I Never Planned On You

6- Hercules

"Get in here, girl!" Stephanie yells at me from her dressing room, as I'm walking past.

"Hey, Steph!" I walk in, sitting on her couch. I love her dressing room. It's so homey, yet chic.

"Are you excited to take over as Katherine?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm super excited! I can't believe it's all happening so quickly. I mean, it feels like just yesterday that I auditioned for this, and now I'm a week away from debuting! It's a little bit insane." I admit.

"Ugh, I know how that feels! It seems like we just opened this show, and now I'm about to leave it." She said, a sad smile on her face.

"Aw, Stephanie, don't be sad!" I said, going in for a hug.

"I'm not sad. I mean, I am, but I'm more happy for you. I'm happy that you will get to experience all of the amazing things I've had the opportunity to experience." She said, pulling out of the hug to offer me a smile.

"Okay, well, have fun getting ready. I should probably head to my seat now." I started to walk away, "Love you!" I said as I walked out.

"Love you too!" Stephanie called after me.

I start walking towards the door that leads to the audience, when I hear my name, "Andrea!" I turned around and saw Ben with something in his hands.

"Hey!" I said, walking towards him, "Whatcha got there?" I asked, suspiciously.

"It's a present for you." he wiggled his eyebrows. Okay, now I'm really curious as to what this is. "Since this show is Disney, we can all get some pretty cool merch. So, I made a few calls and got this for you!" He said, handing me a vintage Hercules sweatshirt.

"I was gonna give it to you for your birthday, but then I realized that I don't know when your birthday is." He smiled nervously.

"Dude, you didn't have to do this!" I said, hugging him. This is the best gift I've gotten in a while. Seriously, my love for Hercules is insane. Favorite. Movie. Ever.

"Eh, it was no problem. Disney told us once that if there was any merchandise we ever wanted, just to call and they would send it over."

"Okay, I will definitely be taking advantage of that." I laughed.
"Oh, and for future reference, my birthday is December 23rd."

"Mine is the December 11th! We're almost birthday twins! High five!" He said, high fiving me.

"Woah, we're practically the same person!" I laughed. "Except, our names are different. That's basically all we don't have in common."

We stood there talking for a little while about random stuff until, "Ben! You have been out there for fifteen minutes! You have to get ready for the show!" Nick yelled from the guys' dressing room.

"Shit, I forgot about the show." He panicked. "Are you coming to the opening party after?"

"Yeah, I'm planning on it." I smiled.

"Okay, cool! I really have to go or else I'm not gonna be ready for the show. So, bye, Andie!" He said, running off.

I walked back towards the audience doors to find my seat. I've been watching the show a lot recently to come up with things I can do differently as Katherine.

Rehearsals have been going really good, and now I'm seven short days away from going on as Katherine!
This is such a dream come true, and I can't believe it's happening with all of these people that I have grown so close to these past few weeks.
I have to admit, though, I do miss my family and friends back at home, especially Evan. Even though I have called and/or facetimed him everyday, it's just not the same as actually being there with him.

My thoughts pause as the overture begins and I let the show consume me.