A/N: During our production of Carnival, we had a cast party at Burger King, and the incident with the kids happened like it does in this chapter.

CHAPTER 20: Dawn

TO: Sunny Winslow

FROM: Dawn Schafer

RE: Carnival

Dear Sunny, Maggie, Whitney & Jill:

Greetings from Stoneybrook! How have you guys been? I've been doing all right, except that I miss you guys a ton. Oh, I just heard that Clover Austin got out of the hospital after having her tonsils out. I guess all that shouting she's known for finally caught up with her, huh? Tell her I said to get well soon, and not to worry, because while she's recuperating, she can have all the frozen yogurt bars she wants. (I know people say ice cream's supposed to help, but if you're into health food, that's the next best thing, wouldn't you say?)

Oh, I told you about Carnival, right? I'm sorry you guys missed it, but I'll make sure to bring a copy of the video when I come to Palo City this summer. We can watch it at a We Love Kids Club meeting. I wish you could've seen it, and you definitely would've gotten a good laugh if you'd been at the cast party!

Just before the second act began, I saw Claudia and Mary Anne coming through the stage door, and Claudia was wearing Jason's jacket. I wanted to ask her what had happened, but there wasn't time, because I had to get in my place.

The second act, it seemed, started off with a bang. The part that got the most laughs was when I was fanning Renardo with the fan, and he sneezed. (In case you're wondering, the sneeze was actually in the script, and it's not just because Pete Black's allergic to dust.) Even though that was pretty funny, the best number, in my opinion, was "Beautiful Candy".

"Stop li-ving for reeeea-soooon, time-to-start li-ving for rhy-y-yme...I'm-on-a-spree-e-e, and I-I-I'm gon-na make sure it's a per-fect-ly good waste of ti-i-ime!" we sang. And the harmonies we'd worked so tirelessly on, WOW! My favorite part was doing a waltz with Natalie Springer, and then Ricky Torres turning me. Because of the height difference, it looked more like I was turning him!

The show continued with the dialogue prior to "I Hate Him", which Jason and I had done at auditions. (By the way, two things here: it must be a requirement for all directors to use that scene at Carnival auditions; and also, the audience had a little more control over their laughter when David Michael said the "Aaay, Rosalie!" line.)

Anyway, in the scene we did at auditions, Paul wants Lili to focus on the dance for "Yum Ticky", but all she can think about is Marco. Paul basically bites her head off over it, and then, God knows why, he kisses her. My theory on Paul and the line that goes, "He shouts at me and yells at me, and then from nowhere comes a kiss..." is that he's either a real jerk, bipolar, or both. I asked Kristy about that, and she said she thinks it's because he's going through a selfish phase.

Well, when Jason kissed me—and he's one hell of a good kisser, by the way—that's when I put two and two together: Claudia and Jason. I liked the sound of that.

During "Always, Always You", I saw Stacey smiling at Sam, despite the fact that she was in a wooden box with plastic swords coming at her. Apparently, she'd gotten over that one rehearsal when she'd had her blow-up. And considering how Sam is probably the biggest goofball in the world, it was nice to see her acting this way toward him.

The last number was "She's My Love". I personally like the lead-in to this number, because Lili is testing Paul on his knowledge of love:

"What would you know about love? How could you understand anything about love?"

"Well, why don't you tell me, Lili? I've always wanted to hear about love from a cheap little..."

"I HATE YOU! YOU'RE A MONSTER, AND I HATE YOU!"

The next thing is, Paul slaps Lili. Well, when Jason raised his hand to slap me, not only did the intro to the song start, but I also shrank back a little and whispered, "No." I really hoped Mr. Cheney wouldn't mind, especially since we hadn't rehearsed it that way. When I caught Mr. Cheney's eye as I made my way offstage, I saw him nod his approval. Now that I think about it, I think he was also glad that I didn't try to "modernize" my character.

While the Roustabouts took the set down, I was offstage in the wings, getting ready for my final entrance, and listening to Jason. As I listened to him sing, I realized that Karen was right when she said that he had such a beautiful voice, and there's no doubt in my mind that he deserved that part I also happened to look across the stage, and saw Claudia standing there, crying. I could tell that she was very moved, and thought he was singing to her, and her alone.

Finally, it was time for the curtain call. I'd never heard such applause in my life, especially when I came out. After I took my bow, I caught a glimpse of Verna Baker, Mary Anne's grandmother, sitting in the middle of the front row. Granny, Pop-pop, Mom, and Richard were sitting on both sides of her. I expected Granny and Pop-pop to be there, but I didn't know that Verna was there until now. I've got to tell Mary Anne, I thought. She was going to be so thrilled to see her grandma. (Mary Anne told me she'd sent a letter to her grandma with an invitation to the show, but she'd really be surprised that Verna followed through, when Mary Anne didn't think she would.)

While we were greeting the audience, I overheard Pete Black saying, "No, Renardo, don't chase that car!" And he started to run, as if the Renardo puppet were doing just that. Naturally, it got a lot of laughs, especially from the little kids.

"I wonder what kind of car that was?" Bebe's voice asked.

"I don't know, an Isuzu?" Kristy guessed.

The next thing I heard was Abby saying, "Hi, I'm Joe Isuzu," and erupting into giggles.

We had the cast party at Burger King, and believe me, it was noisy as hell, even noisier than backstage. Still, we had every reason in the world to celebrate. After all, it was opening night.

A bunch of us were sitting at one of the really big tables: Pete and I, Sam and Stacey, Shannon, Bart, Kristy, Logan and Mary Anne, and Claudia and Jason. Out of everyone at our table, Stacey and I were the only ones with either soup or salad. (Remember, Stacey's a diabetic, and I'm into health food.) We were all just chattering and laughing away, just basking in the afterglow of that night's performance, when Kristy suddenly said, "Uh-oh."

"What?" I asked, and Kristy pointed behind me. I turned around, and here's what I saw: all the little kids were running toward the condiments counter with their eyes on the sugar, sweeteners, and basically anything to keep them bouncing off the walls all night, which would've been the last thing their parents needed. I don't know which would've been worse for them: that, or humongous dentist bills.

Apparently, Watson saw them, too. He cupped his hands around his mouth and said, pretty loudly, "STEP AWAY FROM THE SUGAR."

The kids stopped in their tracks. Well, actually, only Jackie stopped, and the others crashed into him. "JACKIE!" they all shouted.

"Well, you heard the man!" Jackie protested. The other kids returned to their seats, grumbling to themselves and shooting Jackie dirty looks. At least they continued eating without further incident. (By the way, I should mention that after Watson told the kids to step away from the sugar, I was almost tempted to add, "YOU ARE TOO CLOSE TO THE SUGAR." And they were, too.)

A minute or so later, Jason stood up and said, "Can I have everyone's attention, please?"

At first, nobody was listening, but Kristy solved that problem by putting two fingers in her mouth and letting loose with an ear-splitting whistle. In no time flat, there was dead silence.

"Thanks, Kristy," he said. "I just wanted to tell you, first and foremost, that you guys were wonderful, not only at rehearsals, but also this afternoon and tonight. Since this is the first time I've ever set foot on a stage, I can quite honestly say that this has been a great experience for me, and I hope to be able to do it again someday. Also, I feel much more accepted than I did when I first moved here. And on behalf of my family..." He sounded like he was starting to choke up a little, but he quickly pulled himself together and continued, "I just wanted to say thank you, all of you."

Then Jason raised his glass to toast us. "Here's to a great show," he grinned, and we raised ours in agreement.

Now, I'm not too sure, but I think I heard one of the Stevenson twins say, "L'Chaim."

Whoever said it, I couldn't agree more.

Well, that's what's been going on with me. Say hi to Dad, Jeff, Carol, and the Austins; tell all the kids at Vista that I miss them, and tell Mrs. Winslow I hope she's feeling better. I can't wait to see you guys and our clients this summer!

Love and sunshine,

Dawn