Page 63 of Bring me Back

“What’s the flowers for?”

“That’s for Titania’s dress.” I smiled a little, remembering it was Daniel who helped me burn the edges.

Carmen reached for the flowers. “That’s so beautiful, Ms. Delos Santos!”

“Hallie, please.” I couldn’t deal with people calling me Ms. Delos Santos. I was literally five years older than them.

“What’s this for?” Nova was a curious one. I usually tried my best to escape talking with people, but I loved talking about costumes.

“That’s the material for Puck’s horns.” I looped the material to give the shape of a horn. “I think it will look good for Oberon as well.”

One by one, they all approached, asking what my plans were for each character, demanding to see my drawings and gasping in awe when I showed them. Titania’s fairies, played by Olivia, Emma and Sophia, couldn’t handle themselves when I showed them the soft material I was going to use for their wings.

Glitter, glue, wire and ingenuity. I loved that part of the creation and it warmed my heart they liked it too. By the time we had to go to breakfast, all of them were sitting around me, and the only one unpacking was Delilah.

“Helen… hm… can you be more specific than that?”

I bit my lips into my mouth, trying to hold myself not to burst into a laugh. Our time with Pandora wasn’t until the end of the afternoon. The kids were nervous and jumpy after breakfast when Dan guided us all to the second theater between cabins one and three. It was pretty much a reformed barn, but perfect for rehearsal.

But Daniel and I understood very little of what was needed for a rehearsal.

After breakfast, I went back to the cabin just to get a few things to trace Puck’s horns while the kids practiced, but now I felt guilty because I needed to be a bigger participant in all this. Daniel called Mrs. Carr for advice, but whatever she was saying had him rubbing his own face so hard I would think he was trying to peel the skin off.

“I understand…” he said over the phone while all the kids and I watched him like hawks. “That’s a feeling though, not a direction so you see…” a little pause and he nodded, squeezing his eyes tight. “Ok, thank you Helen. You give Oscar my best.”

Knowing well that the phone call did not help in the slightest, I left my materials at the table by the side and joined him at the front.

It turned out Nova took pity on him, too.

“Mr. Miller?” she asked tentatively.

“Yes?”

She flicked through the pages of a worn script. “We were having problems with Act 3. Maybe we should go from there so you can have a look?”

Daniel’s shoulders sagged in relief. “That sounds great, Nova, thanks.”

She nodded, but besides Nova, Carmen was the only one getting into position, taking the script in her hands. The rest of the kids remained unblinking, waiting for Daniel’s next instruction.

I cleared my throat, and he looked at me straight away. I arched an eyebrow, nodding to the kids waiting. That was enough to spring him to life.

“Yes, of course. Let’s start with Scene 1, Act 3. Er… From the top?”

I held myself not to laugh. He was really trying. I circled around the chairs and sat beside Daniel just in time for Nova to hand us scripts. She was definitely way more prepared than we were.

“Are we all met?”the kids started.

It took me a second to watch them and understand what the problem was. Since it was decided to have them in the competition, the rehearsals became about knowing the lines by heart. It was a mechanical work for a while, I remembered that made Mrs. Carr very unhappy.

The people who started the act set a pace, but Act 3 specifically was led by the people with the least lines, which meant they spent less time with the group.

Of awkwardness, I knew a lot, and that was the problem. Their lines were delivered with an apology. They barely trusted the words coming out of their mouths. Eventually, the scenes picked up pace, when Carmen arrived, but was still wooden.

They finished the act and Daniel looked utterly lost.

“How about you guys go for a drink of water or…” I shrugged, not used to addressing a room full of people. “While Daniel and I have a talk?”

Everyone nodded, their faces sad and downcast. I felt bad. They couldn’t come all the way from Bluehaven to suck. We needed to do more for them, like Mrs. Carr would do. But copying her ways wasn’t going to work. Daniel was a completely different kind of teacher, and for him to be confident to lead, we had to find his way.

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