Chapter SeventeenA Chapter by Katie WanOh no he dinnt!The alarm on my phone went off loudly. After school practice would be starting soon. I grabbed my bag and slid out of the back of my car. A few people looked at me strangely as I came from my car. I slung my bag around my shoulder and ran for the school. I caught the STARs just as they were leaving to go to the auditorium. Hayden caught my presence and smiled. “Hey, where have you been all day?” I shrugged, “I wasn’t feeling so well.” The feeling of hurt and betrayal sat in the center of my chest. I didn’t like this. We filed into the auditorium one by one. Hayden stepped in front of me and we walked to the center row with Mrs. Williams. The blonde woman looked up from her chair and smiled at us. I did my best to return the favor. Hayden sat on the other side of her and plopped her hands happily in the center of her lap. Mrs. Williams turned to me. “This ought to be interesting. Every year Mr. Jenkins likes to invite the STARs to watch what they have for the upcoming year. Last year it was hard to watch, they had stolen our idea.” My eyes flicked over to Hayden who was looking at the floor. She had a rough year last year. This would be a better sitting for her. Mr. Jenkins got on stage and spread his hands wide. “It’s so wonderful to see you. We’re very glad that you could make it today. We hope that you thoroughly enjoy the performance today.” He had his hands wrapped around each other and he pointed the wad of flesh towards the audience to make his point more noticeable. I swallowed hard and lowered my defeated body lower in the chair. My arms folded over my chest and I looked at the back of the seat in front of me. Mr. Jenkins continued to introduce the number. Finally as my eyes flicked up he finished the introduction. “We’d like to now present you with, Welcome to the 60’s.” My heart sunk immediately. The too familiar tune filled the auditorium. The whole group of All Stars ran out onto the stage. A young girl centered on the stage and started singing the woman solo. It was Hayden’s solo. They had stolen our set list, again. In that exact moment I felt every eye in the auditorium on me. Parker ran up and started my part, my harmony part. The two dance with the large group behind them. It was completely awkward knowing that they planned the same thing as us. I shut my eyes and sunk my head lower into my chest. This was just the cherry on top of the wonderful sundae I found myself eating. I didn’t like this, not one bit. The whole group sang and danced for the whole number. They stopped and moved onto another song. It was another song from Hairspray. This was complete torture. I sat forward and planted my face in my palms. The song ended with their large voices and the room went silent. The only sound was me standing up and kicking the chair in front of me. Every eye was slivered in a glare as I walked out of the auditorium. I heard Parker call my name once before I slammed the door. Quickly I walked into the choir room. The STARs started to file in after me. Slowly they took their places in their sections. Hayden sat in her usual front seat and glared at me. My legs paced back and forth in front of the whole group. Mrs. Williams walked in and sat in her choir seat. Everyone sat silently waiting for me to spill the beans. I could feel the hate radiating off of them. I couldn’t even find my breath to speak. There was so much rage bubbling inside of me I could hardly think. “So, why’d you do it? You knew from the beginning what their plan was.” Hayden had a disgusting tone behind her words. “Hayden you have no room to talk,” I hissed through my teeth. It was rude, but it was the truth and she had to hear it. She stood up. “You let the whole group down, Russ. How could you do that to us?” “I didn’t,” My voice cracked through the emotion. “It wasn’t me. Why do you think I would give that up Hayden? This place is my home, this is my release. You honestly think I would do something like that?” She crossed her arms and nodded her head. “I do, because I would’ve never thought I’d do it either.” I shook my head, “It wasn’t me.” “Well if it wasn’t you, who was it then?” Every eye watched me carefully. Mrs. Williams looked up from her chair. I knew the answer and I hated saying it, “Trent.” I could see a light go off in Mrs. Williams’s eyes. “How dare you!” Hayden yelled. “You’re trying to put the blame on someone else.” “Do you see him here, Hayden?” She looked around the room then shook her head. “It’s because he’s been dealing under the table.” “We need proof.” Our voices were getting softer. I knew where this conversation was going. I had to tell them. I looked down to the ground bit my lower lip. I sniffed away some tears and lifted my head up again. “Parker was cheating on me, with Trent.” My eyes looked deep into Hayden’s and she knew I was telling the truth. Her jaw dropped open and she walked over to me. Her arms carefully wrapped around my shaking frame and pulled me close to her. Mrs. Williams stood up. “I think Russ is right. This morning Trent came in and quit STARs.” The room fell silent again. There was no hope in this room just utter despair. “What do we do now?” Hayden asked against my chest. Mrs. Williams sunk her head. “I guess we do the same as last year.” Hayden sighed and buried her face into my shirt. “No,” I whispered. “We can’t just give up, we have to fight back.” Everyone looked at me. “I have a plan.” © 2010 Katie WanAuthor's Note
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Added on April 21, 2010 Last Updated on April 21, 2010 Author |