A Crush on Stage

186,000mps has some SERIOUS guts! —Sparkitors

It all started when somehow, despite having the grace on coordination of a drunken zebra with only two legs, I was cast in the chorus of my local community theatres production of Footloose. Two weeks later, we began to choreograph the final dance piece: the prom scene.

Due to the universe’s sense of humor, I ended up with the only other person in the cast who could be considered clumsier than me as I dance partner and “Prom Date.” Not only was this guy a klutz, he was also a Harry Potter Fan (!!), and drop dead gorgeous.

As the weeks went by, I got to know... let’s call him Draco, because like Malfoy he was a) in Slytherin—he took the online sorting test,  b) a possessor of beautiful blonde hair, and c) tall and skinny. I got to know Draco in the green room, at set building, and in between apologizing for stepping on his toes repeatedly. Soon enough, I had developed a crush bigger than Jupiter and all its moons combined.

Draco had started out the show with a sprained ankle, having injured it at auditions, and on the night of the second performance, after his ankle had just finished healing, he sprained again, more severely this time, during warm ups. Part of the dance in the Prom Scene involved the male picking up his partner and spinning her, only in our case, it was on top of a 4 ft platform. I asked him to just let us improvise choreography during this move out of concern for his ankle, and, I’ll admit it, not wanting to be dropped off of the platform. Unfortunately though, I’m a weakling with the upper body strength of a malnourished squirrel, and he (despite noted slenderness) was more than capable of picking me up despite my protests. And thus, the dance was performed as usual.

Back in the Dressing Room after the show, I vented to my fellow female cast mates about how stubborn he was, when one of my friends suggested that in the next show, to keep him from picking me up, I lay a kiss on him. “That will stop him in his tracks.”

I usually followed this girl’s advice; she was a seasoned thespian. But I was kind of terrified by the idea. I am shy, but also stubborn, and I was ready to show Draco that two could play at that game.

The first show of the day passed, and I was too scared to carry out my plan. But by the second go round, I was fired up, and a little angry from once again having my opinion ignored by the person I cared for.

So I did it.

The kiss certainly caught him by surprise. For the rest of the dance the look on his face conveyed happiness, shock, and confusion. Afterwards, he came and found me in the lobby.

“You kissed me!”

“Yeah.” I replied shyly. “I usually do what Wendy tells me to."

But Sparklers (and Manklers) the story isn’t that simple. Draco didn’t realize his affection for me, and we didn’t ride off into the sunset together on his pet hippogriff. There is a hidden complication. At the time of this story, Draco was a senior set to head off to college, and I was going to start high school as a freshman in the fall.

I still find myself day dreaming about Draco, wondering if he liked me, or if I was just a little kid to him. (I don’t think he realized my true age until about halfway through the show.) I wonder if we’ll ever meet again in the future, and I imagine scenarios of this daily.

This is one truly crushing crush it will take a while to get over.

What's the gutsiest thing you've ever done to get a crush's attention?

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