Ben Willbond x Reader

a second chance

     i stepped out of the theatre where they held the audition, my heart in my throat. i clenched my eyelids and took a long, deep breath. the results won't be posted for another week, which means a whole seven days of of over-thinking and nervous palm-sweating. wow, sounds fun. i went to hail a cab. my legs felt like jello. what if i totally bombed? will they even consider my audition? after a few seconds of waiting with my arm out, one pulled up to where i was standing. i got in, told the driver where to go and sat back, the fear really setting in. to distract myself, i opened my phone. there was a new message from ben. "hi. how was the audition?" the keyboard opened, ready to send a message, i sat there. but the word just wouldn't come out. what am i supposed to say? good? bad? finally, i wrote, "not sure yet" and clicked send. he responded in seconds. "haha, i know the feeling. don't worry, i'm sure you did fine." that was reassuring. he would know, right? we came to a stop, and and sat there, confused for a few seconds before realising we were at my building. i paid the driver and got out.

     closing the door to my unit behind me, my phone buzzed with a notification. "hey, do you want to hang out again? maybe this weekend? i know last night was pretty chaotic so if you don't want to, i understand." i quickly responded, "of course i would.  i'd love to get to know you and the others more." i didn't want to sound too forward, yet still interested. i don't know, maybe that's dumb. maybe i'm dumb. whatever.

      the week went past in a blur. each day, my anticipation for the cast list grew, yet my hopefulness diminished. i was also exited to meet with my new-found friends again. i was deathly afraid of them finding out that i was a fraud, though. a 21-year-old washed-up loser who couldn't even make it into acting school. that's when i got a call. i picked up the phone and answered "hello?" a feminine voice said, "is this Y/N?" "speaking," i responded timidly. "this is julie from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. i am delighted to tell you that, upon reviewing your portfolio, we have decided that you would be a perfect fit for our school." my jaw dropped and my eyes widened. i had nearly forgotten that i had applied here as a backup. i managed to stutter out "w-wow. thank you so much!" we spoke for a few minutes more about tuition and available classes. when we hung up, i collapsed onto my bed. i started laughing like a maniac. did i seriously just get into one of the best acting schools, not just in london, but all of england, and maybe even europe?! all of my nervousness about the audition and meeting with my friends evaporated. suddenly, i felt on cloud 9. everything just fell into place. i went to message ben about that night, to double check. he replied "yeah, we're all good. by the way, matt is bringing his new girl friend."