Becoming Ready

Chapter 14 - Boy Meets Girl

Charlie had to admit, getting the callback email for Professor Roth's movie was pretty damn exciting. It meant she had been correct in thinking she impressed him. His email invited her to Stage A, the same room as her Film Acting class, the following evening. He had attached another scene, explicitly asking everyone to memorize it.

She arrived, not sure what to expect. Instead of waiting outside the room like she had for the audition, she was directed to just go in. The amphitheater style seating was already occupied by several other students, and more were coming in behind her.

Charlie had never been to a callback before, but she wondered, were they all like this? Was everyone going to audition in front of each other, like some sort of Roman gladiator battle of talent?

She grabbed a seat off to the side and looked around the room. Professor Roth finally strode in, taking a seat in the front row. He was flanked by the same two students from the first audition. Charlie wondered if they were his assistants.

Someone snuck in at the last minute. Charlie sensed a presence at the door and looked over, finding none other than River standing there. When they made eye contact, he gave her a crooked smile, and then he walked in and grabbed a seat next to a pretty girl with long black hair. He put his arm around the back of her chair. Charlie averted her eyes, not wanting to stare at them, although they looked like a really attractive couple.

Professor Roth launched into a brief explanation. He was doing something called chemistry reads with them. The reason why he couldn't schedule them all to come in separately was because he wasn't sure who he wanted to pair together yet. He explained it as if he had said it many times before, and many of the students in the room looked slightly bored, but it was all new to Charlie. She felt slightly out of her depth, being so inexperienced, but everyone had been new at one point.

She felt someone scoot into the seat on her left. Charlie looked over and saw a pretty girl with curly reddish hair smiling at her.

"Hi," she whispered. "First time?"

Charlie nodded. "What gave it away?"

The girl laughed. "Nothing, I just haven't seen you before. I'm Leigh."

"Charlie," she whispered back.

As Professor Roth called them up two at a time, Leigh would whisper bits of information about the people to Charlie. When it came time for River's read, Leigh sighed.

"That's River Augustine. Great actor, absolute dreamboat, total f***boy," she said.

Charlie rolled her eyes. "We've met."

"And that is Kaley Kato," Leigh said as the dark-haired girl River had been sitting next to stood up to join him. "One hundred percent fierce, very talented, and a complete bitch."

"They sound like a match made in heaven," Charlie joked.

Leigh shook her head. "She wishes."

Charlie watched with interest as the two played the scene. From what she could tell so far, Professor Roth's script was a modern take on Bonnie and Clyde. Boy meets girl, girl helps boy rob a gas station, boy and girl go on the run. She was sure the character's backstories and the plot were a little more nuanced than that, but then again, Charlie hadn't read the whole thing.

Professor Roth called her up next, along with a guy named Liam. He was moderately handsome, Charlie thought to herself as she shook his hand, meeting him for the first time in front of this crowd. While she felt like she put her best effort forward as she acted the scene, there was no way she could picture Liam as her love interest. She hoped the friends-only vibe between them wouldn't kill her chances of being cast.

Just as she was about to sit down, Professor Roth said, "Wait a minute, Charlie. Stay up there please. River, would you join her?"

Charlie pivoted, looking over at River. He looked slightly surprised, but he covered that up immediately with self-assurance, joining her in the middle of the floor.

When they began the scene, the air in the room suddenly felt different. The circled each other slowly, reciting their lines back and forth with ease. Charlie felt as if she was actually meeting him for the first time, just like the characters were in the scene, but at the same time, he was completely familiar. It was strange, to say the least.

The scene ended, and Charlie and River just stared at each other for a moment. A smattering of applause from the small crowd brought her back to the present. Where she had been before, she wasn't sure.

She looked over at Professor Roth, who was just staring at the two of them.

After a moment he smiled slightly and said, "Thank you," before writing something down. Charlie took that as her cue to go take her seat.

Leigh tilted her head at Charlie when she sat down. "What was that about?"

Charlie shook her head. "I have no idea."

***What are your thoughts on Charlie & River's read together?