The Final Play

Friday night, the performance of Act 1 Scene 4 was at its peak. The play was at the point where Robert decides he would no longer stand by the side and watch everything bad unfold. Shawn's eyes were reinvigorated, standing up tall, his first course of action was to look for Sarah Payne and apologise to her for everything the bullies had done.

With Act 1 finished, there was an intermission break. In that time, Shawn was sitting backstage, his mind was still in the zone. On the other hand, Shawn's parents had been quietly watching in the audience, alongside his sister who was dragged along. Mr Bialik even came down to say hi to them. He had only met Shawn's mother before, when she had been called down to school for the boy's poor work attitude.

"What do you think of his performance so far, Jacob?" Mr Bialik asked curiously. The teacher and parent had introduced themselves on a first-name basis.

"I never knew my son could perform so well. It must've been thanks to your excellent teaching, Samuel." Jacob said honestly. He was genuinely surprised at his son's acting skills.

"All I did was tell him small pointers. Everything else was just through his own interpretation of the character." Samuel shook his head, clarifying for the talented boy. "I had actually assumed that you or your wife were acting coaches yourself."

"No, we aren't unfortunately. Or else we would've been able to raise our son more properly." After watch the first part of the play, both parents felt that if they had been more attentive or were more skilled in the arts, Shawn's talent could've been sharpened earlier.

"It is not too late. Your son just needs to be guided in the right direction. Regardless, through this play, he is definitely on the right track." That was the truth in Mr Bialik's eyes. The video of the play would be recorded for future uses. With such high-level acting, it was certain that Shawn's future would be bright if he were to pursue acting as a career pathway.

"We will be leaving our son in your hands." Jane spoke from the bottom of her heart. She did want what was best for her son. Though Shawn, as he grew older, was more reclusive around his parents, Jane would try to watch from a close distance and come to his aid if she saw something was wrong.

The second Act started and Shawn continued to pour himself into the performance. It was an emotional ride, both for the audience and Shawn's parents. Jane's mother cried after watching his son's tear-jerking performance and when it was all over, there was a session where the audience would give a huge round of applause for the cast members. A bouquet of flower was given to Mr Bialik who had organised everything and the cast members had gotten together to take a group photo.

Just as Shawn was about to go backstage to change, he noticed a familiar group of individual standing by the side of the stage. He realised that it was his family. Puzzled by how they found out, Shawn stood unmoving. He noticed that her mother's eyes were red and knew that she must've cried from the performance. Before Shawn could do anything, the teenager was pulled into his family's embrace. Their hug was filled with love and care, not one that was angry about how he had not told them about the play.

"You acted so well, Shawn." Jane's eyes started to water again while thinking about how proud she was of her son.

"Well done, son. You made me very proud." Jacob was also very happy at that moment. Only Shawn's sister, Cherry remained indifferent about the performance.

"Thank you." Hearing their compliments, Shawn smiled serenely for the first time in a long while.

The compliments had helped wash away all of the embarrassment that he had thought he would feel if he performed in front of his parents. In the back of his head, he was afraid that his performance would not have any form of effect on them. He did not want to fail them again, just like in primary where he could not cope with the stress.

Knowing that everything was alright was more than enough for him. He did not need to be the person to play the biggest role. He just wanted to not disappoint anyone again.

"Go ahead and change back to your normal clothes. We shall wait for you outside." Shawn left for backstage after that heartfelt gathering with his parents.

There, he met Emilie who had just changed finished her clothes. Knowing that this was all coming to an end, Shawn decided to act. He walked up to the bus mate that had caused all of this to happen and gave a big warm hug. Emilie, who was caught off guard, reciprocated back.

"You did it, Shawn! You fulfilled our deal!" Emilie shouted out in high spirits. Indeed, Shawn had done something that he normally wouldn't do. He had completed excelled through this promise between the two bus mates and became the male lead of an entire play.

"No more." Said Shawn with a tired look on his face. Acting was tired and very troublesome for the boy. He may be talented to others, but talent only went a short way and only through sheer effort could one make a living out of it.

"Oh, come on. Let us do a play together in Year 10 and 11!" Emilie whined playfully.

In her heart, even though she knew that she could never force Shawn to do anything, maybe one day, one day, the boy would come to love acting. And that would be the day that she would stand side by side with him.