Chapter 13

I awoke with a start to find that the sun was above the horizon already. I put on my slippers and went to the bathroom. After washing my face and hands, I walked downstairs and joined the rest of the family. Mom gave me a cup of tea and one of my antibiotic capsules. She had made salsa-eggs for breakfast, and she dished up a portion up for me after she had toasted two pieces of bread. I ate while they talked. The paper had arrived already, and a large ad, with a picture of me in costume, proclaimed the extension of the play for another week. It said that the box office would be open for ticket sales each day from noon to 2 o’clock until all performances were sold out. Mr. Tucker had wasted no time in getting the ad into the paper. The additional ticket sales would represent a substantial boon to the theatre’s bank account with little additional expense.

After breakfast, Carol and I cleaned the kitchen before going upstairs to bathe and dress. We did our nails together, then our makeup and hair. Heather and Sheri were coming over at 10 o’clock, and we were all going to go to the grand opening of a new ‘super arcade and miniature golf course’. We were ready when they arrived at our house. Carol and I grabbed our purses and hurried out to the car. In twenty minutes we had parked and infused ourselves into the crowd outside of the arcade. We met a number of other teens that we knew. I had been meeting a lot of teens since that first party on July 4^th, so I was being accepted into ever widening circle of friends.

When the ribbon cutting ceremony was over, teens rushed into the arcade. Games were free until noon, and half price for the rest of the day. Token attendants walked around feeding tokens into games for anyone who requested it. Our little group managed to monopolize one of the machines and rotated among ourselves as each person’s game ended.

By noon, we had tired of standing around while one person played so we went outside to the miniature golf range. After a twenty-minute wait, we were rewarded with putters, golf balls, and a score card and pencil. We laughed at our lack of skill as we moved from hole to hole. At hole # 7, you had to hit the ball through a hole in a ‘Dutch Windmill’. The windmill’s wooden blades spun around blocking the hole every few seconds. If the ball hit a blade, it either stopped, or got knocked back away. We all made it through within three tries except Sheri. Poor Sheri had the aberrant timing down perfectly and hit one of the blades every time. We stopped counting after ten, but she must have tried twenty times before making it through. She just giggled and walked up to retrieve her ball after every attempt. When she finally made it through, we all cheered and laughed. When we had finished at the 9^th hole, we went to the snack bar and each got a hot pretzel. As we sat at a table, several boys from school asked if they could join us.

Heather immediately said, "Sure", and made the introductions since I was supposed to be from out of town. The three boys pulled chairs from other tables and sat down. Perry, Wil, and Ken kept looking at me, even when in conversation with one of the other girls. I had become used to people staring at me because of my association with the play, but since I knew them from school, I began to wonder if they recognized me from my former self. Heather had introduced me as Crystal, but no mention of the play had been made. As we continued to talk, I learned that I was just being paranoid.

After several minutes, Perry had said, "Crystal, you’re even prettier in person than in your pictures."

I said, "Thank you. Did you guys get to play any free games in the arcade?"

"No, that was over with when we got here. We did buy a bunch of tokens at half price though. And some of the new games are really ‘phat’."

"Did you play the new ‘Death to Star Mercenaries’?"

"Oh, yeeaah, it’s great. Too bad it takes four tokens per player. You run out of tokens real quick."

Heather said, "Like, that game is so great. Maybe we could play sometime?"

Perry said, "How about now. The tokens are still half price."

Having finished our pretzels, we went back to the arcade and got in line for the game. Perry, Heather, Wil, and Sheri played while the rest of us watched. Perry was really good, and Wil was pretty good. Heather and Sheri mostly just giggled their way through the game and failed to score very many points. Having watched them play earlier, I knew that their skill rivaled that of Wil at the very least. When their game was game was over, the rest of us played a game. Perry played as the fourth player. I mimicked Sherri and Heather by not playing up to my capability in order to let Ken and Perry look good. Carol and I made a big show of playing though. We giggled and laughed at our ineptitude at the controls. And when the game was over, we couldn’t do anything except laugh about our scores. We did have fun though, and the boys felt good at having trounced the women.

We stayed at the arcade until 4:30. After thanking the boys for the games, Heather drove us home. Mom and Aunt Jessica were just getting home when we arrived, and we all worked together to prepare dinner. After we had eaten, I got ready to go out with Debbie.

Debbie always liked me to dress real sexy, so I put on the tight black mini-skirt, and the peasant blouse that I had worn on our first date. Black 4-inch heels completed the look that I was trying to achieve. I touched up my makeup and put on fresh lipstick. Then I went downstairs and sat in the kitchen until I heard Debbie’s horn. I said goodnight to everybody, and Mom told me to be home by midnight. Grabbing my purse, I hurried out to Debbie’s car. We kissed as I got in and she told me how hot I looked.

We drove around town for a while looking for something to do. There wasn’t much happening on a Tuesday night. I didn’t feel like going to the Mall or the arcade again. We finally decided to go for a walk in the park. Two hours later we were ensconced on the couch at her Gram’s old house again. This was far more comfortable than driving up to Lookout Point. The peppermint schnapps warmed our insides as we attended to warming our outsides.

After one particularly long kiss, Debbie said, "Crystal, does it bother you that I am older?"

"No. You only turned seventeen a few months ago, and I’ll be sixteen next month. Does it bother you."

"Of course not. I just wish that we could kiss in public like boys and girls do."

"If you want to kiss in public, then you’ll have to dress like a boy because I certainly can’t."

"Are you saying that you wouldn’t mind if I wore guy’s clothing on a date?"

I said smiling, "Of course not. At least not while I’m dressed like this."

 

"Then we could kiss in public."

"Nobody would question it in the least."

"Deal."

I said, "What?"

"I said it’s a deal. Next time we go out, I’ll wear guy’s clothes and make myself look like a guy. And you’ll be my babe."

I laughed and said, "Okay. I’ll look forward to seeing that. Do you remember the first time that you saw me like this?"

"Of course. I’ll never forget it. I got so hot looking at you that I had trouble keeping my mind on my acting. But that wasn’t half as bad as the second time. I wanted to jump you right in that restaurant powder room. The only thing that saved you was the fact that my folks were waiting for me."

I said, "I see that I’ll have to be more careful around you. You’re a sex fiend just like all men."

"Quiet, wench. I want a kiss." Debbie pulled me close in another long embrace."

I was home by midnight as Mom had told me. I had fixed my makeup and lipstick before coming home so that no one would suspect that Debbie and I had had any intimate contact. Carol heard me come in and helped me to get ready for bed. I had no trouble falling asleep at all. I was exhausted.

I slept later than normal again the next morning. Everyone was up when I arrived downstairs, but they hadn’t eaten yet. Mom asked me if I had had a good time last night and I said yes. I told her that Debbie and I had become good friends since working on the play together.

After we ate, we sat around and talked over a cup of tea. Carol went out to the front yard and retrieved the paper. She came shrieking back into the kitchen and spread it out on the table. Barrett’s Department Store had placed an ad, which covered the entire centerfold of the paper. On one side was one of the publicity shots from the theatre. It was a picture of me in costume. The other side was an announcement that I would be available to meet people and sign autographs in the store on Saturday, from 1 o’clock to 3 o’clock. Each of the first 500 people to request my autograph would receive an entry in a drawing where 10 lucky winners would receive 2 free tickets to the Sunday matinee performance on the last day of the play. No purchase was necessary; they just had to be one of the first 500 to ask for my signature. The ad said that the store would open an hour early to allow autograph seekers to begin queuing up. A number of other details were included such as availability of photos from the theatre, and free theatre programs. I began to wonder if this was going to be the easy two hours that I had anticipated.

Mom and Aunt Jessica didn’t make any comment at first. They just reread the ad and looked at one another. I sat quietly with my own thoughts. Only Carol was bubbling with comments about the event.

Mom said, "Well, there’s little doubt about the genuineness of Mr. Greening’s offer. I guess that you should be ready at 12:30 on Saturday as planned. I think that we'll all accompany you to the signing."

Aunt Jessica said, "You’re bound to have a lot of autograph seekers now. If for no other reason then the chance of winning free tickets. At only one in fifty odds, some people will wait for hours to get into a free contest like that."

I said, "I wonder if they expect me to pick the winners."

Mom said, "At the very least, they will probably want you to pose for pictures with the lucky winners. Better be prepared for that."

I said, "Well, it’s good publicity for the play. They may be able to sell out the last weekend with all this free press."

Mom said, "They probably would have done that anyway. They may want to continue for an additional weekend now."

"You think that they’ll want to extend it again?"

"I’d be prepared for that possibility if I were you."

"What should I do?"

"We’ll support whatever decision you make, dear."

Of course this was all idle speculation at this point. The other actors had lives also and I didn’t think that anybody wanted the play to go on forever. Did they?

I put the Saturday event out of my mind for now. After breakfast, Carol and I got ready to go over to Heather’s house. Heather only lived two blocks away, so we walked. Without my asking, Mom had allowed me to wear a pair of Carol’s jeans, and a pair of sandals. She said that my identity was secure enough to allow this now, but only for informal occasions. I imagined that this was the way that a prisoner feels upon their release from prison. I was still wearing the corset, of course. But my waist had been constricted to the desired shape for so long that it no longer pained me. I was at 21" and Carol didn’t tighten it down as much once we had learned that it was causing my waist to be reduced further. At times, I forgot that I had it on. I could even bend a bit now that my body had become totally used to wearing it. The jeans had been difficult to get over the padded panty girdle, and then zip up, but they were wonderful compared to wearing a tight skirt or dress. My ample chest strained at the blouse that Carol had picked out. But I strained at every blouse that she owned.

As we reached Heather’s house, I told Carol that my legs hurt. She said that my muscles had probably become accustomed to walking in heels and that it would take a while for them to stretch out so that I would be comfortable walking in flats again.

Heather screamed in excitement when she saw us at the door. They had found the ad in the paper just before we arrived. Sheri heard her and came out screaming also. They were both jumping up and down and trying to talk at the same time. Carol caught the fever and joined them. I guess that I just wasn’t as excited by the news. So I stood back and watched. When they finally calmed down we went inside.

We spent the next two hours in Heather’s bedroom while she decided what she was going to wear to the signing session. At some point it appeared to have changed from a Saturday afternoon job, to the social event of the year. I had already begun to regret agreeing to do it after I had seen the ad. But I was committed to the event, and I would have to make the best of it.

After Heather had decided on an outfit, she wanted Carol to help her change her hairstyle. We spent a lot of time working on our hair and critiquing the efforts. The main criticism of my hair is that it was too short. There was nothing that I could do about that though. It takes time to grow.

As we spent the afternoon dealing with the issues of personal appearance, we talked about everything that we had to deal with in our daily lives. We talked about shopping, stores, clothes, friends, school, boys, cosmetics, jewelry, nail care, dating, dieting, cosmetics, and, of course, friends. After working with our hair, we had moved on to changing our nail color, both fingers and toes, and then played with cosmetics. I passed on some of the things that I had learned from Marge, and spent a lot of time explaining about stage makeup.

Carol and I returned home about 5 o’clock. Mom and Aunt Jessica were not at home, so we began preparing dinner. They arrived home just as we put the chicken in the oven. They had been grocery shopping, and we all helped to carry the groceries in. An hour later we sat down to eat.

Mom said, "I ran into a number of ladies at the supermarket who wanted me to express their congratulations on your success with the play. A couple of them have seen the play, and others are hoping to get tickets now that more performances are scheduled."

"I hope that they aren’t going to wait until after the drawing at the store on Saturday. It may be too late by then. The theatre is not that large. It only seats about 500."

"I advised them to hurry to the box office. They said that they would go down tomorrow. They seemed to think that I might have tickets."

"I’ve heard that from the other actors too. People seem to think that we get blocks of tickets to hand out or something. Maybe they do that at professional productions."

After dinner, we sat and enjoyed a cup of tea while we talked about our trip to the lake next week. Tomorrow we would go to a home improvement store to pick up some paint, and other supplies that we would need to work on the house. We even set up a work schedule for the projects. When we were done, I excused myself to go upstairs. I wanted to spend some time reading before bedtime.

The next day, Mom let me wear the jeans again because we were going to be carrying, possibly dirty and dusty, paint cans and paraphernalia at the store. We found everything on the list without too much difficulty. It was important to have everything that we needed before we left, because of the remoteness of the house at the lake. Probably because of my appearance, I was not approached by anyone seeking my autograph. However, almost every clerk and tradesman in the home improvement store leered me at. I avoided making any eye contact and ignored the stares.

After dinner, Carol and I hurried to get ready for our date with Pete and Sean. They picked us up at 7:00 and we went to the cine-plex. Sean was growing more possessive in his attention. During the entire date, we had bodily contact. At the very least, he held my hand. Most of the time when we walked, he had his arm around my shoulders. I put my arm around his waist. In the movie theatre, I rested my head against his shoulder. When the movie was over, Pete drove to Lookout Point. Sean and I kissed in the back seat while Carol and Pete carried on in the front. Sean never gave up trying to get more than I was willing to give, but I never allowed him to get much farther than 1^st base. I had become so accustomed to kissing boys by this time, that I no longer even thought of it as abnormal behavior. I had actually begun to enjoy his attention, his embrace, and the kisses.

At 11:30, Carol announced that it was time to go home. Pete drove back to our house while Sean and I continued our struggles in the back seat. At our door, We shared one last passionate kiss and embrace before Carol and I went in. We did a minor repair job to our makeup before going upstairs in case we ran into Mom. An hour later I was fast asleep. I dreamt, that night, about kissing Rick in the play, kissing Jason up at the lake, and kissing Sean in the backseat of Pete’s car. When I awoke in the morning I realized that I hadn’t dreamed about kissing Debbie. I wondered why.

Carol helped me to get ready when I had to leave for the theatre in late afternoon. As usual, I was dressed in clothes that were Carol’s idea of what a sexy starlet should wear. I had to take tiny steps as I walked to the bus in the tight skirt. I missed the freedom of the jeans that I had been wearing. I struggled to climb the steps of the bus. Fred, the bus driver, smiled at me as I boarded, and most of the people on the bus smiled at me as I walked to a vacant seat. I wondered if they recognized me, or possibly if Fred had alerted them that I might get on here. When I exited the bus near the theatre, it seemed that everybody I passed smiled at me. I began to wonder if there was something wrong with my appearance. Had I smeared my lipstick or something? I examined myself in the mirror at the theatre and could see nothing out of place, so I went to the makeup room.

As I walked in, Marge and Barbara stopped what they were doing and rushed over to greet me.

Barbara said, "Crystal, come in and tell us how it happened?"

"How what happened?"

"Marge, can you believe this girl. She’s acting like it’s nothing."

"What are you talking about?"

"The media event at the Mall tomorrow of course."

"It’s not a media event. I’m just going to sign autographs for a couple of hours."

"Have you been to the Mall in the last few days?"

"No. Why?"

"Your picture is spread from one end to the other. Barrett’s is promoting this as if you had just won an academy award."

I groaned. "I was afraid that it might get out of hand."

"We want to hear all about it. Now come sit down and tell your Auntie Barbara and Auntie Marge all about it."

We sat down and I recounted the simple events that had led me to this point. When I had finished, Barbara and Marge broke into a fit of laughter. I smiled while they laughed. I knew that they were not laughing at me, but rather at the events that I had just related.

Marge said, "Crystal, that is so incredible. You certainly have a gift for being in the right spot at the right time."

Barbara said, "Honey, like I’ve told you before, just go with the flow."

"Barbara, that’s not the advice that you should give to somebody who’s stuck in a barrel in the middle of the Niagara River, and headed for the falls."

"Honey, that noise that you hear is not the rumble of the falls, it’s the applause of adoring fans who have been privileged to see your performances. Regardless of how you got to this point, the fact remains that you have a real talent for acting. That is what's propelling you forward, not the currents of water moving between two lakes."

"I admit that I love being in the play, but I’m not in love with all of the commotion surrounding it."

"It goes with the territory, honey. An actor’s duties don’t end when they step off of the stage. They have to continue to promote themselves and their work at all times. It’s what keeps you in demand, and that demand is what keeps the jobs rolling in."

"I guess that you’re right. I wish that you weren’t though. It makes it difficult to have a normal life."

"Successful actors have to redefine normalcy, with deference to their careers. In time you’ll see what I mean. I believe that you have what it takes to be a successful actress."

Several other cast members walked in just then and a fresh round of discussion about the autograph signing on Saturday began. Over the next hour, the discussion played on an endless loop as the rest of the cast and crew showed up. I was glad when curtain time approached and everyone’s concentration turned to the production. During the last fifteen minutes before the play, I stood alone backstage, getting into character. When I first appeared onstage, after the play had begun, the audience applauded my appearance. This was a new development, and one that I hadn't anticipated. I had to wait until the applause died down before I could deliver my first line. After that, the play proceeded normally. The audience laughed, applauded, and sighed at all the right times. At the end of the play they gave us six curtain calls. Mr. Tucker came backstage after the performance and congratulated us on another successful performance. He bent over me as I sat at the makeup counter and asked me to see him before I left. I nodded and continued to wipe the heavy makeup from my face.

After I was out of makeup and had changed my clothes, I went in search of Mr. Tucker. I found him sitting in the front row seating. He motioned me to sit next to him.

He said, "Crystal, my love, I wanted to thank you again for agreeing to extend the play’s schedule. I also wanted to express our gratitude, on behalf of the company, for requiring Barrett’s to use only pictures purchased through the company. Your generosities have helped to further insure that there will be many more future plays by our little theatre company."

"I’m happy to support the company in any way that I can. I owe you, and everyone in the company, for teaching me so much, and for allowing me to be a part of the production."

"Crystal, you have repaid us many times over with your wonderful performances, and the efforts that you put forth with your earlier duties. If all of the company’s members put forth the effort that you do in all of your tasks, my job would be a much easier one. And you have been one of the best pupils that I have ever had. It has been my privilege to work with you."

"Mr. Tucker, can I ask you a personal question?"

"Anything, little one."

"You’re so talented that I can’t help but wonder why you’re not on the stage professionally?"

"I was a professional for many years. I even managed to make a decent living even though I never made it to the top. Only a very small percentage of the tens of thousands that try to enter the acting profession each year, ever make it truly big. You first have to catch the eye of a person that can really provide the opportunities, and then you have to be ready to jump at the chance when it does come along. I had a couple of occasions in my career where I hesitated, and lost the chance to MAKE my career. Those opportunities don’t come along very often. When you’re young, you believe that opportunities are like buses, and if you let an opportunity pass, another will come along shortly. But that is definitely not true. I may go back to the professional ranks one day. Right now, I am staying here because my mother is in a nursing home. I couldn’t bear to move her away from all of her friends, so I will remain here as long as she does."

"That’s a wonderful story, Mr. Tucker. I consider myself very fortunate to have worked for you, and to have had the opportunity to learn from you. And thank you for answering my question."

Debbie was waiting for me, so I excused myself and we left the theatre. A small group of autograph seekers waited outside the stage door. We signed their books, programs, or photos, and then continued on to the parking lot. Debbie wanted to know about the signing session tomorrow so I told her how it had come about, and what I expected it too be like tomorrow. After we arrived at my house, we sat in the car and continued to talk about it.

Debbie said, "I can’t get over it Crystal. Two weeks ago you weren’t even in the play, and now you’re doing autograph signing sessions. How do things like that happen?"

"I was just in the right place at the right time, I guess. If Pamela hadn’t fallen down and broken her leg, I’d be just another crew member."

"Talk about a lucky ‘break’."

I groaned, and then we both giggled at her pun. Afterwards, we said goodnight and kissed before I got out and walked to the door. I waved as I entered the house, and she drove away. Carol was still awake, and she helped me to prepare for bed. We talked about what we would wear tomorrow before she returned to her bedroom. I was really tired and fell asleep as soon as I was in bed.

 

(continued in Chapter 14)

 

 

 

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