ghostin ; ariana grande

2

Walking into the auditorium running on two hours of sleep and barely any dinner was like walking into a clown house with funky mirrors. Almost everything seemed distorted and all faces looked warped. The only upside of it was that I didn't constantly feel like the walls would come crashing down at every wakening minute. Sleep deprivation is an insane feeling. I lack the ability to put it into words. But what I can say, is that I stayed up all night overthinking, and over-rehearsing. Vonnie Lancaster is a tough and stressful role to play.

I sit down on a folding chair and scroll through my friends' Snapchat stories. They all had interesting ways of spending their afterschool hours. I had to admire it, however. My after school hours were usually either boring or chaotic. Mainly somewhere in between. My thoughts were interrupted, yet again, by a loud, firm voice.

"Good evening, North Broward Preparatory School students, I'm Ms. Bodine!" the arts teacher says. "Now I would like for each of you to start off by forming a line in front of my table please." Abundances of thrilled teenagers came together to form a line, and I placed myself in the center of the line. As the line progressed, the tense air became even more tense. Once I got to the front of the line, I signed my name and the role I'd be auditioning for, and then sat down somewhere in the back.

With the same boring line runs between Ms. Bodine and the auditioners continuing repeatedly, I wanted to leave, get some fast food and watch my favorite TV shows. But I couldn't. I wanted this role more than anything right now. It was my top priority. In fact, it was the only thing that was keeping me from falling asleep here and now.

"Now that I've run my lines, I'm gonna move onto the singing portion of my audition." A bittersweet voice coming from the stage asserted. I shifted my attention to where the voice was coming from. It was her. It was the girl I saw in the hallway yesterday. To say she looked angelic would be and understatement. It was more than that.

She took a deep breath, before singing her heart out. A chill maneuvered down my back and through my toes. I was caught off guard. Her soprano vocals shook me. The way she transitioned from note to note, key to key, and pitch to pitch made me want to exit the auditorium. Not because it was awful, actually quite the opposite of that. I knew she wasn't beatable. There was no way anyone, including I, would top that.

"Great job sweetie! What was your name again?" Ms. Bodine asked. The girl smirked confidently.

"Ariana Grande-Butera." she said.

"Great!" Ms. Bodine announced. "You may take a seat backstage." And with that being said and done, Ariana walked backstage and behind the curtain, leaving the entire auditorium in awe, with no choice but to applaud.

Watching these next few auditions felt embarrassing. Nobody topped Ariana. She set the bar to an excessive level, leaving everyone in an attempt to get on half her level at the least.

"Cassie Dewitz, you're up!" Ms. Bodine announced, a hint of impatience in her voice. I could tell that she was already getting bored, and wanted to go home. But who could blame her? I'm sure we all felt that way.

I stepped up from my seat, grabbed my script, and made my way to the stage. I could feel so many eyes on me, which is a sensation I haven't felt in years, since my last musical. I wondered to myself how Ariana handled this feeling so well. Was she concealing her nervousness? Or rather was she just overall confident and not putting on an act?

I walked onto the stairs leading up to the stage, and stepped on the huge X that was made in tape, plastered onto the stage floor. I faced the crowd, and a rush of confidence came about me. Lord knows where it came from.

"Hello young lady!" Ms. Bodine greeted me from her desk, way down below. "What's your full name, and which role are you auditioning for?" She asked, tapping her pen on the wood of her desk.