The Cast List

Chapter 2

"And the cast list for Rory and Julia should be posted by Thursday," Derek finished, looking up at all of us. It was four on a Tuesday afternoon and there were about eighty students packed into the small theater (a.k.a. the gym) for announcements before TA class started.

I bit my lip in anxiety. I really wanted to be in Rory and Julia. More specifically, I wanted to play Julia. I'd done a lot of extremes for characters, like depressed/outcast, crazy, villain, along with characters that were mixed but mostly one thing, but I had never done someone as in love as Julia is. Nor had I ever even tried to portray someone as complex, layered, and almost bi-polar. It would be a real challenge. I just hoped I'd be given the chance to rise to it.

My best friend Lena saw my worried face and nudged me, whispering, "Dude, don't worry. You totally got it. I was watching through the window of the door when you auditioned--oh my god. I saw Larry start to smile...and that was at an audition. You know how harsh he is."

"Stalker," I teased back, grateful for the reassurance. Lena was probably the busiest yet most laidback person I had ever known. She was what's known as a "triple threat." She was a kick-ass actor, had a singing voice that would leave you sitting there in awe, unable to make a noise, and danced with such emotion that it was impossible not to cry while watching. Every single one of her performances (all of which she starred in) ended with the entire audience sitting open-mouthed for nearly a minute, then slowly break into glass-shattering applause. But that kind of talent doesn't come naturally. She worked her ass off. She was constantly going to rehearsals, classes, and lessons--so many that I didn't know how she had time to do the rigorous homework her elite school assigned, let alone help me with my endless drama. But she had a totally chill personality. She's the one you'd want in a crisis: she's so calm it's scary.

"All right, everybody go to class!" Derek called.

For the next few minutes, it was impossible to move or hear because of the mass of people making their way out of the world's tiniest doorway. Finally we managed to make it into our classroom, a small, cold room with wooden floors, big windows, and beanbags tossed all over the room. Everybody was super chill at TA, but also very focused and dedicated.

"I totally got it. I just know it. All I need now is the script." Hearing a honeyed, delusionally cocky, annoying voice, I turned to find Devin Lourdes bragging to her obnoxious crew of bitches who followed her around everywhere.

"Oh, def, Dev," said Talia, giggling at the joke she thought she'd made. "I mean, oh my god, like, who's your competish?"

"No one, duh," replied Devin. But I noticed that she cast her eyes toward me warily. Oh, yes. Bitch please. Even through that thicket of permed, dyed, highlighted head of hair, the knowledge that I was Devin Lourdes' biggest competition managed to sink in.

Devin and I have an interesting history. We were those kids who had known each other forever, had been best friends for a while, but then fell out over the usual: a boy. It was sixth grade. The boy was Spencer McAllister. He was the first guy to go through puberty, so of course all the girls liked him. He had a deep voice, toned abs, and tickets to see No Doubt in concert. Devin and I were the most popular girls in school, being outgoing, talkative, and charismatic. We both developed a crush on Spencer, and the news spread quickly throughout the school. We both asked him to go out with us, and to the both of us he replied, "I'll think about it." It also became widely known very quickly that Spencer only had one extra ticket to the concert and that he planned to give it to one of us. Thus, Devin and I fought fiercely for his affection. She played up her enormous boobs (especially for a sixth grader) and wore some slutty outfits. She batted her eyelashes, blushed and giggled adorably when she saw him, and left little boxes of chocolate covered in fluffy pink ribbons and an intoxicating perfume in his locker. I smiled whenever I saw him, let him beat me a few times in the daily soccer games at recess, hummed No Doubt songs when I passed him in the hallways, and played as hard-to-get as possible. I'll admit that even as a twelve-year-old, I was a complete tease, though it was never much of a sexual thing.

Anyway, Spencer ended up asking me. Turns out he was a pervy, boring idiot. But it couldn't change the fact that I had won and Dev had lost. So ended Devin's and my lifelong friendship. And so began six years of torture. Devin did all she could to ensure I got no guy I had my eye on, or really anything that I wanted. I didn't miss her friendship much: I watched her with her friends these days and saw a bitchy airhead. Why would I want that for a friend?

As the class settled into order, I scanned the room, looking for possible Rorys (assuming I was cast as Julia). Our class was made up entirely of seniors, and the main roles went to them, so there was no chance it'd be anyone else. Not Charlie D'Auly; he had no romantic lead male qualities. He would fail epically. Though it would be comedic. Harry Loxton? No, he was hideous. They had to cast someone attractive. Sean Rushvart, absolutely not. He was more of a stage manager than an actor. He always froze up on stage. But he was very valuable to TA because of his epic stage managing abilities. And his knowledge of everything in the world. He was like an encyclopedia. Victor Hastings was overtly gay. He wouldn't be able to fool anyone into seeing the brute masculinity that playing Rory required.

"Okay, guys," said our teacher, Clay. "Today we're going to talk about what being onstage--or just being part of a production--means to each of us."

Everyone groaned. "Provoking" and "thoughtful" discussions with Clay always took forever because he liked to drag out every single point and idea. 

"Who wants to start?"

"Um..." Brooke Loriette raised a hand tentatively. Clay motioned for her to speak. "Well, acting, to me, is about getting on stage after a particularly shitty day and being like, 'I'm just gonna suck it up and do this.' And also, like, having the energy to be present and engaging on, like, two hours sleep. You just gotta have a 'Hell yeah!' attitude."

"Yeah, I agree," said Tony Alvarez. "It's all in the approach. If you have had a really horrible day, you just gotta shake it off and slip into the emotion of your character. If possible, use some of your bad mood to find the intensity of your character's emotions."

"Absolutely," agreed Clay. "But, Brooke, it seems that you are trying to view this in a technical way. Acting is about technique, totally, but there's also a certain amount of emotion involved."

"Dude, it's all emotion," Lena countered. "Make everything, even the tiniest things, huge. And to do that, you have to have a helluva lot of emotion. There is some technique involved, of course, but you can't act without emotion."

"Uh-huh, yeah, I see your point."

Lavon Bruce broke in, "Well, I think my favorite part of acting is doing plays that have been done several times--"

"As opposed to a, like, new play?" Tess Rydell sniggered, glancing at Devin for acknowledgement. She smiled half-heartedly in response.

"No, Tess, as opposed to a movie or TV show, something that'll only be done once. In a movie, you have to let yourself be completely submerged by the character. You have to hide your own emotions and feelings as much as possible and focus just on the character. But with plays, since they've been done so many times, you can put your own little spin on the character. Make it unique. Make it your own. You know?"

"No. God, you're such an idiot," Tess giggled.

"What if you look at acting as, like, a window into a soul? I know that sounds lame, but building on what Lavon said, you can sort of see the person as they really are when they're performing. 'Cause it's just all out there. You can't hide anything onstage." The speaker was Nico Lulay, a guy who'd been here for a few years now, but whom I'd never personally spoken to. He was very attractive with his perfectly tanned skin, piercing green eyes, and stereotypically ideal surfer hair. He was also tall. And seemingly intelligent. Maybe he'd make a good Rory. Certainly the Rory to my Julia because this guy was hot. His eyes roved around the room, looking for a reaction to his statement, and finally alighted on mine. I held contact for a full ten seconds, then smiled shyly and turned away. But as I directed my eyes toward Clay, I caught Devin staring at Nico, too. No, god, no! This would not be a repeat of sixth grade! I refused to let it.