“He doesn’t have to shake me!”

The girl screamed, raw throated to the crowd, her arms stretched unnaturally behind her and only her widened eyes expressing the pain voiced in her tirade.

There was a hushed pause of shock.

This was followed by a longer pause, growing into an uncomfortable anticipation. There was a cough. Finally, someone just in the shadows of the light shuffled their feet and whispered out “Jack.”

The girl flicked her eyes towards the noise, “Bugger it, sorry guys.” She grimaced, frustration competing with disappointment, and collapsed her strained position.

A boy behind her, who had been lounging under the shared spotlight on a oversized chair, groaned, stretching. “Let’s just carry on.”

The girl nodded, smiling apologetically at the one off stage, who just shrugged and smoothed down her dress, identical to the one the girl wore. “It’ll be all right on the night.”

The boy snorted and stood up. “It better be. Has to be perfect.”