A Little High School Drama - 5/7

In order to keep posts short, I am splitting up the short story I wrote for my Fiction Portfolio into sections. It is coming to you now - serialised. How very 1800's! It isn't the greatest solution because it will get posted backwards and to read as a whole will involve some scrolling. But the seven sections will get released slowly, so most will be able to read it as it comes. The story is quite conducive to this as it was written with breaks, which I'm using to divide up the sections. Enjoy!

“If I get in I’m dropping accounting,” Julia whispered to Brianne. The two sat on the gymnasium floor waiting to be called forward for their individual auditions. Julia felt much more comfortable at the audition than she had expected. She had been almost shaking with fear all morning but as they entered the gym she could tell that everyone was nervous. Julia handed in her application, a package which included her resume, school transcript, an essay about theatre, and her preferences for the backstage positions. Because the Drama teacher had extra help, the audition was set up in a rotating fashion. After a brief explanation about the Senior Drama Class format, the play, and the style of the audition, the teacher split the students into three groups of about 15 each. Each group visited the three audition areas.

Julia and Brianne were in the same group, which moved through the two student teachers first. One student ran through some basic readings of the play and took notes. Brianne had borrowed a copy of the script ahead of time, so Julia had been able to practice with her. The next student organized some inprov games which made Julia very nervous. However, she found that the other students around her were very eager to play and be creative. Soon she was having fun and found the she was quite good at thinking on her feet. She couldn’t get over what a supportive environment it was and spent lots of time laughing at what others came up with.

The final part of the audition was with the Senior Drama Class teacher. Each student had to present a memorized monologue. Julia and Brianne sat with their group, as everyone was called up one by one. Julia looked over her shoulder at another group doing the improv games on the far side of the gym. She felt a pang of jealousy, wishing she could join them again. A little surprised with her new found creative side, Julia whispered to Brianne again, “Physics too, but my dad was more upset about the accounting.”

“But accounting is the fun math,” Brianne whispered back. “I was even almost thinking about taking it. In all the other math courses it is always my favourite unit. Just remembering simple rules and stuff and the math is all just adding and subtracting. Is there another period you can take it in? And, Physics? Gross! I can’t believe you were evening thinking about taking that. Oh, Juls, you’re up.”