~Jolivia~ <3

Chapter 1

~Olivia POV~

"Shit! No no no no no! Today of all days?!"
Today, I have one of the biggest auditions of my life. It's currently 8:30 am and I have to be at the audition in a half hour! Not to mention that the place is 20 minutes away. Why did I have to sleep through my alarm?!

I jump out of bed, get dressed, brush my hair and teeth, and run down the stairs. I get a glimpse of my bare face and messy hair on the way out.

"So much for a first impression" I say with a frown. How could I have been so stupid? This dumb mistake could potentially mess everything up! My thoughts are interrupted when my mom honks the car horn. I grab my bag and sprint out the door. The whole ride to the auditions, my mind is racing. I'm terrified. Sure I've had big auditions in the past, but this was different. I've never wanted anything more than this role.

We arrive at the auditions five minutes before they start. I quickly sign in and go sit in a room filled with all of the potential "Ninis". Everyone in here has a full face of makeup, nice clothes, and their hair done beautifully. Why am I even here? There is no way that they'll choose me over all of these girls. I start to panic when I feel my phone buzz.

Text from Ethan<3
Hey beautiful:) good luck at your audition. You're going to blow them away! I love you❤️

I was about to reply when I heard the most frightening thing: "Allie Renner, please enter. Olivia Rodrigo, you're on deck."
Oh no! I'm next! Breath Olivia. You got this.

~Joshua's POV~

This is day three of the chemistry reads. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to get to be playing Ricky. It's just, when I was told that I would be present at the Nini auditions, I didn't expect it to be this draining. I've read the same scene with about 50 different girls over the past three days. It's getting very tiring. There are so many talented girls auditioning, but I haven't really connected with any of them.

I think Tim could tell that these auditions were starting to get to me because he came over to me and said,
"Hey Josh. I know this is extremely stressful and it sometimes feels like they're never going to end, but you are doing an incredible job. We have two more people for you to read with, then we'll take a long lunch break and relax a bit! Sound good?" This immediately made me feel better.
"Thanks Tim. That sounds amazing," I replied. Only two more. I can do this.
A girl named Allie comes in to read next. She was very prepared and is quite talented, but we didn't connect. She was in her own little world.
"Thanks a lot Allie! You're very talented! We'll let you know," Tim said, after she was finished. Okay. Only one more read through, then I can take a very much needed break.

~Olivia POV~

I was walking into the audition room with sweaty hands and a rapid heart beat. Here goes nothing.
"Hi! My name is Olivia Rodrigo and I'm 15 years old," I announced as I gave Tim Federle, the creator of the show, my headshot and resume.
"Hello Olivia! Very nice to meet you. Let me introduce you to Joshua Bassett over here. He will be playing Ricky, Nini's love interest," Tim replied. I looked over and was immediately met with a warm, welcoming smile.
"Hey Olivia! I'm Joshua," he says with a very endearing hug.
"Hi! Nice to meet you!" I reply.
"Okay. Go ahead whenever you're ready." Tim says to me.

Joshua smiles at me once more and my nerves just disappear. We recite our lines and everything was going perfectly.

"That was amazing!" Tim complimented, after we were finished. "Josh, I know we told you that you wouldn't have to sing today, but I really want to see more of you two together. I'll give you guys a few minutes to prepare something."

Oh no. I have to sing?! What if they don't think I'm good enough? What if I mess everything up?"

~Joshua's POV~

Wow. She is incredible. As soon as she walked into the room, it just brightened up. She wasn't like the other girls I had previously auditioned with. She wasn't wearing anything fancy and she wasn't wearing any makeup. All she had was her natural beauty and raw talent and let me tell you, she had plenty of that. I felt an instant connection with her. This audition is definitely the best one yet. Tim seems to think so as well because he asked us to sing together. I really want this to work out with Olivia, so I run out into the waiting room and borrow a guitar from one of the girls auditioning. Olivia and I then went into a small room to practice.

"Do you know the song Count On Me?" I asked
"Kind of." She replies.
"I'll start to play and you can join when you're ready." I say with a smile.
"Okay"
I begin to sing the first verse. She continued on with the second one. Her voice was angelic. Who knew so much talent could fit inside such a small person.
We continued on with the chorus and she harmonized beautifully.
"That was awesome! Tim's going to love it!"
"Thanks," she replied. I can tell she's nervous.
"Hey, there's no need to be shy or nervous. You have a beautiful voice and you're an amazing actor. That was, no doubt, the best audition so far. You've already wowed Tim. This is just the icing on the cake. You're going to do great and I'll be right beside you the whole time."

~Olivia's POV~

How did he know exactly what to say to make me feel better? I calm down instantly and reply with a simple
"Thank you so much."
"Anytime," he says with that same warm smile.

We walk back into the audition room and perform our little cover for Tim. After we sang the last note, he immediately stands up and gives us a round of applause. Joshua went straight in for a hug and whispered in my ear
"See. I told you he'd love it. You're incredible."
I just smile and feel me cheeks heat up. He's so sweet.
"Olivia, you are insanely talented! We will let you know about your future with this production ASAP" Tim says.
I replied with a thank you and left feeling ecstatic. That went so much better than expected.

On the way home, I tell my mom everything.
"That's great sweetie! I'm glad it went so well!"
"Me too" I said back.
I started to zone out when my phone buzzed

Instagram: @joshuatbassett started following you

I smiled at the notification and followed him back. I then remembered that I never responded to Ethan's text earlier.

Liv<3
Hey. Just left auditions. They went really well and I'm really confident. Thanks for believing in me❤️

Ethan<3
Of course. Glad they went well❤️

I smiled at the text I received. I'm so lucky to have all this support from people. I really hope I get this role.

~a/n
Hey! This is my first time writing something like this, so I'm sorry if it sucks! Feel free to leave constructive criticism in the comments! I'd really appreciate it! I'm hoping to update this story as much as possible. I'm in quarantine and have nothing else to do anyway, so why not?! I hope you enjoy this and thank you for reading <3