Dear Ocean Sky

Chapter 6.3 | Alex

Alex took a deep breath and opened the door to the classroom where she would be doing her monologue. She saw Mr. Benj and Mr. Faist behind a table, facing each other, and talking. Mr. Faist turned around when he saw Alex. He looked a bit startled and red in the face.

"Oh Alex, I didn't hear you knock."

"Sorry Mr. Faist, I wasn't paying very much attention," Alex apologized.

"That's alright. Now go up there and show us what you can do." he paused and did a weird thing with his eyebrows. "I have to say we were quite impressed with your singing Alex." Alex turned beamed at the compliment.

"Fabian, we are not supposed to discuss how students did in their audition with them." Mr. Benj said to Mr. Fasit with a stern expression displayed on his face. Mr. Faist just gave him a sarcastic smile back, and Mr. Benj had to fight the fact that his face was melting into a smile. Alex couldn't help but laugh at the way the two interacted.

"Ok Alex, get up there and do your monologue, then we'll bring in your cold read partner," said Mr. Benj, smile now wide on his lips.

Alex got up on the makeshift stage at the back of the classroom. She took one deep breath to calm her jitters, and then went on to slate.

"Hello, my name is Alex Cairney, I am in eighth grade and I will be doing a monologue from 'Scared at my Destiny.'"

She took another deep breath and closed her eyes to compose herself. She quickly ran over her notes from both her mom and Carson, committing them to memory. She then began speaking, letting herself become her character. By the time she finished, she had both teachers smiling yet again.

"Alright, Alex, why don't you bring in your partner?" Alex nodded then went to the door to get Carson.

"So?" he said. "How'd you do?"

"Well, I think," Alex answered truthfully.

"Well?" said Carson, arching an eyebrow. Alex shrugged. "I bet you did great," he said, giving Alex a playful shove. Alex rolled her eyes and dragged Carson into the room. He gave her the script and the two made their way to the stage.

"Alright Alex and Carson," Mr. Benj mumbled as he marked their names down on a sheet of paper in front of him. "What pages do you have?"

"13 and 14," Carson answered. Mr. Benj marked something else down on his paper.

"Ok whenever you're ready."

Carson and Alex walked off to stage right, just as they had planned. He put his hand on Alex's back as they started walking towards center stage.

"But seriously you have an amazing voice, you're a singer right?" Carson started off. Alex turned to face him and dropped her script as she did so. She watched the paper slide across the floor. "Crap," she mumbled, but the script was out of her reach. She could go and grab it, but that would involve stopping the scene, and the pause Alex had taken wasn't too long yet. She didn't want it to make it any longer. The show must go on.

"Just church choir is all, I tried a solo and nearly fainted." Both the teachers and Carson looked surprised at how Alex had picked up her line. The looks on their faces gave her some courage. She knew this movie by heart, so she knew how this conversation went. She could make do without a script.

"Really?" Carson continued, recovering his expression, script still in hand. "Why's that?"

"Well, I took one look at all the people staring at me, and then next thing I knew I was staring at the ceiling. End of solo career." Alex got some laughs from the teachers for that line as she incorporated the gestures she and Carson had practiced. She felt her confidence building. Though she was never bold in social settings, she felt right at home on stage. "You sounded like you've done a lot of singing too."