Super Lilly

Audition

I sat in an empty waiting room, playing with my locket which was hanging around my neck. I couldn't help but wonder if I was the only one they'd called in to audition. Someone at a front desk had greeted me on the way in, but I had walked through the long hall they told me to go down, and now I felt like I was the only human on earth. I was starting to wonder if I should go back to the front desk when I heard a door creak open.

"Ms. Bye? We're ready for you." I heard a voice call. Oh my God. This is it. I took a deep breath in and reminded myself to act as calm and collected as possible.

I approached the door where the voice had come from with one more tight squeeze to my locket.

"Hello." The same friendly voice greeted me. "Lilly?"

"Yes." I smiled and shook the hand of the smiling woman in front of me. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too. My name is Cynthia."

Cynthia motioned for me to turn the corner and enter the room. When I walked through the door, I was surprised to see what seemed to be a room completely filled with people at first glance. When I looked a second time, I could see that it wasn't as many people as I'd originally thought. My eyes flew from one person to another as I counted quickly in my head. Three people that appeared to be casting directors. One cameraman. And five boys that all appeared to be around my age. I let my eyes rest briefly on each person as I examined the room. My thoughts were interrupted by Cynthia's voice.

"So, Lilly. I'm Cynthia, as I said. These are two of my assistant casting directors, Paul and Melissa. And these are our boys that we've cast already." Cynthia glanced over at the boys. "Let's see, from this end we have Joel, Riley, Gabe, Ryan, and Zach."

"Nice to meet you." I smiled at them. They all spoke at the same time, each saying some variation of "Hello" or "Nice to meet you".

"Now, Lilly," Cynthia began. "We all watched your audition tape before you came in. I have to say that we're all very impressed with your work."

"Wow. Thank you. This is one of my first big auditions. That means a lot." I then proceeded to mentally beat myself up over telling them that I was new. Who did that? Nobody. I had been warned to never do exactly what I just did.

If Cynthia had noticed my slip-up, she didn't make it obvious as she continued speaking. "What are some of your hobbies?"

I was caught off guard. Was this a trick question? I was auditioning for a movie. So acting was my hobby, no? I racked my brain for a decent answer. What did I like to do in my spare time, anyway?

"Uh. Well, I like reading. And writing. Oh! And I write songs."

"Really? What kind of songs?"

Now she was just being cruel. What kind of songs? Hadn't I already given her a good answer? As if I wasn't already nervous enough, I could feel my face turning bright red.

"I don't know, really. I just write about things that happen to me."

"Would you write a song for the movie if we cast you?" Cynthia grinned.

I laughed, suddenly feeling much lighter. "I don't know. Maybe. I guess so."

Cynthia smiled and looked down at her paper. "So, Lilly. Can you go ahead and read this script for us? Your lines are highlighted, and I'll read the other ones."

"Okay." I stepped forward and took the piece of paper she held out for me. I glanced over the lines, took a deep breath, and started talking.

Quite honestly, I don't remember most of the rest of the audition. I know that I read through the lines they had given me, and I didn't mess up...from what I remember at least. All I know for sure was that by the end of the script, everyone in the room was grinning from ear to ear.

Cynthia shook her head and laughed in what seemed to be disbelief. "Well, Lilly. That was quite a performance. I'd like to leave you alone with the boys for one quick minute, alright?"

"Oh, okay." I tried to sound as calm as possible, but on the inside, I wanted to scream, or run away, or both. What did that mean? I didn't want to be alone with these boys. They seemed fine, but I was too uncomfortable. I watched helplessly as Cynthia and the four others walked out of the room, leaving me alone. I took a deep breath in, and decided to make the best of it.

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