The start of something good: Lights, Camera and Action!

The start of something good: Lights, Camera and Action!

Acting has been a passion for me for as long as I can remember. I love the warmth being emitted from the stage lights, the fresh pine scent of the hardwood floors, the smell of makeup still lingering in the air, the diversity of the actors and the whole jovial theme of the atmosphere. I absolutely adore the exhilarating rush that makes my heart pound and my palms sweaty every time I step onstage. Whenever I do, I make sure that I command everyone’s attention. All eyes are on me, searching my soul for any source of potential for this to be the best act in the history of Ridgeford High. I swallow hard and take a deep breath. Staring out at the expectant audience, I deliver my lines with a flawless edge, pronouncing each of my words down to the last “T”. I wait, listening for sounds of acclamation and cheers coming from the audience below, then smile and return to my place on center stage.

Hi, my name is Kim, Kimberly Ann Holloway. I’m a sophomore at Ridgeford High, formerly known as Hell on Earth, where the students are whores and the parents aren’t much better. Oh, by the way I forgot to mention, I’m a foster child.

“Hello? Kim! Wake up!” Chloe yelled at me from the top of her lungs like a drill sergeant.

I rose swiftly and cringed at the sound of my joints cracking. “Huh? What?” I murmured while rubbing the back of my neck.

“It’s time for lunch! Let’s go!”

I gathered my stuff while she marched towards the door. Before I was even done she was already standing in the frame.

“Can you move any slower?”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” I yelled back, hefting my book bag over my shoulders and walking towards her.

I trudged alongside of her and puffed away, my lungs threatening to give out.

She looked over at me with disapproving eyes.

“That’s it we’re starting you on a diet, Kim. You’ve got to lose some weight.”

I rolled my eyes and just walked on to my locker, proving to her that within about a minute and a half of walking, I could start wheezing.

Okay so by now you must have guessed that Chloe and I are really close friends. True. Back in seventh grade she was the shy kid with braces that no-one wanted to talk to and I was the fat kid that everyone poked fun at for being so. . . . .well fat. So as all fairytales go she lost the tin grin and I lost a whole bunch of weight and we both got super hot so now all the boys are dying for us. THE END. NOT!!! Let’s face it, life isn’t a fairytale so all the magic and fireworks went right up the author’s ass. My supposed pumpkin-turned-carriage never arrived and my so called “Prince Charming” told me to, and I quote “Go shove a Twinkie down your throat and leave me the hell alone, fatso!” I guess that’s what I get for asking him out. Such nerve. So anyway, we moved on to high school but Chloe never got rid of the braces and guess what? I’m still fat. I guess my fairytale ending was just never meant to be.

I leaned against my locker for a bit, trying to control my heart and breathing rates before I collapsed. I opened my locker and shoved all my books in.

“Soooo,” She hesitated. “Who are you planning to ask to Homecoming on Friday?”

I sighed and slammed my locker shut. My voice was laced with sarcasm. “Who do you think, Chloe? Does it look like I have much of an option?”

She frowned. “I was only trying to start a decent conversation, Kim. You don’t have to be such a bitch about it.”

“Shut up, Chloe.”

“Shuttin’ up, Kim.” She countered.

I slung my purse over my shoulder and walked off in a huff. I glanced over to see two wannabe hookers leaning against some lockers and talking to a football player like a couple of prostitutes. They were all over him like white on rice. Giggling and “Ooohing” and “Aaaahhhing” over his massive football player chest and touching him all over. They turned around to see me staring at them and sneered at me. I snapped out of it and turned away. Ewwww, its public display of mini skirts and overly lip glossed hoochies that disgust me so. Other than that, the boy was pretty hot to me.

Chloe grabbed my arm as we waded through the crowd of hungry, idle and somewhat agitated teenagers to get through to the lunch line. I passed the table full of jocks and behind me I heard graphic slurs and cries of “Hey lil mama! (whistle) Can I get some fries with that shake?” And other comments about my ass too graphic to mention on here. I turned around, my face blushing beet red only to see Aleyah Hudson with her friends only a few steps behind me.

“Oh,” I sighed to myself, my face returning to its normal color. “They were talking about Aleyah, not me.”

“What?” Chloe asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

She turned away and walked through the metal dividers. I followed suit. For normal sized people, this would be a fairly easy task but since I came “Hulk Sized” this activity proved a challenge for me.

I squeezed in between the bars and looked at the choices I had for lunch.

. . . . . .Mac ‘n’ cheese, chicken nuggets, curly fries, chocolate chip cookies.

“Well whaddya want?” A hoarse voice asked from behind the counter. I wrinkled my nose in disgust, not knowing whether it was the sight of three day old Mac ‘n’ cheese or the smell of stale cigarettes mixed with old people perfume that made me do so.

“I’ll take the Chicken nuggets with the curly fries and a chocolate chip cookie.”

Before I was even able to move someone from behind me made a super rude comment involving my weight.

“Hey fatass! Lunch doesn’t last forever ya’know! Move!!”

I turned around to see an anorexic looking bitch with a mean scowl planted firmly on her face.

I returned the favor, giving her a dose of the elevator eyes that screams “bitch back off! I’m a friggin’ psycho that will mess your ass up!”

“Bitch what is you lookin’ at?” She yelled even louder. “Take a fucking picture! It lasts longer!”

I turned around slowly and sighed. I hated it when people took my weight for a weakness. Targeting me just because I looked different from all the rest. In times like these I turned to food for comfort. It was like a vicious, cruel, continuous cycle. The more I ate, the more people made fun of me and then I ate more.

I walked on to the register and said, “Better make that two cookies.”

She rung up my order and handed me my tray.

I sat down directly across from Chloe and immediately she grabbed my extra cookie.

“Hey! That’s mine!” I grasped after it. She held her hand just an inch above my reach and before I could even get to jump and reach it, I felt two extremely warm hands wrap around my face and cover my eyes.

“Matthew, get your hands off of me.”

“Awww Kimmy what’s wrong?”

He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. Best of friends often did that so don’t get any ideas.

“She stole my extra cookie” I whined.

“Well I think she should. That’s about ten extra pounds you don’t need and they definitely won’t help you when it comes to soccer practice.”

“What soccer practice? I didn’t sign up for soccer.” I asked confusedly. “Wait, Matthew what did you do?” I said angrily, catching on to his ways.

“Oh nothing,” He replied airily then scooted over to Chloe’s side and far away from within my reach. “Just sign you up for soccer on Orientation day, that’s all”

“What?” I half yelled. “Matthew you didn’t!”

I searched his face for signs of a joke and saw none. He was actually serious. That son of a bitch!

SMACK!

“I’m sorry, Kim! God, you didn’t have to hit me so hard!”

“Ugghhhh!!!” I groaned. “I’ll have to speak with the coach tomorrow. If I try hard enough I might just excused and be able to join a new extracurricular activity.”

“Uuhhh, Kim? One teensy weensy flaw with your plan.”

“What?”

“You can’t opt out once you sign up, they made it school policy a year ago, remember?”

“WHAT???” I nearly choked on my milk.

SMACK!

“Okay, maybe I deserved that one but I was only trying to look out for you! All that fat will clog your arteries one day so I thought exercise was best for you.”

“You’re not my moth-,” I stopped in mid sentence, the tears just yearning to fall. I breathed in deeply and began again this time my voice was shaky and threatening to break. “You’re not my foster mom, Matt. You don’t know what’s best for me.” I turned away and tried hard not to sniffle or cry. Even to the best of my abilities, the tears still streamed from my eyes and I had to wipe them away.

I felt his arms wrap around me once more, this time embracing me in a passionate hug. Bear in mind that this is the closest I’ve ever come to having a boyfriend or even getting laid so I gladly accepted and closed my eyes. We rocked back and forth as one, him giving me soft kisses on my cheek and neck in an attempt to calm me down.

“Hey,” He whispered into my ear. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I was not in the correct place to decide what’s best for you. Forgive me?” His warm breath tickled my ear but I managed to suppress a giggle.

I nodded my head and he let go. As he left to go hang out with his other friends, I glanced over at Chloe. She just smirked, shook her head and proceeded to finish her Math homework.

Wait. . . . . .Math homework? Oh shit!

Later that day. . . . .

We filed into the doors of the auditorium one by one. The lights were dimmed and Mrs. Burbank was standing onstage today instead of in her usual seat. I sat in one of the plush audience chairs and waited for her class to officially begin.

“Silence children!” Her voice rang out like the tinkling of a thousand bells, delicate yet so loud that it has the power to quiet a room full of sophomores.

It was sixth hour, the best time of the day. Drama 101. I threw back my head and let my hair cascade down to its full length then pulled it up into a messy bun.

“It’s Drama time!” She screeched, loud outbursts of cheers erupting from the whole class. I smiled to myself. Even though Chloe wasn’t here, Drama 101 was one of the best and most interesting classes for me. I actually paid attention in here. . . . . .sometimes.

Everyone got silent after a time and she proceeded to begin her announcements.

“Today I plan to do facial expressions. No need for a notebook, you will have partners to work with. We’ll do a bit of mirroring for the next few weeks and then we’ll move on to the 9th chapter in the textbook: Staying in Character even when Someone Else is Out of Line. Also ensure that you practice your ‘normal face’ in the mirror from now on because some of you need to touch up on that. Essays are due next week, remember that. No classes this Saturday, the Band will be performing at a charity event held here. You can buy tickets at the door for five dollars each. Also be on your toes today, some sponsors are visiting and so we want them to realize that they are funding excellence, not slacker-,” She stopped suddenly as the sounds of a riot penetrated the Auditorium’s two steel doors.

“Be right back” She stated nervously and rushed outside to help contain the fight.

The auditorium doors briefly opened to display another race riot occurring outside. See, at Ridgeford, race riots weren’t that uncommon. Because of the school’s diversity, students often split up into cliques of their own kind. Anything really, no matter how small or insignificant, could start a race riot. That’s just the way things are here. The status quo. I could hear people from inside the auditorium rush to the doors and begin making comments on the bloody battle raging on outside.

One commenter openly sided with the person fighting that was of his kind. Another commenter, however openly disagreed and proceeded to insult the first commenter.

Oh no. I sighed and started trying to grab my things before it was too late. I was halfway done with gathering my stuff before I heard punches being thrown around to the back of me.

I turned around to see Nick on top of Joe and leaving bruises with his knuckles. It was a gruesome sight. I heard people cheering them on while others tried to get away from it all.

I guess Mrs. Burbank was right. It is drama time.