Spotlight

Old Fiat

Oh my God. I totally forgot about this story until I received a review from CowPox. I'm starting this up again. Here we go...

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Gabriella

Blinding. Disorientating. Hot. Frightening.

All these words described the spotlight for Gabriella for most of her life. It was fine when she was with the whole choir at school (or church). Then if she made a mistake, there were many other voices to cover her mistake. When she was fifteen she had been given the opportunity to try a solo. The moment it was her turn to sing, she caught sight of the audience-- even the bright light pointing directly at her eyes couldn't block them from view-- she felt her legs wobble and next thing she knew she was looking up at the rafters above the stage.

Luckily, she and her mother had moved a month later.

She supposed her hatred (that's what she liked to call it though it was a lot more akin to fear) of being on stage might be partially attributed to her constantly being moved from one state to the next. Ms. Montez's company was continually transferring her across the country. Gabriella hated it. She hated being pulled away from one school the moment she'd made any friends. She hated that if she ever did go up on stage, she probably wouldn't know anyone watching her. She hated that if she messed up, no one she knew would be there to say "Oh, nobody noticed" or "It wasn't that bad!" She hated that it was always a different stage, a different spotlight. She could never get used to anything. Things always had to change or be left behind.

The worst change had been when her parents divorced. Her father was a high school teacher in a town in Oregon where she'd spent most of her childhood. Her mother was from Colorado, but she was willing to settle down with Gabriella's father. They had been in love.

Then he had to screw it all up and started an affair with the mother of one of his students. Ms. Montez found out. The marriage was over and she and Gabriella moved to Michigan. Her mother had given Gabriella the option of moving to her father's when Gabriella first complained about moving, but she wouldn't. She couldn't stand him anymore. As much as she hated leaving things behind... He had gone too far. She would never forgive him. She'd miss any friend she ever made more than him. It always hurt more saying goodbye to a recently gained friend than him. She hated saying goodbye.

And thus, she began to read. Books could go with her when she moved. She read any book she could get her hands on. She envied book characters who complained about living in a small town for their entire lives. She loved stories of romance, adventure, change. She loved books where characters discovered things about themselves. She loved classics along with a lot of newer books. She wished she could be more like Lily in The Princess Diaries or Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice and less like... Like...

She couldn't really think of a book character which she thought she was like. Sometimes she felt like Ella in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and My Perfect Life-- shy, retiring and easily pushed around. Other days she felt like Margret in Are You There God? It's Me, Margret-- confused about anything and everything around her. Sometimes she even felt like Smike from Nicholas Nickleby-- forgotten and abandoned by the whole world.

She read to escape from reality. Also, when she read she drew little attention to herself. She hated being the center of attention (which was probably why she didn't like being on stage).

Gabriella had been reading Sense and Sensibility that night at a New Year's Eve party at a ski resort. Her mother had informed her before that they would be moving again after the holidays and to go down and join the teen party the floor below. Grudgingly, Gabriella had gone, bringing her book with her. Settling herself down on a couch, she reopened the tome and tried to ignore the loud kids surrounding her.

Suddenly a blinding light shone in her eyes. She looked up, blinking confusedly. A young man came over and began pulling her up onto the small platform where people were doing karaoke. She tried to pull away-- many people had complimented her on her voice, but she hated singing by herself in front of people. She wouldn't do it. She couldn't do it.

There was a boy about her own age being pushed on to the stage as well. He had light brown hair and a soft, round face. As they both arrived reluctantly on the stage, she saw his cheeks and ears were a flaming scarlet. He looked just as embarrassed as she felt. Now they were closer together, she saw his eyes were a bright, startling blue.

"You guys will be thanking me for this someday," said the young man who was apparently announcing the karaoke contestants. He gave the furiously blushing boy a sharp pat on the back and laughed. "Or not."

The boy gripped the microphone that the announcer had handed him, his knuckles white as a soft piano-tune played from the speakers. She stared down at her shoes, but she could feel the eyes of the other people around her. The boy looked up at the screen which displayed the song lyrics.

"Living in my own world, didn't understand," he sang, his voice a little rough. "That anything can happen..." He looked over at her, but she turned away. She didn't want to be there, even if he did have startlingly beautiful blue eyes.

Wait-- why did she think that?

"When you take a chance," he finished the line and looked at her, waiting for her to sing. She didn't. He gave his head a little shake and began to walk off the stage.

Gabriella took a deep breath. She didn't want to disappoint him; he seemed like too nice a guy.

"I never believed in what I couldn't see," she sang. Her voice cracked slightly and she tried to focus on the television slightly above them. He turned back around, surprised. "I never opened my heart to all the possibilities..."

"I know that something has changed..." Their voices combined perfectly. His high tenor tones complimented her even higher soprano voice. "Never felt this way..."

She smiled softly at him and his voice grew a bit stronger.

"And right here tonight this could be the start of something new..."

As they sang, the people around them seemed to melt away. She kept her eyes on him and only him and he beamed at her, belting out the cheery pop song. He wasn't always on key, but he looked so blissful while he sang.

"The start of something... new..." Their voices harmonized over the final note and then everyone started applauding.

Shock.

"I'm Troy!" said the boy, half shouting to be heard.

"Gabriella," she said, smiling. She had never felt so comfortable on stage.

She and Troy exchanged cell numbers, but she had no expectation of seeing him again.

They met again when she and her mother moved to Albuquerque. It turned out he had lived there all his life. They sang on stage together, after a few complications, and she never got stage fright again. She made lots of friends in Albuquerque and her mother promised not to move them again until Gabriella graduated high school.

She and Troy fell in love with each other on stage.

Love. Happiness. Friendship.

That's how Gabriella felt about the spotlight now.

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Whoo! I hope you guys like this. I also would like to know, who has seen High School Musical 3 yet? I've seen it three times so far and it's awesome! I love "Can I Have This Dance?", "A Night to Remember", "Scream", Walk Away", "I Want It All" and "I Just Wanna Be With You" and... I loved all of them! It was amazing. If anyone on here hasn't seen it yet-- GO SEE IT NOW! Otherwise, you will miss out on an amazing cinematic experience.

Please review!

-OFsI