Chapter 8: Busy Few Days

Even though Sleeping Beauty opened last night, the cast and crew were able to have the morning off before the evening show to relax. Risa thought having the morning off would help her catch up on the rest of the paperwork she needed to finish off before the weekend.

“It sure is nice of the boss giving us the morning off before tonight,” Sara said sitting by the window.

“Ah-huh,” Risa said pretty zoned out.

“Risa, what is wrong?” Sara asks worriedly.

“Nothing, I am sorry. I am trying to finish the paperwork before the weekend since this has to deal with the upcoming seasonal festivals,” Risa explains, going through her papers.

“Right, of course. I forgot the festivals are coming up. It is ashamed we won’t be part of them this year,” Sara said, a little disappointed.

“Yes, I could be careless,” Risa responds.

“The winter festival is coming up,” Sara, gloomy points out.

“Yes, well, I better go,” Risa said, heading towards the door.

“I am coming with you,” Sara said, joining her.

As Risa and Sara are leaving the Dorm, they were receiving praise from many students who watched the show last night.

“Way to go you two,” a student says passing by.

“You were amazing, Risa,” another student shouted.

The praise continued all the way to the main building of the school. It was annoying Risa, but she is glad she could finally get away from it.

“Well, this is my stop,” Risa concludes.

“The headmaster’s office?” Sara asks.

“Yes, well, the headmaster is my uncle, and these papers go to him,” Risa replies.

“Right, I forgot. See you later,” Sara says, ready to leave.

“Not a chance, you are coming with me,” Risa said, grabbing Sara’s arm before she left.

“Ok, I am coming,” Sara said, giving in.

Having Sara by her side, Risa enters the headmaster’s office.

“Sir, Student Representative Risa Amané, present accompanied by Miss Sara Azula,” Risa announces to the headmaster.

“Ah, Risa, punctual as usually,” The Headmaster said greeting them.

“Yes, sir,” Risa responses plainly.

“Right, down to business,” Headmaster said regaining his posture.

“Right, here are the documents you asked me to review last week. If you see on the margins, I took the liberty of changing a few things and made a few suggestions. The other pile is the list of currant clubs performing at the upcoming festivals. I will be meeting them shortly to discuss options with them,” Risa explains with such professionalism.

“Thank you for your help. I will get through them today,” the headmaster thanking her.

“Of course, please excuse me,” Risa said, excusing herself and exiting the office.

“Wow, you sure know how to handle yourself that was amazing,” Sara said, impressed.

“It takes practice. Now we should….”

Risa’s sentence was cut short by hearing a strange commotion going outside in the courtyard, so he went to investigate the scene. “If you do not want three months of detention, then head to class,” Risa orders the students. With that threat, students began returning to class. As she sees Theo, she regrets her threat.

“Thank you, I owe you one,” Theo teasingly says, cleaning himself up.

“Theo, what are you doing here?” Risa asks for surprises.

“I came escort you to Dream and check out the academy while I am here.”

“That is not until tonight. Now please leave or I will have you escorted you out for trespassing. I am busy and I have someplace to be.”

“Bummer, what am I supposed to do while I am here.”

“Not my problem, please excuse me.”

“Theo, why don’t you come with us,” Sara inviting Theo to join them.

“Sure, ok,” Theo awkwardly accepts, as he notices a group of girls staring at him.

Now with Theo joining the group, they are heading to the theater hall, and Theo can see the real Risa at work.

Meanwhile, Laurel is complaining to the boss about Risa’s adlibbing and the performance the rookies did last night. “It seems last night’s performance did not level up to our usual standards,” Laurel began explaining.

“I do not know what you are talking about. The reviews are the best I have seen in a long time,” the boss said, reading a few in front of her.

“It is Risa; she ruined the show by adlibbing her routine,” Laurel complains.

“I think the audience would rather enjoy it,” the boss replies.

“What about the rookies? I saw them making a few mistakes,” Laurel said, keeping making excuses.

“I think everyone is prone to make mistakes on their first show, just wait for tonight. I think they will be fine,” the Boss said encouraging.

“Fine, we will see,” Laurel murmured.

“Oh, before I forget, leave Risa alone or their will be consequences,” The Boss warns.

Laurel walks out and heads to the practice room to prepare for tonight’s show.

Back at Rika Academy, Risa, Theo, and Sara arrive at the theater hall ready to get to work. “Hello everyone. I am glad all of you were able to make it today. Let me start by giving you some bad news. This year I will not be able to perform in your shows due to scheduling conflicts, but I did ask the gymnastic team to fill in for me,” Risa said kindly.

“What? We were so hoping you play lead in our musical,” one girl protested.

“I am sorry, but I am fairly busy,” Risa comments. “Alright, for the good news, we have the one and only Theo visiting us today, so please be on your best behavior. Now I will listen to your proposals.”

One by one, each of the clubs came on stage to read or perform their proposal to Risa. Risa carefully reviews their ideas and gives them full attention while taking notes. She does her best, giving some suggestions to the clubs to improve their shows and how they can fit in with the upcoming festivals.

“Wow, Risa sure is amazing,” Theo whispers.

“Yes, she is. She may have been forced to be the Student Representative, but her main goal is always making others smile,” Sara explains.

“She is truly amazing,” Theo repeats.

“Ha-ha, is that all you can say,” Sara asks.

“It is true, no matter how many times I say it,” Theo confesses.

Once the final club made their proposal to Risa, the rest of the clubs returned to the stage to hear her announcement. “Thank you all for taking the time to meet with me. Your proposals were simply amazing and well put. In the next few days, I will review your proposals and tell you which clubs will be participating in the Autumn Festival. Remember, if your proposal does not make it in, you will be able to join the other clubs in their activities for the festival,” Risa announces.

“Yes, ma’am,” the clubs replied in unison.

“Good, you are dismissed,” Risa said, dismissing them.

“Wow Risa, you are simply amazing,” Theo, complimented.

“Thank you, but I am exhausted,” Risa said, taking a seat to catch a breath.

“Nice to see you more relaxed, but we had better go. We do have a performance tonight,” Sara warns checking her watch.

“You are right, let’s go,” Risa said, gathering her things and following Sara outside.

Risa, Sara, and Theo left campus and head straight to Dream. Luckily, they arrived before the crowd, so they had some time to take a breath.

“Risa!” Melody shouts, flying towards her.

“Hi, Melody?” Risa said, dodging her advance. “Sorry, but we have a show to put on.”

The trio headed inside to get dressed for the show. Risa finished getting dressed in twenty minutes, so she thought of spending some time with Melody.

“Melody, thank you for coming,” Risa kindly said.

“Of course, we are partners after all,” Melody teases.

“Right. Anyways, Melody, I know you said there is magic in the circus world, but I was wondering how someone like me would be able to wield it,” Risa asks point blank.

“Most humans can wield magic when they have an emotional and strong connection with their fairy. Other times for our partners to wield magic, an emotional trigger like love can activate the magic in them,” Melody explains.

“Really, love? Is there another way.”

“Maybe believing in magic.”

“Yes, that can be one of them.”

“Huh this is going to be hard.”

“Will all performers please make your way to the performing area,” the announcer said over the speakers.

“Thank you, Melody. Let’s go,” Risa said, running inside.

An hour went by in a blink of an eye, and the seats were already filled up. Performers quickly get into a position ready to perform.

Two minutes to show the time.

“Let’s put on a good show girls,” Mina said excitedly.

“Yeah,” the girls cheered as they got into their positions.

One minute left and the show begin.

The show begins as it was before last night. Since the boss liked the changes Risa made in the show, he allows her to perform the way she thinks the show might be better for the show. It seems the crowd enjoys these different stunts as it made the show even have high praise reviews. The reviews seem to be written with great highlights of the show, and everything is going to be perfect.

As the days continue, the performance keeps getting better and better. Even Theo and Risa are starting to get along with their duet performance. The audience seems to enjoy seeing them as the cutest new couple on the stage.

The performance runs through the entire next month, making it a huge success in Dream’s history. At last, the final day came, and everyone was excited to finally end this show. “Alright everyone, do your best. Today is the last day,” Mina said, still cheering. Everyone wants to give the best final show they can before it was time to say good-bye. Instead of sticking to the normal routine, Risa thought to give the audience a treat, by ad-libbing parts of her routine to make it more entertaining.

At last, the show concludes and everyone left with a smile.

With this much attention to Dream having a huge success, they did not think it would attract a negative vibe.

“What is this?” A girl shouts.

“It seems Dream is doing quite well,” a different girl said.

“Yes, they have been getting the best reviews in the paper, but what about our show?” The third girl points out.

“Ladies, it seems we have to pay a visit to our old rivals. Pack your bags, we leave in two days,” a master of the circus explains.