On shaking legs, and with Amy’s help, we climbed the staircase in the lobby, taking our place on the balcony. As soon as we appeared, the audience waiting below burst into applause. Camera flashes went off, and cheers went up. I closed my eyes, taking Amy’s hand. She squeezed it tight, nodding to me with encouragement.
“Thank you,” I spoke into the microphone that had been carefully placed. “But your applause is not just for me tonight, but for the hundreds of people who helped make this production happen. I could not have done it alone. None of us want to do anything alone,” I swallowed, careful not to let my eyes shine with tears. Amy squeezed my hand again and I waited until the crowd was completely silent. “Without Amy…my Beauty, I could not have felt what the Beast felt on stage. Amy, from our first meeting, had a very special place in my heart, and she will continue to do so as we continue both our professional…and personal relationship next year.”
The crowd gasped, and Amy gasped as well. I could only offer her a smile though. I was sick of hiding from the whole world; hiding everything and keep everything a secret. I loved her, and I wanted everyone to know that. To reinforce what I said, I leaned in, kissing her gently on the lips.
“I do love you,” I told her, and she nodded, stunned. “And there’s no use hiding it anymore.”
“I love you too,” she whispered, delivering me another kiss while the crowd went wild. Finally, we broke apart and I turned back to the microphone, my job not yet done. Loving Amy was the easy part. Telling them what I had to tell them next was hard.
“I also…” I swallowed hard. “I also couldn’t have done this play without a very good friend of mine. Porsche De Ritter…” I almost choked on saying her name, but managed to continue. “Porsche was my first scholarship winner, although her time here was short…”
Amy choked at this, turning away slightly.
“She danced for the Russian National Ballet for 3 years as their Prima Donna, and she had quite a future ahead of her. She always found time to help out here, however, the place that gave her the start she needed…As many of you know, Porsche also suffered from AIDS, and it became harder to work as she got sicker. However she never faltered on her commitments and her dedication to helping me with this show…” I trailed off, not knowing where to go from here. I scanned the crowd, and saw students, teachers, and the media holding their breath. “It is with great sadness that I announce Porsche’s passing, early this evening. True to form, she made sure Beauty and The Beast went on without a hitch.” I raised a glass someone handed me and the crowd did the same, in stunned silence. “So to Porsche. And to Amy.” I put an arm around her. “And to unconventional love.”
It was as I knocked back the champagne that I spotted her in the crowd. She had on sunglasses and her mouth was closed, and so it was enough to hide what she really was. But Selene stood there, in the center of everyone, looking up at me with a sneer.
“Forever,” she mouthed at me, making time stand still for just that moment. And then Amy hugged me, and Selene was gone, as if she just melted away.
If my heart was beating it would have been beating swiftly at that moment. As Amy hugged me, and the crowd drank to my toast, and I focused on the spot where Selene was. I realized I needed to end this, once and for all. For Porsche, for Amy, and for me.
CHAPTER 25 - AMY
For three weeks, life almost felt normal again. A great sadness had come over the school, but it pushed us to be better at our work, at the show, at everything. It reminded us that life was short, and we should take every opportunity we could get.
And so we did. My friends and I began to go out more and seeing the city as never before. We had long talks at the cafeteria tables about our hopes and dreams and how we wanted to make them a reality. While Charisma was excellent at acting, she revealed what she really wanted to do was be a director. Another girl piped up with her dreams of a screenplay, and soon, we had a full movie plotted out to be shot and filmed when I returned from my Gatsby tour.