 At a school on Mars, a new transfer student is about to get dropped into a theatrical mess unlike anything she's dealt with before... This week on Academy 27, we delve into the theater department, and our new friend Amelia! You can catch up on old stories for free HERE, and stick around after the show, there's something extra for you at the end! You can download the story below in PDF (for free!), or keep scrolling to start your adventure... 
Stage Blocking, by Elizabeth Tock"Keep your chin up kiddo." Uncle Clarence said as he drove me to the school, "Don't let one little setback snuff out the fire in you." "Do we have a backup school to enroll me in, in case I get expelled?" I asked flatly. "Amelia, what would your mother say if she caught you talking about yourself like that?" he asked in return. "Make me find positive things about myself or the situation, probably." I said with a groan. "Alright then, try to find five positives from this." he said, about as unsure as I felt. I thought about it for a minute, "Um… I proved I'm a good team player where it counts?" "That's one." he said, somewhat excited. "I proved I can stand up for myself." I continued. "For sure. That's two." he replied. "I showed I'm good at my holo set designs?" I said racking my brain to finish the exercise. "Yeah, we can count that one I guess." he said with a chuckle. "We made a scene in front of several people, so someone may stick up for me." It was a positive for me and I was sticking to it. "I'm not sure that's exactly a positive." he replied, trying to decide if he needed to backpedal or not. "I learned I can take a hit?" This one was definitely a stretch, but I couldn't think of anything else. "You're nervous this morning so I'll allow it." Uncle Clarence said with a smirk. As he dropped me off at the main entrance he turned to give me a hug, "We'll get this figured out. But heavens forbid you do get expelled, I am looking into some other schools with openings." For being new to this whole parental figure thing, he was doing pretty good so far. "Thanks Uncle Clarence." He gave me a cheesy grin, "Stick to your guns, Brightman's don't give up! But if something happens, call me and I'll be right over." I nodded and with that he drove off. As I walked into homeroom early the next morning, Mrs. Ichinose met me at the door. "How's the eye?" "It's fine." I lied as it was still throbbing like crazy. "I heard you and Hanzo had a… lively weekend." she started, treading carefully, "I've got some ice in my office if you want to talk about it?" "I'm sure Hanzo's told everyone by now." I said coldly as we made our way to her office. "Hanzo will get to tell me his side later. We're talking now." she said kindly, "How'd all this start?" "Well it all began when we moved here." I started, putting the ice pack on my eye. * * * “Mr. Brightman,” the steward said, “we should be landing on the planet shortly.” “Thank you.” Uncle Clarence said in his businessman voice. “I hear Mars is lovely this time of year.” “Gongen.” I said, eyes fixed on the second act of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. “Come again?” Uncle Clarence asked, confused. “It’s not Mars anymore.” I repeated, looking up from my book, “The people who live there call it Gongen. I thought you knew that?” He chuckled at that, "You read too much Kitten. Nothing’s official yet, and I don't see it being true any time soon." “No, no, no. We gotta talk about that.” I said firmly, "Please stop calling me 'Kitten', I've heard you call too many of your girlfriends that for me to ever be comfortable with it." “Yep, you’re definitely Emily’s kid.” he said with a smirk, "Well what's an acceptable nickname for you then Ms. Ameila? I want us to be friends, not strangers." “I mean,” I said hesitating, "We kind of are strangers. Up until mom died, you were just a name on Birthday and Christmas cards." "I know.” he said slightly under his breath, “I don't have any excuse for not being in your life more. But I'm here now, and I'm going to try to be the best guardian and uncle I can be. So, what should I call you?" I smiled at that, "Call me Mel." As far as fresh starts went, it could have been worse. I could have been sent to an Earth orphanage. Mom died last year in the crossfire of a gang shootout; wrong place, wrong time as the police explained it to me. Something about some lowlifes trying to get in with the Cartel and getting in on the Ebon Gate’s turf. Thankfully those responsible were dealt with. Not that any of their explanations or justice helped when I was standing alone in front of her casket.. With no dad in the picture, it was going to be a bleak outlook for me if Uncle Clarence hadn’t taken me in. Yeah he was a stock boy for Feeding the Stars, but he wasn’t a serial killer. That’s what counts. Getting back into Theater at a new school, on a new planet, with a new head actor who was the director’s pet…. That was going to be the challenge. And up until about a month before “Parents Night”, it was. * * * "Mel," Mrs. Ichinose said awkwardly, "I meant why don't you start at the beginning of what led to yours and Hanzo's… disagreement the other night." "Right, sorry." I replied, "Well, it started when Mr. Shevchenko put Jorani in charge of the Parent's Night play." * * * “... a-and it's going to be a story a-about the founding of Gongen. S-So, what do you say? Will you help?” Jorani asked. Obviously, I hesitated, “So… You’re asking me to help with a theater production; when Hanzo basically forbade me from setting foot in there like my presence was going to defile the auditorium somehow?” “Y-Yes.” she replied nervously. “You sure about this?” I was honestly waiting for this to be a prank. Hanzo is the golden boy who walks around like he owns the school. A real top of the line jerk. “I-If you don’t want to h-help, I can ask s-someone else." she stammered, "I j-just know you had b-been interested before-” “No, no Jorani, I’ll do it. I just don’t want you to get in trouble with Hanzo. He's a talented guy," I hated to say it but it was still true, "but Mr. Shevchenko's given him way too much power in the department with too big an ego to go with it. I don't want Hanzo to say you're a traitor to Gongen or something just because you let me work on a show." "I t-think we'll be okay." She replied, "It's the Parent's Night s-show, Hanzo thinks something s-so small is 'beneath his talent.' He likely w-won't even set foot in the auditorium while we're r-rehearsing for that." "Mel, you're still not talking about the other night." Mrs. Ichinose said. "Sorry." I repeated, " Um, right up until dress rehearsal, Jorani was right. Hanzo was more focused on Mr. Shevchenko's big show and getting his next big role on a holodrama than our show for the Parent's." "What changed that?" she asked. "Sang Mi opened her big mouth." I replied through gritted teeth, "The hologram set program was acting buggy, so I asked her if she could take a look at it. She ran into Hanzo after she fixed it and told him what the show was. And as patriotic as he is-" "He wanted to be in the show as a main founder of Gongen." Mrs. Ichinose finished. "Exactly." I replied. "Mr. Shevchenko told him Jorani was the boss of this show, so the best he could do was be made an understudy. So Hanzo started sitting in on rehearsals, which was okay until he started complaining that the set designs for shows he was in didn't look as good as our set did." "Quite the compliment." Mrs. Ichinose said. I snorted, "Yeah, but he didn't know I was the set designer. Let alone who Jorani had made the Assistant Stage Manager." "I see. What did he do then?" Mrs. Ichinose asked. I rolled my good eye, "He started throwing a fit." "How could you sully the honor of Gongen by bringing an Earther into our theater! We're fighting for our independence and you bring scum like her into our beautiful sanctuary to the arts!" Hanzo shouted. "S-She goes to our school. S-She lives on Gongen…" Jorani said meekly. "B-Besides, you j-just said her set design was g-good…" "That's no excuse!" he fumed. I'd had enough of his high and mighty bullshit and him yelling at Jorani when I was his problem, "Hanzo you want a fight, fight with me. Jorani was just doing the job Shevchenko gave her." I snapped. "I'm not talking to you." Hanzo started. "What? You can't finish what you started?" I retorted. "You call me the enemy, yet I've gone out of my way to correct people who call this planet 'Mars' instead of by its rightful name Gongen, I've called my new home by its true name since day one. You've shunned me from the one place I hold as much reverence as you, and you know what Hanzo? If your xenophobic ass would have even let someone like me in, I would make your shows look this good too!” "And what happened after that?" Mrs. Ichinose asked. My eye throbbed remembering it, "He didn't have a comeback, and I'd embarrassed him in front of everyone. So he punched me." "Did you try to punch him back?" she asked. "Nope. I'm only dumb enough to call someone twice my size names, not try to physically fight them." I said with a slight chuckle. "Then how did he hurt his hand?" I gave her a big grin, "I ducked when he threw the second punch and he hit the wall behind me." School AnnouncementsNEXT TIME! So, I heard through the grapevine—and by the grapevine I mean that Sang Mi told me at Track Practice—by the way hi girl! You better get your time down in the second lap of your 800 meter run or Coach is gunna be maaaaad. Anyway as I was saying I heard that Tsetseg Sansar is working at a Coffee Shop—how’d that happen? And not to mention I’ve heard talk that some sort of famous Maverick, like… Mack Milgress? Jack Bildess? Wack Wilgress? Something like that, he’s been spotted in Takumi! I wonder what that’s all about? I’m sure it couldn’t have anything to do with the coffee shop thing, that’d be too wild. Wishing you luck, Tsetseg! And—Sorry Mr. Mori! No, you don’t have to yell I’ll get back to the real announcements… ahem. The Maths Club is recruiting! Like maths? Well, so do they I guess!. Oh, they have a tag line for me to read: “One plus one is two, but one plus fun in our club is you!” Well, that’s kind of cute. Anyway. Till next time, I’m your announcer from the Broadcast Club, Hee Jin! Tune in Next Week For: Coffee, Warm By James Wylder New Academy 27 stories will drop each Thursday! Read past stories and learn more about Academy 27 at: ArcbeatlePress.com/A27 Bonus FeatureWARS is Copyright Decipher Inc. WARSONG is Copyright Arcbeatle Press and Decipher Inc. WARSONG: Academy 27 is Copyright Arcbeatle Press and Decipher Inc. WARS and all associated characters and concepts are the property of Decipher inc. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to people, places, events past or present is purely co-incidental. Arcbeatle Press is owned and operated by James Wylder, and is based out of beautiful Elkhart Indiana. This story is copyright 2024 Arcbeatle Press and James Wylder. Edited by Jo Smiley and James Wylder. Kalingkata, Talinata, and Geraldine “JackBox” McGraw are owned by James Wylder.
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