“And, the clock starts now!”
It was 8:00 PM. The game show was playing on the small TV I could afford in my apartment. I normally enjoyed watching that game, but I had more important things to do. I looked back at my script. I had until tomorrow, 2:30 PM, to memorize everything; words, movements, accents, and acting. I was performing a dramatic interpretation - the ones where you see the performer stomping and screaming, tears rolling down their face. I was normally good at these, but I had held this off for a very long time.
My phone buzzed. It was Theo.
Theodore Stone, nineteen years old (same as me), smart as a whip, criminal justice and psychology degree, and my friend since ninth grade. And, of course, he was making sure that I had my script memorized. I replied.
I WILL IF U STOP BOTHERING ME ABOUT IT.
The three dots popped up on my screen, undulating as Theo typed a response.
U BETTER GET IT DONE… U KNOW HOW STRICT THEY ARE.
Theo was right. They are really strict. If I didn’t make it, well, it might end my time at college.
I turned off my phone. I was going to get this memorized. And when I get on the train tomorrow, I will be as prepared as I can be...
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“So, are you ready?”
I was on the above-ground metro (the AGB), looking at the tall buildings pass by in blurs of white, green and gray. I turned and looked at Theo.
“Yeah,” I said. “Yeah, I’m pretty confident about this.”
Theo had decided to go with me to the audition, having read something about receiving news better with another person there; I’m not entirely sure about that.
“Yeah.” Theo said. “I’m sure that you’ll do fine.”
Theo was one of those people that, if you took one glance at him, you would know automatically that he was a very smart person. But what some people didn’t know was that he had brought himself up by himself. He and his family had started out with no money, and when Theo was twelve, he started working, and he was able to pay for a dual-major at McCarter University, and got his parents a beach house in Malibu.
I returned my attention to my window. I thought about how the metro works, using the motor or the engine or whatever to make it move on the rails. I was never good at math or engineering. I feel like it hurt my parents more than it hurt me.
I suppose that that was also a reason for why I was so stressed about this audition. I needed to show my parents that I’m not a total failure.
I focused my eyes on my reflection in the window. My eyebrows were furrowed together, my lips curved into a small frown. My hazelnut hair framed my face.
“Um, excuse me?” Me and Theo turned. Somebody was talking to us, with a long white coat and her curly hair was tied into a bun. “Hi, I’m Ashlyn, I was wondering if you’ve seen this cat?” She showed us a picture of a charcoal-colored cat on her phone. “I live near 3rd and Main, if you guys live near that area, have you seen her?”
I shook my head. “No, sorry.”
Ashlyn nodded. “Okay, thanks anyway.”
Theo nodded. “We’ll keep looking.”
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Ashlyn went and sat back down. I took out my phone, plugged in my earbuds, and turned on my music.
A loud screech of something that sounded like microphone feedback caused me to pause my music. “What was that?”
Theo shrugged.
I stood up, and saw near the front of our carriage, a guy with a microphone and a guitar in his hands. It was Keoni Kelekolio. He had a small microphone that hung next to his cheek; it looked a lot like the microphone that someone would find on a set of headphones.
Chris looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t.
Chris (Keoni) was kind of odd. He seemed to think that it was okay to perform on the metro. I don’t know.
Chris started to play. If I was him, I would have practiced more before playing in public. I resumed my music.
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After a while, it was around 1:55 PM, and the speaker turned on in the train. “Hello everyone, just to let everyone know, we will be heading to our last stop in around five minutes.”
I felt a bump of turbulence. Was there turbulence on the metro? Whatever, it’s fine. I grabbed my backpack from under my feet. I slipped my phone into my sweatshirt pocket. I ran my fingers through my hair nervously. Everything was going to be fine, right?
I heard a scream near the front. I was near the top of the train. Theo and I exchanged glances, he got up. I saw his eyes widen, and he sat back down. Curious, I tried to get up. He tried to stop me.
“No- “ He said. “You should just stay sitting down.”
“My daughter!” Somebody had lost their daughter?
“Move.” I pushed Theo out of the way. The front of the train was a mix of gray and brown sediments. They were circulating in a hypnotizing way. I stood still, frozen. The dust was coming down near me and Theo, and everything went black.
My theater was pretty small, one stage in the shape of a semicircle facing the seats. My dressing room had one mirror, I was already planning on putting some pictures up on the wall.
I was currently at the manager's office, and somebody came in and started talking…
“In 30 minutes, we will be bringing in artist and songwriter Betty Price! Stay tuned, and we’ll be back after a short commercial break.”
I stirred. That wasn’t real. I was imagining what could happen when they approve my audition. If they do.
Hold on a second. This situation, sitting at my small desk, these thoughts, thinking about my audition, they all seem familiar. I checked my phone. Friday, 9:01 PM.
I set down my phone. What? The train. It- it was a little after noon. On Saturday. Had I gone back in time?
I tore a piece of paper out of my notebook. I jotted down what I remembered from Saturday:
1. Theo
2. Ashlyn (?) Nash
1. Missing cat
3. Keoni
1. Playing music
4. Theo got nervous?
1. Somebody lost their daughter
2. Sediments; dust, gravel, sand
I thought for a second about the sediments. My first thought went to me having a dream, but that couldn’t be possible, could it? I remembered way too much about what had happened then. Granted, I do have a fairly good memory. But this felt different. It felt real. Thinking about the swirling dust, I started to shiver.
Okay, I checked my music history. I was listening to an R&B playlist Saturday morning. It wasn’t in my history. This- this is fine. I checked my text messages. My latest one was from Theo, an hour before.
All right, I thought. I just need to rest a little bit. When I wake up tomorrow, everything will be fine.