Chapter 11 #2
Tarun arrives next, eyes wide.
‘Bit bigger than where you performed Les Mis?’ I ask as he takes in the vast auditorium.
‘Just a bit. There are so many seats. Did it feel this big last year when the audience were in?’
I shake my head. ‘Once the lights are down and they’re all sat there, waiting to watch you, there’s just you and the other folks on stage. You’re sharing the performance with your castmates. The audience is like an anonymous wall of positive energy coming back to you.’
‘So, you weren’t scared at all?’
‘I mean, I was a little in my head because of Oisín, but I felt supported. If I fell, someone would catch me. That’s the best part of being in a company: whatever squabbles you had, you’re bonded. You’re a family.’
‘Yeah, but … that’s a whole lot of eyes to watch you fall…’
He’s panicking. His shoulders are trembling and his breathing’s heavy. I want to grab his hand, give him the comfort and care he gave me last night, but I don’t think he’d want that. Not so publicly with other contestants trickling onto stage.188
‘It’s gonna be okay, I promise you. I’m here for you.’
He looks up at me, his deep brown eyes glistening under the stage lights. ‘I know you are. You make this all seem doable.’
‘It is. You’re…’
I’m about to say ‘amazing’, but I’m cut off by Jas and Gabby running out onto stage and screaming, ‘OH MY GOD!’
They start to sing the opening number of Legally Blonde, Gabby belting out a ridiculous top harmony as they run around the empty stage.
‘Are you not meant to be saving your voice?’ I ask them, laughing along with Tarun at the display.
‘Gabby doesn’t have to preserve. Her voice is made of fucking steel!’ says Jas, with only the slightest tinge of resentment.
‘Gabrielle’s voice is not infallible,’ says Marty, crossing from the wings to the stage, ‘and she shouldn’t be screaming top harmony lines if she wants to sound her best tomorrow.’
‘We’re just excited. Sorry,’ says Gabby. I’ve never seen her be anything other than the consummate professional, but she’s sassing Marty for sure. He bats away her apology, considering the matter resolved and we’re joined by more and more finalists.
Jas approaches me, worried the rake of the stage will 189affect our lifts in the opening. Lots of the younger, first-time competitors are asking about how things were last year, hoping for their nerves to be calmed.
Oisín, who’s been quiet all morning, stands away from the crowds, loitering on the edge of the wings. His face looks like one of the cats not chosen to go to the Heavyside Layer when he sees Tarun and I standing together.
‘He looks absolutely delighted to be here,’ Zeb whispers to us both, coming back to join us.
Tarun cautiously looks around. ‘I need to say something to him, don’t I?’
‘Only if you’re ready to…’ I say, and Tarun nods.
‘Let’s get him over,’ Zeb says before turning and waving over the crowd, subtle as ever. ‘Yoo hoo! Oisin? Shall we chat?’
Oisín throws his head back before striding to join us, ready for a confrontation.
Tarun
‘What are you doing?’ Oisín snaps, before huffing and looking at me. ‘Why did you not come back last night?’
‘Zeb filled me in on what actually happened last year,’ I say, trying to keep my voice steady. ‘He told me about you stealing Olly’s shirt and making his life hell.’190
Oisín sighs, looking to Olly and Zeb. ‘Are you never going to get over that?’
‘No, probably not,’ Olly says as he folds his arms, standing strong. ‘Especially now you’ve tried to get in Tarun’s head as well. It was the most mortifying experience of my life.’
Oisín snickers, and I fume. ‘Why are you laughing?’
‘Because … because it was funny, okay! Olly waddling around backstage topless, trying so hard to come on stage and sing but knowing he couldn’t.’
‘You’re a prick. And I guess you thought it’d be funny to tell everyone he made a move on you last year as well then?’ I ask.
‘I had to get in first and discredit anything he had to say about me in case he went blabbing about the shirt incident!’
Zeb and Olly glare at him, and I can’t believe they’ve been as polite to him as they have all week. I narrow my eyes at the slimebag. ‘Maybe we should go blabbing.’
‘I know you think you have some moral high ground over me,’ Oisín says, his voice getting higher, clearly not keen on us reporting him. ‘Are you really going to tell Sabrina?’
I turn to Olly; he’s the one who’s been most affected by Oisín’s actions. ‘If we report everything you’ve done and they kick you out, your absence might muck up the whole 191show,’ he says. ‘People have lifts and harmonies that rely on you.’
‘That’s fucking decent of you, Ol,’ Zeb says.
‘So, you’ll keep everything between us?’ Oisín asks, agitated.
‘If we do, the drama stops. Your apology to Olly yesterday clearly wasn’t worth much,’ I add.
‘I left our date feeling like an eejit, but I’m glad you showed your hand.
I got to see what you’re really like and only have to regret our one make-out session.
I thought you were the perfect Marius, but you’re not.
You’re worse than fecking Thénardier! So, try anything with anyone else, and we’ll make sure Sabrina knows what you’ve done. Okay?’
He puts his hands up in begrudging mock surrender. ‘Alright, alright.’
‘Attention cast! Let’s gather round,’ calls out our new Deputy Stage Manager, Lauren.
Who she’s deputy to has not been made clear to me, but she’s definitely senior to Nate, whose upstage sweeping the floor at her bidding.
She and a gruff, beardy man who works at the theatre, talk us through the health and safety stuff.
They make a massive deal about us not touching any of the equipment backstage that we’re not meant to and they walk us round to the quick-change areas that have been set up in the wings for costume changes during the final.
‘I’m going to be economical with our time this 192afternoon, so I can release you as early as possible,’ Elaine says, commanding the stage. ‘I want you all to have a relaxing evening ahead of tomorrow, provided we get through the tech things we need to achieve this afternoon.’
We run ‘You Can’t Stop the Beat’ and ‘You Will Be Found’ over and over again.
The lights flash in different configurations each time we perform, until they become intentional and less manic.
We hold the final position of ‘You Will Be Found’ for what must be the thousandth time, Elaine having set us to finish on levels.
I’m crouched down, Hugo has Zeb in a piggyback, and Ella and Olly are holding their arms up high in the air.
Their limbs seem to get heavier with every second we wait for our next order.
‘Sabrina, you can release the finalists! I’m done with them for the day,’ booms Elaine, her voice amplified by a microphone from her position at the back of the dark auditorium.
‘It’s gone four o’clock. I’m letting you roam the streets of London for the next few hours by yourselves,’ Sabrina says with her strict face on.
‘Make sure you’re at least in a pair, and I’ve been given permission by Elaine to pull anyone from the competition who’s not back at the hotel by nine. Understood?’
Nobody risks saying anything to the contrary. Five hours to kill in London. Ella and Andrew are talking about going to the V&A, which I’ve been to loads of times 193with Nani who lives in South London, but I guess I’ll tag along with them.
‘Don’t suppose you fancy hanging out with me?’ Olly asks, coming over as I pick up my jacket from the wings.
‘Where are you and Zeb going? Ella and Andrew want to go to the V&A, and I’d prefer to do something I’ve not done loads of times before.’
‘Zeb wants to go to some nerdy exhibit on LED lights at the Science Museum with Nate, and Gabby and Jas are getting their nails done for the final.’
‘So, it’d just be the two of us?’
‘Would that be okay?’ he asks, his big arm scratching the back of his neck. ‘I can show you some of my favourite theatre spots.’
Olly’s mystery tour sounds like a better option than anything else suggested. ‘Alright let’s do it. I can show you some places too, if you fancy it?’
Olly grins, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. ‘For sure I do. Let’s go on a London adventure!’