PHOEBE

Chapter 23: The Talent Show

Phoebe's POV

"Honorable staff; both teaching and non teaching, students, ladies and gentlemen of this prestigious institution, good evening. It is always a pleasure to address you. I usually would have gone on and on explaining the dos and don'ts of every social gathering Bentley organizes, but for tonight, I'd have to be on the next flight to Kumasi, where a conference will be held tomorrow to address the grievances of Senior High Schools in the country, so my speech will be a very short one, so you could go ahead and enjoy your night.

      As we all know, our final year students are leaving us since they are done with their final exam. I hereby take this opportunity to congratulate them for a successful completion of high school, and wish them all the best in their future endeavors. Just as we did for their predecessors, where we organized any social event of their choice for them, we honoured their request of having a talent show, and another they call the shoot your shot segment. Authorities vehemently refused that, but since they have been nothing short of good students in the three years they have been in Bentley, we agreed that this will be the best send off party before Prom. That notwithstanding, we all know how such programs among a bunch of teens could go totally wrong if a careful eye is not placed on you, so fifty teachers have been invited to keep an eye on you so that you do not go overboard in your doings. The first fifty seats in front have been reserved for them. So without further ado, let's invite our dedicated teachers who honored the invite, regardless of their schedules, to be here."

All of us booed as the teachers descended the stage and took their seats.

"Was this really necessary? Ugh!" Anne slumped into her chair lazily clearly no longer in the mood to have fun.

"Mr. Ashiteye never leaves any stone unturned to ruin every glorious moment!"

I heard a girl behind me chuckle loudly.

"Welcome teachers. Good evening to you all once again. Enjoy your night."

The principal handed the microphone to the entertainment prefect and disappeared backstage.

"Another round of applauds for Mr. Ashiteye."

The prefect yelled into the microphone and we all gave our half hearted applauds.

"Since we've seen the introductory dance, we'll go straight into the dance segment, where we begin with the ballet dancers! So ladies and gentlemen, please welcome with a round of applauds, "The flips!"

We cheered and yelled as a group of girls took their position on stage. The lights on the stage dimmed when Ed Sheeran's dive started slowly in the background.

A few students could be heard singing along. Our eyes were pinned on the  stage, where the dancers' attires were now glowing in the dark. Then as the lights came, they tiptoed and did a very swift splitting apart. The crowd went wild with cheers and chants of "flips! Flips! Flips!"

Everyone had forgotten the presence of the teachers as people yelled profanities; "fuck that girl's butt is on fire, flip your asses too!...Et cetera.

After three minutes of intense turning and monstrous jumping into the air which took my heart with them all the way up and all the way down, they ended their dance, their final posture spelling out the word 'flips.'

We all sprung to our feet in applauds. They sure tried for a first performance. So there they had it; a deserving standing ovation that included some teachers who had also been swept off their feet.

"I should be taking ballet lessons next semester damn!" Anne yelled into my ears startling me.

"Geez do you want to destroy my sense of hearing or what?"