Page 62 of This I Promise You
“In case you live under a fucking rock and don’t know shit, everyone who entered will be drawn at random. You have ten seconds to get your ass to the stage or we move on. Y’all better not bitch out either. Paul, I’m looking at you.” Jeremy points to me and I want to duck and roll out of here because fuck you very much, Jeremy, and please shut the hell up. I flip him off. He gives me a cheeky grin and continues, “Votes will be determined by how loud the audience gets and the top three will go head-to-head. Get it? Got it? Good. Ret, set, go!”
Why did I do this to myself?
“Up first…” He leans over and takes his beanie off his head, then digs around inside. Jeremy pulls out a piece of paper and unfolds it. “Alejandro Chaplin. Let’s get it.”
One by one each of the contestants are called. Easton, Huxley, and Devina all huddle together so they can talk about each act, but every time Jeremy takes off his hat I want to explode into fairy dust. This was a bad idea. What if I forget everything? I mean, I can have my phone, but what if I go blind? What if I throw up all over everyone in the front row?
And then, “Paul Acre. You’re up!”
“Shit,” I say.
“You’ll do great, babe,” my boyfriend says.
“Just breathe through it.” Huxley slaps my back.
“You got this,” Devina says.
I make my way up to the stage and take out my phone just in case. I look directly at the light of my life and say, “This one is for my gorgeous boyfriend, who inspires me every day to do better, to be better.”
“What about your best friend, asshole?” Huxley yells and everyone erupts in laughter.
“Fine. You too. I guess.” I roll my eyes and smile. “Anyway, this is called,It Is Time.” I close my eyes, take a deep breath for stability, and begin.
“Time.
Once upon a time
I was asked,
‘What’s your greatest fear?’
To which I replied,
‘It’s time.’
Time
is an elevator
with a mirror.
I am a human
with a phone.
Obvi.”
I pause. I’m so nervous I feel like I’m going to vomit. My hands are shaking and so far, I haven’t needed to look at my phone, so I put it in my pocket and look over at Easton. He’s sitting there all astute and expecting. He’s really into this. Maybe it’s because it’s me or maybe it's because he likes what I’m saying, I don’t know. But he gives me a small smile and that’s just enough motivation for me to continue.
“Hashtag tbt
to a different time
and place,
through time and space
it went.
