ODDS ARE GOOD

CHAPTER 4

They started off calling the names in random sections.   "Mark down my words!"   "Augustine-Camilla  Christine-Jade  Madilyn-Jennifer Haruto-Gaby Olivia-Billy Mia-Eli  Katie-Grace   Charlotte-Anakin  Lucas-Andrew  Varsha-Abeba "  "I need these team to get on to the task first, Lemme see how y'all are performing"  "The scores will be considered to evaluate to the next level"  "You can take your time for the practice now"  "Others, you can sit in a row"  The other unassigned students started to settle down in the places unoccupied. I looked at Mia. "Well, you got Eli"   "KIND ELI" I said by widening my hands. She chuckled.   "But, who is Anakin?"  I looked around. Mia stood on her toe to search Anakin.   "Theree is a boooyyy looking for someone"   "And it is the boy I bumped ago"  I frowned at her and stood in her position.   "Yeahhh, I can see him"   Mia scoffed at me.  "HMMMM"  "So you're gonna team up with him" I rolled off my eyes and started walking towards him. Mia nudged and walked beside me.   "Why ya walkin' with me?"  "Go n start practicing gurl!"   She mocked me and ran away to her teammate. I looked at the boy who was lost. I waved my hands in front of him.   "Are you Anakin?"  He smiled brightly and nodded.  "You must be Charlotte!"  "Isn't it?"   I chuckled and nodded. Anakin looked pale and fragile. He had a pretty face and a lean body. He looked like an animation.   "Okay!"   "Nice to meet you Anakin!"   He chuckled and shook hands.   "Good to see you!"  "I'mma a transfer student"   "So, I don't know much about student names or I don't have friends either"  I gasped and realized.  "Awwh!"  "No worries!"  "I'm here for you"  "We'll be good friends!"   He smiled big and nodded.   "Let's start our practice"  I nodded and looked for a place to start practicing as we were standing in the middle of nowhere. The students started chatting indistinctly. It was quite noisy I'd say. He pointed out his fingers in a corner of the room. I nodded and we both reached there, jogging. The place was beside the stage. We both sat down on the floor. I looked for Mia. She was always the same-always chuckling and mocking someone.  I sighed.   "So, how are we gonna do it?"  Anakin cleared his throat and mouthed to speak.   "First, who's gonna act strange?" I paused and clicked my tongue.   "Fine, I'll do it"  I agreed to act strange because sometimes, maybe often I see horror movies to learn from the demonic protagonist. Their moves were always perfect for a crisis.   He smiled and nodded.  "Then, I'll act as a friend"  "Now, let's decide our plot!"  We both laid still, thinking.  The atmos was to be eerie and solemn. That made more sense. I looked at the props. Something clicked my mind and I poured it out.   "Well, I got one I guess"   "So we both were hanging out in my house, watching TV. Nope, a movie. We munched on some snacks and it was all over. You asked me to bring some from the kitchen. I stood up and brought a pack of popcorn from the microwave. When I was about to sit down, I acted strange. Maybe some kinda movements and voices. You were wondering, asked me if I was okay...."  "You gotta call 911"  "And then, it's over.."  "Is it good?"   He jaw dropped and tilted his head slightly on left and squinted his eyes.   "Jeez!" "I need to learn more from you"   I chuckled.   "What?"   He was still exotic.   "You framed it in less than a minute"   "And it was amazing!"   I smiled and raised my hands to bow.  "Thank you:)"  "We'll start?"  Anakin gasped and laid slouching the wall behind him. He was set in position. I went sat beside him, same slouching and spreaded my left leg to act casually. We pretended to eat the snacks in air.  I chuckled. He scoffed.   He did the act and I stood up to act like, grabbing our pops. I got in the frame and started twisting my necks first, I spasmed my arms and moaned. I knocked my knees and stood on my knees. I gasped and looked at Anakin. He was surprised and gave me a thumbs up.  "PERFECT!" I stood normally and smiled. We then realized that we were in the middle of our practice. He was at his peak. He tried to calming the situation. He ran back and forth for help, calling out.  He took out his phone from his pocket and acted like calling 911. We stopped the act and clapped my hands.   "You did it great Anakin!"  He scratched his head and looked down.  "Haha!"  "Thanks"  I smiled and went in the centre, where the assigned students who were ready to perform scattered. We stood beside each other and waited for our call. I looked around and there were some, still practicing.  I searched for Mia. She was practicing with her full focus. Mia loved to act. She acted as the "friend". I turned back to the stage, when someone spoke indistinctly with the mic.   "THE TIME'S UP!"  "I ORDER THE ASSIGNED STUDENTS TO COME AND GATHER INFRONT OF THE STAGE"   The drama teacher announced in a monotone voice. The students gathered in the middle chattering with a low voice. I tucked in my lips and crossed my arms. I wondered who would be called first.  I tilted my head to the left to see Anakin. His eyes never rested. It kept on wandering. His vision moved from the stage, to the rows, to assigned students.I chuckled.  "You lost something?"  He startled up and looked at me.   "UH-HUH"  "No"  "I'm just fixing the picture of this school"  "It's my first time in this class" He smiled shyly.  I nodded and patted his back.  I heard a static sound from the mic.  "LET'S START FROM THE SAME ORDER"  "Augustine and Camilla, you'll be the first"   The class was quiet. I heard footsteps of those students. They went up to the stage. In the stage, there were some props like a fake TV, couch, a console table, some board games, telephone, food covers and more.  PERFECT FOR OUR ACT.  They both started acting. They did it good. It was Christine's chance. She looked pretty nervous. She acted as the "Strange friend".  They were playing board games and suddenly Christine stretched out her arms and bent her back down and fell off from the couch.   "That was literally cool and creepy!" I muttered. Anakin nodded.  "IMPRESSIVE" sounded from the mic.  They came down and sat with the other students. The other acted out well creepy- one did a flip, one crawled down, one acted like a possessed baby, one crackled bones....  It was Mia and Eli's turn. Mia acted as the "friend" and Eli acted "strange". They both sat down on the couch and started chattering.  All of a sudden, Eli bent down his head and started moaning and growling slowly. The growling slowly started into screaming. He screamed loud like a poised.  "YOOOUU'LLL DIIEEEE" Eli screamed.   "That's loud" Anakin whispered.   Eli stood up from the couch and walked with his ankles. He screeched his laughter. Mia ran back and forth. She went up to telephone but she acted like it wasn't working.  The act was over. Everyone looked stun.  "OKAY COOL!" was heard from the mic. I looked at Mia and gestured victory. She chuckled and thumbed up.   They went sat down other students. There were four team left including us. Our before acted out well but there was quite less specifications. It was our chance now.