Chapter 3: Shauna's Stand-Up

Shauna’s Stand-up

“A comedian doesn’t have to be +18 years older to make jokes and comedy, they can even be less than 6 years old!”

 

Chapter 1

“Who’s a girl who lovesmaking funny jokes and wants to be a stand-up comedian?” Well if you haven’t guessed, it’s me. 

Hi, I’m Shauna Williams. I’m half British and Irish, living in London with my family. And I love comedy. It’s like a hobby I’ve experienced since I was 5! I’ve always wondered and hoped I would be a great comedian when I grow up. Anyway, today I was in the bathroom taking a bath when my older brother, Aaron started knocking on the door. 

“Aren’t you done already?” He called out.

“No, gimme a sec!” I yelled back. 

“Well hurry doofus! I don’t wanna be late to school.” I quickly wrapped a towel around my body and went to my room. And if you heard my brother, yes…-we’re going to school. You might think it’s not a big deal, but for me, it is. I have a serious test today. It’s a Math test. And let me tell you something…I’m not good at Math. Never in my whole life have I been good at Math. And tests are even worse! I knew for sure I was going to fail anyway…

“Kids, you better come down before your food gets cold because I’m not cooking another plate for you!” Said my Mom yelling from the kitchen. I jogged downstairs to the table to see a delicious English breakfast smelling like a sweet flavor. 

“Mmm, eggs, toast and sausages! Thanks, Mom,” I smiled and sat down. 

“Where’s your brother?” Mom asked cutting veggies on the table. As soon as I was about to answer, Aaron came downstairs in his school uniform, looking like a gangster who lives in the hoods. 

He sat on the stool and said, “Sup,” I don’t know if he was saying hi to me or all of us. 

“Omg, Aaron! What is this ugly disgusting outfit ur wearing?!” Mom exclaimed. 

“Relax,” Aaron said leaning on the chair. “It's my school uniform,” “That you changed into some ugly broke assasin fit?” I joked. Aaron and I laughed but Mom wasn’t having it. 

“Okay, that’s enough of the jokes, both of you.” 

“Yeah, stop with the act,” Dad came in. “Finish your breakfast and get to school, the bus is almost here.” 

We quickly ate our breakfast, wore our jackets and boots and went to the school bus. 

 

Chapter 2

10 minutes later, the bus finally came. I entered and went to the back to meet my friend, Martin. The only friend I’ve had since school started. 

“Hey,” I waved and sat down. 

“Hi,” He smiled. 

“So, did you get the news from the school that they’re bringing clubs?” 

“Clubs? What do you mean?” 

“Like extracurricular activities. Your parents should’ve gotten the message,” 

“Oh yeah, I actually can’t believe they did that. I never knew the school would be into those things.” 

“Mhm, but are you planning on entering one?” 

“Mm, I don’t know, maybe,-are you?” 

“I think so, my parents-Mom especially would lecture me about entering anyway.” 

“Oh okay.” After that talk, we already reached school and went to our classes. And my first class was Art. I sat in the middle of the class next to a blonde girl. 

“Ok, class, today we will begin our Culture Art. And what I mean by that is our Art of traditions, like where we came from originally,-our background actually.” It looked and sounded pretty easy, but it wasn’t for me. Even though I’m British and Irish, it would still be pretty hard to find how my background is made from 2 countries, Britain, and Ireland. And it’s about our culture and traditions, but I don’t know any traditions about Britain or Ireland,-since my parents won’t even tell me a single thing about their country, except the food. 

“Hey,” The girl next to me whispered.

I turned to her, “Yeah?” 

“Do you understand the Art subject?” 

“Uh, kinda. But I’m half British, half Irish, so I don’t know what traditions and cultures about them.” 

“Omg, same!” “Wait, you're Irish and British too?” 

“No, I’m Britain, but my-great-great-great-great grandparents were even in World War II.” 

“Oh wow, well I have a joke about it,” 

“What is it?” I know I barely knew this girl, but she looked cool and okay to tell my jokes to. 

“It’s not really about the Natives, but… ‘My father is a bus driver that circles Big Ben in London, he works around the clock.” She made a whisper-laugh which made it even funnier. 

“Omg stop, that’s actually funny! Clock, that’s a good one.” I smiled happily because this was the first time a stranger/random person had ever laughed at my jokes(aside from my brother and Martin)

 

Chapter 3

Anyway, at our last class, gym, the coach, Mrs Davinson, let us just do whatever we wanted to do. 

“I guess it’s a free period then,” Martin said with his hands on his knees. 

“Yeah,” I copied him. 

“Wanna just sit and watch the class do stupid things or play something?” 

“Uh-” Before Martin could answer, the same girl from class earlier came running to us. 

“Hey!” 

“Um…hi, do we know you?” Martin asked looking into her dark green eyes. “I’m Dietra, from Arts and Spanish class.” 

“Oh so you’re that girl, that I was sitting next to you telling that joke!” I uttered. 

“Yeah! I’ll be honest, that was the first time I’ve ever heard such a cool joke like that,” 

“So you guys already know each other?” Martin asked looking at both of us. 

“Yeah,” I said. 

“So…wanna play tag or something?” Dietra asked smiling. 

“Sure!” We looked at Martin hoping he would play with us but before anything could happen, 

he touched Dietra’s shoulder and said, “Tag you’re it!” He ran all the way to the end of the gym and I knew I also had to run before she could tag me. 

Later on, I could see she was only trying to tag Martin, I was kinda confused for a second until Martin got tagged and ran to me! 

“AAH!” I yelled running away from him, he tagged me right when the bell rang. 

“Alright everyone,” Coach Davinson said. “Time for home.” 

I stopped running and went out of the gym door. 

“Why’d you keep running?” Martin said panting. 

“I don’t know, what did you expect me to do, crawl? Walk?”

He laughed. “Ok that’s enough, let’s get home.” 

While we were taking our things out of the locker, Dietra came to us with her backpack and sports bag. 

“What’s that for?” I asked. 

“Oh, I’m going to a basketball sports class,” Dietra said. 

“Wow, didn’t you know you like basketball,” Martin smiled. 

“Well, I do. See you tomorrow,-bye!” I and Martin waved. I had a“So..should we go?” He said taking his backpack. 

“Mhm, is your aunt picking us up?” 

“Uh, she’s out of town, so walking it is,-by the way, where’s your brother?” 

“Oh, he comes home like 5 or 10 minutes later.” Since school was pretty far from home, we walked and reached 15 minutes later. I said goodbye to Martin and went inside the house.

 

Mom was in the kitchen making a call, and Dad was on the couch watching TV. 

“Hey Dad,” I went to him.

“Oh, hey kiddo!” He turned to me smiling. 

“How was school?” 

“Good.” I hugged him and went to eat dinner. I was having rice and chicken for dinner then Aaron finally came home. 

“Hey honey,” Mom said, already ending the call. 

“Hi.” Aaron smiled. We all sat at the table and ate our food peacefully. 

That same night, I was in my room at the desk writing comedy jokes. That's a thing I brought up last year, where I get a paper and write random, cool, different jokes. Mostly to say to people that is funny. Like I said in the beginning, I really want to be a comedian, but I can’t be successful in it unless my parents agree. And without their support, I don’t think I’ll ever be great in comedy. Anyway, I had to stop writing because it was almost my bedtime. 

 

Chapter 2

The next day at school, I was getting my books from the locker when I was surprised by my 2 friends, Martin and Dietra, with some shocking news. 

“Shauna!” Diela smiled so happily.

“Uh…what’s up?” I muttered confused. 

“We’ve got some great news,” Martin rested on my locker. 

“The school has finally announced that they’re bringing clubs!” Dietra said. 

“Yeah, I know,” I said. 

“Well, did you know they’re bringing clubs like…a comedy club?” I raised both my eyebrows in shock. 

“Uh...no.-Wait, are they really?” 

“Yeah!” 

“And you could join. Especially since you’re such a funny girl.” Martin smiled. I stammered. 

“Oh c’mon! Don’t say no, you have to join! You could learn great jokes and make your comedian life better!” Deitra exclaimed. 

“I-I don’t know…If it’s an after-school club, I can’t join because my mom will want me to get home before 3:30, and I know my parents wouldn’t agree anyway.” I frowned. Martin sighed in disbelief while Dietra tried backing me up. 

“Don’t worry,” She touched my shoulder. “It will be fine, I know you want to join,-and if we have to confront and try to convince your parents to agree…we would.” 

I smiled and said, “Thanks Deitra.” (But I know my parents, there’s nothing you can do to make them change their minds…) 

As soon as school ended, Martin and Dietra were waiting for me at a random class door in the hallway. I went to them with a muddled face. 

“What’s…going on?” 

Dietra made a bright face and said, “Oh, hi Shauna…so, I know you’ll probably not agree with this but, the comedy club just started today, and I was hoping you would join!” 

“Me?” I pointed to myself. 

“Yeah, we told them how funny and great you’re in comedy and thought you could join the club. There, you could learn more jokes you know,” 

“But I told you, my parents wouldn't-” 

“We know, we know” Martin came in. “They would disagree. But this is once in a lifetime. I’m not sure you would ever get this opportunity again, forget about your parents, eventually…we’ll tell them.” I smiled. 

“Alright, I’ll join. But just because you guys said so,” Martin nodded and Dietra opened the door for me to enter. As I went in, I felt this rush and shiver giving me goosebumps, and I felt like getting out. Everyone turned to me and the teacher welcomed me. I sat beside a tall girl in brown pigtails. (For some reason she smelled kinda bad) And the teacher continued to talk about how comedy works. But for some reason, I already understood it. It was like I already knew, I guess watching popular comedians like Dave Chappelle on YouTube really paid off. 

“Ok FC’s (future comedians), that’s it for today. Please pack up your things and get home.” The teacher, Mrs Colleen, smiled. Wait…that’s it? That’s all the information we had to learn about comedy? It was only for about 5 minutes! I wanted to ask the teacher about this comedy club since it only lasted 5 minutes, but eventually everybody started leaving,-even the teacher and I had to go. I went outside the school building where my friends were waiting for me and I told them all about it.  “Wow…” Dietra raised both eyebrows. 

“Well, that’s weird,” Martin muttered.

“Yeah! Weird for a beginner comedian to join a club thinking it would help improve their jokes and stuff but instead failed.” I scoffed. 

“Uh…-I wouldn’t say it was a failsince you just started, and you came late. So maybe you should give it another chance…it’s worth a shot.” Dietra shrugged. 

“A chance? Hello, middle school is almost ending?! I’m about to graduate and go to high school, I shouldn’t be waiting to give anything a chance, it’s too late.” 

“Oh c’mon Shauna, don’t give up just like that, you’re going to be a better comedian than you think, you just have to…try.” Martin tried to convince me. I thought about it for a minute.

“Fine.” I sighed. “I’ll give it another try…maybe I can learn more and be better at comedy.” 

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Deitra smiled and clapped. But I honestly still thought it was best to just stay at home and learn comedy on YouTube.

 

Chapter 4

The time I reached home, it was very late so I knew I was in trouble now. 

“Where have you been?” Mom said finishing her work on the computer. 

“Uh…at school? Like always,” (Don’t ask why I was trying to be reasonable) 

“School? School ends at 3:00. You're coming at 3:25, and even your brother came earlier.” 

“Well there was a…school meeting and we had to stay for an extra 25 minutes.” 

“And what was the meeting about?” Mom got up from the computer table. 

“Um…about student behavior?” I shrugged in nervousness and hoped that Mom wouldn’t find anything suspicious about me. 

“Oh behavior? Well, your behavior right now isn’t going to help the fact that you’re lying!” She put her hands on her hips as if she was waiting for me to answer. And at that point, I had to just tell the truth. 

“OK, OK, fine. I’ll tell the truth,” I sighed and sat down at the diner. 

“Well?” Mom kept waiting. 

“Today, my friends told me about new clubs that are coming to the school,-well it’s actually activities that we can join. So after school today, my friends convinced me to join…the comedy club.” Mom made a stunned face. 

“Oh…a comedy club? But the news I got from the school was clubs that could help you improve your skills in whatever best things you can do,” 

“Yeah, and comedy is the best thing I’m good at.” 

“But I thought we agreed on you not being a comedian or doing any comedy?” 

“But Mom, you know I’m good at comedy, you know I love comedy and I want to be a great comedian in the future!” 

“Shauna, we talked about this, no child of mine shall say, ‘I want to be a comedian’ It will not happen in my house!” 

“Mom you can’t do that, I’ve been doing comedy since 5 and now that you’ve found out comedy is a stupid thing, you never allow me to do it! Even though it’s my decision to be and do what I want-” 

“Enough!” Mom yelled loudly then talked in a firm voice. 

“You know exactly why you can’t do comedy, I’ve realized comedy was stupid because of a good cause.” I scoffed, knowing well that comedy isn’t stupid. 

“From now on, let me not hear or see that you're doing comedy again…because if I do…you know what’s going to happen.” Mom then came closer to me and forced a smile. 

“You know I’m just trying to make your life better,-in fact, your future life better. And comedy isn’t going to help, it’s a waste of time and stupid jokes.” I whined and got out of her side. Angrily barging to my room. But Aaron was in the relaxing room watching TV with Dad. 

“Hey doofus,” Aaron looked at me. 

“Where have you been?” I just ignored him and quickly went to my room. I flopped on the bed and laid on my tummy. Since I started doing comedy, I still don’t know why Mom,-and my Dad won’t let me do what I love. And what Mom meant by ‘you know what’s going to happen’ was that everybody who knows me knows how bad I am in school. As in subjects, like Math and Science. Like I said in the beginning, in any test about Math especially, there’s a chance I would fail by 99%. And when my parents found out how I got C's and F’s on my report card last semester, they assured me that I would start doing a school learning classes on Zoom. And you would probably think it’s not that bad but the worst part of it is that it’s every day! From 3:05 to 8:00 pm. So anytime I come back from school, after dinner, I have to quickly go on the computer and start the meeting. And I don’t want to pressure myself like that. My parents just don’t understand how I love making jokes and making people laugh. I help people try and stop their sadness in them and make them smile or laugh. But I also don’t want to disrespect my Mom and ignore her demands, anyway I was so tired from the day, I immediately closed my eyes and slept.

 

Chapter 5

However, the next morning, I was still in a bad mood. I finished getting ready in 5 minutes other than finishing in 10-15 minutes as usual. I jogged downstairs and saw a bowl of porridge for breakfast. 

“Really Mom, porridge?” I gave the food a disgusting lookw. 

“Yes, it’s good for you, you need protein and Iron in your body.” I still didn’t want to eat it but Mom gave me a serious face that couldn’t make me resist the food. 

“So, Shauna,” Dad looked at me. “Your Mom told me that you’ve started doing comedy again.” I sighed like I was annoyed. 

“Care to explain that?” 

I just ignored him and kept eating my porridge, but then Mom mumbled something out of her mouth. 

“She just being disobedient,” 

“Mom!” I frowned and yelled. “You have no right to say that, I love comedy and I started since I was literally born. You can’t just-” 

“That’s enough!” Dad yelled back. 

“Don’t speak to your Mom like that. All we’re saying is that you can’t keep bringing up comedy all the time, you can’t keep doing comedy and acting like it’s a job you can get paid from.” He took a sip of his coffee. 

“I mean you can tell jokes to your friends and everything, but I don’t want to see you learning about comedy on YouTube, I didn’t pay or buy devices for you to listen to random people talk about comedy.” I put my head down in sorrow. It was officially the worst for me. 

“Do you understand that?” And when Dad says something like this, there’s no other answer I can say than, “Yes Dad.” 

“Good, now get to school.” I quickly put my bowl of small porridge in the sink, took my school bag, and went out slamming the door. Ok, I know that was a little bit disrespectful, but my parents also just disrespected me right in front of my face by saying my comedy life is stupid. 

 

On that same day in school, we were handed out our Math test. I guess the teacher, Mrs Stanley, wanted us to see how bad our grades were. Mostly because everyone looked at their test in shock and disbelief. But when I looked at my test, I wasn’t shocked. Instead, I wanted to cry. 

“An F?!” I got an F on my test in the last semester? OK, I knew eventually I would kinda fail anyway, but an F is too far! I knew that when I took this home my parents were going to explode. They might even sign me up for that stupid School learning program. Mrs Stanley came up to me and gave me a frown. 

“This is going on your report card Shuann.” No! I can’t believe this is happening. First I get banned from doing comedy, and now I get an F on my Math test? What could literally get worse again?! 

 

Chapter 6

Later that afternoon, I was in the cafeteria eating my lunch when my friends came. 

“Mm, pasta and meatballs. That will taste good.” Dietra said sitting down. Honestly, I wasn’t really happy to talk to them. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Martin tried to make me look at him. “C’mon, you can’t ignore us forever!” Dietra said. 

I sighed and said, “I’m not ignoring you,-well I’m not trying to, but…” 

“But what?” Dietra looked at me. 

“My parents know about the comedy club and now they won’t allow me to do comedy again.” 

“What?! You told them?” She uttered. 

“I had to! If not they would make do school learning classes. And I don’t want to, but now my comedy life is ruined.” I frowned and looked down and Martin put his hand on my hand, feeling bad. “I’m sorry,” He muttered. 

“No, don’t be,” Dietra said. “Because your comedy life isn’t ruined, it isn’t gone yet.” 

“What do you mean?” I asked confused. 

“Your parents may force you to stop comedy jokes and stuff, but did they tell you to stop going to the club?” 

“Uh…no, not really,” “Well, atleast that is something you can do comedy from.” 

“But they specifically told me not to do anything with comedy in it,” 

“Oh c’mon Shauna, we know how much you want to be a comedian, and your parents can’t stop you from it just like that.-Atleast just a week in the comedy club,” She then gave me cute puppy eyes and I couldn’t resist it. 

“Oh gosh fine! But if after that week it doesn’t go well, I’m quitting comedy forever.” Dietra agreed. Although she was right, just because my parents don’t like me doing comedy doesn't mean I need to quit it forever(unless it doesn’t go well this week) and besides, they never said I should stop going to that club, so…it’s worth a shot. 

 

Chapter 5

After school, I went to the comedy club and this time I actually learned something, something that would bring my comedy belief and faith up. “Never give up, even on the first step. It’s always something you can remember when you're successful one day.” That's honestly a quote I will never forget in my life. But after the club ended, I still went home late around 3:30. Hoping to not see Mom or Dad in the house, I sneakily went inside and quietly went up to my room. 

As I was in my room writing in my journal, I got a text from the school comedy club saying, “Hello starter and expert comedians, I know we’ve just started the club in school, but this week, I’ve decided we should start learning how to do stand-up comedy! And so when we learn and understand how it works, maybe we can try practicing on stage! Please note: you don’t necessarily have to do this, it’s just a step that helps some people know and understand comedy more.” I can’t believe it, we are finally going to do comedy on stage?! Ok first, I am happy about it. I've always wanted to feel how it is to be on stage, saying comedy, and talking about it. But the second thing is, how am I supposed to be on stage when my parents won’t even allow me to do comedy? If they find out, they’re definitely going to make me do those school-learning classes. 

 

The next morning on Saturday, I was called downstairs to have a talk with my parents, although It was 7 am and I was still sleepy!  “Ugh, what’s going on, I’m still tired,” I groaned while going downstairs. 

“Sit down Shauna,” Mom said looking angrily. I look at Aaron, thinking why Mom and Dad looked furious with me. And Aaron gave me a look that meant I was in trouble (uh-oh) 

“We got some unbelievable news from the school about you,” Dad said, with his hands clenched on the table. 

“And your grades too.” I gulped, now they definitely found out about my math test. I sat down, not feeling tired but looking worried. 

“Aaron,” Mom looked at him, 

“Go to your room, and continue your Zoom meeting, let me know later if you got the job applyment.” Aaron nodded and jogged upstairs while giving me a loser sign with his tongue stuck out. 

“So,” Dad uttered. 

“I don’t know how or what you've been doing in school, but what I do know is…you’ve been failing your tests.” 

“How could that have happened?” Mom exclaimed. “You were doing great last semester, now you're dropping out of school like a fly?!” 

I stammered, not knowing what to say, I actually had no excuse this time. 

“Well? Speak up!” Dad yelled. 

“Look, Mom, Dad, this has nothing to do with school, I was just,-my mind was just…misbehaving and not thinking well in studies.” 

“Such a lie Shauna!” Mom said disgruntled. 

“I know you, and I know exactly what’s been causing this.” I looked down sadly, hoping Mom wasn’t about to say what I thought she was about to say. 

“That comedy thing, all this time, instead of you learning and passing in school, you’re wasting your time learning about comedy and telling jokes!” I look up in shock. 

“What?! No Mom, that’s not true. I-” 

“Actually no, your Mom is right.” Dad nodded. 

“Anytime I pass by your room, I overhear or see you doing and talking about comedy, never in my whole life have I seen you learning something like Math or Science,” I whined trying to beg them. 

“Oh c’mon Mom and Dad, you know I learn, sometimes I just don’t feel like it because it won’t help me in any way. 

“Excuse you?!” Mom frowned her eyebrows. 

“You know what?-I’m done, I’m done with how you treat your life with stupid things like comedy instead of learning something good for your brain.”

“Yeah, in fact…you’re starting that school-learning program,” Dad added. 

“What?! No, you can’t do that,” I shrieked. 

“Oh yes we can,” Mom said. “It’s for a good cause, it’s going to help you improve your school learning skills and maybe help you pass the tests you’ve been failing.” 

I started to cry, for some reason, I couldn't help it. They don’t understand how horrible that class is and how it is not going to help me. I mean, have they ever seen my history or English tests? I always pass on those, but no…my British-Irish parents only care about the important stuff, Math and Science. I ran up to my room in tears and lay on my bed. 

But then I heard my Dad yell, “Make sure you’re not doing comedy but learning school subjects!” 

 

Chapter 6

I woke up in a bad mood the next morning, just like last time. And I was sure not to talk about anything with my parents. 

“Hey honey, want some tea?” Mom smiled. I was still angry at my parents for what they did to me yesterday, so I just shook my head and sat down beside Aaron in the living room, frowning, and watched the sports race he was playing. After 10 minutes, Dad came downstairs still in his Pajamas, and went to the kitchen to get some tea. 

“So,” he started. “Have you started learning more in your classes, Shauna?” I groaned and became more annoyed. 

“I’m talking to you,” He looked at me from the diner table. 

“Yes, I’ve started to learn,” I replied with a grumpy voice. 

“You know, this is the best thing for you Shauna, other than that stupid comedy thing you do. You need to set your mind on focusing on the good things,-like school, trying to have a good, pleasant life, and you already know that.” At that point, I was tired of my parents and how they think ‘I can’t set my future goal without their help’ Like I said, they will never understand how comedy and other good things have made my life marvelous. But this time, I wasn’t going to sit down, I was going to stand up for myself. And I wasn’t going to give up anymore. 

 

The next week at school, I was prepared to make this day and week better.-way better than last week. I had 2 things I had to succeed, 1. Try and get my grades up,-especially Math, and 2. Prove to my parents that I’m not just a stupid teenager trying to tell jokes, I’m a teenager whose mind is set to be great at what I do and become an accomplished comedian in the future. And getting my grades up was the first one. After the last class today, I went up to Mrs. Stanley to ask her something I knew I would fail at doing anyway, 

“Yes?” She kept marking the test papers on the table. 

“I…I’d like to ask something from you,” 

“What is it?” I took a deep breath, hoping she would agree and allow me to do it. 

“I want to redo the Math test again.” Mrs Stanley raised her eyebrows in surprise. I knew why. Mrs Stanley was the type of teacher who would get important information from her students and keep it in mind forever. And she knows alot about me, she knows I’m already bad at Math and Science and any questions about them,-I couldn’t answer. So when I asked her if I could redo the test, she was shocked. 

“Shauna,” Mrs Stanley finally looked up. “Did you just say you want to do the test again?” 

“Yes, I know you're a little confused about this but I want to prove to my parents that I’m worthy of something, and if a higher grade on a Math test is going to help, I’ll do it.” Mrs Stanley stammered a little and looked down again, but this time it was like she was going to say no. 

“Um, Shauna,” She uttered. “I already started marking the grades on the report card, I did most of them, and unfortunately…you’re one of them.” 

I sighed, feeling a bit sorrow that there was no way I could make my parents proud of me. ‘I’m such a sore loser’-my brother would say to me.-and it’s true, a loser is someone who is kinda dumb at things, can’t do or achieve anything in life, nor can they be successful. 

“But,” Mrs Stanley thought. “I could make an exception,” I got hope again. 

“You redo the test tomorrow, and when you pass around 85 and above, I’ll put it in your report card,” I smiled with gladness. 

“But, if you fail again…unfortunately you will be getting an official F on your card and won’t be able to get another chance.” I didn’t smile when she said that, but I still had faith and hope that I would pass. 

“Thank you so much, Mrs Stanely. I won’t fail you…nor will I fail this test.” 

“Stop with the jokes and get ready for home,” She chuckled. 

 

Chapter 7

I left the class still smiling but thinking I was forgetting something, 

“Oh!” Then I remembered the second thing on my ‘to succeed’ list. Prove my parents wrong about comedy. I jogged to the comedy club with my backpack behind my back and entered the class. I decided not to sit near the…‘stinky putrid’ girl-(no offense) and sat in the middle row with no one beside me. 

“Ok,” Mrs Colleen, clapped. “Glad a lot of people came today, normally I would barely see anyone here, but I guess it’s because of the stand-up comedy practice.” 

I was already excited when she said that. I was ready to conquer my fear (-of speeches and audience) Mrs Colleen started talking about what we should say to an audience and how to make it interesting for them to understand the conversation between us. And my question was, how were we supposed to be interesting, I mean do we have to make them laugh or something? But she then said something crazy and shocking, and it started to make me regret this decision. 

“Now FC’s, you’re going to start practicing by coming up here, to introduce yourselves. That way, you can see and feel how the audience is going to be, afterall, this class is full of 15 students, that should be enough for a big audience right?” 

She looked around counting the class and added, “Oh, and while you’re here, at least try to be enthusiastic and tell some jokes or funny things about yourself.” She called the first person up, Koby, who was the only black kid in the class. But while he was telling us about himself, I kept thinking about what Mrs Colleen said. I mean I can tell a lot of jokes and some things about myself. But the problem is, most of my jokes (normally made-up) aren’t laughable unless something like the ‘Britain and my Dad with the Ben clock’ one, so are the things about myself. I don’t think I could say anything funny about my jokes or me. I guess I had to make something funny up… 

After Koby and 2 other people went, It was my turn. I went up the stage,-which isn’t really a stage since I’m just in front of the class. Anyway, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes for a second, and said, “Hi, I’m Shauna. And since I was a little kid, I’ve been interested in comedy. I always talk about it, and sometimes watch popular comedians on YouTube.” 

I still had no joke in my mind right now, even though I wanted to make one up, I didn’t think it would be a good one,-well maybe it would but might not be funny. But then I thought of one joke,  “And I also have a joke, ‘How do you make a tissue dance? Put a boogie in it!” 

For some reason, no one laughed, I actually thought it was a good joke though. I looked at the class, and even the teacher, hoping they would at least clap. But they stared at me like they were bored from my introduction. I gulped, feeling embarrassed. 

“Uh..that’s…that’s the end of my introduction,” Then they clapped and laughed. Wait...were they waiting for me to say ‘the end’ before they could laugh? 

Mrs Colleen smiled at me and said, “Well done Shauna. That was a good introduction and joke.” I went back to my seat feeling so humiliated that they didn’t laugh earlier but surprised that my introduction was actually good. 

 

Right after the rest of the class finished theirs, Mrs Colleen started to tell us about stand-up comedy. 

“Alright FCs, we all know about the comedy stage performance right? Well anyway, I’m sure after the introductions you guys did, you have at least 50% of boldness in you to feel how an audience is. So by Wednesday, we should all be ready to go up to the stage and perform our comedy!” She clapped happily while everyone else murmured with a little excitement. I think I had my boldness, but not just 50% of it, 100%. After class, I jumped up and down joyfully while going home. Until….when I did reach home, it made me remember something urgent.

 

Chapter 8

I entered and saw both of them in the living room watching the movie, Titanic. (Such an old movie, why would they be watching that now?) I removed my shoes and went to them to say hi. 

“Hi Dad, Hi Mom.” All of a sudden, the look on Mom and Dad’s faces gave me bad vibes. I knew something was up.

“Whats…going on?” I said slowly getting closer to them. 

Mom sat up straight and said, “We got some news from the school,” 

“And it’s about the comedy club going to do a performance,” Dad said, folding his arms. Now I knew I was about to be in trouble.

“Uh…” I muttered. 

“Care to explain that?” Mom raised one eyebrow.

“Well, it’s true. The club is going to perform on stage on Wednesday.” 

“And are you going to perform with them?” Dad asked. But I wasn’t even scared or nervous to answer them because I was over it, I was over the treatment they always do to me.

“Uh yeah, I totally am. And this time Mom and Dad, you can’t stop me, because I already signed up and said yes to the performance.” I felt bold when I said that.

“Well it wasn’t like we were going to stop you, were we?” Mom said and looked at Dad. 

Dad just shrugged and said, “Yeah, I don’t even care about you joining school clubs and learning about comedy anymore,” He then stood up, 

“But what I do care about is your school learning classes. I know sometimes you learn and sometimes you don’t. But I’m going to make a deal with you, are you in it?”

 

Sometimes when my parents say they’re going to promise me something or make an agreement with me, they lie.-all the time. So now Dad wants to make a deal with me, I don’t think it’s gonna be a good one. But anyway, they’re still my parents so at no point can I say no.

“What is it?” I said, still looking boldly.

“If you do well in the comedy performance on Wednesday, We will consider you done with the school learning classes. And you can continue doing comedy for the rest of your life….without us interfering.” Now I was actually into this deal.

“But, if you fail and disappoint us on that day, you’ll officially stop comedy and I’ll take all your devices away. And you will also continue with the classes and studies at school.” 

He made a firm voice, “Is that clear?” 

I gulped, hoping that everything would turn out well on the performance day and I’d finally stop with the school studies. So this comedy life was my only hope.

“...Yes, I’m on the deal,” I looked at both Mom and Dad nervously.

 

That night, it was 6:40 pm and I was busy learning my Math studies. But not just for the test tomorrow, but also to get my Math IQ level up. I knew I was so bad at Math so after learning for 15 minutes, I also went on my computer and entered the Math Zoom class. I actually learned alot from the class. Then the time hit 7 pm, so I decided to do a little comedy practice. I know my parents said no to it, but if they want me to please them on Wednesday, I’d have to do practice.
When it reached 7:30, I knew I had to sleep, so I quickly put my PJs on and went to bed. And as soon as I hopped on it, I closed my eyes and went to sleep like a drowsy child.

 

Chapter 8

The next day was the day I was writing my test.-my Math test. I woke up, prayed to God for guidance and success for this test, and got ready for school. When I went downstairs, only Aaron was there.

“Where’s Mom and Dad?” I asked, sitting down.

“They went out early this morning, never told me what,” Aaron said in a mood. 

“What’s with the face?”

“Nothing,” He looked at me. “But, I did hear you were auditioning in a comedy club?”

“I’m not auditioning, I’m performing jokes and comedy-talk-about to an audience, but you’re coming right?”

“Heck yeah! Can’t wait to see my little sister perform about comedy things,” He rubs my hair to make it messy.

“Okay, that’s enough,” I chuckle. “Let’s get to school already, the bus is probably here” Then I fixed my hair, put on my shoes, and went out to the school bus with Aaron.

But unfortunately, my friends weren’t on the bus. So I had to sit with Aaron in the front. I looked out the window and saw a garden park. 

“So…” I started. “Did you know I have a Math test today?”

He looked at me confused, “What, really? I thought the 7th and 8th graders finished the last month's semester tests?” 

“Well, yeah we did. But…I have to redo mine because I failed with an F.”

He gave a concerned face. “Oh, that’s bad, has Mom and Dad seen it already?”

“No, after this test it’s permanently going to go on my report card, so I have to pass it before they see it and start yelling at me” When I said I felt like my hopes went down. Like I’ll totally fail…again.

But my brother backed me up.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll pass,” He smiled and I turned to him. 

“You’re a smart kid Shauna, there’s no way you can fail, this time. And sometimes people don’t succeed anyway, but they don’t give up either, just like you don’t in comedy, and I know you don’t like Math but this time, you might accomplish the test.”

 

I don’t know if I should believe what he just said because sometimes Aaron just lies to bring my hopes up, but I know when he’s actually telling the truth, and as for now, he’s absolutely telling the truth. So I just hugged him and smiled softly.

“Thanks, those words will definitely be in my head as I write the test,”

He wrapped his arms around me like a Mom and squeezed till I coughed. “As a big brother, I can’t let you fail a test like this, you can do this,”

 

Chapter 9

I entered the school and went to my first class, Science. Surprisingly, it wasn’t so hard today. Normally the teacher would talk about something that I wouldn’t understand and I could pay less attention because it wasn’t working well for me.

But not this time, I could understand the teaching better and did my work assignment. 

However, things started to change when Science class ended for the first break. And I had to go to Mrs Stanley’s class for the Math test. Even though my brother put some hopeful words in my mind, I had a 5% bad luck for the test. But that didn’t stop, I still went up to Mrs Stanley’s desk to see her cleaning the board.

“Good Morning Mrs Stanley,”

She turned to me unexpectedly, “Oh, hi Shauna! You're kind of early,”

I looked at the clock and it was 9 am on the dot. “Yeah, I guess I really am ready for the Math test,”

“Well I expected you to come when it's lunch break, so you’d have more time but, it’s okay anyway,” She went to her desk, grabbed the Math test, and gave it to me.

“Remember the rules for tests? No speaking, no cheating, and please don't fail this time”

“Don’t worry Mrs Stanley,” I said. “I can’t and won't fail this test,” She nodded and told me to sit in the front of the class. I went and sat on the chair and took my tools for the test. 

For the last time, I prayed again and wrote the test, with confidence that I would pass. I quickly wrote answers I knew and if I didn’t, I just left it there until I finished the rest and went back and worked on it. -I got that idea from my Mom.

 

Anyway, after a while, I was actually doing well on the test, what I was writing kind of made sense to me so I knew eventually, I wasn’t going to fail, especially because I studied (hard) for this.

When I finished, it already took me 15 minutes so I gave it back to Mrs Stanley. She looked at the test for a second, then looked at me, she did about 2 times but I didn’t think it meant I was going to fail.

“Wow Shauna…” Mrs Stanley started. “The test already looks good.”

I smiled genuinely. “Thank you, Mrs Stanley, I really hope it’s going to be good news after you mark it.”

“It surely might,” She winked and smiled.

Even though we were probably just joking with each other, I really hoped for the test news to be great.

 

Chapter 10

After school ended, it was time for comedy practice again. It was actually the last practice, then on Wednesday-which is tomorrow, we’re going to do our comedy performance. After we practiced talking to an ‘audience’ (which is the class) and telling jokes for about 10 minutes, Mrs. Colleen had something last to say before the class ended.

“So,” She said and the class listened, “I know the performance is tomorrow, and we’re all probably excited, but, I have something to say”

She sighed. “ It’s going to be a big audience, about 35 or 40 people are going to be there, so please be serious and whatever you say on the show has to be…meaningful.” 

She then sat at her desk. 

“And I know it’s going to be a great show, so I hope you have fun and make the comedy magic work!”

“And also,” Mrs Colleen added. “I suggest you bring your family to come watch you, it’s for the best.”

Ok, I get that my family could come, I need to show them how good I am in comedy anyway, but as I kept thinking about the show, it was already 3:20 so we had to get ready for home. 

 

 

Chapter 11

The next day was another important day. It was finally the time to shine, the time to prove I’m right, mostly to my parents that I’m a better comedian than they think I am. But before I was going to the comedy show, there was one last thing I had to do at the last second. Since the show was starting in about 2 hours, I decided to meet friends at the park for a talk. Surely to be about the show.

 

I was sitting on the bench and then I saw Dietra and Martin coming my way. 

I got up, “Hi guys,”

“Hi, Shuanna!” Dietra waved. 

Surprisingly, I saw both of them holding hands, I was confused for a second, ‘Are they dating?’ Since when? ‘And why didn’t they tell me?’ ‘Unless they’re now best friends,’

I really didn’t want to talk about it but it kept distracting me. 

“Uh..I brought you guys here to…to-”

“To what? What’s the new news?” Martin cut me. But I actually didn’t know why it was frustrating to tell them.

“I’m doing a comedy show today, at school.” 

“Really? That’s great!” Dietra exclaimed. 

And I was surprised. “Yeah, I guess. But wait, aren’t you guys confused, or shocked, maybe even angry I didn’t tell you earlier or something?”

“No,” Martin said. “Why would we be? Maybe you were busy practicing for the show or something, right?” 

“Right, yeah. I was actually busy learning for a test also,” I uttered.

“Why're you doing that? Our last test for this year was a week ago.” Dietra tilted her head.

“Well let’s just say I didn’t pass the test before, so I had to do it again, but I succeeded this time,” I said.

“That’s good, Shaunna.” Martin smiled.

“But..” I muttered. “What’s with your hands today? Are you guys dating or something?”

They looked at me and then at each other and quickly stopped holding hands. 

“Um..yeah, we started dating on Monday, and it was our first try,” Martin said.

“It actually turned out well too.” Dietra gave Martin a smile.

I raised my eyebrows in shock. I never would have known my own friends would date. I mean I did have some little feelings Martin might date earlier than me but I wasn’t thinking it would be Dietra.

Not that I hate, but I’m shocked. Although I’m glad he found his partner.

“You’re not mad or anything, are you?” Martin rubbed his neck.

“No,” I shook my head. “I’m perfectly fine with it, I hope your relationship together continues to get better.”

“Thanks Shauna, you’re the best,” Dietra hugged me.

Suddenly the time passed by, and it was already noon, I had to be at the show before 12:05. 

“Uh guys, I don’t think we have time to chat, I have to be at my show,”
I said.

“Oh okay, we’ll be there,” Dietra said.

 “And don’t worry,” Martin touched my shoulder. “You’ll do just fine and I’m sure your parents would believe in your comedy work now” 

I smiled and hugged him. “I know, and I’ll be sure to kick and laugh at their butts!”

Now I’m not sure if that was a joke,-it was quickly made up, but I’m sure it’s kind of a comedy thing.

 

Chapter 12

 I reached the show immediately at 12:04, then quickly went to the backstage and got ready, I already saw my comedy class in front waiting to be called. I think other kids were competing, so it wasn't just us. 

I made a deal with my parents, and I know they’re serious about this, so for sure they should be here…waiting and sitting in the front….to watch me do my comedy. I already have the words and introduction I’m going say, I have 1 joke and If that’s not enough, I don’t know what it is. 

Soon, the clock on stage hit 12:10, and it was finally time to start, 2 kids from my class went to the stage and did their comedy work, then 2 kids from other classes came onto the stage and did their comedy, but then it was my turn, my turn and time to shine. I first walked up to Mrs Colleen, who was holding a clipboard and stood behind the stage curtain.

“Mrs, I’m ready.” I raised my shoulder with boldness. 

“Shuanna, right?” She wrote my name on the clipboard. “Get on the stage and do your comedy magic!”

With braveness and boldness, I went onto the stage and held the microphone. Then I saw my parents, my brother, and my friends sitting in the front on the right side. I was really glad they were, especially because my parents were smiling at me.

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes for a second, and said,

“Hi, my Shauna, Shauna Brewer, and I’m a teen who loves to talk about comedy, tell jokes, and wants to be a future comedian in life. and smile, I’m not being a comedian just for fun, but to make people laugh, and smile. And my quote and motivation,-which I got from my comedy class is, ‘Never give up, even on the first step. It’s always something you can remember when you're successful one day.’ It inspired me to have more faith and succeed in comedy. And without my comedy teacher or friends' help, I don’t think I would be here.”

“Anyway, now what you've been waiting for, the jokes.” I bored out my face and sighed. I heard little chuckles from across the auditorium.

“Josh, what did 20 do when he was hungry?’ ‘What?’ ‘Twenty-eight!” Laughter spread all around the room.

“I’ve got another one. ‘Why shouldn’t you fundraise for marathons? They just take the money and run.” And this time everyone in the auditorium laughed. Even my parents laughed, and they seemed to like the show. Wait, this might’ve worked…

 

Chapter 13

The show ended, and I was getting people from the show saying, 

“Good job”

“That was some great jokes”

And, “Nice introduction Shauna”

About 10 minutes later, I went to meet my family and friends at the car, and they were all pleased and happy.

“Gosh, that was an amazing show bestie!” Dietra clapped.

Martin came to me with a flower bouquet.

“Wow Martin, these are my favourite flowers, thank you.” I was so happy I made my family happy, this was my job anyway, to make people laugh and smile. 

 

After I finished talking to my friends, I went to my parents, hoping I won the deal.

“So…” I started.

My Mom smiled, “You did awesome up there Shauna, I wasn’t expecting it”

“Yeah, who knew my daughter was this good at comedy?!” Dad added.

“Mom, Dad, I was always good at something, but you kept thinking of me as a weird unsmart kid who does stupid things. You didn’t know, realize, or understand my life well. Comedy has always been in my life, even until now,” I felt a relief from my heart when I said that.

“Oh my Shauna,” Mom hugged and cuddled me like a baby. “We’re so sorry we didn’t notice this before. If I was a good mother then, I would support you.”

“Don’t worry Mom, no matter what choices you make for me, I will always think of you as a good Mother, I understand you’re just trying to do what's best for my life.” I smiled.

Suddenly, Mom got an email, she checked her phone and it was a text from my teacher, Mrs. Stanley, uh-oh, was it about the test? Did I pass? Did I fail?!

“Omg, Shauna…” Mom covered her mouth in shock. “You pass your final semester test!”

I gasped. “Really? Yes!”

“I knew you had it in yourself Shauna, good job” Dad touched my shoulder.

“Does this mean I won’t be doing any school learning classes?” I smile.

“Yes, surely you won’t.” Dad chuckled.

 

I guess today was a good day, I did my math test, and I passed, I did my comedy show and I totally proved my parents wrong. I am so glad everything is going well. Maybe I should give my story a name…

“Shauna’s Stand-up”

Perfect.

The End