The Year I Stopped Being Invisible - 32. Chapter 32

They say the neon lights are bright

On Broadway

They say there's always magic in the air

Linda and I came out of our Duet room feeling pretty good. As Carter had predicted, the Cartwright team -- performing a scene from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? -- had been flat and it was obvious that Bill Miles was a debater and not an actor. The Brookwood team, also as predicted, had performed a broad, Gospel-tinged scene from A Raisin in the Sun which was melodramatic even by ODBA standards. Linda and I got some laughs and warm applause for our Same Time, Next Year scene, and I felt as if we had done a good job.

I was hustling to my Oratory room upstairs when I was stopped in the hallway by Eric Chase. I had no idea that Eric even knew I existed. He was to Drama what Bobby Merman was to Debate, placing in three events at State last year. This year, he had already picked up a whopping five trophies at the Chamberlain tournament for his Van Ark High School team, qualifying for State with first-place wins in both Humorous and Dramatic and a third in Oratory.

Handsome and muscular, Eric reminded me of a young Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire. He was hot, talented as Hell, and made it all seem easy. Eric grabbed me by the arm and hustled me to the corner of the stairway landing, his characteristic intensity coming through even off-stage as his big brown eyes burned into me.

"Rick!" he exclaimed. "I just wanted to tell you that you were really, really good in that Duet round! You have great timing, and I really believed you, even when you did the part where you're in your forties!"

"Wow," I said, genuinely flattered, "that's really nice of you to say. Thanks, Eric! I can't wait to see your Humorous...I've heard so many great things."

"Thanks," he grinned, and then turned serious again. "But listen, I don't know how to say this..."

"What, Eric? I'm always willing to take notes, especially from you." I meant it. One would have to be a fool not to listen to Eric Chase when it came to acting advice.

"Well," he began, "when I said you were really good, I just meant you. You really need a new Duet partner. She's an amateur, and she's holding you back."

But when you're walking down that street

And you ain't had enough to eat

The glitter rubs right off and you're nowhere

My heart sank. He didn't think we were going to advance, and he thought that would be because of Linda. I loved Linda like a sister, and wanted to defend her, but I was intimidated by both Eric's status in the forensics community and by his intensity. I looked at him, confused and upset, but realized that I was going to be late for my next round, so I thanked him again, promised that I would think about it, and hurried upstairs.

I stopped by my Humorous round first, writing in chalk on the blackboard: "Speaker #5 - 21G - is X-entered in O.O." This was just so the judge would know that I was not going to be there until I had spoken in my other event. Then I raced to the Original Oratory round with moments to spare. The judge and timekeeper were already waiting, so I dropped my tournament folder on an empty desk, composed myself for a moment, and strode confidently to the front of the room.

* * * * *

It went...okay.

I admit that I was slightly distracted by what Eric had said about Linda, and I was already making the mistake which many high school novices committed when cross-entered: I was thinking ahead to my Humorous round. I felt that Humorous was my best event, and even as I was reciting my oration, I was churning through Titanic in my mind, hoping I would get it right. As soon as I finished, I informed the judge that I had to go to another round, thanked her for her time, and bolted from the room.

I had to wait outside the Humorous round until the third speaker, Foxrun's own Brandy Rockford, had finished her performance. I watched through the small glass window in the classroom door, noting how few laughs she was getting, until the spectators began applauding, then slipped in and erased my message from the chalkboard, taking a seat at the side of the room.

Only one of the six speakers in this round would break to the semifinals, so I had to be perfect. I ran through all my character changes, gestures and timing in my head as the fourth speaker -- Victor Carroll from Chester Arthur High School -- performed his cutting from Blithe Spirit. Then it was my turn. Waiting for his applause to end, I clapped politely, straightened my necktie, and headed for the front of the room.

I was surprised to see Cindy sitting in the front row, and she gave me a big, sexy smile before I began. She had come to see me! If I wasn't already in a relationship, this information would have elated me. As it was, it just made me feel supported and encouraged. I put my head down, then raised it in character, and began.

I killed. I slayed. I had them rolling in the aisles. The judge was laughing so hard that he was blinking back tears. When it was over, I bowed to what seemed like thunderous applause -- even though there were only about fifteen people in the room other than the judge and timekeeper -- and took my seat. Cindy flashed me another smile and a big thumbs-up as she snuck from the room before the sixth and final performer, Taylor High's 13A, Karen Rios, began her cutting from Tom Eyen's Women Behind Bars.

Karen was fantastic, playing up the campy naughtiness of the play, a spoof of the women's prison films of the 1970s, and making the spectators roar with laughter, which I believed was even louder than my response. This was unfortunate scheduling, I thought. Both of our pieces were the same kind of humor -- bawdy, campy and raucous -- and I preferred to be placed between more gentle cuttings in order to highlight mine. With Karen taking "my crowd" over the top with an even wilder script, I felt as if I had been relegated to being her warm-up act.

She brought it home, and even I was doubled over with laughter by the time she was done. I applauded with everyone else, and even complimented Karen on her performance before leaving the room. As soon as I was on the stairs on my way back to the cafeteria, however, my mood turned sour. Only one person would break to semifinals, and it was going to be Karen Rios. I just knew it.

They say the women treat you fine

On Broadway

But looking at them just gives me the blues

By the time I had wound my way back into the cafeteria at 7:35 pm, the tournament staff was bringing out the break sheet for Duet Acting. Like most break sheets, it was a huge piece of poster paper about three feet across and four feet long, taped to the cafeteria wall by a smug-looking Foxrun freshman, and it had the quarterfinal sectioning neatly lettered in large blue magic marker.

I ran to join the eager crowd of well-dressed kids swarming around the poster, some cheering, some pumping their fists and high-fiving, others looking stricken and dejected. Girls were tearily comforting other girls, boys were strutting around looking like they had just won an Oscar, and Linda was right behind me, her hand on my arm as she leaned around me to see. I scanned the sections. Eight sections of six teams in the quarters...were we one of those lucky teams?

We were not. Linda slumped against my shoulder. In Section III, we saw 5A & 5L...the Brookwood team. In Section VI was 31C & 31D, the team from Washington. What? Washington? They sucked!

"That judge was out of his damn mind," I muttered, but Linda and I moved forward to congratulate Kevin Ellison and Maureen Rodriguez regardless.

I looked for 22A & 22E, the Van Ark team of Eric Chase and Marilyn Fenneman. They had advanced, predictably, and were squaring off against the ODBA team of Tyrone Washington and Lucille St. Hawkins. I saw Eric scanning the sheet for our numbers, then he shot me a sympathetic smirk as if to say "I told you so." If he wasn't so hot, I might have hated him for a minute.

Instead, I hugged Linda, who was beginning to get teary. Holding her close to me, I murmured into her ear.

"We'll get 'em next time," I said. "There's plenty of more tournaments."

I was done for the day, but Linda still had to go to Poetry Reading, so I went to watch Kathy's fourth debate round, pitting her against a tall, handsome junior from Bellaire High School in Richland. Peter Altand had never been very successful in LD Debate, but he came out and wiped the floor with Kathy as if she wasn't there. When the round was over, she raced from the room in tears, and I followed her to the door of the girls' bathroom.

Kathy stayed in there for a long time, and when she finally emerged, her face was flushed and her eyes were wet and bloodshot. In that moment, all of her haughtiness was gone and she looked like a sad, bereft little girl. I took her in my arms and hugged her tight, and she let me, resting her head against my chest and sighing heavily.

"So much for Foxrun," she finally hissed, her voice full of anger and self-loathing.

'Cause how you gonna make some time

When all you got is one thin dime

And one thin dime won't even shine your shoes

I threw my arm around her shoulder and we returned to the cafeteria, Kathy leaning against me in misery as I carried her debate file. Kathy's mood improved almost instantly, as a Foxrun kid came out of the tabulation room with the break sheet for Women's Extemporaneous Speaking. Kathy regained her composure when she saw her number -- 21C -- among the semifinalists.

Robin, Raymond and Pablo all advanced in Men's Extemp, and Raymond advanced in Dramatic and Oratory as well. I did not advance in Oratory, but I didn't expect to. Carter, Linda and the rest of us had been shut out so far, and although Linda was competing in Poetry and Carter in Prose, all three of us were really hoping for Humorous, the sole qualifying event which we had remaining in the tournament. Otherwise, we'd be sitting around tomorrow watching everyone else.

And, I thought to myself, Taine and Sly couldn't see me in the finals if I didn't even break to semis. I would have to call them soon, I suspected, because I was sure Karen Rios would be the one to advance from my section and I didn't want Sly to drive all the way here if he didn't have to.

They say that I won't last too long

On Broadway

I'll catch a Greyhound bus for home, they all say

Finally, I saw movement through the window of the tabulation room, and a kid came out with a large, rolled up piece of poster paper. Was this it? No, it was the posting for NCX Debate. A few long, agonizing minutes later, another piece went up on the wall. CX. And another long wait. LD. Robin and Raymond broke, Kathy and Pablo did not.

Finally, there was another posting. I was sure it was CCX, but when seemingly half the cafeteria rushed to the wall, I knew that this was the moment of truth. I saw the poster heading: "HUMOROUS INTERP - Quarters" and felt my heart skip a beat.

For some reason, I found Karen Rios by my side, clutching my hand in camaraderie and mutual nerves.

The poster began to unfold, and we scanned it as it rolled down the wall. I heard Carter exclaim "YES!!!" and broke from Karen to go hug him. Linda saw the number of someone in her section and shrugged, hugging both Carter and me.

We were too far behind the crowd for me to see the bottom of the poster, so I was watching Karen Rios. She nodded sadly and went back to the Taylor High table, giving me a faint smile and nod on her way.

My eyes shot open in shock. Surely this didn't mean...

I raced forward, trying to see over the crowd, through the crowd, wherever I could sneak a peek at the bottom of that poster. And then I saw it.

Section VII - Room 206
1. 18C
2. 32A
3. 10A
4. 15B
5. 21G
6. 7A

I felt Carter's and Linda's hands slapping my back, heard their cheers and exclamations of elation, and my world went bright with excitement and adrenaline. My vision seemed to narrow into a tunnel, and all I saw was "21G" and the blood was pounding in my ears like a freight train, and I pumped my fist in the air with joy.

"Oh...YEAH!!!"

Then I turned around and fell into the loving arms of my friends, feeling like I had conquered the world.

But they're dead wrong, I know they are

'Cause I can play this here guitar

And I won't quit till I'm a star

On Broadway