Dream Chaser (10 page)

The auditorium was empty when I walked in after school. I guess I was a little over eager to show up so early. Rehearsals didn’t start until five o’clock, so that kids from the other high schools had time to get there. Tyson said there were thirty-two cast members from six different Madison high schools. He cast the best singers and dancers the city had to offer. So why did he give me the lead? Maybe the brownies he ate had more than pot in them.

“Oh good, you’re here.” Tyson walked across the dimly lit stage still wearing his black leather jacket, with a scarf thrown around his neck and carrying an overstuffed shoulder bag.

His hair looked all tousled. He sauntered across the stage as if he didn’t know how good he looked. He gave me a warm smile that reached his eyes. That man sure knew how to put people at ease.

“I’m really early. I hope that’s okay.”

“I wish all my cast members were so enthusiastic.” He trotted down the steps and over to the piano. He dropped his bag onto a long table, removed his jacket and tossed it over a front row auditorium seat. “Somewhere in this mess I have your paperwork.” He rummaged through his bag and pulled out various folders and binders.

“Ah ha, here it is.” He grabbed a large bundle of papers and removed the rubber band around them. “Come on over and let’s review it.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of stuff.”

“It is. We’re treating this project as a professional show including all the waivers, rules and agreements.”

“First off is your participation agreement. Read through it tonight, sign it, have your parents sign it and bring it back tomorrow. Here is your bio form. Fill it out and return it to me by Friday. Next is your commitment agreement. It includes things like you agree to be on time, attend every rehearsal, obey all rules, you won’t cut or color your hair, no sky diving or snow boarding, etc.”

“I don’t think sky diving will be a problem.” Free falling. Not
gonna
happen.

“Good. You’d be surprised at the crazy stunts people pull when they are committed to a show. Our goal is to keep the cast intact and uninjured.”

Thank God! Finally someone was going out of
their
way to keep me safe. Yet each item he reviewed felt like another shovel of dirt burying me deeper. What the heck had I gotten myself into?

Next, he reviewed the rehearsal schedule. He set it up efficiently with no time wasted. Every other day the entire cast rehearsed, the opposite days were principals only. Each rehearsal was detailed with blocking, dance, vocals, etc. It covered the next six weeks, including when to be off book, costume fittings, the move into the Overture Center and more. He even penciled in my voice lessons. I heaved a sigh.

“As you see, we have an intense schedule. You have the unfortunate position of playing catch up on the past weeks. There’s no time to teach you separately what you missed, so you’ll need to learn it on the fly. Here is a cast list, maps to some of the off-site locations you’ll need to know, and, finally, here is your script.” He presented it like a coveted gift.

“So you wrote this?” I held the thick, bound script with care.

“Every word.
Except the music.
I wrote the lyrics, but collaborated with a genius friend of mine on the music.”

“This is amazing. You must be so excited.” I now realized how hard he must have worked to make this happen.

“It’s my baby. And this project, bringing in high school students to perform it, is a huge opportunity. Not to mention a risk. The goal is that when the show goes up, the powers that be—investors and industry people from New York—fall so in love with Dream Chaser, that they snatch it up and give it a home on Broadway.”

“And you’re trusting a bunch of high school kids to be good enough?” Holy crap, this man was nuts.

“Yup. By tapping into talented youth, untried and unpolished, I plan to feature the combination of vulnerability and heart. That’s where you, Eli, and all the others come in.”

I must have looked terrified because Tyson laughed and patted my arm.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. You’ve got a great director to help you.” He grinned.

“If you say so.” Trusting a bunch of kids to help him with his dream was insane.

His cell phone rang. “I’ve got to take this call, so why don’t you look over the paperwork until we’re ready to go.”

“All right.” I gathered up all the papers, found a seat further back in the auditorium and reviewed the details of my life for the next month and a half.

Deep doo
doo
.
That’s what I was in.

Twenty minutes later, kids began to filter in, dumping their coats and bags in the auditorium. Unsure what to do, I
stayed
where I sat, mostly out of view at the far end. A couple kids noticed me, but said nothing as they greeted others. .

A few minutes later Tyson spoke up. “Everyone up on stage. Chloe, you can lead warm ups today.”

“Sure.” She flashed a thin-lipped smile and strutted her ultra slim body on stage; her long blonde hair flailed behind.

I heaved a deep breath. This was it, now or never. I stepped into the aisle, walked past Tyson at his director’s table and joined the others taking the stage.

“Oh yes, before we get started, I want to introduce the newest member of the cast,” Tyson said. “We are fortunate to have found Willow Thomas to help us out.”

All eyes stared at me. There I was, feeling naked and on display again.

“Many of you will know Willow from here at Capitol High or from the Davis Dance Academy. Willow will be filling Jessica’s old spot in the role of Lauren.”

The stares turned into daggers. I heard a couple gasps and then complete quiet. The silence felt like shock waves that reverberated in the hollow space as the other kids sized me up. They probably wondered
who
the hell I thought I was to march in and steal the lead. I gave a weak smile, not wanting to look cocky. Chloe glared and others whispered.

“So, if you don’t know Willow yet, please introduce yourselves. I trust you will all make her feel welcome and help her get up to speed.” Tyson seemed oblivious to the hostile situation.

No one said a word. Not the girls I used to dance with, not the couple of guys from Capital High.

Not even Eli.

He stood on the far end of the stage and stared the opposite direction.

I swallowed my pride and found a spot in the back to warm up where they couldn’t gawk at me.

That was the highlight of rehearsal. From there everything went downhill. Tyson had them review dances they’d been working on in an effort to help me catch up. No one slowed it down or called out the moves. Like a fish out of water, I floundered, trying to figure out the sequences with no instruction. The rehearsal turned into an eternity of humiliation. Chloe didn’t help matters any by sneering at me and spitting mean words under her breath. I guess I should have expected it.

At the end of rehearsal, as I headed for the steps down to the seats where I’d left my stuff, Chloe blocked my way with her skeletal frame.

There was no way around her, so I figured I might as well let her vent her frustrations. I didn’t blame her for being mad.

 
“You think you’re hot shit because Tyson gave you the lead, don’t you?” she seethed. The combination of her sharp bone structure and anger turned her ugly.

“No. I didn’t want the lead.” And I meant it.

“Oh right. Well, let me warn you. Don’t plan on stealing anything else,” she said, her face all pinched.

 
“What are you talking about?”

Others brushed past slowly, so they could hear the dirt.

“Don’t be an idiot. Eli’s interested in me, so don’t think you can prance in here and play all sweet and take him away.” You had your chance with him and blew it a long time ago.”

“You’re insane.” I tried to pass her, but she stepped in my path like a schoolyard bully.

“Keep your slutty little cheerleader paws off him.”

She got up in my grill, which really pissed me off.

“I don’t want Eli, you can have him.” I spat back a lot louder than I meant to. I moved to go around her, and there was...you got it...Eli.

Crap
.

He took one look at me, shook his head and walked away.

The only good thing about my day; I wasn’t at cheer practice.

I went and grabbed my stuff. With my coat on and bag in hand, I watched the other kids file out in small groups. Some stayed back to joke with Tyson at the piano. Eli was nowhere to be seen.

So that’s how it was going to be. I turned and left the way I came in.

Alone.

The walk home sucked. The frigid air numbed my legs. The cold turned my jeans into stiff sand paper that rubbed my legs raw. Each block the temps plummeted lower, as did my excitement for the show. My arms were frozen under the wool of my
peacoat
. I couldn’t feel my toes anymore. My cheeks chapped from the wind and snot froze above my lip.

I wanted so bad to call Jilly and tell her what a bunch of jerks the kids in the cast were, but Jilly is really good at holding a grudge. As much as she’d love to know how awful it was, I knew she wasn’t ready to give me the time of day.

By the time I dragged my frozen body up our porch steps, every bit of me screamed in icy agony.

The second I stepped inside the warm sauna of home, Twinkie jumped on me and nearly knocked me down. “Hey girl, how you doing? You look good to me.” I ruffled her fluffy ears, then slid out of my shoes and rushed over to the wood burner in the living room and opened the door. A blast of hot air whooshed out, and my body shivered to release the bone deep chill. I sat on the wood floor in front of it; Twinkie lay down next to me.

“What a good dog.” I sank my cold hands into her thick fur.

“Willow? Is that you?” Mom yelled from the kitchen.

“Yeah, what’s left of me anyway.
”

“Come in and get some dinner. I made African peanut stew, your favorite.”

“I’m too cold to move, can you bring me some?” I yelled back.

“Okay, but only because I love you and need you to pick out a really nice nursing home for me some day.”

“Really?” I said to Twinkie. “What do you say we put her in a commune or a sweat lodge?”

“I heard that!” she yelled but still brought in a big bowl of steaming stew and a plate of homemade bread with honey butter.

“You are amazing! I take back every horrible thing I’ve ever said to you.”

“I know. You forgot to address me as Supreme Goddess of Exquisite Beauty.” Mom handed me the soup bowl and set the plate down next to me on the floor. Twinkie sniffed at the soup.

“Yeah, that too!” I held the bowl, letting the heat thaw my hands,
then
took a bite.

“Did you walk home?” Mom sat on the couch.

“
Mmhmm
,” I grunted, my mouth full. Mom made the best African stew. She put peanut butter in it. Granted it was organic low fat peanut butter, but it rocked.

“Why didn’t you catch a ride with someone from the show?”

“Let’s just say the other kids aren’t too excited about me showing up and taking over the lead.” I dipped a hunk of buttered bread into the stew and then my mouth. Heaven and warmth raced to my stomach.

“Oh. Jealousy is such a useless emotion,” Mom said in her singsong way.

“It didn’t seem too useless from where I stood. It’s a real pain in the ass.” It hurt to experience them turn their backs and ignore me.

“Aren’t some of the girls you used to dance with in the show? Like
McKenna
and Chloe?”

“They were there, but they acted like we never met.” I dipped and stuffed more stew.

“What a shame. Those kids are really missing out.” She gave me her sympathetic mom look.

I don’t think they felt they were missing out on anything. They seemed thrilled to keep me out of their loop, maybe even empowered by it.

Twinkie laid her head on my lap, and her eyes begged for food. “Not yet, I’m still eating.” I angled my bowl away from her, but on second thought took a spoonful and poured it on the hardwood floor next to us. She lapped it up, her tail wagging.

“What did the vet say about her seizure?”

“Because of her age, the vet doesn’t believe its epilepsy or a genetic seizure disorder. He said that with a six-year-old dog it could be a fluke and never happen again or might occur again in days, weeks, or years.”

“So we just wait and see?”

“Pretty much.”

I took a last bite of my bread and stew and gave the bowl to Twinkie to lick clean. I lay on the floor next to her and watched. “That was awesome. I am so full.”