CHAPTER 8: April—Stacey

I arrived at school on the first day back after spring break. The all-school play, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, would be coming up that weekend; and the senior class play, Titanic: Tragedy and Trial, would be the weekend after that.

I was at my locker, putting away my jacket and getting out my books, when I saw Claudia. "Hi, Claud," I said.

"Hi, Stacey," she answered. "Have a nice Easter?"

"Yeah, but I don't have time to talk about it now," I said. "I have to get to class."

"See you later, Stacey," she said.

After homeroom, I had first period Algebra and second period English with none of my BSC friends; third period gym with Kristy, Claudia, and Mary Anne; and fourth period Home Ec. with none of my BSC friends.

After fourth period, I put my books in my locker, and met Claud and Abby in the parking lot. We got in Claud's black Corvette and went to McDonald's for lunch. Like I said before, all of the seniors are allowed to leave the campus during lunch. Even though her parents have somewhat high-paying jobs, they were able to pool their salaries together and give Claud the car for Christmas when she was sixteen.

"Have a good first day back?" Abby asked as we pulled out onto the street.

"Yeah," I answered.

When we arrived at McDonald's, we placed our orders—which, by the way, wasn't really necessary. Seeing as how we always order the same thing. Oh, and while we were there, we saw a little girl, maybe about three years old, climbing up the Happy Meal toy display case. I don't know about Abby, but I was afraid the thing would fall on her.

"Uh, 'scuse me little girl," Abby whispered, sounding like Bruce from Family Guy. "If I was you, I'd stop climbing all over me, 'cause I'm not bolted into the floor. That could be dangerous. I might just rock back and forth and come crashing down on top of you. That'd really hurt. Then you'd start screaming like a banshee, and your mama and daddy would be sayin', 'Oh, noooo, what happened? Are you all right, sugar-dumplin'?"

It took me quite a while to stop laughing, and thankfully, the girl's parents saw what was going on, and got her to stop climbing on it, as opposed to an employee or the manager finding out.

As soon as we got our food and sat down, I said, "You know, it's a good thing we get to leave the campus during lunch."

Abby giggled. "Stacey, you're starting to sound like Kristy!" she said, opening her package of walnuts and putting them on her salad.

"Yeah," Claudia agreed. "On the upside, Stacey never made any disgusting comments about the school lunch."

The three of us got a good laugh, finished our lunch, threw our trash away, got back in the car, and returned to school.

That afternoon, I had sixth period study hall with none of my BSC friends, seventh period Democracy with Claud, Mary Anne, Logan, and Jason, and eighth period science with Mary Anne, Logan, and Jason.

That afternoon, I had a Titanic rehearsal. Since the all-school play was rehearsing in the auditorium, we had to rehearse in the gym, but would move to the auditorium for tech week, and make any necessary blocking adjustments. Nothing unusual happened, other than Alan Gray and Pete Black, who are playing Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee, respectively, making seagull sound effects at the end of Act One. I'd never heard them do that before, and I thought I was going to get a stomachache from trying not to laugh.

"I love ocean life," Alan whispered in a French accent as Pete continued whistling. "Everywhere I go, I hear those damn birds."

If that wasn't funny enough, Abby leaned over to me and whispered, "Rose, you must promise me that no matter what, you'll s-survive, and there's a bunch of stuff I c-can't remember, 'cause the c-cold is seeping into my brain, and now I'm lost and r-r-rambling, and I just want to hug you and take you to Sea World." That made me laugh so hard that I had to leave the room to compose myself and get a drink of water.

Well, naturally, Alan and Pete's little act sent the entire cast into hysterics. I'm also glad the director and her assistant were also laughing up a storm, so they didn't have to worry about whose neck to wring.

After rehearsal, I went home. I was really looking forward to opening night.

Before too long, it was opening night. As soon as I got to the school, I changed into my costume. Since I was playing Ellen Bird, not only did Abby (who's playing Ida Strauss) and I have some scenes together, but I also had to wear a maid's uniform.

I also saw Kristy, Abby, Logan, and Jason getting ready. Jason was playing First Officer Murdoch, and since he's originally from Scotland, he didn't have to borrow the dialect CDs from the library this time, because most of his accent is natural. (Oh, and I read somewhere that Murdoch's descendants are still upset with James Cameron over how Murdoch was portrayed in the movie.) Logan was playing Thomas Andrews, and Kristy was playing Maria Panula, a third-class passenger from Finland. Kristy, Abby, and Logan had borrowed the dialect CDs from the library—as well as looked at YouTube videos on the subject—and were now good at their character accents.

My favorite part of the show is the end of the first act, when the cast is reciting the names of those who perished and those who survived. The recitation starts off loud, and gets softer as the characters speak.

After the show, we went to meet the audience. "Stacey, that was so awesome!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"Thanks," I smiled.

"That was such a great show," Dr. Johanssen agreed.

As I watched them leave, I thought, Tonight was such a wonderful night.