one thing's universal, life's no dress rehearsal

[stagemanagers]

[Prom night! The greatest night of your young lives if you watch any Western high school media from the past 60 years. The looks, the music, the copious amounts of fancy snacks, the sore feet from dancing heels and then spending the rest of the night in bare feet- it’s all part of the bigger package.

The courtyard and the roof have both been decked out in a special way for tonight, despite no one really seeing Hester or anyone/anything else decorating. There are round tables set-up in both places, covered in yellow-gold tablecloths. Some of them have platters of snacks laid out on them, one has a large punch bowl that never seems to empty no matter how many drinks are taken from it.

On the roof there’s an extra table with pencils, small slips of paper, a box wrapped in gold wrapping paper and a notecard labeled Song Requests. Just write a song, pop it in the box and within a few minutes it starts playing! Weird, there doesn’t seem to be a sound system anywhere...

Red paper lanterns have been strung around the outline of the roof and between stakes in the courtyard, granting soft romantic light for a night to remember. Put on your best costume shop formal wear, get ready to lose your shoes after an hour and sneak in liquor even though most of you are of age.

After all…tonight belongs to you.]

Comments

[tailor_made]

[It looks like the primary colors are red and white! Her pom-poms get in the way of any kind of school logo unfortunately.

If you're lost, you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting
Time after time

The scene shifts again to a slightly younger Hester, probably around 15. She's curled up in a beige leather chair that would scream "hospital room" as if the hospital bed in front of her didn't give it away. The man from before, more than likely her foster father, is lying pale and still on it but even at a glance it does look like he's breathing. Hester's chair is pulled up as close as she can get, her head pillowed on his hand. Next to her chair is an untouched bright yellow backpack with patches for things like "Wicked" and "West Side Story".

After a beat someone else steps in, seemingly from thin air. A woman dressed in dark blue jacket and slacks who looks at the two of them with a mixture of concern and pity. In her arms she has a thick manila folder marked with the name Hester W..

If you're lost, you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting
Time after time]

[fourbutts]

[ Oh no..... sucks!! Sucks a lot actually!!! But there's still some more song to go. And so, still paying what attention she can to the real Hester in front of her, Janis keeps dancing. ]

[tailor_made]

[Yeah, kinda sucks! The real Hester meanwhile has been getting progressively closer, with a little experimental hesitation, rests her cheek on Janis's shoulder.

After my picture fades
And darkness has turned to gray
Watching through windows
You're wondering if I'm okay]

...I'm having a nice time, Janis.

[The next one is another short glimpse: Hester slow dancing the same way she is now, cheek resting on the upper arm of someone taller than her. It's impossible to tell what they look like, only that they're wearing a black suit jacket. Her partner steps back and twirls her, slowly and a little awkwardly into-]

If you're lost, you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting
Time after time

[A new memory and this one feels somehow final. Hester is standing at a brightened street light, a lit-up train schedule above her head. The time on it reads 11:45 pm. She has a single suitcase next to her and is staring at her feet with apprehension. But...the scene almost seems to glitch- suddenly she has several people around her. The man from before, not quite the picture of health but looking better than he was, is wearing a red flannel. He leans in to plant a kiss on top of Hester's head and she hiccups, wiping her eyes before throwing her arms around him in a hug. The others look to be some other teens about Hester's age, a blurry-looking couple with an even blurrier child between them and another figure in a black and grey flannel.]

You said, "go slow"
I fall behind
The second hand unwinds

[Another glitch and Hester is alone again. She looks back and forth, like she's looking for someone, before she checks the time again. Glitch. Hester is hugging the small family and gives the child's hair a ruffle before she moves on to the other teens. She stops at the person in the monochrome flannel, rising up on her toes while they lean down to kiss them. They wrap her in a hug, picking her up off the ground momentarily, before setting her back down. There are fresh tears now and her foster father comes over once more to hug her a final time.

Glitch.

If you're lost, you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting
Time after time
If you're lost, you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting
Time after time

[A train has pulled up. Both Hesters simultaneously pick up their suitcases and start to step onto it, glancing back one more time- one at the people she's leaving behind and one at empty air- before stepping onto the train and vanishing.

Time after time
Time after time
Time after time
Time after time
Time after time
Time after time
Time after time
Time after time]

[fourbutts]

... Me too.

[ Well, if nothing else, this all settles that Hester is now solidly in camp "Janis Will Now Die For You!!!!" With any luck, this trust is going to come in handy someday.

She's also going to kill and eat the Wizard herself, but that's for later. For right now, she just holds Hester close, not entirely able to distance the one she's dancing with from any of these in her past. And she just closes her eyes, and focuses on the Hester in her arms, and also on trying not to cry. No one likes a girl who cries during her first slowdance. ]