Becoming Better

Chapter 26 - Showtime

It had been a couple days since Charlie's audition, and the casting list was going to be posted at the end of the day. Even though she had never auditioned before, she thought she did pretty well. After she finished her monologue, the small audience was quiet for a moment before they applauded. At first, she was afraid their silence meant they thought she was awkward and terrible, but then she got the sense it was because she did a good job.

By the time the final bell rang, Charlie had obsessed about it so much she couldn't stand it anymore. She ran all the way down the stairs of the East Wing, across the quad, and up to the top floor of the West Wing, where Mrs. Newman's classroom was. By the time she got there, she was out of breath and panting. Tons of students were already crowded around the door.

She waited her turn as people checked the posting. Some looked disappointed, a few were ecstatic. Finally, she made it to the door. She started at the bottom of the list and worked her way up. She didn't see her name until...

Tracy Lord – Charlie Jackson

Charlie gasped. She got the part. She had gotten the lead role of the play. She blinked a couple times to make sure she read it correctly. Several students around her gave her congratulatory hugs and squeezes on the arm. She felt slightly dazed, in a good way.

Charlie wasn't used to winning. That wasn't to say she felt like a loser, because she didn't. She just felt pretty average most of the time. She could be competitive sometimes, but so far, she hadn't actually found anything that inspired her to really go after it. She didn't have any special talents, like chess or playing an instrument. She was athletic, but she wasn't an athlete. She liked reading, but it wasn't like you could win trophies for that. But she remembered how she felt when she auditioned. It was like a switch flipped. She felt confident, excited, and just generally alive. Maybe she had finally found something she loved. She grabbed the rehearsal schedule and headed out.

Charlie took the advice Mr. Ross gave her to heart. He was right about her grades, they were actually still pretty decent. If she could finish the first semester of Senior year strong, then she could definitely have a competitive GPA for college applications. Finals were coming up, so she put everything except studying and rehearsal on the back burner. There was no better time for her to get focused. She hardly thought about boys at all, and she stayed away from parties on the weekends. She wasn't swearing them off for the rest of high school, she just knew it would be hard not to drink if she went.

Finals week was stressful, but she got through it. She knew she was prepared and she expected to get high marks. After they were over, she was relieved she could just focus on the play. She found that she liked rehearsal so much, she would stay and watch the other actors even if she wasn't in the scene. The long hours didn't bother her at all. During tech week, which was the week leading up to the first performance, everyone complained because they had to stay until nearly 10:00 PM. Charlie secretly loved it.

Opening night of The Philadelphia Story was packed. Charlie's friends were there, but so were a lot of other students. She glanced at the audience from behind the curtain with a couple other actors in the play. One was a Freshman named Joy, and the other was a Junior named Finn. Finn was actually playing the second love interest to Charlie's character, and he had been in theater since his Freshman year at Saint Peters. Joy was playing her little sister, and this was her first play, just like Charlie.

"Wow there are so many people," Joy whispered, looking at the crowd.

"Must be because it's opening night," Charlie said, peering out as well.

"I don't think so," Finn shook his head. "I've had several opening nights on several different productions at this school, and it's never been this crowded."

Charlie looked at him, confused. "Then what do you think it is?"

"I think they're here to see you," he answered.

"He's probably right!" Joy agreed. "Everyone has been talking about how good you are."

Charlie's stomach instantly knotted up. She didn't think anyone cared about the fact that she was in the play. No one had ever cared about the Theater department before. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Attending the school's winter and spring theater productions got you extra credit in English class. But that had never been a great motivator for anyone previously.

She bit her lip. "Wow. No pressure, right?"

"Break a leg!" Joy said to her, before grabbing Finn and heading backstage.

Charlie took a deep breath. She knew her lines. She knew her marks. In fact, she knew everyone's lines and marks at this point. She had watched the rehearsals so many times she could probably do the entire play by herself.

"You can do this. You're gonna be fine," she told herself. "Just like your audition."

The audience lights went down, and the stage lights went up. It was showtime.