Starlet

42. Bad Week

Monday at practice, Bayden puts Leo and Lynn on the stage right away. They start acting and then he kisses her.

I have a minor melt down. I don't want to kiss Tim. Tim has a girlfriend. She might beat me up. I throw my book off my lap and run to Marcus. He's in the back today. But 1 of the chairs is down. I trip over it and fall. I crawl the rest of the way down the row. Then I look up at him with sad eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't kiss Tim. Tim has a girlfriend." I say it so quietly.

"What's the problem?"

"She has concerns about kissing Tim."

They start laughing.

"Well she doesn't really... Whisp get up here."

I shake my head fast.

He picks me up and carries me shaking to the stage. Then he puts me on my feet.

I stand there shaking with Leo and Lynn. Leo is laughing and rubbing his eyes.

Bayden nods. "Andy go show her a stage kiss."

"Alright." Andy walks up beside me and I stare at him. I shake my head so fast and close my lips as tight as I can.

He cracks up laughing and has to turn around.

Leo spins me around and leans me back. He acts like he's going to kiss me and I lean back further. Then I lift my feet up. Now he's holding me in the air with 1 arm. They crack up laughing.

"We're going to need to work on it, Bayden."

"I see that."

"Put your feet down." I shake my head. He puts me back to standing on my own feet.

I'm a little shaky still.

Bayden looks at me. "You don't actually kiss them."

One of the other understudies looks at me. "What are you wearing under your dress?"

Bayden nods. "That's another thing. You would have shown us your underwear by doing that. You have to be careful on stage."

I lift up my dress. "It's shorts."

"DO NOT LIFT YOUR DRESS. NEXT TIME YOU WON'T HAVE THE SHORTS ON. THEN YOU'RE GOING TO SHOW OFF YOUR UNDERWEAR." Marcus yells from the back.

"SHE ASKED."

"IF YOU HAVE A DRESS ON, ACT LIKE IT."

I give him a dirty look.

"Why shorts?"

"So I can practice my aerial dance. I do it earlier but don't have time to change. So I put the dress over my dance clothes."

"Aerial... Is that why the wires are in here now?" I nod. "Can you show us what it is?"

I glance between Andy and Leo. "Yes please."

I run behind a curtain and take the dress off. Leo is talking to a brain. I can't hear from that far. Don't matter really. The 3 of them leave the stage while I get the safety on. Then I tell the brain to play. 'How Does A Moment Last Forever?' I love that 1. It's strong and powerful too.

I come out, and the house lights are down, and the spotlights are on. That must have been what Leo did.

I start with the ballet. It's such a beautiful song to dance too. Then, as it gets stronger, I use the aerial stuff. I don't hear a sound out of anyone. They probably aren't even watching. It's only me that loves this. The song gets stronger, and I jump to the bar over the audience. I let the ribbons out and the music flow through me.

Then the song ends. I hit the levers for the ribbons and lower myself. Marcus is there to help me to the floor and take the safety off. "Beautiful."

I smile and run up to the front. "Aerial."

Everyone nods and stares at me but doesn't say anything. I shrug my shoulders.

Bayden finally acknowledges me after a full minute of staring into the air. "I want you to go on during intermission with that exact performance."

"I don't know what I did. I don't remember."

Leo chuckles. "She was dancing, Bayden. It's not rehearsed."

Bayden nods. "I want you to dance during intermission."

I shake my head fast. "I'm Nicole's understudy."

"You're still going to be that. And if you play Nicole for some reason, you wouldn't be able to dance. It would be too much. But as long as Lynn is playing Nicole, there is no reason you can't go on during intermission."

I shake my head fast.

Marcus smiles. "I don't think she's ready for that, Bayden. There will be a lot of people here. Not to mention that ribbon bar only comes down to the center of the audience to let her off it. It's not wired to do anything else."

"Well, that could be changed. What do you say to trying it on the first day or the last day? The place isn't packed those days. It's in the middle of the week. Would you try 1 time?"

"I don't know what to do or how to practice."

Leo looks at me. "Just dance. Get up there like you did and dance. No routine."

I blink at him. "Can I wear the grass skirt and coconuts I made and do it to island music?"

"No. The coconuts will go flying off."

I give him a dirty look.

"So, I'm assuming the clothes have to be tight?"

Marcus nods. "No fabric hanging. She couldn't use the grass skirt either. A tight outfit and her hair has to be back. It could get caught in the wires and ripped out. Also, the music couldn't be island type. It has to be slow and strong like the song she just used. Think ballet. How long is the intermission?"

"30 minutes."

"She couldn't go for that long nonstop. It takes a lot to do that."

"Well, could she do 1 song then take a break and do another 10 or 15 minutes later?"

My hand shoots up. "I COULD WEAR A BIKINI."

Marcus and Leo yell, "NO."

"Why? That's for islands."

Leo shakes his head. "Just no."

Marcus rubs his eyes. "Bayden, we can talk about it later. You are not wearing a bikini. Do not bring that back up. It's not going to happen."

"Fine."

Tuesday, I practice my aerial for an extra long time. I want to be good for the show. It's quite exciting. Silvia shows up at the end and helps me off the bar. Then we go grab some water.

"I heard something and figured you might find it interesting."

"What's that?" I don't think I want to know anything anymore.

"I guess Leo was messing around with some girl this weekend at your house. Him, Oliver, and Jack had an amazing time with some whores."

"Ugh. That's gross. I'm finding another place."

"I didn't mean to move out."

"It'll be better. I'm over it."

"Think about it. I know it's stupid though."

I go back to the theater. I feel like puking.

I see a note on my book. It says,

-To: Little Girl- Well this can't be good. I read it secretly.

-You are making a joke of this theater. You can not act or perform in any way. No one wants you here. You are nothing but a little girl. You are a useless, worthless nobody. Do everyone a favor and leave before you embarrass us anymore.-

-Everyone-

Ouch. I fight back the tears and read it again. I hold it and read it so many times. It really hurts. Everything about it hurts.

"You alright?"

I shove it in my book and nod at Andy. "Just a bit tired."

"Ok." He goes back up to his spot. "I thought she was sleeping." They all laugh.

I'm tired of being laughed at. I pull it back out and read it again. I look up when I hear everyone leaving. My heart is so broken I can barely move. Tim, Andy, and Dipak are standing by the stage. I throw the note at Dipak and slam the book on the ground. "I QUIT." I turn around and run.

I get outside, and a flood starts out of my eyes. I can't see, and it doesn't help that it's pouring down rain. I run as fast as I can. I run all the way to the woods. I lay by a stream and cry so hard.

Dipak carries me back to the castle and tells my servants to give me a bath. Then I go to bed.

I miss all my classes the next day except the ribbon class. I don't want to ask for a doctor's note. I move my ribbon practice to right after I get back. I won't run into anyone this way. I'll leave at 4, no way anyone from theater will be here that early.

I get on the stage and dance. No judgments. No marks. Nobody to tell me I'm doing bad. Nobody to watch me. I just dance and let the music flow through me.

I do keep wondering about who put the note there though. I didn't mean to embarrass anyone.

Friday, I go to the theater at 3:00 to practice. I dance to 'How Does a Moment Last Forever?' and 'Evermore.' Then I go back to Unbreak my Heart. I love to dance to this song. I jump to the center bar and let the ribbons down. I swing and twirl. Then I flip to hang over the bar upside down. Except my leg does not catch. I drop right out of the sky.

The safety catches right on the bottom part of my ribs. I hear cracks right away. I can't even move. That f*****g hurts. I hang there. I can't even pull the safety out.

I feel arms go around me and lift.

"GET DIPAK AND OMAR. SHE'S HURT." It's Leo.

I make myself relax and lay back in his arms. I cough. Blood comes flying out my mouth and gets on him.

"You're ok." He pulls the safety and carries me to the entrance.

"What happened?"

"The safety caught her. It was on her ribs."

I cough blood on him again, then I start choking.

"Do not put her down. We're going right to the hospital."

Leo leans me into him and the blood drains out of my mouth. I'm not choking anymore.

"This door Leo. Go."

"What happened?"

"She fell off that bar. The safety caught her on her ribs."

"The safety isn't supposed to be on her ribs."

"Well it was."

"Deal with that later, Marcus. Get her in this room. And everyone but Omar out."

Leo lays me down, and I hear the door shut. Then the shirts cut. I feel the metal on my skin. It hurts so much to touch me.

"This is her lower ribs. They are all broke. But her heart is fine. No damage that high. Whisp, your dragon can heal this and Omar can heal the bruised areas. Ask your dragon to heal you. DORSETI, GET BLOOD IN HERE NOW. A LOT."

-Dragon I need a heal.-

-Need blood.-

-It's coming.-

"Need blood."

"It's coming Whisp. Stay conscious."

I open my eyes as best as I can. Omar has his hand on my side. Then Cruor pushes blood out of the bag and into my mouth. I swallow as fast as I can. Everything starts to go black, and he shoves the tube right down my throat. Then he empties the bag. It takes 2 more before I actually feel better.

"The dragon got it. She's a lot better. I'm only healing minor bruising now."

"Sit up." Cruor doesn't even move the tube.

I'm so tired. The room spins.

Cruor grabs another bag and shoves it in. I finally wake up.

-Trauma healed.-

"Trauma is healed. Thank you."

"Good. You need to sleep. I'm keeping you for the night."

"I'll get a gown on her. They are going to want to see her."

"Don't make her get up, Dorseti. That was a lot of damage. Clean her up too. She's got blood on her."

"Yes doctor."

I feel Dorseti washing around my mouth.

"How bad was it?"

"It was bad. Your ribs were broken. They did some puncturing in there. You were choking on blood when you got here. Leo had blood all over him too. He was scared to death carrying you like that."

"I was alone. I don't know how long I hung there. I couldn't get it off me."

"He was there. He saw you fall. It only felt like a long time because it hurt." She puts a gown on me. "You want the shorts off?"

"They're ok."

She throws a blanket on me. "I'm moving you out of Trauma. I'll get you in your room now. Shorts would bother me in here."

"They're soft."

She pushes me into a room. Cruor walks in with Dipak and Marcus. "Everything was healed. It took everything out of her. I'm going to keep her overnight, to make sure there are no complications. She'll probably sleep. If she has trouble sleeping, I'll give her the sleepy tea. I want to keep an eye on her."

Dipak nods. "He's going to want to see her. We'll say the magic healed her."

Marcus shakes his head. "That was a lot of damage. I don't want him thinking magic can heal everything. She can rest tomorrow."

I can barely open my eyes. "Shorts off."

Dorseti laughs. "I told you. Can you get her into bed please? Just be easy."

Dipak picks me up and moves me over. "You scared us. We're going to talk about those safety's later."

Marcus rubs my hair. "You rest now. You're going to be fine."

I open my eyes and they're gone. Leo is sitting on a chair by my head. "They aren't going to let visitors in. I needed to see you were ok."

I reach for him and he takes my hand. "Thank you. I was stuck."

He kisses my hand. "I saw that. It scared me."

"I'm ok." I can't keep my eyes open. "I'm sorry about the blood."

"It's ok. You sleep baby." I feel him kiss my head as I fall asleep.