hoped my blushes would set my sheets on fire, ending my misery in one magnificent blaze.
Chapter 11
Parts ~ scripts ~ rhymes ~ songs ~ an igsome Moth ~ an Artistic Rivalry ~ a direly misleading Scene involving a Sofa.
A fter the previous day’s disaster, I walked the long way around to my first-period social studies class to avoid the bulletin board. I had no wish to see the cast list posted without my name. True, I had half hoped to tank at the audition; but half hoping to tank is one thing, actually tanking quite another.
In the end, my careful detour came to nothing. Ashleigh and Yolanda appeared at my lunch table waving a piece of paper.
“Good afternoon, Headmistress Lytle,” cried the Enthusiast.
I frowned impatiently. I was in no mood for Ashleigh’s play-acting. “What are you talking about?” I said.
“Look!” said Yolanda. She put the page down in front of me, just missing a pool of spilled mustard. “It’s your part—you got a ‘little’ part—Headmistress Lytle—see? And there’s me, I’m Tanya, president of the student body—I hope I get lots of lines—and Ashleigh’s Hermia, and that’s it from Byz High. We figured it was okay to take the poster down, since nobody else from here tried out. But Erin got a part too—she’s Helen. And Emma Caballero, that freshman from Sacred Heart, she’s Chloe.”
“Is this not good news?” said Ashleigh. “Grandison Parr plays Owen, captain of the debate team, and your beloved Ned is the musical director, so you will have frequent opportunities to converse with him during rehearsals.”
“Oh, are you going out with that guy Ned?” said Yolanda. “Crisp! You never told me that. He seems like a really nice guy. I kind of liked that tall guy with the nice voice—he was cute. I wonder if he got a part. He had to, he had the best voice there. Which one do you think he is? Kevin Rodriguez? Ravi Rajan? Ask your boyfriend, okay? Oh, but don’t tell Adam!” Adam White, a junior, was sometimes the man in Yolanda’s life.
“Ned’s not my boyfriend,” I protested. “I only met him twice.”
“Yes, but you called him a Darcy, remember? Pay her no mind, Yolanda, she is too modest to admit her true feelings,” said Ashleigh.
“Whatever,” I said testily. The alternating waves of anticipation and terror, disappointment and relief, which had been sweeping over me for the past few weeks, had taken their toll on my usually even temper.
But how had I gotten a part, after such a spectacularly bad performance at the audition? Ash and Yolanda insisted that I had sung sweetly and spoken well, though softly at the end. But I knew they were just trying to make me feel better. No, the only possible explanation was lucky (or unlucky) chance. Five girls had auditioned—five had been cast. If a sixth had shown up at the tryouts, she would surely have won the part of Headmistress Lytle.
Nicole Rossi, Ashleigh’s mother, picked up our scripts for us at Forefield that evening on her way home from work.
While Midwinter Insomnia may not be the very silliest play I’ve ever read, it’s up there. It takes place in a boarding school rather like Forefield, but coed. The scene opens with romantic mixups among the fifth formers, or juniors: Xander (played by Ravi Rajan) is going out with Hermia (Ashleigh); Daniel (Chris Stevens, apparently typecast) is trying to steal her away; and Helen (Erin) has a hopeless crush on Daniel. Meanwhile, Owen, the captain of the debate team (Parr), and Tanya, the president of the student body (Yolanda), are having a lovers’ quarrel over a third former (that is, a freshman), formerly a member of the debate club, whom Tanya has enticed to serve on the student council, which meets at the same time, therefore forcing him to quit debate. To punish her, Owen convinces his younger brother, Rob (Alcott Fish), a science geek, to sneak into the chem lab and create a love potion that he can give Tanya, causing her to fall for the
Chapter 11
Parts ~ scripts ~ rhymes ~ songs ~ an igsome Moth ~ an Artistic Rivalry ~ a direly misleading Scene involving a Sofa.
A fter the previous day’s disaster, I walked the long way around to my first-period social studies class to avoid the bulletin board. I had no wish to see the cast list posted without my name. True, I had half hoped to tank at the audition; but half hoping to tank is one thing, actually tanking quite another.
In the end, my careful detour came to nothing. Ashleigh and Yolanda appeared at my lunch table waving a piece of paper.
“Good afternoon, Headmistress Lytle,” cried the Enthusiast.
I frowned impatiently. I was in no mood for Ashleigh’s play-acting. “What are you talking about?” I said.
“Look!” said Yolanda. She put the page down in front of me, just missing a pool of spilled mustard. “It’s your part—you got a ‘little’ part—Headmistress Lytle—see? And there’s me, I’m Tanya, president of the student body—I hope I get lots of lines—and Ashleigh’s Hermia, and that’s it from Byz High. We figured it was okay to take the poster down, since nobody else from here tried out. But Erin got a part too—she’s Helen. And Emma Caballero, that freshman from Sacred Heart, she’s Chloe.”
“Is this not good news?” said Ashleigh. “Grandison Parr plays Owen, captain of the debate team, and your beloved Ned is the musical director, so you will have frequent opportunities to converse with him during rehearsals.”
“Oh, are you going out with that guy Ned?” said Yolanda. “Crisp! You never told me that. He seems like a really nice guy. I kind of liked that tall guy with the nice voice—he was cute. I wonder if he got a part. He had to, he had the best voice there. Which one do you think he is? Kevin Rodriguez? Ravi Rajan? Ask your boyfriend, okay? Oh, but don’t tell Adam!” Adam White, a junior, was sometimes the man in Yolanda’s life.
“Ned’s not my boyfriend,” I protested. “I only met him twice.”
“Yes, but you called him a Darcy, remember? Pay her no mind, Yolanda, she is too modest to admit her true feelings,” said Ashleigh.
“Whatever,” I said testily. The alternating waves of anticipation and terror, disappointment and relief, which had been sweeping over me for the past few weeks, had taken their toll on my usually even temper.
But how had I gotten a part, after such a spectacularly bad performance at the audition? Ash and Yolanda insisted that I had sung sweetly and spoken well, though softly at the end. But I knew they were just trying to make me feel better. No, the only possible explanation was lucky (or unlucky) chance. Five girls had auditioned—five had been cast. If a sixth had shown up at the tryouts, she would surely have won the part of Headmistress Lytle.
Nicole Rossi, Ashleigh’s mother, picked up our scripts for us at Forefield that evening on her way home from work.
While Midwinter Insomnia may not be the very silliest play I’ve ever read, it’s up there. It takes place in a boarding school rather like Forefield, but coed. The scene opens with romantic mixups among the fifth formers, or juniors: Xander (played by Ravi Rajan) is going out with Hermia (Ashleigh); Daniel (Chris Stevens, apparently typecast) is trying to steal her away; and Helen (Erin) has a hopeless crush on Daniel. Meanwhile, Owen, the captain of the debate team (Parr), and Tanya, the president of the student body (Yolanda), are having a lovers’ quarrel over a third former (that is, a freshman), formerly a member of the debate club, whom Tanya has enticed to serve on the student council, which meets at the same time, therefore forcing him to quit debate. To punish her, Owen convinces his younger brother, Rob (Alcott Fish), a science geek, to sneak into the chem lab and create a love potion that he can give Tanya, causing her to fall for the
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