Chapter 7 - Showtime

Alex

“That answer is...correct! And with that, Summerview Middle advances to the state stage!”

Alex whipped her head to ther other mathlete partners; Natalie, Adesh, and Jack. She couldn’t believe that they placed high enough to advance. The team was a bit shaky, largely in part of Alex being a new member. But they got second place in the tournament, meaning they were going to face down even more schools in the coming weeks. Part of that scared her. Was she going to be the weakest link again?

But then the team all huddled around each other in victory, and Alex never felt more excited. Adesh, Jack, and Natalie didn’t care what she looked like at all, just her smarts. And she had that in spades.

Alex glanced at the clock - it was 8pm. If she convince her mom to drive her straight to Summerview Middle, she could catch the last couple numbers of Dear Edwina. The show was fantastic, and Alex loved playing Edwina. But she realized that Bethany loved it so much more. While Alex was always aware of herself even when she was performing, always in her head, bethany seemed released from all her insecurities when she sung. It was like Bethany became a different version of herself, one full of confidence.

The only time that all those thoughts about her acne or her friends faded away was when she was solving a math problem. Alex realized that she wasn’t the type of person that needed the attention on her all the time. Being friends with Maddie made her think she needed all eyes on her to feel important and worthwhile. But she was beginning to realize that wasn’t the case. She needed to feel good about herself first. Being in mathletes made Alex feel that way, even if the cool kids she was friends with just a couple months ago thought it was lame. Alex knew better.

After celebrating with her teammates, Alex  ran over to her mother, who swept her in a hug.

“I had no idea that you were so smart! When did you become so intelligent? I’m so proud of you!”

It was exactly what Alex needed to hear. Alex could have made a jab at her mom, saying she got smart while her mom wasn’t paying attention, but Alex just didn’t feel like it. What good would that do? It would just make her feel bad, and she didn’t want to dull this moment.

Instead, Alex relished in making her mom proud. Her mom worked so hard, and it was great to finally get her undivided attention. She didn’t need to have the coolest friends, the best clothes, or be the center of the stage. She just needed to be herself, and her mom was proud.

Alex asked her mom if they could stop by the auditorium at the middle school, and her mom said yes, with no questions. 

Taysha

    Taysha was looking around the auditorium, getting everything ready for the night’s final performance. She could feel the excitement - and anxiety - in the air. The cast and crew had worked their butts off, and now it was all coming to an end. This was everyone’s last chance to get their jobs perfect, and Taysha was one of the many people who wanted to be completely successful. And a part of that was finding your leading lady.

    Bethany was nowhere to be found. Taysha checked the aisles, backstage, the stage, the halls - everywhere. But Bethany just disappeared.

    Taysha knew that Bethany was nervous. Throughout the week she’d start to nervously tap her legs or pick at her nails. While it might have been everyone’s last chance to get it right, it was Bethany’s first and last.

    Taysha was about to head over to Ms. Cortez to tell her the issue when she realized she didn’t check the most obvious place: the bathroom.

    Taysha walked into the bathroom by the auditorium, and immediately was reminded why she never used the stalls. It’s not like they were any dirtier than the other ones - though that’ s not saying much - but the stalls were cramped and there was a definite smell of mold. But it also made for the perfect hiding place - no one would go in there willingly unless they wanted to be alone. And that’s exactly what Bethany wants. To be alone, Taysha thought.

    As Taysha entered the bathroom, she called out in a soft voice, as if Bethany was a bear and she didn’t want to startle it, “Bethany? Are you in here?”

    Taysha didn’t hear anything, but when she looked down through the stalls, she saw Bethany’s signature shoes - sparkly converses - on the ground in one of the stalls.

    Taysha strode over, trying to act like Bethany’s stage fright, anxiety, whatever was happening, really was not a big deal, when really it was the biggest of deals. How were they going to do Dear Edwina without, well, Edwina?

    Taysha tried to calm her growing nerves and instead focus on Bethany. Bethany, her friend. Bethany, who probably needed a rousing speech of some kind. Taysha knew that Ms. Cortez was the one for rousing speeches, as she’d amped up the cast and crew every night thus far, but Taysha didn’t think bringing a teacher into the bathrooms would calm Bethany down at all. It’d probably just be another reminder that people were counting on her.

    So instead, Taysha walked up to the occupied stall and knocked. “Bethany?” she called again, “Do you want to talk about it?”

    Adn this time she got an answer, “Not really.”

    Taysha knew how Betany was feeling. Sometimes when she had a bad day at school, the last thing she wanted to do was talk it out with her mom and dad. But she did know what made her feel better: her parents just sitting by her, not asking any questions.

So Taysha did the same. She sat down on the floor, and placed her feet where Bethany could see them, and said, “Okay. Well, I’m here until you need me.”  

Bethany

    Right before showtime, Bethany was a mess. Sure, she’d been practicing weeks for this moment. But now that it was almost there? She felt like she was going to pee her pants and die of happiness at the same time.

    And what would people think of her as Edwina? The past week, everyone got used to Alex being Eddwina, that’s what they were expecting. Were they going to be disappointed that it was just Bethany? Understudy? As in “good, but not great, didn’t get the lead for a reason?” She was freaking out.

    And so Bethany went back into the bathroom stall, just like she did all those weeks ago when she got that bad grade on the math quiz.

    Bethany didn’t know how much time had passed by the time Taysha sat down on the other side of the stall. But she did know that she was grateful Taysha didn’t make her talk. Even though she knew Taysha would just listen, Bethany didn’t want to talk, she just wanted to calm down. And Taysha silently sitting with her made her calm. She wasn’t feeling great, but she was feeling better.

    ---

    Bethany stared at the curtains. Any moment, they would open, and she would become Edwina. Bethany kept reminding herself: she wasn’t second-best. She was the first choice, and if her Edwina wasn’t like Alex’s, so what? It’s not like the audience had gone to every show and would pinpoint all the differences.

    Bethany looked stage left, to see Taysha giving her a thumbs up and Ms. Cortez standing behind her, giving Bethany a nod.

    And as the curtains opened, all of Bethany’s worries flew away. Because she wasn’t Bethany at all. She was Edwina.

---

It was only during the finale of Dear Edwina that Bethany started becoming more self aware. She had no clue how the play went: it was all a rush and Bethany didn’t remember any of it. As the song ended, she started looking through the crowd.

She eyes snagged on motion in the aisle. Was that...Alex?

Bethany couldn’t believe Alex was there, and at first she was worried that Alex regretted her decision to join mathletes. But as Bethany continued to look at Alex, their eyes met. And Alex gave two exuberant thumbs up. With that simple gesture, Bethany knew that Alex didn’t regret anything, and that her new friend was supporting her.

Bethany smiled through her singing, and looked at the rest of the audience. And there was her dad, sitting in the center of the audience. As she caught his eyes, she was shocked to see that his eyes were misty. Was he...crying? Her dad was always an affectionate person, always telling Bethany that he loved her and patting her hair, messing it all up. But she couldn’t remember the last time that she saw her father crying. The idea that she made her dad proud filled her up, and she finished out the song with all her castmates.

But it wasn’t until the cast started bowing and the audience was clapping that Bethany finally realized that the play wasn’t just good: it was great. And people seemed to have loved it. As Bethany walked up center stage by herself and bowed, the crowd wooed. Alex yelled, “Go Bethany!!” in a shrill voice that cut through all the cheers, making all eyes turn to Alex for a split second as their attention divided. But then the eyes were on her again, and Bethany wasn’t freaked out about what other people were thinking of her. Because it didn’t matter at all. What mattered was how she felt, and Bethany had never felt better.

Bethany bowed alone one last time to the standing ovation, and joined the rest of the cast and bowed again before the curtains closed. Bethany had never felt more proud, more confident, more accomplished.