𝐈𝐕𝐘 | ɢɪɴᴀ ᴘᴏʀᴛᴇʀ x ᴏᴄ

ᴀᴄᴛ ᴏɴᴇ: ꜱᴄᴇɴᴇ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ

ᴀᴄᴛ ᴏɴᴇ: ꜱᴄᴇɴᴇ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ

"A FIVE, SIX, SEVEN- EIGHT." Step one of being in the musical- make sure that you bring ear buds. You might go deaf due to the choreographer stood next to you. With the high kicks and jumps from all the dancers, even I felt intimidated... and I'm not auditioning. "Yes, come on, one!" He turned to the two of us as I watched them all dance. "Look at her go!"

I really shouldn't be annoyed that the dancer in the middle was so good. Number one. She was incredible. But, if she is that good with dancing, the chances are she wasn't here just to look good in those dancing shoes. Which, of course, means competition for my sister. Competition I don't think any of us asked for.

"I know, she's amazing!" Miss Jenn said next to me. The dance of Stick to the Status Quo continued on, with more high kicks from one and I was far more than intimidated now. I was scared. Period.

"GREAT! That's it for the warm-up." He smiled once the dance had ended.

"That was... something." I murmured before Miss Jenn turned to where everyone was stood.

"Everyone, pair up. Not with a friend." She told them. "Theatre is a community." I saw Nini talking to one, I couldn't tell what about, but after they stood in the middle and chatted more, I saw just exactly who the competition was. This wasn't going to be as easy as we thought it was... I mean, it never was going to be. They shook hands and Nini put on that smile which told me she was uncomfortable. Miss Jenn clapped her hands, making everyone face her. "And we're back."

⊱⊰

We continue down the line, handing out scripts to the cast who wanted a larger roll.

"I would love you to read for Ryan." I gave him the script before Miss Jenn moved onto the next. "You are giving major Taylor vibes." I looked over at Carlos who had Taylor's script of who didn't seem to do anything for a moment, scaring me even more. "You're probably... a Chad." He seemed rather happy with it, giving Taylor next to him a fist bump as I handed him the script. "You... You're giving me- uncommon depth." I don't know Ashlyn too well to call her anymore than an acquaintance. What I do know is that she's in my baking club, so I guess she wasn't totally wrong? "Ms. Darbus?"

"I'm dying. I'm deceased, yes." She nodded, already happy with the role.

Miss Jenn went down her own clipboard, reading Ashlyn's application. "Oh, your application says you play piano." Wow, she can do it all, huh.

"I... dabble." She sounded a little unsure of herself, which didn't sound too much like the Ashlyn I knew from baking club.

"You ever written a song?" Miss asks back.

"I mean, nothing I've ever shared with anyone..."

"I always thought the drama teacher should have an Act Two power ballad." I smiled at what Miss said, giving a lot of pride to Ashlyn. "We'll sidebar." We continue onto the next as Carlos hands her the purple script. One stood there proudly, already knowing she was the favourite for the main role. "Gabriella."

"You got it." She smiled as Miss Jenn went onto the next as I searched through my pile to find the script.

"Oh, I'm good I'm already off-book." She tells me. Of course, I had no idea what that meant, but Carlos seemed... impressed. We walked to the next and I saw EJ stood even more proudly than one. Jesus it was almost scary.

"Give him the Troy stuff, who are we kidding?" She said to me and Carlos. Wow, that easy, huh?

Next was Nini. "And, how about we have you read for- Kelsi?" There was a moment of silence and I swear I saw number One in the corner of my eye smirking. Before I could even get a word in, Nini got in first. Which I was glad for.

"Gabriella." She said firmly. "I wanna audition for Gabriella."

"Okay..." She moved onto the next as I handed my sister the script. Thank god for that. We wouldn't have heard the end of it from EJ for weeks. "You're reading for Ryan, right?" She asks the next one.

"I think he'd rather play Sharpay."

Icon

⊱⊰

"Okay, our last Troy." I have never been so bored in my life. Okay, maybe this was second place after the six-hour plane ride, but I had sleep to catch up on at the time. And now I was sat, judging everyone who walked onto the stage. I wasn't even meant to be sat here, all I was doing was painting and giving the guys who worked in costumes ideas. "And he comes with props! Love it!" EJ stood in the middle, messing around with the basketball and his jersey. She faked a laugh. "Whenever you're ready." She then leaned over to the two of us. "Okay, what do I need to know?"

"EJ Caswell. Most Instagram followers." Carlos begins.

"Probably wakes up looking like that, most likely in love with his hair... and probably doesn't know of Carlos' existence." I finish.

What can I say? I would love to run an EJ Caswell hate club when I'm older

"Hey!" The boy next to me says.

"Sorry..." I murmur, turning back to EJ.

"I hope he can carry a tune..." Miss murmurs beside us. When EJ started to sing, I was a little overwhelmed for how well he sang. Maybe I had overlooked him? It was going pretty well.

Oh. Never mind he... winked. After getting rid of the second-hand cringe, I sighed, and Miss Jenn spoke up.

"Well, excuse me, Armie Hammer just called, he wants his jawline back!" None of us understood, and EJ stood there a little confused before walking off stage and sitting down. "We're moving on to the Gabriellas."

Once again, it seemed she knew everything. How the girl who had been numbered one knew so much and was so great at this was beyond my understanding. And I was an outsider to this, sure, but this was another level than my Dear Evan Hansen and Six soundtrack music on my phone... It was at the level of Wicked... Which I haven't seen yet.

As the song ended, I glanced over and saw EJ giving what looked like a last-minute pep talk to my sister.

"Isn't that, right?" My thoughts were cut off by a slap of the hand from Carlos.

"Uh-" I looked back at the girl on stage. "Yeah, it was... solid." I smiled before looking down at my empty lined paper. The girl walked off the stage and I looked over to see Nini walk on.

"Any intel on this one?" Miss asked us.

"Nini Salazar-Roberts." Carlos begins. "Harmless chorus girl, usually plays farm animals and trees-"

"My sister, too." I murmur.

"Forgot that bit..." Carlos said in return.

"Okay, Nini!" Miss Jenn said, ignoring me and Carlos' little staring contest that had suddenly began. "Whenever you're ready."

I gave her a thumbs up and picked up my pen as she went to sing. The door suddenly opened, causing both me and Carlos too look over our shoulder in unison.

"AM I TOO LATE? AM I TOO LATE?" Ricky Bowen. Who else would it be? Who else would I expect to ruin it? The boy ran down the side, down to the stage while I mentally held myself back from something I'd regret.