“Oh hey there I think I found it. She my cherry cola. She gon’ keep me sober. Let me keep you closer. Bum me like a soda. Sweeter than the champagne. Swimming in this cold drink. Keep me from the chardonnay. I'm just sipping one thing. She my cherry cola…”
•••
I wake up and hop out of bed with a cheesy grin on this bright and beautiful California day and immediately start dancing to my alarm tone, “Cherry Cola”. Today’s the day, the big audition day. I am auditioning for the 2017 reboot of Stephen King's classic story, It. My characters name is Heather. She is a 14 year old girl (just like me) and has kind of like, greenish-blueish eyes (also just like me!). Wow I am perfect for this role! I walk over to my vanity where my phone is charging and notice that time is passing by quick so I have to hurry. Before I go to take a shower, I notice a bunch of texts and Snapchats from all of my close friends wishing me good luck. I smile, put my phone down, get out of my clothes and into the warm and steamy embrace of the shower.
7:50 a.m.
I get out of the shower and dry off. Then I walk over to my closet to pick the perfect outfit. When I put it on I glance at myself in my vanity mirror and smile.
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“Perfect.” Then I walk into the bathroom once again to do my hair and makeup. I give myself one final check and once again repeat, “Perfect,” before sliding on my boots.
8:30
I walk downstairs to find my mother and my brother already sitting at the dining table. My mother hears me coming down and when she sees me she smiles. “Aww y/n you look amazing, honey!”
“Thanks mom.” I sit alongside her at the table and start eating the cheddar bagel that was already prepared for me. By the time I was done eating it was already 9 o'clock, time to go! Just as if my mom was reading my mind she looked at me and said, “Oh, we are going to be late! Let’s go!” I get up, grab my bag and put in my phone, house key, some money, sunglasses, lotion, mascara, chapstick and lipstick, and my favorite pair of Beats earbuds then get in the car.
9:20
We arrive at the audition place at around 9:20 (only 10 minutes until the auditions start, eek!) I walk in and ask the lady at the reception desk which room the auditions will be held in. She politely tells me, “Floor 2, room 106.” I reply with, “Thank you!” and a dorky, anxious smile (ugh, god I’m so weird). Then I get on the elevator, and push the “floor 2” button. We (meaning me and mom) arrive on the second floor and immediately start looking around for room 106. The hall is ginormous, so my mom and I decided to split up, one of us goes left, one of us goes right. I take the right side and find the room in just a couple of minutes. The door is cracked slightly open so I call out to my mom and she rushes over to me. I walk in and to my surprise there are not that many people in the room. A couple of heads look my way, but mostly everyone just ignores me and just keeps on talking to either a parent, or someone next to them. I see one of my friends from school, Sophia Lillis. She’s a redhead and is the same age as me.
I walk over to the spot on the floor where she is sitting and say hi. “Hey,” she replies back with a grin, “I didn’t know you were trying out for a part in this movie too!” and with that statement she stands up and gives me a hug. I look down and notice a group of boys just looking up at me, possibly waiting to return back to their conversations with Sophia. I awkwardly ask, “Oh, I’m sorry, did I just interrupt?”
“Oh, no, not really,” Sophia replies, “I barely know these guys, I just started talking to them because they seemed cool.” Which then a small, brown haired boy replies, “Well, she’s not wrong. Hi, my name’s Jack Grazer.” and with that this “Jack” character extends his hand out towards me and I shake it. Sophia sits back on the floor, as do I. The rest of the group, who seem like they were already friends before they arrived here, all introduce them self. “So let’s see if I got ‘em all.” I say. Then I point to each boy and say their names. “Jack, Finn, Jaeden, Wyatt, Chosen, and Jeremy?” They all nod so I do as well. “Cool.” I say. There is a moment of silence and subtle conversations before Finn asks, “And you are…?”
“Oh,” I reply awkwardly, “My name is y/n y/l/n.”
“Nice to meet you y/n.” Finn replies. I look over at him and notice he is blushing the slightest bit. Our eyes meet and lock for a few seconds until I smile and tuck a fallen piece of hair back behind my ear. He blushes harder. Then we all hear a booming voice and we all jump a little. Two men, I’m assuming it’s the casting director and director, walks in and immediately starts calling in people. I know my name won’t be called for a while, since I signed up kind of last minute (last minute meaning only a week ago). So I take out my earbuds and plug them into my phone. I scroll through my playlist and find “Chamber of Reflection” by Mac Demarco. I didn’t even notice it at first but I was humming. Sophia tapped me so I took out one earbud. She says to me, “Whatcha listening to?”
“Oh, uh, ‘Chamber of Reflection’ by Mac…”
“...Demarco.” I hear a voice say. I look up from my phone to notice it was Finn. He scoots over to me and says, “You like Mac Demarco?”
“Yea.”
“Me too.” he says with a smile. There’s an awkward moment of just staring at each other until Jack scoots over to us as well. “Whatcha guys doin’?” he asks. “Nothing much,” I reply, “Just talking about some music.”
“Ooo, cool,” Jack says, “Can I join into the convo?”
“Oh, su-” I am cut off by the director's voice saying, “Jack Grazer, Finn Wolfhard. Sophia Lillis, and y/n y/l/n, we are ready for you.”
“What are the odds?” I whisper to the three of them. “Yea, what are the odds?” Jack says quietly as we all enter the room together.
We all receive the audition script just for a guide. I didn’t even need it because I already had it memorized. “And… ACTION!” the director, which I have now learned that his name is Andrés, or, Andy, for short, Muschietti, shouts. We begin the scene, it’s off to a great start. When we finish, the casting director, Rich Delia, pulls us aside and tells us we did great. We all smile and say thank you then walk out.
11:30
It’s about 11:30 and everyone in the room has gone. Me, Sophia, and my new group of friends are waiting patiently for Mr. Delia to finally call out who the parts go to. That’s when my dreams came true. “The role of Heather goes to y/n y/l/n!” My jaw must have dropped to the floor, I was so shocked. My friends congratulated me and to my surprise, they all got the parts they wanted, too! Once again, what are the odds?! It must be fate.
12:00
Everyone else, who didn't get any parts, leave the room looking sad. I give Sophia a hug. “I can't believe it!” she says, “Me neither!” I say, squealing with delight. Jack comes over to me and smiles. “Congratulations y/n!” he says. “Thanks Jack, you too.” there is a moment of silence until Jack breaks it with, “Hey, can, uh, may I, uh, give you a hug?”
“Sure,” I say with a chuckle. And just then Jack comes in for a hug, which I provide him with.
