Standing behind the curtain for my cue to go on stage, I’m fully aware of everyone who is on the other side of the curtain. Knowing that Kent's out there with the other half of the class, and that Mr. Sullen let me sneak Reece and Rhiannon in to see my exam performance as well, there’s a good chance I made a major mistake. I'm about to embarrass myself and I would be better off if a third of my family wasn't here to see the humiliation in person. Over Christmas, I'd gotten it in my head that I'd be more confident having them here, but it only makes the stakes seem higher.

Kent's and Jen’s performances already happened, they did a classic take on Alice in Wonderland with costumes that obviously exceeded the budget they were supposed to use, which resulted in some decent acting. Kent’s group managed to make the classic story much more violent than the original.

So far, three different people in my performance have forgotten their lines. So at least the bar isn't set all that high for my couple of lines as the king of hearts.

In the end, our group decided to gender swap Alice in Wonderland. I'm not exactly sure what kind of statement we’re supposed to make, but it's been fun if nothing else.

And so, the trial begins. I do my best to look confident as I walk onstage with everyone else. Most of the people from the last scene have disappeared, hiding themselves in the small area available to us offstage in the classroom. I can practically feel almost twenty sets of eyes on me directly, even though someone else is talking right now, so the feeling of everyone watching me could be all in my head.

I'm here now, and this is happening. Besides, somehow my drama grade ended up being my best of the semester, at least going into exam. If I can manage not to screw this up, I might actually have something to show for myself. Not a new potential career option, but still almost impressive showing in the class that everyone probably thought I would drop out of as well.

Before I can overthink it, I'm saying my lines and gesticulating in what I hope is a dramatic fashion, pleading with my deranged spouse to spare the young boy who has shown up in our kingdom to wreak havoc unknowingly.

I end up getting my head chopped off and breathing a sigh of relief when my turn on stage is finally over. I do not understand how this plot twist ended up in our version of the script, since I had very little to do with that. Instead I did most of the visual stuff for our group. If nothing else, our version of Wonderland looks awesome.

I fish my phone out from where I'd been hiding it in my costume, and take a behind-the-scenes picture to send to Nadine later. Rhiannon has also promised to take pictures of my big moment to share with our parents, or for me to accidentally delete so no one can ever see them ever again.

The lights come up, and it's all over. Our group disperses after an enthusiastic round of applause from the audience. A few people are shooting my sisters weird looks, but I guess people at school don't get to see more than a couple of us together at any time. I rush over to them as they are talking with Kent.

"Well, that's finally done." I lean my head against Kent's shoulder before he pulls me into a hug.

"You did great."

I glance at my sisters for confirmation and find Rhiannon making a face. I can trust her not to lie to me. "You didn't embarrass yourself." she says, grinning.

"I'll take it. That's all I was going for. Thanks for coming guys, you should probably go before the class wraps up."

They say their goodbyes and disappear back out into the hallway, off to eat their food in the limited time they have left in their lunch period.

"Don't listen to them." Kent says. "I thought you were awesome."

"I definitely wasn't, but that was a lot of fun."

"Still happy that it's over?"

"Oh yeah."

"I’m still holding onto hope of you joining drama club next semester. We've even dragged Rosie out a couple of times, I'm not giving up on you yet."

Drama club starts at the beginning of the next term, when the drama classroom becomes a music classroom and Mr. Sullen becomes an English teacher until the new school year.

As though summoned by my thoughts, our teacher joins us, Jen in tow. I'm pretty sure Frank is still somewhere in the back, taking off his costume. He had been banking on being the cheshire cat before we went with our gender swap idea. Instead, he ended up as Dinah.

"Well done." Mr. Sullen says, clapping slowly. "We had a great showing this year. I hope you will all be back next year for our junior level course."

I smile politely, but I don't commit one way or the other. I've kind of loved taking drama this semester, but the idea of doing it when there are other, non-public speaking oriented classes available to me still seems like a foreign concept. Somehow, I suspect I'll give in.

If nothing else, Mr. Sullen has become one of my favorite teachers. I'm already hoping I can rework my schedule a little next semester to have him for English along with Frank.

The five of us don't have lunch together for our next set of classes next term, but I’ve been still lucky enough to end up with Kent and Rosie plus Reilly and Rhiannon. I don't think hiding out in the library will even be an option for me again anytime soon.

And, even better, I get a different teacher for my science class next semester too.