Sweethearts [1] || tom holland

Chapter 2: Audition Tape

January 9, 2016
Mary-Ellen's House

I brushed my wet brown hair and free it from the tangles and knots it got from the shower.

Well, if I'm gonna be doing my audition tape today, I can't be doing it with greasy bed head.

My long-sleeved black ribbed jumper showed off my pale British skin but that's what I wanted. I didn't want to put the casting people under any false pretences. They would see the real Mary-Ellen so they knew what they were getting.

My black skinny jeans were tight around my thick thighs and stomach but the belly flab needed to be sucked it to make it look like I'd made some effort.

The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" I shouted to my mom.

I ran down the stairs and opened the door to reveal Grace, Charlotte, Paige and two of my other friends India and Maria.

"Hey, guys!" I smiled and moved to the side to let them in.

"Hey! Are you ready to become famous?" Maria laughed.

The girls had agreed to come to my house on the weekend to take my headshots and film the audition tape. I had emailed the casting director, Sarah Finn, to say I was interested in auditioning and I got sent a couple of scenes to act out in front of the camera.

"We can do the filming in the living room," I led the girls into the living room. I had a white sheet pinned up over the mirror and fireplace as a background.

Maria pulled out a tripod and camera and began to set it up. India placed her makeup case on the table and opened it to reveal her makeup haven.

"Ok, you sit down here and I'll get to work," India placed her hands on my shoulders and pushed me down into the sofa.

Paige got to work on my hair, blow drying it until it was no longer wet, as India got the makeup sorted.

"Ok, so, how we doing this?" Paige asked holding my hair.

"Maybe leave it natural," I suggested. "I don't want to overdo it."

"Yeah, that sounds good."

She started to brush my hair free on the tangles once more as India painted my face on for me. Don't get me wrong, I do use makeup but not to the scale that she does. I wouldn't know how to do all the contouring and smoky eye stuff. I can just about do my foundation and lipstick. That's as far as my makeup skills can stretch.

"Are these your lines, Ellen?" Grace asked, picking up the script I had been sent.

"Yeah. They said to just read the script and act it out on my own," I replied.

Grace and Charlotte were flicking through the pages and reading what I had to act. They were getting more and more excited as they read on.

"Oh my gosh, Ellen. You could be in a film with Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. This is incredible," Charlotte squealed.

"And Seb. Don't forget about Seb," Grace smirked.

"Wow, you are obsessed with him," I crossed my arms and gave her a look.

"I can't help it. Have you seen him? He's so beautiful it makes me wanna cry," she gushed. "If you ever meet him, you better FaceTime me so I can talk to him."

I laughed and saluted her. "Yes, Sergeant Major, sir."

My mom knocked on the living room door and opened it.

"Hello, girls," she smiled at my friends. "Do you want anything? Food? Drinks?"

The girls asked for some Ribena and I asked for a cup of tea. I am obsessed with Yorkshire Tea and I mean OBSESSED!

A few minutes later, India stepped back with a smile on her face. Paige did the same and moved a piece of hair away from my face before giving me the once over.

"Ok, you're all done." India said.

I looked in the mirror to see the natural makeup look she'd given me. The shimmering highlighter and pink lipstick brightened my face and caught the light perfectly. I smiled and thanked her before standing up and fixing myself.

Maria pointed to the spot in front of the white sheet. "Ok, boo. Stand there for me and I'll take the pic."

I moved in front of the sheet and moved my body to the right to catch my left side. I pulled my hair behind my ears to keep it off my face.

"Put your right hand on your right leg, Ellen," Maria asked, demonstrating on herself how the pose should look.

I placed my right hand on my leg and titled my chin up slightly, parting my lips to make my face relax.

Maria snapped a couple of pictures and readjusted the light before snapping a few more. She moved away from the camera and looked at the screen. Once she was happy with the shots, she showed me the camera and flicked through the photos.

"Wow, Maz, these are incredible," I said. "You made me look really good."

"Baby, you make yourself look good. I just take the pics." She said.

I picked out my favourite one and, with the input from the girls, we managed to narrow down the perfect picture. Next was the audition tape itself. I cleared my throat and fiddled with my hair to prepare myself for the scene. My heart started beating a little faster which made me feel nervous. I was nervous over a recording, how pathetic. Grace noticed my nerves and gave me some advice.

"Don't be nervous, you'll be fine," Grace reassured me. "We can redo it if you mess it up."

"Yeah, it takes as long as it takes. No worries," Maria said.

I nodded and took deep breaths. I signalled to Maria that I was ready to start and she counted me down from three on her fingers. When she got to one, I took one final breath and began the scene. My face scrunched up into a confused expression to set the tone for the see .

"I don't understand," I said with a confused tone. "Why would you not tell me something like this?"

From behind the camera, Charlotte was reading the other person's lines.

"I didn't want you to know. Please understand that," Charlotte read.

"But I don't!" I raised my voice slightly to reflect my anger. "That's the point. You're supposed to trust me and you didn't. That hurts. A lot."

"I did it to protect you."

"I don't need protecting! I'm perfectly capable of defending myself and I don't need anyone to fight my battles for me."

"You're overreacting now."

"No, I'm not." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm my tone down. "Look, I appreciate what you did. But in future, you have to be honest with me or this isn't going to work."

We read through the last few pages and Maria turned the camera off. She and the girls squealed in delight. I breathed a sigh of relief and joined in the fangirling.

"That was so good!" Grace said. "If they don't give you the part, you've been robbed."

"You reckon?" I asked, unsure if she was being nice or genuine.

"Yeah, definitely!" Charlotte and Maria said at the same time.

"Ok, ok," I grinned and pulled my hair behind my ears. "Let's do a few more takes and then pick the best one."

After two hours of redoing the tape over and over again, I finally managed to do a performance that I was proud of and wanted to send to Marvel. Maria edited it for me and we put together my profile to send. Once the tape was uploaded, I filled in my details.

This was it. The mouse hovered over the send button and I clicked it, gaining another excitable squeal from the girls.

My fate was sealed. No going back now.