Starlet

9. Audition

We count the money boxes and split 50k. I have lots of money now. I should still have some in my vault at home too. Unless they found it. Then they go back for the afternoon meeting. I study my lines. I have them memorized now, but I want to make sure. After that, I go buy a bunch of vegetables at the grocery and sell them in the market. I make another 1k doing that.

I barely sit down and Marcus shows up. They seem to come in through the dining room door. Making doors with magic must be convenient. "I'm sending the mattresses and bedding over now."

"Thank you."

It seems like he wants to say something else, but he doesn't.

I sleep in my house for the first time. It's amazing. Thora sleeps in the castle. In the morning, I go to my dance class. After lunch, I get escorted to Dipak's office.

It's Dipak, Omar, and Marcus again.

Marcus smiles, "What do you know about money?"

"I pay for things with it."

He puts some in front of me. "Give me 324g."

I do it.

"Good. Give me 2k... Great, now where do you keep money?"

"The closet."

Omar coughs. "Well, she can count. That seems to be where it ends. No concept of bills or banking."

"RENT IS BILLS." They are kind of making me mad.

Dipak sits up and smiles. "Very good."

Omar shakes his head. "How are you the nice one this time?"

"I'm always nice."

I nod at him.

Dipak gets a paper. "What about vaults? Do you understand them?"

My eyebrows raise. I don't want to tell them I have a vault. Or take them to my home. They would take it. I shake my head fast.

Marcus nods. "We'll work on it. You're going to work with a tutor a couple of times a week. They'll help you with money."

Omar stands up. "We need to get over to the school now. It's opening for people to tour it. You can tour it too, Star. But you will not be in this school. You're going to the magic school."

I follow them across the path. It's not in the village. It's across from the village. It seems like a separate village.

"It's a school campus. There's a school for the village kids. The magic school is over that way. The college is that way. All of these extra buildings are restaurants. Then there are sitting areas. There are all kinds of things here. You'll get a better tour when the magic school opens."

"This is huge."

"Yes it is."

We get to the kids' school and I walk down the hallways. I peek into some of the classrooms. There are even some teachers here introducing themselves. I find a big cafeteria with lots of tables. I'm happy I don't go here. I would have nobody to sit with. I go through the library and the study room. It smells like new books. I go into 1 room, and it's set up like 4 kitchens. This must be a cooking room. That was a smart way to do this.

"Hi Whisp." The guy that was from the theater is smiling.

"Hello. I'm sorry, but I never got your name."

"It's Andy."

"Hi Andy. Did you audition yet?"

"I did. How come you haven't yet?"

"Busy."

"Next audition is in 4 hours."

"Makes me nervous."

"I can help you. I've done this for quite a while."

"You would help me?" My eyes get teary but I don't cry. That's nice.

"Sure. It seems like you want to try theater, and I'm always up for practice."

"Ok."

He smiles. "I heard they have a stage here. Let's see if we can find it."

We ask around and eventually find it. Marcus is standing there with his arms crossed blocking the path to the stage.

Him and Andy stare at each other. I run around him.

"She wants to learn the lines for the theater. We were going to practice in here if you don't mind?"

"That's fine." He sits in 1 of the audience seats.

He's making this awkward. Andy and I go to the stage.

"First thing about acting. You have to forget the audience. It doesn't matter who is in it. Or who's not in it. You have to be focused on your lines and your role. While you're up here, you are someone else. It's up to you to bring your character to life."

The door opens and a few more people come in.

"Nope. They don't exist. Once you are on this stage, you are your character. No matter what is going on in your real life, it doesn't matter. It's not happening to your character. And your character's world is this stage. Nothing exists outside of it. The 2 worlds can not be crossed. Do you understand that?"

"I think so."

"Good. So the first part is knowing who your character is. You get that information from reading the lines and the extras. And then thinking about what your character would do in certain circumstances. Right now, my character is named Arnold. Now I know some of his reactions. But I ask myself constantly 'what would Arnold do.' Would he be helping you with lines? No he wouldn't. He doesn't know the slightest bit about acting. But that's how I get to know more about him. Sometimes I try and talk to him, but then I end up looking like I'm talking to myself."

I crack up laughing and hear people in the audience laugh.

"Now when reading lines. To stand here and say them, doesn't give Arnold any life. He needs to use the stage and arm movements. He needs to do actions and expressions. One of the words I'll say in these lines is 'magnificent.' I can't stand here and say that. That's not good." He throws his hand up in the air. "'MAGNIFICENT' See how Arnold reacted? That is what Arnold would do. So, you have to act the words and get to know your character to be them. Sadly, when it comes to lines for auditioning, you don't get a lot of information. You have to figure out what you can, as best as you can. For these lines, I know this is a play about 2 people on a first date."

There's a lot of noise from the audience. "WOOO"

"Oh you stop it. I know that was you." He points at someone and we laugh. "ANYWAY." He flips his papers. "It is about the first date of Lucia and Arnold. But as always with plays, there's a loop. There's always a loop to make it funny or interesting. A real first date probably wouldn't be that fun to watch. So the writer made it fun for us. Now these 2 people. Us. We're on the stage, so we are now, Lucia and Arnold. No one else exists except us. We're not our former selves anymore." He points to a kid sitting close to the stage. "We died right where you are sitting. You're probably sitting on us."

We all laugh again.

"Who are we?"

"Lucia and Arnold."

"Good. Now the twist or loop. We're from different timelines. So, let's pretend you're visiting the future. So if I say 1 thing, you'll interpret it differently. And you'll have new stuff that I know nothing about. Also, I don't know you. It's a very first date, and we have never met. So go ahead and read the Lucia part. I am going to roam around and see if I can hear you. I'll do the Arnold part from wherever I am."

LUCIA: What do you do for a living?

ARNOLD: "I manage the land."

LUCIA: "You're a real estate guy. I figured you'd be something like that. I work at a nail salon. I'm really great with nails, always been great with nails. Wanted to be an artist originally, like a great painter, but settled on doing nails."

"LOUDER I CAN'T HEAR YOU BACK HERE."

"I get loads of compliments too, cause of the detail. See, that's the thing about it; life is in the details. Most people forget the details. And when I paint tiny stars, or trees or cats and dogs for my clients, that's detail and I get good tips for that kind of level of work."

"Much better."

ARNOLD: "You're incredible."

LUCIA: "I'm a nail technician."

ARNOLD: "And that makes you incredible." He walks back up on the stage with me. "Can you paint my nails?"

LUCIA: "Really? Well, I guess I can if…" (she searches her bag) I don't have a bag, so I search my pockets. I don't have any. "Ah! You're in luck. I usually carry a few colors of nail polish with me wherever I go. It keeps me calm just knowing they're with me. Like a comfort thing. If something goes wrong, I whip them out, and I get to painting my nails and I can breathe clearly again. I get anxiety. Do you care what color I use on you?"

ARNOLD: "Not at all."

LUCIA: "Cool."

Lucia begins painting Arnold's nails. I take his hand and pretend to paint them.

ARNOLD: "Fascinating."

LUCIA: "Yeah, started doing this since I could walk and talk. And since the moon is out, I'm going to place a tiny moon right there on your pinkie as a reminder of our special night."

ARNOLD: "You're too kind."

LUCIA: "Don't mention it. I mean, I can always go back to painting on canvas. I still have a few of them canvases laying around my apartment. It's not like I can't pick up the brush at any time. My hands still work. You like that?"

Arnold holds up his hand and stares in awe.

ARNOLD: "Magnificent."

He smiles. "End scene. That was good. Now I was trying to show Arnold as having no idea what fingernail polish is. Which I don't, so he was in shock. It was fascinating, and the end result was magnificent. Just from fingernail polish, he was floored. Now, Lucia, it was an everyday thing. Did anyone catch anything else that wasn't interpreted correctly?"

Luke holds up his hand and Andy points at him. "Managing the land."

"Correct. That was a good find. She asked me what I do for a living. I said, I manage the land. What does that mean for us?"

About 4 people say, "Farmer."

"Farmer is right. But what did she interpret it as?"

"A real estate guy." I shrug my shoulders as I read it.

"Yep. A real estate guy is just someone who buys and sells houses. So, they definitely don't understand each other. Now for an audition, this is all we get. The director wants to see how well you can bring the character to life. Can you memorize lines, can you ignore the people in the audience or not get scared and forget who you are? The director is looking at all sorts of things for an audition. But this is all you get, a small piece of the play. Which I am honestly grateful for. I would die if I had to memorize a whole play for an audition."

All of us laugh again.

"Let's do it again. I'll roam around and do the boy part. This time, while you're reading the lines. Try to bring the character to life. Think about her hand motions and her interest level. What would she be doing?"

We do it 2 more times.

Then he comes back up on the stage.

"It's going well." He takes my paper. "The next person who makes the theater work is the line person. Who can read? You come here. Now your job will be to help her with the line if she forgets it or stumbles on it. These things happen. I've drawn a blank a few times in actual shows. This person is very important. But they stay off the stage. You don't see them. So sit over here. We're all going to pretend she is invisible. You just follow along and if 1 of us mess up, you read the line. But quietly. I don't want to hear you in the back. You are only telling Lucia the line. What boy can read? You read and think about how Arnold would react and things he would do. She's going to try more acting and less reading. I'll be in the land that doesn't exist." We laugh again.

I look at the boy. "So what do you do for a living?"

"You got to wait for me to leave. It would be really weird with 2 Arnolds here. I'll say start scene when I'm ready."

I stumble through the lines with the boy. But the line girl does help. She's amazing.

Andy yells from the back somewhere. "LUCIA. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE PERSON RIGHT NOW?"

"THE INVISIBLE GIRL."

"VERY GOOD. ANOTHER JOB FOR THE THEATER IS HAIR AND MAKEUP." He runs up on stage. "And honestly you need some help. That last wave got your hair doing something. I need the hair department to get up and help quickly."

A couple of girls jump up and fix my hair. I thank them before they sit back down.

"What other jobs are there?"

"That is a nearly never ending question. But a excellent question as well. Not only are the actors you see on the stage. And the invisible 1 there. But there is also hair, makeup, props. The props department makes everything you see on the stage. Her fingernail polish would be a prop. The bag she gets it out of would be a prop. They manage props and make sure they are in working order. There's also the lighting department. Sound department. The music and special sound effects. There's the director, of course. He's the 1 who makes everything happen. There's the writer. There's also the costume department. Since she's from the future, she could be wearing something really different. The costume department would figure that out. Another important part is understudy. I have the leading part in the village play coming up, but what happens if I hit my head opening night? Anyone know?"

"They don't do the play?" A kid shrugs her shoulders.

"Wrong. The understudy goes on in my place. My understudy will know my lines and will go to the rehearsals and practices. We can't cancel a show last minute. That is a big job. Other parts of the theater are the ticket person. Someone has to sell tickets. Someone else has to sell drinks and food. A few people will have to help guide people to their seats and give them copies of our papers. Then we have an entire team of people that come in after the play to clean up the theater. Because what happens when you give 200 teenagers popcorn?"

Dipak yells, "FOOD FIGHT." We laugh so hard.

Andy nods. "It takes a long time to clean up that much popcorn. We have a whole department for that. So don't worry if you have to take a theater class. There are lots of departments that will need help. You're not guaranteed to have to say a bunch of lines on a stage. That job is not for everyone. We know that. Let's run it again. Who wants to try the boy part this time?"

Luke stands up. "I can do it. I know the lines."

"Interesting. There is a new Arnold coming for my job I think. Get up here and give it a shot. Now invisible leading line person. You got 2 of them. Make sure you watch both sets of lines."

"Ok."

Luke and I do it perfect. He even acts it out with me.

Andy runs back up. "That was perfect from both of you. I got 2 future actors here."

Everyone starts clapping. They even stand up, clap, and cheer.

"Thank you everyone. Thank you for all my applause. I am the director, so I can say that. I'm only joking. LUCIA AND ARNOLD." He raises his hand and everyone starts clapping and cheering louder. "LEADING LINE." They cheer louder. "And for the hair department." They cheer so loudly for that one. I crack up laughing. "Good job everyone. You did good. That's it for today."

Everyone talks about taking theater and what jobs they would want.

I find Andy standing at the back by the door. He's standing with Bayden and a bunch of people from the table. The place is packed full of people.

I jump up and down. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I can audition for the play now."

"You're welcome. You did good."

Bayden smiles. "You already auditioned."

"Really?"

"When the leading actor pulls me somewhere and says, watch this. That generally means something."

My eyebrows shoot up. "Does that mean I get a part?"

"I still have some people coming in for auditions tonight. If all goes the way I see it going, you will get a small part. Would that be alright?"

"YES." I jump up and down.

"However, I would need a parent approval form."

Andy smirks. "She's 400."

Bayden stares at Andy. "..." He rubs his eyes. "Boy..." He rubs his eyes again. "Since you believe everything, I'm 13. Can you get it?"

Dipak winks. "The castle will sign for her."

"That's better than a parent's signature. I'm ok with that."

"I figured."