Boy Midflight by Charlie David Read Free Book Online Page A

lounge, I sink my teeth into a ripe gala apple purchased earlier at the market in Oak Bay Village. Seated on the ground with her head resting on folded arms in my lap, Michelle gazes up at me, smiling.
    “So what are you doing for spring break?” she asks lackadaisically.
    My mind immediately creates pictures of Chris and me hiking the Gulf Islands, laughing, and going for long, rain-drenched, late-night walks. Making love…. Zap! Back to the reality of a broken heart, a disenchanted dream, and a sour taste for love.
    “I’d actually like to accomplish all my grad requirements so I have no more anxiety before the year-end show,” I reply, my subversive business self overthrowing any lingering hope my inner child held of possible love. “What about you? Are you going home?” I ask Michelle, who has coerced me gently to sit up and share the couch with her.
    “Yeah, I’m going to go to Salt Spring Island. My mom’s in a show there so I want to see her. Can you believe the year is almost done? When we get back from break, we only have a month and a half left at college!”
    “I know, I can’t believe how fast it’s flown by. I feel like we’re just getting to really appreciate each other, you know?”
    “You haven’t forgotten what day it is, have you? We find out about the Butchart Gardens auditions today. We’re still living together this summer, right?” She nudges me amicably.
    “That’s right! I can’t wait to find out. But how are the living arrangements going to work? I mean, you, Chris, and me were supposed to live together. I can’t do that. It would be torture to be in the same house as him, especially if he’s still with Jeremy. It would just be awkward. I’d go crazy.” The sudden realization hits me hard. Now what? It was going to be a two bedroom. One for Michelle and one for “us.” I quickly size up the situation and come to the conclusion that for my emotional state, it is an irrevocable impossibility.
    “Ashley, no! We have to live together!” Michelle intercedes.
    “How could I share a bedroom with him? I don’t care if we have two beds! It’s just too weird. Remember, we have the ‘wrong energy,’” I say bitterly.
    “Let’s just wait and see what happens, all right? We’ll know at the end of the day who got in.” With that she stands and pulls me toward our next class, which we’re already late for. Easy to say. Wait and see. For the remainder of the day, my mind recaps my audition over and over, critiquing my performance. I know I did well… but maybe I’m not the right look…. Antonio, I need this job! I can’t go back and live in Alberta for the summer. What would I do? Take back my old job as a bag boy at the grocery store or wait tables? It’d kill me.

VI
     
     
    “ALL RIGHT, everyone, in your own time, roll up gently from your spine and you can go. Keep the awareness of this newly awakened chakra and any memories or feelings it has opened for you,” Millie, Ms. Enlightenment, instructs the class.
    Michelle and I walk toward each other, simultaneously stretching our backs with one arm crooked behind for support. I have my mat and collection of rubber balls under the other arm. We’ve just finished MBS class. MBS stands for Mind, Body, Spirit, and today we’ve been lying on hard rubber balls specifically placed in pain-inducing areas. The purpose, we are told, is to connect to certain chakras or energy vortexes through breath and slow rhythmic movement. I felt a whole lot of pain for an hour. Millie assured me this was a good thing—part of the process.
    I do enjoy these exercises however, and if I am going to be in pain it may as well be in a beautiful place. The auditorium where we hold MBS class is just that: a large hardwood hall with a soaring A-frame ceiling. Floor-to-ceiling windows swell the room with sunlight and a steady stream of colored rays dance down from stained glass just below the vertex of the arched walls.
    “Oww! Oh my God! I