𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨-𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 ☾ 𝐥. 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞

𝟑. 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

— CLEO.

I DON'T THINK I've ever been this nervous in my life— except for the time my pet hamster, Ilya, jumped out of my bedroom window. She was fine after we brought her back into the house, but she landed on her back in one of our Evergreen shrubs. To this day, she continues to jump off of tables, shelves, chairs. It's like she was a cat in another life.

I pace around my room, walking back and forth from my closet to my bed. After Mom tells me I'm creating a draft of some sort, I go back to rehearsing my lines in front of the bathroom mirror. Rue watches as she brushes her teeth.

Rue is eight and looks about the same height I was when I was in the seventh grade. She says it's because of the milk she's constantly drinking, but if that were the case, you would think my vegetable intake would be put to good use.

With her toothbrush hanging out the side of her mouth and her lips foaming with paste, Rue stares at the script in my hand. "Why are you even doing this?" she asks. "I thought you hated actors."

I scoff. "I never said that I hated actors; I said that I hate Louis Partridge."

"Yeah, after he became an actor."

I lazily hold my script, turning to her. "Being a theater kid is not the same as being an actor. As much as Louis Good-For-Nothing Partridge proclaims he is, he still only performs in front of maximum two people at his show. And you know who those two people are?"

Rue shrugs.

"His parents— not even his sisters come!" I giggle at the thought of him performing to an empty crowd and the only two seats occupied are the ones right in the front row in which those people have the same exact face as him. It's like he's performing to the only person he cares about— himself.

She rolls her eyes. "So you're doing this to one-up him?"

"I don't care about him, okay? None of this is for him. I'm doing all of this for college. Just like I told you yesterday; I need to stand out. This is how I'm going to stand out. And who knows? Maybe I'll become famous after this."

It's now 9 AM as I walk back into my bedroom. I have to be downtown for the audition at 10 AM, so I decide to facetime Mia.

After a two rings, her face pops up onto the brightly-lit screen.

"Mia, I'm freaking out," I say as I pick at my freshly-painted cuticles.

She smiles. "It's be fine, C. You'll do great. You're great at everything."

"Because my mom teaches me everything I know. This? She never taught me this. I've literally never acted before. What if I just end up embarrassing myself?"

"You won't. Just calm down and breathe in and out," she reassures me. She breathes in and out as I follow suit.

We do that for couple of seconds until I feel my heart rate go back to normal. "Thanks, M. I needed that."

"And if you do feel terrible after this (which you won't), I'll pay for your ice cream and we can go listen to Taylor Swift in your car."

"Taylor Swift and cry sesh— you get me."

* ⭐️ *