, finally committing to do what she had wussed out on doing three times previous. She jabbed the token into the front pocket on Walt's black button-up shirt. She answered his quizzical expression, "it's good luck charm. Break a leg!" And she sped off to the dressing room where she would listen to the opening numbers over the speaker that had been rigged there.
Walt watched her jog off trying to come up with a response. He thought of one a moment too late, I should have expected one from someone as charming as you.
Walt ran across the stage and gave the cue to raise the curtain. He fished out the token from his pocket as he watched Valjean and the chorus sing the opening song. By the tiny light of his podium he could just barely make out the green-hued eclipse. He flipped the coin over, and there in neat tiny writing was a line from "Total Eclipse of the Heart." Walt couldn't help but grin. Like the Cheshire Cat, the shine of his teeth stood out from the black of the stage wings.
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
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