Starlet

10. Mel

After dance the next day, I run to my house.

I scream, "I TRIED OUT FOR THE PLAY." at the housekeeper and run out the door.

I run to the theater. There's a big poster with the character list and names. I go through every single 1. I find Whisp by a girl named Mel. I jump up and down, pointing at it. I am so happy. Tears start falling out of my eyes.

Andy comes up behind me. "You found your name, I see."

"I GOT A PART." I throw my arms around him and hug him. "Thank you." Then I jump up and down. "I got a part. Is it a...?"

"It's not a big part. You'll have 20 or so lines. The director wanted to give you some stage time before he put you as an understudy for a leading part."

"I GOT A REAL PART." I sob and hug him. He gives me a hug and laughs.

Tye clears his throat. "Woman."

"I GOT A REAL PART TYE."

Lynn runs up out of nowhere. "DID YOU GET A PART?"

"I DID. I DID. I DID." I jump up and down, pointing at the paper. "I'M MEL."

She jumps up and down with me. "I'M UNDERSTUDY TO LUCIA."

"AAAHHHH!" We scream and jump around and hug.

"I HOPE THE REAL ONE HITS HER HEAD."

"ME TOO."

Bayden comes out of the theater. "I see we found our parts and we are happy. That's good."

"I'M MEL."

Then he looks at Tye. "Will you be volunteering for something then?"

"I better not. I'll get f*****g yelled at."

Thora comes over in her disguise. "Sorry. I'm late for the party. I'll do hair or nothing."

Bayden nods. "What's your name?"

She looks at herself. "Fuck." She looks at Tye and he shrugs his shoulders. "I'll tell you later."

He gives her a funny look. "You look like a Lindsey."

"I like that. I'm Lindsey, I'll do hair. Because apparently nobody else can."

I run my hand through my hair. "I forgot. I wanted to see the paper."

"I don't have to come to all the practices, do I?"

"No. I'll need you at the rehearsals, shows, and a few practices at the end."

"Sounds good." She throws something at Tye. I think it was a hairband. "f*****g LEAVE."

"FINE."

Lynn raises her eyebrow. "You told a prince to f*****g leave."

"Yea, the i***t shouldn't be seen here. And I think I might still be drunk. I drank way too much last night. You want me to do your hair before I pass out?"

"No. It'll be alright. Go take a nap."

"Thank you. I'll do that." Then she waves. "Nice meeting everyone."

"Nice meeting you Lindsey." She goes towards our house.

"You have interesting friends."

"She's the normal 1."

"Here's your play book before I forget." Bayden hands me a book. Then Andy walks me home.

He sits beside me on the porch. "What do you think?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I hope I can do well."

"Did you read it all?"

"No. I just got it. Did you read it?"

"I read it after I got the leading part. He gave a few of us the script early. I took a teaching job yesterday. I'm going to teach the acting class."

"Is you being a teacher, going to mess with the plays?"

"It shouldn't. It's an hour a day there. And the play for the school kids will be in nearly 5 months. The village play will be done by then. So I can focus on this and the school play at different times. Hell, I could even have the school kids put on the same play. I can get extra practice doing that. I would have to take the kissing out."

"That's true. I doubt if parents want their kids kissing. You might get beat up. It would be neat to have them put on the same play though. And they could go see you in the real play. They need to do that. Would be a good trip. They could see a real play and theater. I bet they would like that."

"That would be neat. You think they would let me bring them over here for a class? Show them a real theater. The seating and tickets."

"I don't see why not. How many are in the class?"

"25 right now. But he said it might hit the limit. I guess they limited it to 30. Which is good. I wouldn't want to try and handle 50 kids or something."

"Even 30 is a lot. I would definitely tell Dipak before you take them out of school for a trip. Dipak would be pissed if he lost 30 teenagers, even for 3 minutes. Would 30 be enough for this play?"

"I could make it work. I could cut some parts and scenes. I could probably take it down to 10 or 15 acting kids. That would make it easier for the lines they need to memorize too. And I know all of them aren't going to want lines."

"Keep an eye on them too. You'll get kids who want to act but can't read."

"Yea, that's not going to be fun. It's still possible, someone will have to teach them their lines. It is a challenge. I definitely wouldn't cast them as a leading actor."

"I guess you'll have to see who you get and go from there. But theater isn't only plays, right? I went to an opening once. It had a play, then a man read a poem."

"Yes. They could do little skits."

"Write their own little plays. That could be fun."

"They can also do talent shows and dancing. There are all kinds of stuff you can do with theater, actually."

"If none of your students can read, you could always have them do a talent show. At least you have options."

"That's true. And the talents will not be reading."

"You'll have to see what you get. Hope for the best."

"Expect the worst. But if the worst is a talent show with some of them putting on little skits they do, then I guess that's not so bad."

"They would still get to learn about the theater and the departments. How it comes together. If you get approval for a trip to see the stage, they could actually see the real theater and your play. That would be amazing. I doubt if all of them have even seen a play. And to see their teacher on stage. They would love that. I think that's a good plan. You could even do 2 plays, since the year is divided in half. Do a version of your play for the first 5 months. Then do the talent show at the end. Or reverse them. I don't know."

"I don't know either. It's going to be learning for me too." He looks at the village. "I was going to ask you though, who was that kid yesterday that you were acting with?"

"That's Marcus's son. He is having some issues right now and suffering from some age regression."

"Will I get him in school?"

"No. He's the prince. Same reasons that you wouldn't get the princess. It's too dangerous."

"Who is Luke to the princess?"

"Not exactly sure."

"So what are you and Tye?"

"Nothing. He visits sometimes."

"I wanted to ask you if you have any ideas for the theater class?" Dipak steps onto the porch.

I smile at him. "He does. He wants to take the kids on a trip to tour the real theater. And he wants them to be able to come and see his play."

"I like that. Any ideas about what they would be putting on?"

I take the hint. "Nice seeing you again. I'm going to go and read this now. Have fun."

"You too."

I go up to the balcony and put the umbrella up. I sit in the shade and watch Andy, Dipak, and Marcus leave. Luke runs up to Marcus after a minute carrying something. I smile and focus on reading. About halfway through, I ask the brain to bring me some water. I finish the script about dying of thirst. They never did bring me water.

It's about time for practice anyway. I run over to the restaurant and get some water to go. Then I go to the theater.