Perhaps (Book 1) | ✔

ACT I - Scene 7

Accent Academy — the Auditorium

I arrived almost an hour early for the first rehearsal, sitting myself backstage near the dressing rooms, where we had been told to meet. Pulling out my script, I continued to review more of Gloria's lines in the first few scenes despite having already memorized them. I munched on the small dish of nuts Mom had packed in my lunch this morning—they were new, and were supposed to be "really good for you", but they tasted unbearably plain. I would have rather had my fruit bowl.

The other students began to arrive closer to the meeting time. Layla walked in with Sean and the brown-haired boy from Monday: all three had their scripts out, and were going over some of the lines together. It seemed that the brunette was playing the role of 'Lucas'—a rich businessman who moonlighted as a sadistic serial killer—judging from the lines he was reciting to them. I started when I recognized a sandy-blonde-haired boy walking towards the group of gathering performers. He noticed me and I raised my hand in a wave as he sat down beside me.

"Sam! I didn't know you had tried out for this!"

Sam was a sophomore and a dance major, like me. He and I shared many of our dance classes together: last semester, he had been in my hip-hop dance class; and, this semester, he was in both my modern dance class and my Introduction to Choreography class.

"Yeah, it was sort of an impulsive decision," he smiled at me as he pulled out his script book. "I got the part of 'Ellison', the money-crazed reporter. Think I can pull him off?" I pondered for a moment: Sam was known for his eccentrics (among being super talented when it came to dance), and, based off of what I knew about 'Ellison', I thought Sam could tie in his joker personality into the crazy journalist really well.

The producers eventually arrived, and my eyes watched Professor Lee as he walked in. He was talking with another student, presumably over the performance, as the latter had his script book out and was pointing to it. I wasn't trying to pay attention to what they were saying; I just wanted to look at Professor Lee for a few moments.

Yep. Still being an idiot, Gloria.

"So, you're my leading lady." A voice interrupted my staring, and I looked up to see Sean sitting down on the other side of me. He held out his hand. "Sean. I'm playing 'Daniel'." I smiled politely and took it.

"Gloria. I'm playing 'Gloria'."

"Nice to meet you, Gloria, who is playing the role of 'Gloria'." I let out a laugh: it sounded really silly the way he had said that. "It will be a pleasure performing with you. I'm really looking forward to it. Is this your first time performing in an Accent Academy production?"

"It's my first time in a leading role. I usually only get supporting roles or a back-up role." He nodded. "But, I'm really looking forward to working with you as well. Along with everyone else." Sean and Layla were two of the best in the theatre program; and they both seemed incredibly nice. I was sure that I would learn many things from working with them and watching them on stage.

"Hi there!" I looked up as the brown-haired boy sat down on the other side of Sean. His eyes were focused on me, and he held out his hand to shake mine. "I'm Riley. I'm playing 'Lucas', and, apparently, I own you. Like a pet, or something." I laughed and reached out to shake his hand.

"I think it's a bit more complex than 'a pet', Riley," Sean laughed.

"It's nice to meet you, Riley."

I chatted idly with Sean, Riley, and Sam after the three introduced themselves to one another until Professor Baron arrived and officially started the rehearsal.

"It seems like everyone is here, so why don't we get started?" All at once, we fell silent. "While I'm sure that most of you have already exchanged greetings—and most of you likely already know each other—for the sake of formality, why don't we do some brief introductions. Sean? Would you care to start?" He motioned to the blonde beside me, who nodded and stood.

"My name is Sean," he addressed everyone, raising his hand in a wave. "I'm a junior here majoring in theatre, and I will be playing the role of 'Daniel' in this production: a righteous doctor who commits the ultimate sin in an attempt to save the woman he loves." He gestured dramatically towards me, and I felt my face flush. As he sat down, Professor Baron nodded towards me, and I stood. My eyes briefly flicked towards Professor Lee, who was staring at me.

"My name is Gloria," I said. "I'm a sophomore here, and I'm double majoring in both theatre and dance. This is my first time landing a lead role, and I will be playing the role of 'Gloria': a charming girl who falls in love with 'Daniel', and seeks to run away with him to escape from a dark deal she has made with 'Lucas'." I gestured to Sean and Riley in turn; the latter assumed a pained expression at my mention of wanting to get away from him. As I sat down, he gave me a smile and a wink as he stood and introduced himself.

The introductions concluded with the student who had entered with Professor Lee: his name was Luke, and he was playing the role of 'Alexander', the pessimistic lead detective trying to solve and stop the murders of young and beautiful women. Professor Baron insisted that Professor Lee provide a small introduction for himself, as he was new to the university and some may not know who he was. I listened as attentively to his introduction as I had that first day in his class. Though he only listed a few Broadway and West End productions he had starred in, I knew that there were many more. (Yes, I had shamelessly Googled him after that first day...)

Professor Baron assigned us all individual dressing rooms, and I could barely contain my excitement. My very own dressing room! It was like I was a real actress! The rest of the rehearsal was spent going over the first few scenes and doing some script reading. Like me, most of the other students had memorized their earlier lines; some put extra emotion into their line-reading, and Sean even sang a couple of his!

When rehearsal ended, I said goodbye to Layla, Sean, Riley, and Sam before starting my walk home. As I was leaving the building, I caught sight of Professor Lee coming out of the auditorium. His eyes looked up at me, and I felt myself raise my hand and wave to him before stepping outside.

I couldn't wait for the next rehearsal tomorrow!