The Life of Samara Isaac

I just turned thirteen. That was the youngest you could be to be in the summer play the community center produces every year. The best part was that Mother and Daddy said I could audition.

On May twentieth, exactly one week after my thirteenth birthday, I went to audition for the play Dancing with Fairies. I think I preformed well, but I knocked over the casting director's coffee, the table, and the big stack of scripts they had. They told me I could go after one scene. I pretended to the Fairy Queen, who was the main character. They said I had a bit of a twang, but I don't know what a "twang" is.

Today is June first. I ran, well sprinted, to the community center to check the casting list. This is it, I thought to myself. This is what I’ve been waiting for, for six years as soon as I understood the concept of performing on a stage. Sophie was the main girl before, and so has Samuel two years ago. I had to be the lead to continue the pattern. When I saw the cast list, I just stood there, waiting for it to change. It couldn’t be; Why was it the way it was?

Dancing with Fairies

Lo - Lillianna (Miranda)

Calvin - Michael K. (Kevin)

Rachael - Madelynn (Vikki)

Claudia - Claudia (Dina)

Angel - Deja (Victoria)

Andrew - Michael G. (Oliver)

Fairy Queen - Jessica (Samara)

Fairy 1 - Madyson (Sonny)

Fairy 2 - Tyler (Anderson)

Fairy 3 - Megan (Svetlana)

Fairy 4 - Bailie (Lola)

Fairy 5 - Emma (Tianna)

I didn’t really make it. I’m an understudy for the most dependable actor, too! I just wanted to cry. Jessica taunts me about everything she can. She’s so dependable. I’m dependable, but she’s a brown noser. No one pays much attention to me unless it’s Jessica-related. Sometimes I hate her. That very girl ran up to the cast list. Five seconds later, she asked me, “The Ring Girl is in my play? Oh, no, she isn’t!”

“Go scream at a pickle, Jessica Egypt,” I tell her as I try to walk away.

“Go eat one!”

I stopped walking. “Go be blonde somewhere else!” I yell and run as fast as I can until I’m safely in my room.

Jessica Egypt has blond hair and blue eyes. She hates being called a blonde. When she throws her attacks at me, I act smart to her, and at very last resort, I call her a blonde. If I call her a blonde too many times, she’ll become immune to it. What defense will I have against her then?

I heard a knock at my door. "Who is it?" I ask the knocker sweetly.

"Samuel J. Isaac," the knocker told me.

"Enter!" Samuel walked in and sat next to me on my bed. I tried make my heart stop beating as hard.

"Didja make it?" he asks me with an excited smile.I shrugged and sighed.

"I'm the lead understudy." Samuel smiled a genuine smile as he looked at me, making my stomach do fancy flips.

"Congratulations, Sammy," he hugged me. I hugged him back, ignoring my rapid heart beat. He pulled away, and I gave him a sad smile.

"The real lead is Jessica Egypt, Samuel."

Staring straight at me, he said, "When you say her name, I throw up a little bit."