Trauma

13 | Chemistry

"Everyone, have a seat," Mr. Davidson says as he enters back into the room. Everyone complies and listens intently to what he has to say. "You all did amazing in the auditions but, since we can only have one Danny Zuko and one Sandy Olsson, we would like to do a chemistry read on the actors that really caught our eyes, to see which one will be the best fit for this play. Of course, all of you will have a part as one of the other characters in the play so you don't have to worry about that."

They all sit in anticipation for Mr. Davidson to say who got the callbacks. "So, can I get Timothée Chalamet, Hailey Johnston, Megan Smith, -" Evelyn's heart sinks. All of them are so good at acting, she definitely didn't get the part, "- and Evelyn Thomas to come with me?" Her heart skips a beat as he says her name. She sits there in shock.

"C'mon Evelyn," Megan, a small brunette girl that she hasn't really talked to before, says, pulling Evelyn out of her seat and walking with her to Mr. Davidson.

"Follow me," he says, walking out the door and to a room across the hall. Inside and at a small rectangular table, there is the director, casting director, and an empty seat for Mr. Davidson, facing towards where the actors would be standing.

"You three Sandys have ten minutes to memorize a scene and will have to perform it with Timothée," the casting director told them, with a reassuring smile. "Oh, and congratulations Timothée, you have gotten the part for Danny," Timothée has a huge smile on his face and they all clap for him, Evelyn clapping too but not as loudly, "The purpose of this chemistry read is to decide on who is going to be casted as Sandy since you three are all amazing and we can't decide who to choose based on your first audition. We also want to see your acting skills compared to each other," she explains, and we nod, Evelyn feeling nervousness creep into her body. Timothée and her aren't even talking anymore. How are they going to make this work?

They split up in their own little corners and go over their lines. The scene is of Danny and Sandy's reunion where Danny's friends pressure him into acting cool. Evelyn sighs in relief as it's not a scene where they have to be in love the whole time. "Hey Evelyn," Megan says, walking up to her. "Wanna practice together?"

"Sure."

They practice and in doing so, they get along extremely well. It reminds Evelyn of the beginning of her and Lily's relationship. She hopes they will be friends after this and Megan feels the exact same way. Just as the casting director calls them back, they finish memorizing the scene. Now it just comes down to who delivers it the best. "Hailey Johnston, you will go first."

Megan and Evelyn sit down on the side of the room together, watching Timothée and Hailey perform. Although they are both good actors, there is something between them that is missing. Maybe the way Hailey can't look into Timothée's eyes but Evelyn relates to that feeling; Timothée's got some intimidating eyes.

Next is Megan. "Good luck," Evelyn says and watches as Megan walks up to Timothée. As they start the scene, Evelyn immediately notices how good they are together. They have amazing chemistry and they deliver their lines perfectly, just the right amount of emotion in them without seeming fake or too much. Evelyn's confidence starts to crumble, worrying that there's no chance of her getting the part.

"And finally, Evelyn Thomas!"

She takes her place close to Timothée on the stage, trying to pretend like he is someone else and that that someone else didn't lie to her like he did. Evelyn stumbles on stage just like the script had told her to. "Sandy?" Timothée says.

"Danny?"

"What are you doing here? I-I thought you were going back to Australia."

"We had a change of plans," Evelyn says with a big smile on her face.