Limitless: The Second Edition

Oliver

It's been a week since that glorious dance with Hannah. It's been all I talked about for the last week. "Winner" has been pretty much the only song I've listened to since then, trying desperately to channel the memory, begging my muscles to remember the movements and pleading with my fingertips to remember the sensation of Hannah's shirt underneath them as I leaned on her. I close my eyes and I can still see her green eyes sparkling and her lips arched upward in a beautiful smile. If I ever get a time machine, that's the first place I'm going back to.

I'm at rehearsal again, sitting next to Hannah. Today she beat me here, so she decided to hide behind the seats to jump scare me when I came in. She didn't scare me, but nearly gave David a heart attack. Now I'm just chilling with Hannah, and David is on the other side of the aisle, red-faced and still shaking.

I look around and realize that Courtney isn't here yet. That's rather unusual. She's usually here by now, and there's no sign of Ms. Dawson, either. Funny that they should both go missing at the same time. There's only one person who could know anything?

I turn to Hannah. "Any word on where Courtney is?" I ask her.

She shakes her head. "Nah. Haven't heard anything. She's probably fine."

"I hope she hasn't been in an accident on her way here or something," I reply nervously.

Hannah holds up her phone. "No way. Considering she has left me on read since thirty seconds ago, she's probably fine."

I giggle a bit. "Why is she ignoring you? Unless she's hiding something."

Hannah grins. "If she's hiding something, you better believe it's going to be good. She occasionally pulled this back in my daycare days. She'd disappear for a half hour, then come back with donuts. She wouldn't tell me what was in the covered box, and it turned out to be a fish tank. Her surprises are always awesome. So you might want to brace yourself, Oliver. Brace yourself for a really epic surprise."

"Something tells me you know something."

"I don't!" she protests. "Honest. You can look through my phone if you want. I know nothing."

I hold up my hand. "I'm good, thanks. I respect your privacy."

Ms. Dawson enters the room, calling everyone together to begin work. I get up and follow Hannah onstage, Sadie and David close behind us, along with the rest of the cast.

"Before you all ask, Courtney is going to be a few minutes late," she announces once everyone is gathered. "Don't worry, she's completely fine. Just had to run an important errand. She'll be here soon, I promise."

She asks Sadie to lead us in stretches. Sadie steps to the front of the group, leading everyone in their daily warm-ups. When we're done, Ms. Dawson thanks her and then surprisingly tells us to return to our seats in the auditorium. Hannah and I look at each other, confused, but follow accordingly. Once we're in our seats, Ms. Dawson explains that she just wanted to wake up the tired kids in the cast before having us work on music together.

David looks unhappy, but Ms. Dawson assures him that we will not be going over his song today. "I do suggest you continue working on it on your own," she advises him. "It won't be long before you will have to do it in front of Oliver. And I promise you that you will be okay."

We run through a few of the numbers featuring the ensemble, then begin breaking down the songs that have solos by the major characters. This is the first time I'm hearing Sadie sing "New Horizons". She certainly has a lovely voice. She's an alto, the only major alto part in this show. It's nice to see such a hugely important part being written specifically for an alto. I've seen many people complain about there not being enough musicals with major parts for altos. Sadie can nail those low notes. Her voice doesn't have the same richness as that of Layeba's Broadway actress Lucy Winters, but she brings a uniqueness to the song that I've never heard before.

After Sadie's song, I feel a quiver of excitement in my heart as I turn the page in my script and land on "I'm Not Broken". I look up and smile over at Hannah, only to find her doing the same in my direction. I'm waiting for the music to start when Ms. Dawson calls for everyone's attention.

"These two have been working very hard on this song," she tells the group. "I'm going to have them come up to the front and show us. Pay close attention to the emotion and dynamics of their voices. Use this as an example of what I want to see from the rest of you."

Hannah and I go up to the front of the auditorium. We share a knowing glance, telepathically communicating that we are ready, we are musically connected. This is what we were born for. Ms. Dawson begins playing the song on the piano, and I begin singing my part. I don't focus on anything but the girl in front of me. I imagine myself onstage during this part of the musical. I stare at the floor at first, but then as Enso's confidence rises, so does my head, and I gradually make eye contact with Hannah. We continue singing together, prompting some serious applause from the others in the cast when we're done. I hear David whistle at us like he's at a concert, so I wave at him.

Just then, I hear the back door of the auditorium open. Courtney is here. Hannah immediately loses focus and is about to sprint to her when Courtney holds up her hands, signaling her and the rest of us to stay back. Hannah reluctantly waits for her halfway down the aisle, then follows her like a shadow back to me.

"I'm so sorry to keep y'all waiting," Courtney apologizes. "But I had to pick something up real quick. I hope everyone is ready to work on 'Winner'. I'm sure Ms. Dawson has already warmed up your voices. Since most of us have the dance down, I want you guys to try singing while dancing this time. Got it?"

Hannah and I look at each other excitedly. We hurry up onto the stage and take our places for "Winner." Ms. Dawson brings out my stage crutches, and I make the switch. As soon as Courtney presses the button on her phone, the music takes over. I once again cease to be Oliver. I am Enso. I rap my heart out. I don't know why, but I feel like I need to be a little extra with this. I exaggerate the motion of my arms and hips. I go all out. Beside me, out of the corner of my eye, I can see Hannah trying to match my enthusiasm. And she's doing a good job. She's rocking it.

When the song ends, everyone strikes a pose. I get into the sassiest pose I can muster. I can feel a huge grin spreading on my face.

The back door swings open, and a tall boy with mid-length black hair wearing a red polo and black jeans enters the auditorium. "That was amazing!" he cheers, approaching the stage.

My heart begins to pound wildly in my ribcage. My good leg threatens to give way. And before I can choke out the name Derek Anderson, everyone in the cast begins screaming like a bunch of banshees.