AUDACITY [H.S]

THE AUDITION

My bus just arrived at the theatre where my audition will take place. I walk inside and follow the signposts wich leed me to the waiting room. A young blonde woman welcomes me.
"Goodmorning, you're here for the audition I presume? What's your name?"
"Hi, yes, my name is Chloe Jacobs," I say with shaking hands.
"Great, here's the text you have to learn. Someone will come to get you in 15 minutes, good luck!"
"Thanks" I grab the paper and take a seat in one of the chairs. There are 3 other girls in here, they all look nervous. I recognise one of them, I think she had a little role in LUPIN, a french series that I love. That probably means that this isn't their first audition and they're experienced. Oh boy, I don't stand a chance. Okay Chloe, just focus on the text, you got this, I think in myself while I start reading the lines.

Beneath the lines, there's also a little description of the movie:

'Joanna is a European girl who moved to England with her parents. A few years ago 18-year-old Joanna started her first year in college, what was supposed to be a great year turned into a nightmare. Back at home in Yorkshire her little sister and parents die after getting hit by a drunk driver. Joanna leaves college to go live with her grandparents. Almost 3 years passed and she's now 21. Joanna knows that her parents would've wanted her to go to college again and live the best life, so that's what she decides to do.
She flies back to London and while she's there she meets Lewis, a guy who works at the coffee shop near the campus. Lewis and Joanna fall in love but Joanna had no idea what he's hiding. It turns out Lewis' dad was the drunk driver that killed Joanna's family.
Now that shall be enough for you to go with, we can't spoil the whole movie. Goodluck actors!'

The 15 minutes flew by, someone calls my name. I follow them to another room.
"Okay, Chloe right?" This guy says looking at me. I nod to confirm.
"Great. So you're gonna go on stage and the jury will ask you to perform your lines with another actor. Good luck." He gives me a little push and I walk op on stage.
The theatre is empty but in front of me are 3 people, one of them I recognise, it's Mr Jones. The woman next to him starts to talk. "Hello, what's your name?"
"I'm Chloe Jacobs."
The woman nods, "Hmm, okay. You'll be performing the scene with Olivier. Start when you're ready."
Next to me is this blonde, tall, handsome guy, Olivier I presume. I smile at him and start the scene.
I'm not even halfway through when the woman interrupts me. "We've seen enough, thank you."
I look at her in surpirise. I'm overwelmed and at first I don't know what to do. I freeze.
"Chloe, you can leave the stage now, we'll contact you." The woman says again.
That can't be good, I think while I walk off stage.

On my way back on the bus, I try to clear my head by listening to 'Walls'.
I can't succeed though, the thoughts keep running through my mind. I never really had a chance at that role, I knew the chances were very little, still, I got my hopes up and now I'm disappointed. Even though it's not official that I didn't get the role, I'm 99% sure of it. It's just the way they looked at me, you know.

4 days went by. I just had fun with the girls and in 2 days we'll be flying home. The first day after the audition was the hardest, Hayley had to basically pull me out of bed and after the second day, I already forgot about it, until now. My phone rings, it's an unknown number. After hesitating I pick up.
"Hello, this is Chloe speaking," I say formally.
"Hey Chloe, it's Mr Jones, from the movie. I have great news for you!"
"Wait what?" I say out loud. Giulia, Monica and Hayley who are sitting beside me lookup.
Mr Jones continues: "Victoria, the woman who sat next to me, thought you were great. So did I and the director. We decided that we want you to play the lead role."
"No way, how did this happen? I thought I did horrible because she cut me off," I say in disbelieve.
"No, no, Victoria cut you off because she didn't need any more convincing and she wanted to tell us that you were the person she had in mind all along."
I guess I'm bad at reading people, I was sure she hated me. Must've been the stress that made me see things. I think in myself.
Mr Jones goes on: "We know you don't have as much experience as the other girls that auditioned, but you just fit the role perfectly. Besides your lack of experience and acting class makes your performance less overacted, it comes naturally with you and that's what we were looking for. So we recommend you to not take any acting classes for this movie."
"Thank you so much for this opportunity, Mr Jones! I'm super excited! What will happen next?" I ask.
"We start filming in 2 weeks and because we know you're not from London we hired you an apartment near the set. You can move there in 2 days. We'll also give you the script and I recommend you to read through it, not too much, just once so you know how the movie goes. And then we'll see you on the set on the first Monday of March. How does that sound?"
"Wow Mr Jones, you can not believe how grateful I am. The role, the apartment, this is so much thank you! I don't know what to say."
"It's not a problem at all, you're talented Chloe. I'll email you a few contracts you need to sign and then I'll see you on the set! Have a good night!"
"Thank you! Good night!"

I lay down my phone and I look at the girls in amazement. "You're not gonna believe what just happened. I got the role! I'm gonna be the female lead in a movie! I'm gonna be a movie star!!!!"
"Oh my god, Chloe!"
"Aaaah no way!"
"Fuck yes girl, you're amazing!" the girls scream and jump up. I start to scream with them, so hard that we can't even understand each other anymore. All I hear now are high pitched screams of joy.