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“Don’t show us up too much,” I said, earning a thump in the arm from Chloe.
“Wait, who took the hairspray?” she complained. “Tammie will freak out if we aren’t ready on time.” She wandered off, grumbling under her breath. I had never seen her so unhinged before.
Alison was inhaling and exhaling comically slowly.
“Are you okay?” I asked. “Not gonna puke, are you?”
“Don't think so.” She drew her knees to her chest and rocked to and fro in her chair. “I hope nobody shows up. I hope they all wait at home for news about the baby.” She kept repeating the words as though it were a spell she could cast.
“Okay, that’s enough. I’m done with you,” I said. “You’re making me nervous.”
She laughed. “I’ll stop. Don’t leave me.”
“Seriously, it’s going to be fine. You’ll be a different person on stage, so it won’t matter how you’re feeling right now, okay?”
She nodded as though she were starting to believe me.
“Good. If you’re ready, we should head out and watch the first few acts. See what we’re up against.”
There were a shocking amount of empty seats ten minutes before the show began. The pack was largely missing. I saw my parents arrive, then Perdita who had brought Diane.
Alison gripped my arm. “Perdita’s really here.”
“She promised she would come.”
Alison exhaled slowly. “She won’t laugh at me.”
I squeezed her shoulder. “Nobody’s going to laugh at you.”
“Victor definitely will.”
“If he tries, I’ll make him eat dirt.”
She giggled, and she finally stopped shaking.
People kept trickling in, and by the time the first act went on stage, many of the empty seats had been filled. There was a chill in the air, so I assumed Vira had arrived, too.
The performing dogs went first and were a huge hit. They were definitely going to show us up. Members of the senior citizen club performed a comedy skit, then children from the local primary school charmed the audience with a couple of super cute dance routines.
Afterwards, it was time for the first intermission, but my stomach kept turning. I couldn’t afford to let my nerves get out of control, so I ignored the feeling, but eventually, I broke out into a sweat. Was the wolf trying to tell me something?
“I don’t feel good,” I told Alison.
She looked me over. “Nerves?”
“I’m not sure. Sometimes crowds overwhelm the wolf.” I looked around for Dorian. The audience was mingling, going in and out of the hallways, and all of the scents in the room were too confusing for me to make out.
“Do you want to go outside?” Alison asked as intermission came to a close.
I shook my head. “I can’t leave in case Tammie’s looking for us.”
“I’ll get you some water then. Wait here.”
“Thanks.” I leaned against the wall and tried to breathe normally, imagining Dorian was by my side, talking me through it. My stomach churned, and Alison hadn’t come back with the water by the time a young group of kids came on stage as the next act. As soon as they started to sing, my head swam. I pressed my palm against my temple, trying to focus, but my hand kept trembling.
A fire alarm wailed throughout the building, cutting through the voices of the children. For a split second, the entire room seemed to freeze, and then a voice shouted, “Fire!” and the room rose in panic.
I shook my head in confusion. I couldn’t smell smoke or anything else. The memory of the recent arson attacks was too fresh in everyone’s minds. Soon, a lot of people were pushing and shoving their way to the doors where the crowd bottlenecked.
