“You really hate cherries, don’t you?” asked Jay, watching me as I picked at the tupperware of cherries Charlie sent me to rehearsal with.
“I don’t hate them, per se, I just don’t like the texture of the skin. And I don’t like how the pits are just...right in the middle. They interrupt the joy of eating a skinless cherry.”
“You’re so weird.”
“Awww thanks.”
I turned back to the sound board and fiddled with the knobs. I could put all the settings back, but it was fun to screw with them while I waited for the cast to finish warming up. When it came to straight plays like the one drama club was putting on, there wasn’t much for me to do. I mostly just observed. Sound manager seems like a pretty nice title, at least when it comes to high school theatre, but it just means that I work really hard when we put on musicals, and not at all during plays. It gets dull.
“What does that one do?” a hand reached around me and poked at a knob.
“Nothing. We haven’t assigned it to a track yet. We don’t need it.”
Tammy pushed up her glasses and peered at the board. She scribbled something on that obnoxious clipboard she always carried around. Tammy really annoyed me. She had been dubbed “sound technician,” a few weeks ago, a position that wasn’t at all necessary, but got the principal’s annoying daughter out of the way of the show. It also meant that I had a high-pitched voice squeaking over my shoulder at all times. Tammy was a petite girl. She wore big, round glasses, and had a halo of dark hair. She was pasty, and wore bright colors that made her pastiness all the more apparent. Her daily outfits consisted of brightly colored blouses with corduroy skirts and knee high socks (and occasionally, slacks and a tie). If her style wasn’t so bright, it would have been kind of cool. But because her smiley face socks were smiling the life out of me, I was forced to spend most of my energy trying not to strangle her.
“What about-”
“Shut up, Tammy.” Jay was mean to tammy so I didn’t have to be. I guessed Jay was my friend too. They had other things to attend to though. They had their friends, and lighting manager is so much more important than sound. I really looked up to them. They probably thought of me as their own little Tammy.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the final rehearsal before dress rehearsal of drama club’s production of ‘Me and my dancing shoes’!” Kelli stood on the stage with a megaphone. She was really into her megaphone. She said it made her feel “in control.” I didn’t know why she needed to announce everything thing like that. She was the stage manager, not the director. But it didn't affect me that much, cause I managed to avoid her most of the time.
Jay dimmed the lights on a cue from Ms. Reynolds, and I began the music. The lights went up, the music went down, and I settled in to watch the show.
-to be continued