Title: Wilson, NC
Author: Kaykyaka
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters used within this fictional story. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made by this work of fiction.
Ratings: K
Characters: Lita, Edge, OC
Summary: There's a time and a place for everything, for Lita, that place was Wilson and the time was now.
Chapter 4: The Wrecking Ball Crew
Lita dug her face into a wall of red roses and inhaled their scent deeply. Her lungs filled with their awesome aroma and she couldn't help but push her face in closer so that the petals brushed the side of her face. Lovely she thought to herself and inhaled the scent again accidentally pricking her finger on one of the thorns. Kneeling down in front of the roses her face was disguised from anyone watching or looking for her, having red hair was a blessing in a garden filled with red roses. It was in this moment of peace and tranquility that Lita let everything that had gone on that afternoon melt away. She was content to stay in the Wilson Rose Garden all night long.
"Hey let me go!" she shrieked as a gang of hooded teenagers dragged her up by her arms onto their backs and carried her out of the garden.
"Phew that was close," said one of the teenagers removing his hood as his comrades placed Lita on the floor of an empty dressing room. Seconds later she nipped up and threw a high-kick in the direction of the unidentified human beings that put her on the floor.
"You just chill alright!" said one of the girls removing her hood.
"Yeah we just got you out of a real bad situation Lita," said the first teenager who spoke.
"So you guys are wrestling fans huh?" Lita said still on her guard, "Well this ain't the way you get tickets to RAW,"
"We already got our tickets to RAW," one of the other girls piqued in also removing her hood and Lita realized how young these guys were.
"And we're gonna make sure you and Edge get there in one piece," said another one also removing his hood.
Lita lowered her fists and looked at the five pack of teenagers with a steely gaze in her eyes.
"You guys from Sanford?" she asked.
"No," they answered.
"Cameron?" she asked again.
"No?"
"Raleigh, Charlotte, Greenville?" she tried again.
"No!" they said incredulously.
"Then where you guys from?" she asked confused.
"Wilson County, North Carolina!" they replied in unison causing Lita to furrow her brow.
"Na-uh no way, you guys aren't from around here," she said in disbelief.
"We sure are," they said again.
"But you're wrestling fans, ain't no wrestling fans around here," Lita said again.
The first teenager who spoke shook his head amused, "Lita, there are wrestling fans everywhere," he said and his friends agreed with him, "Allow us to introduce ourselves,"
The five teenagers stood in a line and did a roll call.
"Guys please, I get enough of that with the Spirit Squad okay just tell me who you are like normal people," Lita interjected the images of green track pants and pom-poms suddenly flashing through her head. One of the boys rubbed the back of his neck bashfully and came forward.
"Sorry, it's just that we're so used to working as a team. I'm Jason," he said.
"I'm Tyrell," the first guy to speak said also coming up.
"I'm Vanessa," said another one.
"I'm Lisa," said another one.
"And I'm Sam," said the last one.
"Together we're The Wrecking Ball Crew and part of the best youth theater movement in all of Wilson County," said Jason.
"You guys are actors?" Lita asked.
"Yeah and we're one actor short tonight and since you're here we figured you could help us out of a bad situation, you know, return the favor we just did you," Tyrell said confidently.
"And what favor was that?" Lita asked crossing her arms.
"Getting you outta sight before the police hauled your ass in for deformation of state property," Lisa replied.
Lita went quiet looking at her boots, "Man news sure travels fast 'round here," she said eventually.
"No kidding, you sure went to town on our town sign, what's wrong Matt still not returning your phone calls?" said Jason sarcastically.
"Shut your mouth you little punk or I'll shut it for you!" Lita yelled raising her fist and stepping into his face.
"There it is – the fire Ellie told us about!" Lisa said smiling gleefully.
"Are you stalking me or what, who's Ellie?" Lita asked irritably.
"The girl who's supposed to be here tonight but she's been confined to the country club," Vanessa replied rolling her eyes.
"The Wilson County Country Club?" Lita asked.
"Yeah that's right, that was her father's face you go into," Tyrell added.
"Yeah and now she's grounded and can't be in the show tonight," Sam said still angry at hearing the news awhile ago.
"She got grounded because of what I did?" Lita asked a pang of guilt hitting her conscience.
"No because of what happened afterwards," Jason said. Lita was about to ask what that was but the groping hands in her hair caught her attention.
"Hey what are you doing?" she asked the girl standing behind her with some kind of mop in her hand.
"You've got to get ready, the show's gonna be on in an hour," Lisa explained. Lita looked down at the black wig and slowly shook her head from left to right.
"Here's the script," Jason said handing her a page of dialogue. The first words on the page left Lita with shortness of breath.
"Leaving Cameron," she said in almost a whisper as Lisa handed her a pair of black cargo pants and matching hoodie.
"Ellie wrote it," Vanessa said.
"It won't take long to memorize," Sam said reassuringly.
"Basically, you say a monologue, we sing a chorus, do a bit of dialogue and that's it. Real simple, huh?" Vanessa said.
"Yeah real simple, just keep it real Lita," Jason said sternly.
"There ain't nuthin' simple about me Jason you little punk," Lita snapped back like a wet towel.
"What he means is our friend wrote that, so it has to come from the heart," Lisa said more diplomatically.
"News flash guys, I'm not a teenage girl trying to be the next Natalie Portman. I'm a full grown woman trying to be nice about being taken from a beautiful rose garden into a dark room full of strange kids who are forcing her to act in front of a town of snotty golfers," Lita exclaimed.
"Man those guys must have really given you a hard time," Lisa said sympathetically.
"No I was having a hard time before I even got here," Lita conceded sadly not sure how much to reveal to the band of young actors, "And this is a really personal script, I don't think I could do it justice,"
"Lita, do you know how totally psyched Ellie would be to have you be that character? She loves you, don't make this night suck even more for her by chickening out," Tyrell pleaded.
"Yeah do it for Ellie Lita, please?" Lisa also pleaded clasping her hands together like a little child.
Lita looked across the page in her hand, carefully reading the words written on the page weary of what this meant to the person who had written it. She looked up into the eyes of her young admirers and found her heart shifting into a warmer gear.
"Okay I'll do it and I'll do it with feeling," she said and the Wrecking Ball Crew smiled and raised their hands for a hi-five which Lita gave feeling like part of the gang herself.
"Okay let's go practice before the audience get here," Tyrell said with the others following behind him only Jason stayed behind as Lita looked over her lines again.
"Okay I'll be there in a minute you guys," she said going over the words slowly trying to understand how exactly a trip from Cameron to Raleigh had brought her here to the, the -
"Hey Jason where the Hell am I?" she asked once again unaware of her location.
"The Boykin Center,"
- The Boykin Center, Wilson, NC. Lita went to scratch her head and was startled by the vinyl texture of the black wig Lisa had placed over her hair preventing access to her scalp.
"Hey Lita I'm sorry for saying what I said about Matt Hardy. I just wanted to see you get hot, it's important for the part, it's important for Ellie, so it's kinda important to me," Jason said sincerely.
"I kinda got that, Jason," she said with a warm smile.
"I'll see you out there," he said and left Lita to go over her lines, "Oh before I forget," Jason said turning towards her with a black t-shirt in his hand. Lita looked down at the black clothing perplexed.
"What is this?" she asked puzzled.
"It's our group t-shirt, you're part of our group so put it on," Jason said simply. Quickly stopping herself from snatching the t-shirt from out of Jason's outstretched hand Lita feigned an understanding smile causing Jason to snigger knowing full well he had succeeded in pushing yet another one of her buttons. As Lita pulled off her white wife-beater and pulled on the tight fitting black t-shirt with a wrecking ball logo on the top right corner she wondered if she would always be expected to play a role in someone else's script, living someone's else's dream, somewhere east of where she was supposed to be, in the warm country climate of North Carolina. With her head wrapped around that thought, Sam and Vanessa ushered her out of the dressing room. Lisa gave her the thumbs up and whisked her onto the stage where she was greeted by three other eager individuals all dressed in black, there was some rustling behind the curtain, lights were being rigged and last minute adjustments were being made to the back-drop of a huge sign saying "NOW LEAVING CAMERON."
"Five minutes guys good luck!" said an older younger person also wearing a Wrecking Ball Crew t-shirt giving her the thumbs up before scrambling off the stage.
"Lights out!" he yelled the stage wasn't his responsibility anymore it was the property of the five pairs of hands patting her confidently on the back. All eyes would be on her eyes and she would use that to draw herself into Ellie's world.
"Don't worry guys, I suddenly feel right at home," she said serenely. She looked over the elegant amphitheater and took a deep breath. The curtain came down and the first group of people made their way into the building. Before she could even count to ten the curtain came up: it was Showtime!