The Threads of Fate || Walker Scobell x Leah Sava Jeffries

~1~

Leah looked out the window on the side of the classroom. She was currently at school, and it was the last class period of the day. Saying she was ready to go home was an understatement. She looked over to see her friend, Nayeli, working hard away at her math notes. Feeling her friend's eyes on her, Nayeli looked up. She pushed her glasses up and whispered, "Leah, I'm not giving you my notes anymore. You better start writing."

"Please, Eli. I can't focus. I have an audition today," Leah responded.

"An audition for what?" Nayeli stopped paying attention to the class and turned to Leah. Leah turned in her desk some more and smiled,

"Disney's making a show for the Percy Jackson books. My agent wants me to audition for Annabeth." Nayeli's smile dropped slightly, but she quickly fixed her face.

"They want you...to audition for Annabeth," she had to make sure she had heard right.

"Yep! Apparently, it's a leading role. It could be really big for me if I got it," Leah smiled.

"Leah, have you ever read Percy Jackson?"

"No, why?"

"Do you know what Annabeth looks like?"

"No, wh—"

"Girls!" their teacher cut into their conversation, "Do you have something you wanna share with the class?"

"No, ma'am," Nayeli said quickly. Leah shook her head in agreement.

"Pay attention in my class please," the woman said, turning back to the board. Leah laughed a bit and reached for Nayeli's first page of notes.

A few minutes later, the bell rang and school was out. Leah waited for Nayeli at the door while she gathered her things; and once the both of them were ready, they headed towards the bus line. "What were you trying to tell me before we were so rudely interrupted?" Leah asked. Nayeli giggled slightly before turning serious again,

"I think your agent is trying to set you up for failure."

"And what makes you think that?"

"Annabeth is white, Leah. Like white, white. Like blonde hair, grey eyes, white," Nayeli elaborated. They made it to their bus and got on.

"You're joking," Leah slid into their usual seat at the back of the bus.

"I'm so serious," Nayeli responded.

"Now, why would Mrs.Angela do that?"

"I don't know," Nayeli answered.

"Well... it doesn't hurt to try. Maybe they'll change the character. Besides, it'll be great practice for me. If we get another call for a Disney character that I can actually be cast as in the future, maybe this'll help me be more prepared," Leah tried to look on the bright side. Nayeli nodded. This was something that she had always liked about her friend. Despite all the negatives in a situation, Leah was always to find some good in it.

"You're always so positive. It's annoying," Nayeli said, pulling her math folder out of her backpack. She took her math notes from earlier out and handed them to Leah.

"I love you, Eli," Leah smiled, taking the pages.

"Whatever, start paying attention in class," Nayeli laughed, closing her backpack.

When Leah made it home, she went straight up to her room and started to prepare for her audition. Whenever she had an audition, it was always never a big deal but also the single most important thing happening in their house all at the same time. No one cared, but they also rushed to do everything they possibly could to help get her the role.

Upon entering her bedroom, Leah noticed that her room had been cleaned. "Mom must have done it for me. I'll have to thank her later," she thought. She made her way to her closet and changed into a different outfit that she had pre-picked earlier that morning. It was just a dress, but it was way better than the jeans and t-shirt she wore to school. Then she went into the bathroom to start on her hair. She began to take down the french braids her mom had put in for her that morning. About half way through the process of taking down the braids, her mother, Lee, walked into the bathroom.

"What in the world are you doing?" Lee said in disbelief, "Those braids were fine."
"I just figured I should do something different for the audition. I'm sorry," Leah tried to smile, but her mother still looked pretty upset.

"Leah, you've always done your auditions with braids. What was wrong with it this time?"

"This time, the character I'm auditioning for is white," Leah responded.

"No, it's not."

"It is. Nayeli told me at school today," Leah finished the last braid.

"Now, why would Angela do that?"

"That's what I said," Leah laughed. Lee moved to stand behind her daughter,

"What do you want to do instead?"

"I was thinking I could do the puff balls but with the extensions," she looked up. Lee nodded and gathered the materials she needed to do her daughter's hair.

After they were done, Leah went to her room to set up for her audition. It was over a zoom call, so she would have to use her phone. She put in the zoom call code and found a spot to prop up her phone on her desk. Then she closed her door, grabbed her audition script, and sat in her chair to wait for the audition to start. She read over the script as she waited and rehearsed how she wanted the call to go in her head.

Eventually, after some more waiting, the zoom call opened, and people started to join. Leah smiled and waved to each of them as they joined. Five casting directors all looked at her through the screen. "Hi! Can you please give us your name, age, and the character you'll be auditioning for?" a woman asked.

"Yes, ma'am! Hi! My name is Leah Sava Jeffries, I'm 11 years old, and today, I'll be auditioning for the role of Annabeth Chase in the Percy Jackson TV series produced by Disney," Leah answered just as she rehearsed.

"Okay, Miss Leah, do you have the audition script with you?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am! It's right here," Leah held up the papers.

"Perfect! You're prepared aren't you?" the woman smiled, "You're all set, Leah. We're ready whenever you are." Leah took a deep breath and the audition began.
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(1057 words) This is the revised version of chapter 1! I hope you all like it 🙃