:D betas are awesome.
Night
is a funny time. Everything seems to run together around one
o'clock in the morning. All your hopes, dreams and
desires matter not through the haze that
is lack of sleep. I don't know why, but
tonight I just couldn't lose my eyes for more than ten minutes.
Every time I tried he appeared: My Bane;
the one I wish I could hate; Murtagh. He
doesn't know I exist beyond a base level of brotherhood.
Hell, we only knew
of each others existence since the middle of last summer when
his mother...
Well,
I guess I should say our mother died,
leaving only a letter saying that I existed and telling uncle Garrow
to care for him.
Just as I was about to turn out the light and try another round of sleep my cellphone rang. I picked it up immediately. It was easy to guess who it was: only one person called me this late at night.
"Hullo Saphira." I said, lack of sleep most likely evident in my voice.
She sighed. "I was hoping this would go to voice-mail. You really are turning into an insomniac."
That made me chuckle a bit. "You're always up whenever I call and I can't remember the last time you weren't on-line when I woke up at four o'clock."
"Well, that's me.", she said. And I smiled because I could tell she was sticking her tongue out at me over the phone.
"So what did you want?", I asked, getting right to the point. Sometimes Saphira and I can get so off-track we can't even remember what we wanted to talk about in the first place.
"Thanks for reminding me. I have decided you're going to try out for the school play tomorrow so I signed you up last week."
It took a few moments before what she said sunk in, but when it did...
"WHAT?!" I yelled, forgetting the volume of my voice for a moment. Thankfully, everybody but me in this house had no trouble with sleeping like logs.
"You did what?!", I demanded, my whisper practically cutting the phone.
"You heard me. It's time you actually got out there and showed everybody some of that magic of yours." I could almost feel her smiling as she said this.
"Oh.", I said. And with more than a little sarcasm in my following statement I continued: "Well, that would be wonderful, IF I DIDN'T HAVE CRIPPLING STAGE FRIGHT!"
'Jeesus', I thought. If I keep this up uncle Garrow's going to start worrying that I'm talking to myself again.
"Well, I've decided so that's that. I just thought I'd warn you before tomorrow and I didn't want you embarrassing yourself on the bus. Goodnight, little one."
She hung up before I could yell at her for using my old nickname. Just because I'm shorter than everybody else doesn't mean I'm little. But, at least, that bit of anger made me tired and I fell asleep, full of tension about tomorrow which was already starting in my lower back.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I woke up slowly to my buzzing alarm while dreams of failure and extreme embarrassment were still fresh on my sleep-deprived mind. What little sleep I had gotten had been filled with cracking voices and off-notes. I pushed off the thin sheet my uncle gave me and made my way to the shower which was, thankfully, just across the hall. I sleepily removed my pajamas, which consisted of boxers and one of those weird ribbed undershirts and turned on the hot water full blast, as usual. After 30 minutes of taking care of myself I turned off the water and slowly toweled off, trying to relax as best I could. Once that was finished I turned to the mirror and wiped away the condensation. Looking at myself I didn't think I looked half-bad. If I did more than run I would probably have actual muscles, but instead I was lean: I had a thin waist, broad shoulders and, sadly, a bit of a curve. If I had long hair I might be mistaken for a women, a fact I was reminded of in every gym. There was a creak behind me and I turned around quickly, forgetting that I had absolutely nothing on. And it appeared that I had been very "forgetful" this morning considering Murtagh, brother of mine, was standing in the doorway and yet there was no door.
I blinked. He blinked. I blinked again and slowly, not breaking eye contact, he reached in, grabbed the knob and pulled the door closed. And slowly, ever so slowly, I could hear him creek down the hall and back into his room, shutting the door behind him.
It took a moment but I almost had a panic attack right there. Breathing slowly I got the towel from off the floor and wrapped it around my waist. I then walked back to my room and got ready for a nerve-wracking and, most likely, a cry-worthy day at school.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The day passed in a blur. Between avoiding Murtagh, trying to apologize to Roran and regular school crap it was the end of the day before I could throw up. I was hoping to sneak out the back way of the school when someone grabbed my arm and started pulling me in the other direction. I turned and saw that it was Saphira… No wonder, I will never know how she is so strong and I refuse to admit that I'm just that light. A few minutes later we were in front of the auditorium and I was once again on the edge of a great puke-filled abyss. With a pat on my back for comfort she unceremoniously shoved me in and slammed the door behind me.
I
slowly walked down the middle isle to where the drama teacher was
sitting... Well,
more like sprawling right in front of the stage. From the look
on his face I could tell he was having trouble listening to the first
few auditions without earplugs. I was about to tell him that I was
here and ready to go on when I noticed
who was sitting next to him. All my careful
planning and avoidance went down
the drain. There, right next to the
teacher, was he…
The guy I had spent the whole day avoiding,
Murtagh.
'What is he doing
here?', I
thought panicked. I opened my mouth and
a squeak... Erm... I mean manly cough
came rushing out before I could stop it,
bringing my unnoticeable status to an
end. They turned and the teacher was first to speak:
"Hullo there boy, I hope you can at
least make sure your voice doesn't crack
when you sing 'cause nobody else today
seems to be able to." I gulped which
seemed to give HIM enough time to get
himself together and say: "Oh Eragon,
I didn't know you sang well, sorry about Neal's treatment.
He's just upset that people
aren't quite up to par with his expectations this year". "Neal",
as I now knew the drama teachers name to be,
huffed and motioned to the stage, not
saying a word.
So there I went: one shuffling step at a time. The lights dimmed as I entered center stage and I squinted a bit as the spotlight flashed on. I stood there stunned until a not so quiet "Ahem" from Neal snapped me out of my reverie. Slowly I took a breath and started to sing...
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
A/N: He he he, till next time.
