A New Musical

4

I decided it would be a smart idea to keep my diner job until I have to go to Chicago. So most of the time I'm rushing between rehearsal and work, so I feel like I never catch a break. And usually, this plan works. Except my relief didn't come in today, and instead decided to quit. So Bruce had to wait till Abby could get in and cover the shift. We're already in the second week of rehearsals, and this is not the impression I want to make.

"I'm here!" I yell as I burst through the door. " I'm so sorry, my relief quite and I-"

Meg cuts me off quickly. "No worries, we have a lot to get done today though. If you could just set your stuff down and get over here, we have a new scene we want you two to try." Meg shoos me over to set my things down.

"Oh okay," I see Mason and he smiles at me, I give a sheepish smile back. "Hey"

"Hey" Mason says back.

This is the first time we've seen each other since we hung out. Mason and I really just spent the rest of the time talking about ourselves more. It was nice to see a different part of Mason Pierce that not many see. It helped create a real feeling to him, like he wasn't just the Oscar-winning actor that everyone makes him out to be.

We haven't been able to see one another because last Tuesday I got sick, Wednesday was just a one on one rehearsal day for Mason, then Thursday he had to leave for another movie premiere for a movie he guest starred in. Mason didn't get back till Sunday night so, here we are, finally getting to work on this new scene together.

The creatives must truly want him on board, cause I've heard of people who were dropped from a show for missing just one rehearsal. The team must be willing to put their all in Mason. It makes sense, his name is what will bring in the ticket sales and help pull an audience.

"Quickly just give it a read, and then we'll try running it. We want to let you too kinda stage it, to help it feel more natural. So just go with the flow." Rob says.

"Sounds good," Mason says, skimming through the script.

Meg quickly hands me one for this scene as well. "This will be the scene right before your end of act one song, Mason." Meg says cheerfully.

Everything looks pretty good, I think it's at the point where Tyler is forced to work with Eric at their old high school fair. They have to because Tyler's Mom is hosting a booth for her bakery and wants her family and staff there. Tyler's Mom made him help because she believed Tyler should do something useful, instead of moping about being sidelined. But from the audience's view, we all know what she is trying to do.

It seems like Tyler is getting annoyed with Eric, who is just as annoyed. Then in a moment of bickering. Tyler grabs Eric to ... to ... my eyes widen. Tyler kisses Eric in this scene. I guess now should be a good time to say that I've never had my first onstage kiss. I'm not a prune, of course I've had my first kiss. I've kissed guys before, I just haven't had to do it for a show yet. Let alone with Oscar winner Mason Pierce. I truly don't know how to react, because I had to know this was coming. I was fully aware that I'm the love interest, this is always bound to happen. I guess I just kinda put it in the back of my mind.

"What do you think?" Our playwright Sara says with eagerness.

"It's great!" I force myself to say, while looking at Mason who looks red in the face. I'm sure this is new for him, I bet he's never kissed a guy before.

"Oh, perfect!" Sara lets out "I've been trying to get this scene just right, and I think we finally got it."

"Great, let's try running it!" Rob says. He quickly gives us an idea of how the setup will be but reminds us to kinda just do what feels right. "It's moments like these that need to feel the most real and not staged."