Madrid Squad

Sparrow

"ONE MORE TIME, GUYS! COME ON! For the sake of theatre and the redemption of our batch," a 15-year-old Noelle cries out to her 10th grader cast in attempts of going through one more run through of what used to be their small classroom skit.

"Oh, come on, Noelle! Another one? We're exhausted!" whines the teenage boy in a priestly outfit. "And hello? Our costumes are SO iffy! You're lucky all you're wearing is that Filipinana, Josephine Bracken."

"It's only been an hour and 30 minutes since we started rehearsing, guys. You don't know tired and iffy if you haven't spent more than 8 hours singing and dancing in an 1800's American dre-"

"Yeah, we get it. You're a theatre kid but we aren't, Nowh!" speaks the most silent member of their cast which just happens to be Jose Rizal himself and he also doubles as Noelle's close guy friend.

"Listen up, Miggy. We literally have two weeks to perfect this and jus in case you haven't noticed, this is far from perfect! This isn't just a classroom skit anymore, Migs! My name is on the line here-"

Miggy stands from the squatting position that he was and screams louder than anyone has ever heard him scream before, "So the truth comes out! This isn't even about the 'redemption of the 10th graders'! This is about you! Well, we really are not willing to exhaust our asses off just for your glory! Selfish bitch!"

Everyone in the theatre was silent as they felt the tension between the two leads. The atmosphere was clouded with so much anger and Noelle's eyes were burning holes through Miggy's face. The two seemed to be in this staring contest and no one was willing to back down. Both were undaunted. Both were stubborn.

"You know what? You want me to be a selfish bitch? Fine! Good luck redeeming yourselves from that stupid vodka scandal ya'll decided to pull because I'm out of here! Find another Josephine Bracken, another director too!" Noelle shouted and started to leave the stage.

She stomped her way to the stage right door but then turned her back and yanked each and every script that was present in the room, "And don't you dare use my script! Not my script, not my blockings, not my ground plan, NOTHING! If you dare do so, I will report you for plagiarizing!"

As Noelle walked out of the theatre's doors, every teen started whispering and stared at Miggy just standing in the middle of the stage realizing the big mistake he just made.

Three days later and pissed did not begin to describe Noelle's state of mind. She was insulted and betrayed and so many other things. All she was trying to do was redeem her class's name but what do their ungrateful selves do? Call her selfish. She thought this was their big break as a class, their one chance to be known for something other than mischief! That's why she worked so hard on the play.

Deep in thought, Noelle didn't even notice her brother calling on her cellphone. She only snapped out of her reverie when her phone rang for the 5th time.

"Hey, Kuya."

"Kikay, you sound down. What's going on?" Amir asks worriedly all the way from New York.

"Well," she breathed, "Remember the play I was gonna stage with my batch mates?"

"Yeah, I do. What about it?"

"I just quit it, Kuya," and she said that, a lonesome tear rolled down her cheek. She was quick to wipe it away not failing to remember that she was in the cafeteria.

"Noelle, why? You poured your heart and soul into that play! What happened?" he queries worriedly.

Noelle made that bratty grunt sound she would make whenever something frustrated her, "Kuya, they don't see that! They think I'm doing this to gain glory for myself and it's so nakakainis that Miggy was the one that said it!"