Misfit Theater Company 2

6. Auditions (Part 1)

Thatcher, Moth, and I sit at the table, waiting for Patti to come back from buying her lunch so she can finally tell us what's going on.

"She's never like this," Thatcher says. His legs shake underneath the table. "It must be something really bad."

"Let's not waste on imaginations with worries," Moth says. "Whatever it is, she's going to tell us in, look she's coming back, so in, like, thirty seconds."

Patti approaches the table and slowly sets her tray down without looking up at any of us. The way she's hanging her head, you'd think she was about to tell us that she was dying. Oh my god, what if she's dying?

Moth was right, I can't let me imagination turn on me, so I finally say, "OK Patti, it's time to tell us. What's going on?"

She takes a deep breath and her eyes fill with tears. "Something happened after you all left my house last night."

"Oh no, your parents are getting a divorce?" I try to guess.

The sadness on her face quickly transforms to confusion. "No, why would you think that? No... I got a phone call. From someone in LA. From an agent."

"This sounds like you're about to tell us good news," Moth says.

Patti starts to cry. "It is good news," she says through tears. The juxtaposition of her words and her tears right now is sort of funny, especially now that I know she isn't dying or anything serious like that, but I hold in the reaction I want to have.

She catches her breath. "The agent wants to sign me."

"Patti," Thatcher says, reaching across the table to her, "this is awesome. What's the problem?"

"He wants me to go out to LA as soon as possible. My parents are talking about figuring out a way to," she pauses to take a few quick breaths between tears, "homeschool me. They said it's up to me. I can either stay here and only audition on breaks, or I can go into it 100% and really try to make it work."

Now I hear how this is bad. My imagination gets the best of me: What would it be like without Patti in my life? I don't want to think about it, so I decide to ask her what she's thinking about. "What are you leaning towards?"

She lets out a long wail before diving her face into her hands. The people on the other end of the table look over with concern.

"High school, am I right?" Moth addresses them, and they look away.

"Patti, whatever you choose, you're going to be OK," Thatcher tells her.

She lifts her head from her hands. "I know that, but when have you ever known me not to give 100% to something?" She wails again, and when she catches her breath again she says, "I have to go to Hollywood. I would never forgive myself if I didn't go all in on this opportunity."

I wrap my arm around her shoulders to comfort her. She's right, though. Patti would never be able to say no to trying her absolute best at living her dream. It seems like we've all come to the same realization. Thatcher continues to reach out to her, even though her hands are over her face again, and Moth stands up to come around to her other side. He kneels beside her and rubs her back.

"When will your last day be?" Moth asks.

Patti shrugs. "My parents need to set all of that up. I haven't even officially said yes to them, but they have to know that would be my answer." She takes another series of breaths, but this time it actually seems to calm her down a bit. "I can't believe I'm going to be missing the Ensemble experience."

"Not all of it, you'll still be here for auditions and for the party," I remind her.

"And you probably won't need to be in LA full time. You could probably come in and out?" Moth suggests.

"Plus, there's always next year," Thatcher says. He quickly corrects himself, "Unless you're already famous by then."

"You think I could still help out?" Patti asks, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"Ask Mrs. Permala. Maybe you can be her assistant or something," I say.

"Her assistant," Patti repeats, a little smile finally gracing her face. "Yeah, maybe."

Continued in the next part...