We took a bow. I flashed my best smile while Sharpay showed off her famous grin to the audience. We were holding hands and she gripped mine tightly, as usual. I looked out at the crowd and found that not one pair of eyes was looking back at me. It was all Sharpay. Still smiling, I looked over at her and found that she was eating it all up. I could see it in her hungry eyes. She lived for everyone's attention...and she always got it. Always. It may not always have been good attention, but she got it. Where did that leave me?
I looked back out at the mass of people and searched for a few familiar faces. Troy and Gabriella had already performed and were sitting in the front with Chad, Taylor, Jason and Martha. They were all cheering and looking at Sharpay. Not one of them glanced at me even for a second. I gulped and kept my strained smile alive.
I looked over at the side of the stage where Ms. Darbus and Kelsi were standing. Kelsi was shaking her head and clapping with Ms. Darbus. Neither of them were looking at me. I half-expected Kelsi to be looking at me, signaling to me that I did a good job or something...but I realized that even that was too much to ask for. I sighed a little and turned back to the audience.
The cheering had died a little, but it was still going. I heard a click and realized the curtains were about to close. Wait, no! No one had even noticed me yet! I quickly turned to Zeke, who had curtain duty, and made few discouraging faces at him. He, of course, was only looking at Sharpay. So, the curtains closed.
As soon as the last ray of stage light was obscured by the curtains, Sharpay let go of my hand and walked off the stage with a helpless Zeke trailing behind. I stood there for a second and closed my eyes. The shadows of those curtains were the shadows I was going to be stuck under for my entire life. I knew it...but I couldn't ever change that.
I opened my eyes, sighed, and ran off to catch up with Sharpay and Zeke.