A Maddie Christmas

“Chest stand everyone! Alexis, extend your legs out a little more, You’re too compact. Maddie, come up here and show the class how you do a chest stand properly.” I walk up quietly, taking petite steps until I'm at the front of the gymnasium. Slowly, I lower myself down to the ground and lie down on my stomach. I kick my legs over my head and stretch out my right leg. I look up to my teacher to see her towering above me. I wait for her nod of approval to get up. Miss. Bell nods her head in a yes, motioning me to stand back up. I don’t know why Miss. Bell always chooses me to demonstrate all of the contortion moves. We’re having a contortion performance in a week. 7 days. 168 hours. It sounds scary, yet exciting. This has been my 5th performance, but this time, I’m a backup dancer. Miss. Bell said that I have been on stage many times, so I should be a backup dancer and come tag along with the crew to New York. We’re gonna wear heavy-duty makeup, fancy leotards, and high sock buns. Obviously, with a little glamorous touch of hair sparkles on our blonde manes. Oh no, it’s time to go now. I’ll tell you about myself and updates tomorrow! 

Alarm clock ringing

Yawn

Ringing discontinues

Good morning. Nice to meet you again. Hope you’re doing well. Sorry, I didn’t have time to introduce myself. I’ll tell you about myself once I’m done getting ready. 

Door creaks open

Door closes and locks

Toilet flushes

Sink runs water

Gshhh

Sink turns off

Toothbrush bristles clean teeth

Sink runs, turns off in seconds

Door creaks open

Ok, let’s start with my intro. Hi, my name is Maddie. I’m a contortionist and live in Los Angeles. I’m 18 years old, and in grade 12. I’m 6 feet and 7 inches tall. I’m staying with 2 friends in a hotel room that we all booked together for a few days. Their names are Isabella and Jasmine. They don’t do contortion. I’m too much of a nerd, and mostly quiet. I’m good at doing contortion and socializing with my friends and family, but I don’t know why I’m so self-conscious in public. Anyway, I also have practice for a few days this week, since we will also fly to New York and have a tour. It’s Monday today. When we get there, we will stay in a hotel and have a tour the day before our show.  Our show will be on Sunday. We got a gigantic stage with flashing lights, and about 100 audience members would be there. It's going to be pretty loud, according to my previous performances. But, let’s see if anyone gets sick or anything. Hopefully, nobody gets sick. Not that I don’t want to go on stage, but I just want to spend this time a bit quietly. Maybe go shopping in New York, or go to the movies. Anywhere where there aren't people talking. Maybe cinema is a better option, I don’t know yet. I’ll decide when I get there. Now, I gotta scram to get breakfast on the bottom floor of this hotel. 

Jasmine, Isabella and I all find a table to sit together. We all line up to get our breakfasts. I take a bowl of fruity pebbles cereal, 2 hashbrowns, 1 hard-boiled egg, one sliced apple, and a banana milkshake. It sounds like the hotel has many varieties to choose from, but there isn’t much to eat. The food is kind of unflavoured and bland, which you don’t need to pay for because the cost of the hotel also covered up the meals here. I guess it’s a rip-off, but whatever there is to eat is fine with me. We head over to a table and talk about life problems, dream vacations, and our back to school shopping. I chow down all of my food like a vacuum. Wow, I never knew I was THAT hungry. Once our chit-chat and our breakfast is over, we head over back to our room to get ready to go our own ways. 

We just wore our pyjamas when we ate breakfast downstairs, so now we got to wear our makeup and proper clothes. I pick out some denim jeans that are ripped at the knees and a tea pink blouse. I wanted more of an aesthetic look today, so I picked out a pair of big, silver hoop earrings. I put my hair in a high ponytail, with a fishtail braid on the side of my head that emerges into my ponytail. I pick out my most FAVOURITE perfume that is scented with peony and lavender. Quickly, I pack my bag that I will bring to the gym for the practice. I toss in my blue leotard, a small hand cloth to take up all of my sweat afterwards, some bobby pins, hair ties, a small carry-on perfume bottle, and a hairbrush. Oh yeah, and a metal-plated water bottle filled to the rim with water. I zip up my gym bag and snag my phone. I walk up to the door and pick up my car keys, which were hanging on the wall. Jasmine and Isabella yelled goodbye to me as I left the room. I dash down the hall, nearly falling into the fancy water fountain. People stood in front of the fountain, wished a wish, and tossed coins into the fountain. Whenever I walk past it, I always wonder if anyone ever tried to snag a few coins when nobody watched. It might be impossible to do it, because there are cameras everywhere. I walk out of the hotel exit and find my car. I chuck my gym bag at the back of my car and start it

.

Class doesn't start until 4:00. It’s 12:30 right now, which means I have quite a lot of time. I could go for a little shopping around here in Los Angeles. Maybe I can look for a leotard for the performance, or shop for back-to-school shopping before winter breaks end. I think I’ll look for a leotard for the show. No need to think of school when it’s still winter break. I drive down the street to find a store that has fancy gym bags, sweatpants, women’s sportswear, and basically everything that someone would need for exercising and gymnastics. Gymnastics and contortion are related, so I think the shop should have some presentable leotards to look chic on the stage. I park in the parking lot and sprint up to the shop. The name of the store is not visible because of all of the dust and dirt that flew up to the sign.  I walk in to see a friendly woman standing behind the counter. “Bonjour!” The woman speaks gleefully when she greets me, which makes me comfortable. “Salut!” I reply. 

“What can I help you with?” 

“I’m looking for a leotard that can be used for a show.”

“Well, you have come to the right place! We have the world's best leotards for any event!”

“Awesome! May I see some that you think would look good on me on stage?”

“Of course, come follow me.”

I follow her to the back of the store, where there are pink, blue, purple, and many other colour leotards. On the chest of them, they have sparkles and rhinestones. 

“These are all of the leotards that we carry. Is there a specific colour that you are searching for?

“Actually, yes. I’m looking for an azure colour with rhinestones on the right side. Maybe some sparkles that continue from the middle to the left side of the leotard.”

“Oh yes. We have one more left. I’ll go to the back and get it for you.”

“Oh, ok. Thank you very much!”

She gives me a quick smile and whips around to get the leotard. I look at the other accessories that they have. Not really anything interesting. I look for some makeup that I could buy for the show, and I find a lovely palette right behind me. It had red and purple sparkles all over the outside. On the inside, there was a mirror, handy brushes, 7 different lipstick colours, blush, 21 shades of eyeshadow, and a few small bottles of foundation and a stick of eyeliner. Exactly everything that I need. I search for the price, which was on the side. $25.90 US dollars. Pretty cheap for all of this makeup if I must say. I clutch the palette to my chest and turn around. The lady was returning with a leotard in her hands. She hands it to me when she approaches. 

“Here you go, ma'am.”

“Oh, thank you!”

“Not a problem.”

“Do you have a fitting room so that I could try it out?”

“Yep! Just go straight and turn to your left. The fitting room will be right in front of you.”

“Ok!”

I use the directions that she told me and find the fitting room with ease. I look for a clean and vacant room and lock the door. I place the palette down on the bench that was sitting there, looking comfortable as it is. Quietly, I slip my clothes off and slide on the leotard. It fit perfectly. I look down at myself, scanning for any holes or mistakes that might have occurred during the manufacturing of it.  It looked great to me. I take off the leotard and put on my clothes that I wore; then picked up the palette.  I unlock the door and step outside to see the lady at the cashier. I walk towards her and place everything on the counter.

“How is it?”

“It’s awesome! I can’t thank you enough!”

“Not a problem!”

The lady scans the items as I unlock my phone. I have put my card information into my phone so that I don’t need to bring my wallet wherever I go. All I need to do is click the off button 3 times. My card pops up by the time she is done. I hover my phone over the scanner, and it reads my card successfully. She packs my items and hands the bag to me. She smiles at me, just as how she did when I entered. 

“Once again, thank you. I will never forget your kind help.”

“Oh, it’s what I do dear. No need for any thank you’s”

I smile at her and wave goodbye. She glances at me with soft eyes, and waves back. I exit the shop and look for my car. Skipping with glee, I arrive at my car. I take out my car keys and unlock the car. Foolishly, I toss the bag at the back and start the car. The engine growls and sputters. The car turns on and blasts warm heat. Just what I needed when it’s all cold and icy outside. I start to drive my car and head towards a coffee shop. I go to the drive-thru and order a black bean coffee.  When I drive off, I notice the time. It’s 2:00. I still have 2 more hours left. But I don’t really know what to do now. As I sip my coffee while driving the car, I think about something I could do. But nothing comes to mind. I drive around, finally arriving at a library. I park my car and walk up to the tall structure. I chose the wrong pants to wear on this cold day. I stumble inside the library, wanting to spend my 2 hours here. So that’s what I did. 

It’s been 5 days since I have talked to you. It’s Saturday. Today,  I have my flight to New York. I’m all packed up with my new leotard and makeup palette. Also, all of my clothes that I would wear on the tour, after the show, and when I come back to Los Angeles. My flight is in 1 and a half hours, so at 6 pm. It’s exactly 4:30 right now. I just need to pack my carry on bag. I take out a 2 in 1 bag; a crossbody and a handbag. I pack some gum, lip gloss, lip balm, a portable charger, my phone, cash (just in case), earphones, and some pain killers. I zip up the bag and get my suitcase. I bring them up to the door and lean them on the wall. It’s 5:00 already. Just an hour left. I don’t want to drive an hour before the flight, so I talk to Jasmine and Isabella.

Hi. I’m on the plane right now. I’m almost in New York, and I have just 30 minutes until I get there. 

I had a snack of pretzels and water. For dinner I had a nice, juicy steak with roasted potatoes, along with an all green salad. I watched 2 movies and a few YouTube videos. When I get off the plane, there will be a taxi that will drive me to the hotel that my teacher booked for our class. We will all rest for a few minutes, then start our tour. Oop, the plane is landing now. I’ll catch you when we are going to head off for our tour.

We’re heading off for our tour. Our teacher said that once the tour is done, we can go our own ways for a while and do whatever we wanted. So I’m looking forward to that free time because I wanted to spend some time alone. Our teacher is already blabbing about the things that they have. I’m just trying to block out everything that she is saying. So, here we go on the tour!

Hey guys. The tour took 2 hours. I’m so tired right now. Finally, we get to have free time and wander around for a while. All I want to do now is just sit down. I also want to watch a movie, so I walk over to a cinema. I walk in and search for a good movie to watch. It takes me about 5 minutes to find a movie that I’m interested in. When I finally decide on the movie, I go to pay for the movie, until I find out that I don’t have enough money. I can’t use the card that is in my phone because the movie theatre doesn't accept the type of card. I said that I would be back a bit later and walked away to the wall. I lean against it and slide down until I’m in a squatting position. I stay in that position for a while, and all of a sudden a boy shows up in front of me. His shadows cast down onto me, making me stand back up to talk to him. I get a little scared at first, because I never met him before, and he looked like he was around my age. 

“Hi.”

“H-Hi?”

“I noticed that you were about to purchase a ticket, but you never got one. I have an extra ticket with me. Would you like to join me for the movie?”

“Um, no thank you. I think I’ll head out now-”

I start to take a step to the side, but when I almost take another step, he comes in front of me.

“I don’t mean to alarm you, it’s just I got a ticket for… for a friend of mine, but she never showed up. I’m okay if you join me. I would like it if someone else could come along with me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry that your friend never came. If that’s the case, I could come and join you.”

“Thank you. Come follow me.”

I follow him to one of the doors and enter, where all the lights were bright. There are a lot of people. I’m guessing that the movie hasn’t started and people just arrived early to find their seats. I follow him to 2 chairs that are in the middle of the theatre. He sits down in a chair and motions me to sit down next to him.

“What’s the movie’s name?”

He doesn't answer. He just looks at me and smiles. He put his hand on my hand rest and says:

“It’s a mystery.”

To be honest, he looks humorous and kind. I’m starting to get comfortable. All of a sudden everyone hushed and the lights turned off. He’s still watching me, so I glare back at him. But his eyes don’t budge off of me. He leans into my armrest, making me want to flick him off. But I don’t. He whispers to me,

“What’s your phone number?”

“321 335 8776”

“Thank you.”

“What did you need it for?”

“I just thought that I could note it down so that I could text you later.”

“Oh, ok.”

I look to the screen, wanting to know the name of the movie. It was the introduction that was starting. Just then, the screen turned black and white words appeared, I squinted to see the title. 

The title is… “ My true love gave to me. “