Girlsies of New York

First Day, Pt. 1

A/N You'll notice there's another PoV in here. That probably won't happen again. I'll stick to writing just Clara.

"Name, age, part you're auditioning for, two audition songs." An older man stares me down. I swallow hard.

"Cecelia Zyphiniah, 18, Jack Kelly, 'Santa Fe' and 'Something to Believe In'."

"Yes, fine. Clara Zyfairiv and Sylvie Meiake, come in here, please!"

Two girls come running in. "Yes, Mr. Loulm?" One girl has dark curls cut in a bob at the nape of her neck, and the other girl has light brown wavy hair that falls just past her shoulders.

"Congratulations, Ms. Meiake, you will be playing the role of Crutchie, and Ms. Zyfairiv, you will be playing the role of Katherine Plumber in the All-Female Youth Broadway production of the musical "Newsies". This is the final part of your audition. Ms. Zyfairiv, you will be singing "Something to Believe In" with Ms. Alade here, and Ms. Meiake, you will be singing "Santa Fe" with Ms. Alade. She is auditioning for the role of Jack Kelly. Ms. Meiake, you will exit that door-" he points to a metal door off to the right- "retrieve the crutch behind it, and return immediately after. As soon as you have finished the song, you will exit through the door you entered from, and you will join Mr. Keenan-Bolger and Mr. Sayle. Introductions will be exchanged. I trust you followed the instructions and brought everything you need?"

Sylvie looks flustered and ready to burst with excitement, but she nods. "Yessir."

"Good. You will join the rest of your cast, where you will receive your music, a paper on which you will write your measurements for your costume, and your hat. You will then proceed to wait silently with your fellow cast members for whomever is chosen to play Jack Kelly. A lawyer will then guide the entire group through contracts and such. Keys to apartments will be passed out, and you will be shown to your dressing rooms, where you will ready yourself for your first rehearsal. The same goes for Ms. Zyfairiv, except she will be met by Ms. Lindsay. Understand?"

"Yessir." Sylvie hurries to the door, disappears, and reappears with the crutch under her arm and her left foot dragging.

"Mr. Loulm?"

His head snaps up from the papers spread on his desk. "Yes, Ms. Alade?"

"I was just wondering, do you want the version from the Original Broadway Cast recording, or the Broadway production?"

"Hmm. No one's asked that yet. Good question. OBC recording, please."

"Thank you. Ms. Meiake-"

"You can call me Sylvie."

"Okay, um, Sylvie, are you ready?"

"Yep."

"Okay." I take a deep breath, clear my throat, and focus on bringing out a Brooklyn accent. "Them streets down there, they sucked the life right out of my old man. Well, they ain't doin' that to me."

Time Skip

Sylvie PoV

I let out a breath I've been holding all day. Auditions are over. I'm Crutchie! I can't believe it. I open the door at the back of the dance studio, which has been reserved as a audition space. Two people sit on a bench, chatting good-naturedly. They turn at the sound of the door clicking shut, and see me standing there. It takes them a second to process why there's a girl frozen, but Andrew Keenan-Bolger understands first.