Broadway; Opening Act
Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 4:57 pm
The vans started arriving shortly after 8am. Paragon Action News emblazoned on one van, station logos, and channel monikers from all the popular stations on others, along with some of the more popular entertainment shows on a few. It wasn’t long after that the crowds started to arrive, all of them eager to view…what, exactly? Now students started to gather near the gates, curiosity getting the better of them.
“What’s going on?”
“Not sure, there’s supposed to be a new student arriving, guess he’s a big deal, looking at all the press.”
“Well, who?”
“I don’t know, but I think we’re about to find out. Look!” The student pointed to a sleek black stretch number pulling up to the gates and slowing to a stop. The driver got out and moved to the passenger’s rear door and held it open. From the limo stepped a young man, about 16 or 17 years old. Dark blond hair parted carefully, revealing a handsome face. Dressed in a charcoal grey suit, with a blue shirt, and white tie, with a matching blue pocket square peeking out of the suit jacket’s pocket, the young man stood to his full height of just over 6 foot tall, and looked through his Revo Serengeti shades at the modest gathering, and smiled a dazzling smile. At this point the small crowd surged forward around the boy, with pens and pads of paper extended, while a small cadre of large men dressed in dark suits, tried to keep them at bay. The boy gave an embarrassed chuckle, and stepped out in front of his bodyguards, taking the first pen and paper from a young woman. Flash bulbs began to pop their staccato strobe, and the click click of cameras advancing film became a dull roar.
“What’s your name?”
“Elisabeth!” The woman shouted back. “I can’t believe you’re going to be going to school in Paragon City!”
“True enough. St. Joseph’s.” He looked up at the school with a contemplative look, and the smile returned answered in turn by another round of camera clicks. The boy signed the paper Elisabeth, best wishes, may all of your dreams turn up bright lights, Jason Berezhin.
“Holy crap, I know who that is.” One of the students who’d gathered at the gates exclaimed. The others waited a moment before they buffeted him with hands to tell them. “It’s Jason Berezhin. He’s made a big splash on Broadway, and done a couple of movies. He’s got a record coming out soon too. He did that duet with Crystal Seldren, at the Paragon City Fest last year that was such a hit.”
“Right!” the student paused a moment “Well, what the hell is he doing coming to ‘freak high’ then?”
“Dunno, but they'll tell us soon enough.” The student pointed to an area where Headmaster Sir Arthur Winston III and David Conrads were waiting the young star, surrounded by several TV Cameras, crew and interviewers.
Jason stepped up to the waiting dignitaries of the school, and shook hands with the Headmaster, leaning in close. “Sorry about all this sir, it wasn’t my idea. I’m not sure how the information was leaked, but” Jason chuckles and smiled his dazzling smile to Sir Arthur “I have a feeling my publicist miiiight have a hand in it, and she’ll be working handling the tabloids if I find out.”
Sir Arthur laughed at this, “Don’t fret overly about it, my dear boy. The school can always use a little good publicity every once in awhile.”
Jason turned to shake hands with the school Councilor who added “I look forward to having you on board, Mr. Berezhin.”
At that, what seemed to the trio, a small forest of microphones were thrust up at them and the reporters all started a cacophony of questions.
“Jason, what brought you to St. Joe’s – Why did you choose a paranormal high school? – Do you have superpowers, Jason? - How is this going to affect your career – Are the rumors about you and Stacey Haliburton true?” and the questions kept coming.
Jason held up one hand while displaying what had become his trademark smile. “Hey, hey, now, I can only answer so fast, and the shotgun approach to asking isn’t working so well. But I’ll try. St. Joe’s is a highly respected school, and anyone, powered or un, should feel privileged to attend. As for me, I have shown some unusual abilities that have my parents concerned, so they wanted to send me here. I will take a break from the stage and screen while I attend, but suspect that you may see some recorded material.” He grinned as he saw the media take an almost collective breath as the next round of questions were about to start, happy that he avoided having to answer the questions about Stacey.
“What abilities do you have? – Will we see you on the streets of Paragon? – How do you feel about being in school with aliens?”
Jason laughed at the next round, and Conrads stepped forward, “Any abilities that Mr. Berezhin has, will of course be kept confidential, per our normal operating procedures. The students here, IF they have skills that are deemed to be among those that would help in stopping crime, and problems that plague our city, are encouraged to help, under close supervision of the various crimefighting organizations.”
Jason grinned impishly and leaned over to a microphone and mimicked the string of questions back to the reporters exactly as they’d been said, down to the tone and voice. “I have a few small abilities. Now if Lord Recluse can be brought down through frustrating him by copying everything he says, I guess I’m your guy.” This brought a chuckle from the crowd. “So, I highly doubt you’ll be seeing me on the streets. At least not fighting crime. I’ll leave that to others who can handle it better.” Jason looked down at the reporter that asked the question about aliens, and his demeanor turned serious. “The way I understand it, there are aliens here. Nobody likes what aliens did to the city, or to the Earth in general. If it were up to me, every alien that did that would be cast off the planet.” The crowd began to murmur about the statement, till Jason started to speak again. “But, do we judge that all humans are evil because we have criminals here? Or that all people having the same name are exactly alike?” The smile returned, lighting up the area. “hell, I hope not, or I’m in a lot of trouble.” Jason opened his mouth and the familiar ‘ch-ch-cha, ka ka ka” from the countless Friday the 13th movies came forth perfectly. “So I don’t have a problem sharing my school with beings from another planet. I think of it as meeting a foreign exchange student….from a REALLY long way away.” Another chuckle from the crowd. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I really need to get settled, but thank you all for showing.” Jason returned to signing autographs till he’d thought he’d signed them all before heading to his new school.
“What’s going on?”
“Not sure, there’s supposed to be a new student arriving, guess he’s a big deal, looking at all the press.”
“Well, who?”
“I don’t know, but I think we’re about to find out. Look!” The student pointed to a sleek black stretch number pulling up to the gates and slowing to a stop. The driver got out and moved to the passenger’s rear door and held it open. From the limo stepped a young man, about 16 or 17 years old. Dark blond hair parted carefully, revealing a handsome face. Dressed in a charcoal grey suit, with a blue shirt, and white tie, with a matching blue pocket square peeking out of the suit jacket’s pocket, the young man stood to his full height of just over 6 foot tall, and looked through his Revo Serengeti shades at the modest gathering, and smiled a dazzling smile. At this point the small crowd surged forward around the boy, with pens and pads of paper extended, while a small cadre of large men dressed in dark suits, tried to keep them at bay. The boy gave an embarrassed chuckle, and stepped out in front of his bodyguards, taking the first pen and paper from a young woman. Flash bulbs began to pop their staccato strobe, and the click click of cameras advancing film became a dull roar.
“What’s your name?”
“Elisabeth!” The woman shouted back. “I can’t believe you’re going to be going to school in Paragon City!”
“True enough. St. Joseph’s.” He looked up at the school with a contemplative look, and the smile returned answered in turn by another round of camera clicks. The boy signed the paper Elisabeth, best wishes, may all of your dreams turn up bright lights, Jason Berezhin.
“Holy crap, I know who that is.” One of the students who’d gathered at the gates exclaimed. The others waited a moment before they buffeted him with hands to tell them. “It’s Jason Berezhin. He’s made a big splash on Broadway, and done a couple of movies. He’s got a record coming out soon too. He did that duet with Crystal Seldren, at the Paragon City Fest last year that was such a hit.”
“Right!” the student paused a moment “Well, what the hell is he doing coming to ‘freak high’ then?”
“Dunno, but they'll tell us soon enough.” The student pointed to an area where Headmaster Sir Arthur Winston III and David Conrads were waiting the young star, surrounded by several TV Cameras, crew and interviewers.
Jason stepped up to the waiting dignitaries of the school, and shook hands with the Headmaster, leaning in close. “Sorry about all this sir, it wasn’t my idea. I’m not sure how the information was leaked, but” Jason chuckles and smiled his dazzling smile to Sir Arthur “I have a feeling my publicist miiiight have a hand in it, and she’ll be working handling the tabloids if I find out.”
Sir Arthur laughed at this, “Don’t fret overly about it, my dear boy. The school can always use a little good publicity every once in awhile.”
Jason turned to shake hands with the school Councilor who added “I look forward to having you on board, Mr. Berezhin.”
At that, what seemed to the trio, a small forest of microphones were thrust up at them and the reporters all started a cacophony of questions.
“Jason, what brought you to St. Joe’s – Why did you choose a paranormal high school? – Do you have superpowers, Jason? - How is this going to affect your career – Are the rumors about you and Stacey Haliburton true?” and the questions kept coming.
Jason held up one hand while displaying what had become his trademark smile. “Hey, hey, now, I can only answer so fast, and the shotgun approach to asking isn’t working so well. But I’ll try. St. Joe’s is a highly respected school, and anyone, powered or un, should feel privileged to attend. As for me, I have shown some unusual abilities that have my parents concerned, so they wanted to send me here. I will take a break from the stage and screen while I attend, but suspect that you may see some recorded material.” He grinned as he saw the media take an almost collective breath as the next round of questions were about to start, happy that he avoided having to answer the questions about Stacey.
“What abilities do you have? – Will we see you on the streets of Paragon? – How do you feel about being in school with aliens?”
Jason laughed at the next round, and Conrads stepped forward, “Any abilities that Mr. Berezhin has, will of course be kept confidential, per our normal operating procedures. The students here, IF they have skills that are deemed to be among those that would help in stopping crime, and problems that plague our city, are encouraged to help, under close supervision of the various crimefighting organizations.”
Jason grinned impishly and leaned over to a microphone and mimicked the string of questions back to the reporters exactly as they’d been said, down to the tone and voice. “I have a few small abilities. Now if Lord Recluse can be brought down through frustrating him by copying everything he says, I guess I’m your guy.” This brought a chuckle from the crowd. “So, I highly doubt you’ll be seeing me on the streets. At least not fighting crime. I’ll leave that to others who can handle it better.” Jason looked down at the reporter that asked the question about aliens, and his demeanor turned serious. “The way I understand it, there are aliens here. Nobody likes what aliens did to the city, or to the Earth in general. If it were up to me, every alien that did that would be cast off the planet.” The crowd began to murmur about the statement, till Jason started to speak again. “But, do we judge that all humans are evil because we have criminals here? Or that all people having the same name are exactly alike?” The smile returned, lighting up the area. “hell, I hope not, or I’m in a lot of trouble.” Jason opened his mouth and the familiar ‘ch-ch-cha, ka ka ka” from the countless Friday the 13th movies came forth perfectly. “So I don’t have a problem sharing my school with beings from another planet. I think of it as meeting a foreign exchange student….from a REALLY long way away.” Another chuckle from the crowd. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I really need to get settled, but thank you all for showing.” Jason returned to signing autographs till he’d thought he’d signed them all before heading to his new school.