Spilt Coffee

Bouncing on the souls of his feet, Justin tried to calm his nerves down. In just a few minutes, he would go onstage in front of his whole school and friends to sing for the annual talent show. Taking a look in the mirror, he ran a hand through his thick bangs and hastily flattened them down. Making sure there was no crease in his white shirt, he ran his hands down and smoothed everything out before throwing on a grey button down shirt. Stretching his long legs in his black skinny jeans, he put his hand on his neck and slowly massaged away any tension spots.

“Are you ready?” His best friend, Ryan Butler, had just walked into the small backroom where Justin had been residing for the last twenty minutes. “Might as well be. There’s a huge crowd out there. I think all of Stratford came actually.”

“Well that makes me feel a lot better,” Justin said before nervously laughing.

“Oh, and plus there is some hot blonde chick asking for you too.”

Justin jerked his head up. “What?”

“Yeah,” Ryan said while leaning against the small table that had been set up. He adjusted his cap and nodded his head. “Yeah. A real pretty one, too. You got good taste. Ha, I think her name was Sarah or something.”

Justin smiled. So she had kept her end of the deal up. “Yeah, that’s her. I met her last week. Let’s just say we met in a messy situation. I told her to come here so that I could make it up with her.”

“You didn’t tell her me about her, man,” Ryan said with a tantalizing look on his face. “You holdin’ out on your best friend.”

“You’re stupid man,” Justin replied before playfully knocking Ryan’s hat off his head.

Before Ryan could say anything, Justin’s mom slowly walked into the room.

“Uh, hi,” Ryan said lamely. Noticing the serious look in her face, he quietly excused himself out and went back to the stands with the rest of the audience.

“What’s up mom?” Justin asked. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

Kissing the top of her son’s head, Pattie smiled. “You’re the next act up. I just came in here to tell you that I’m proud of whatever you do and just do your best. You’re a great kid Justin and I’m sure you’ll shine through.”

Smiling sheepishly, Justin patted her on the back. “Thanks mom and I will. Don’t sweat over it.”

“Well come on sweetie, it’s time to show everybody your talent.”

Walking behind his mom, Justin took one last quick look in the mirror before walking out the door. Pattie walked out of the room and took a seat in the audience. Justin stood behind the curtain waiting any second for the announcer to say his name and for the curtain to raise up. Anxiously pacing back and forth, Justin was turned around when came a surprising tap on his left shoulder. Turning around, a goofy grin came upon Justin’s face.

There stood Sarah smiling widely. Her long blonde hair was pulled into a high ponytail and she was wearing a dress that showed of her curves. “Hi Justin!” She exclaimed.

Mouth gaping, Justin hurriedly closed it. Surprised, he ran a hand through his hair. “What are you doing here?”

“I told you I was coming to watch you. You didn’t think I would flake out on you, now did you?”

“Well of course not. I mean how are you back here? Like where the contestants are suppose to wait until their turn?”

Smiling shyly, she walked a little closer to Justin. “I just wanted to wish you good luck and I’ll be rooting for you no matter what,” she whispered quietly.

Justin bashfully stared at her and grinned. “Thanks Sarah, that means a lot to me, it seriously does.”

Sarah wrapped her arms around him and gave him a tight hug. After about ten seconds, she reluctantly let go. “Good luck again,” she said. Giving him a small wave, she said goodbye and ran back out to the stands.

Justin couldn’t believe it. He felt like Christmas had just came early. Heart pounding, he felt a warm sensation in his chest. Before he could collect his thoughts, he heard his name be loudly announced. Gulping, he ran the song through his head. He nodded his head; he knew he had this in the bag. The curtain was soon pulled up.

It was now or never.