Page 111 of Reaching Avery
When it was my cue, I walked out on stage, feeling all eyes on me. Fortunately, I didn’t walk out alone. Greg, the guy playing LeFou, was at my side, and we started into our section of the opening song.
My mom was in the audience, and some of my friends. Knowing they were out there—somewhere—made me happy.
People in the audience laughed at the appropriate part, but the bright lights shining on the stage made it difficult to make out any of their faces. Maybe if I looked hard enough, I’d be able to, but it worked out better that way anyway.
If I couldn’t really see them, it felt like rehearsal, and I could trick myself into thinking no one was out there watching my every move.
Adrenaline kicked in and I put on the performance of my life—one I hoped to repeat, like, five more times because we had more shows. I sang my heart out, and I only forgot one line, which I then improvised, and I doubted anyone in the audience even realized it.
In between my scenes, Avery met me backstage and helped fix any piece of my costume or wig that had moved out of place. And each time before I went back out there, he’d give me a good luck kiss, causing me to walk out on stage with a silly smile.
During my final scene, when Gaston fought the Beast, Ifelloff the ledge and landed on the padding hidden behind it. I grinned when I heard my buddies hoot and holler from the audience. Freaking Travis and Ricky.
Quickly, I rolled off the mat and crawled off stage. A set change was coming up.
“That was the finest death I’ve ever seen,” Avery said in an overly dramatic manner once I was in the wings. “Such… oomph.”
“I’ll show youoomph,” I said, tugging him to my chest before capturing his lips.
After the cast did the big bow after the show, I jogged to the dressing room to change out of my Gaston clothes and back into my Maverick ones. I met Avery outside the room, and he joked that I looked better with the low-ponytail wig on instead of mymessy mop, which then caused me to tickle his sides until he begged me to stop.
You know. Just relationship stuff.
“My mom’s here if you wanna come with me to say hi,” I said, grabbing his hand.
“Sure!”
We walked into the audience hall where people were in various stages of standing up and walking out into the main lobby. I scanned their faces, looking for my mom. During my search, Travis and Ricky approached.
“I’m gonna start callin’ you Twinkle Toes,” Ricky said with a lopsided smile. He mimicked some of the choreography—badly, I might add—before belting out some of the tavern song—also poorly.
Travis cringed at him and rubbed at his ear. “Man, it’s a good thing you’re a beast on the football field. Otherwise, I’d say you have nothin’ good going for you.”
“Hey, I’m cute,” Ricky countered. “That’s worth something, I think.” He pointed to Avery. “Right? You’re gay. Who’s cuter: me or dipshit beside me?”
Avery shook his head with a smile. “I can’t answer that. I kinda only have eyes for one guy.”
Ricky’s face fell and he looked like someone just insulted his mama. “I danced with you. And this is the thanks I get.”
“Hmm. I might’ve been wrong,” Travis said, looking at Ricky. “You’re perfect for theater. I mean, you have the diva thing down.”
It was then I noticed that Travis was holding a single red rose. Having a pretty good idea of who it was for, I smiled.
My assumption was proved right when Travis all of a sudden stopped bantering with Ricky mid-sentence and took off jogging in the other direction. Sarah had walked out from backstage, and he neared her. They were too far away for me to hear their conversation, but I saw Sarah’s face light up as Travis handed her the rose.
Ricky stared after them too, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he kind of looked upset. The look went just as fast as it’d come, though, before he focused back on us.
“I’m freakin’ hungry,” he said. “Wanna grab something after this?”
I looked to Avery, who nodded, and I replied, “Yeah. Sounds great. I just need to find my mom first.”
Not seeing her anywhere in the audience hall, I walked through the doors to the lobby with Avery and Ricky beside me. I continued my search, keeping an eye out for her brown hair and the blue dress she’d picked out to wear that evening.
What I didn’t expect to see? My dad.
He stood near one of the art sculptures, wearing a nice suit and even weirder—a smile. Mom was at his side, craning her neck as if she was searching for me too.
“Sweet pea!” she exclaimed once I’d walked up to them. Her arms flew around me. “Oh, you were terrific. I knew all of those years of us watching musicals would pay off.”
