✺ 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 ✺- Josh Kiszka

Part 17

Josh's Point of View

Wednesday afternoon, about one day prior-

I was about five minutes late when I walked into fourth-period theater. I sat in one of the red auditorium chairs next to Mrs. Hammond.

The rest of the students in the theater department were either sitting on stage or in the wings of the stage, rehearsing with one another for auditions that were being held after class.

"So, have you thought about who you would cast?" Mrs. Hammond asked me after sitting down for only a few seconds. She knew I had a passion for directing, and always tried to give me new experiences other than just acting.

"Well, I'm assuming my opinion won't sway yours," I remarked.

"It may or may not." She replied. "But I still want to hear it."

I laughed and leaned further into the itchy seat.

"Carly has a good vocal range, but her stage presence is sub-par," I replied, nodding my head to the blonde sophomore girl sitting cross-legged at the back of the stage. "I can't quite say where I'd cast her, but lead probably isn't suited for her yet. Same with Zach and Anna, great voices, but their acting needs a little work." I added.

"So, who would you cast as leads?" She asked.

I already pretty much knew the answer to that.

"Well, for the male lead, Justin. I've seen him practice, and he has the best ambiance to his acting. His motions are fluid, and his tone and delivery are on point."

"Female lead?" She asked, jotting something down on a notepad.

"Claire. Her vocal range is probably the best out of anyone, and her acting skills have improved a lot since last year's fall play."

'She's the junior, over there in the back?" She pointed to the girl with long curly brown hair, flipping over script papers and talking with another student.

"Mhm," I replied.

Mrs. Hammond and I talked about each of the students for the rest of the period. When the bell rang for most students to leave, Mrs. Hammond instructed each student to go backstage and wait for their name to be called to give their audition.

"Josh, you go back there too in case one of them decides to waste my time by not paying attention."

I got up from the chair and grabbed my things, walking over to the steps on the right side of the stage and into the right wing, leading to the other students.

Groups of them stood in little congregated circles as I made my way through them, and over to a few chairs where I sat and put my stuff down, I reached down for my water bottle, and when I sat back up, Claire was standing in front of me. She looked highly anxious and sat down in the chair next to me.

I've known Claire since last year. We were always helping each other memorize lines and stuff like that most of the time.

"What's up?" I asked, sipping my water.

"I don't think I can do this." She said, flipping through a few pages.

"What, Audition? Why not?" I asked, confused by her sudden switch up.

"I can't even practice lines in front of my family without fucking up. I'm going to embarrass myself and land ensemble for the third year in a row." She said, rubbing her palm against her cheek.

Just then, Mrs. Hammond called the first person to the stage to give their audition. Claire began to look even more anxious and started bouncing her leg.