‘You wouldn’t mind if I kissed your boyfriend, would you?’ Charlotte said, not even turning around.
Olivia almost dropped her lip gloss. ‘What?’
‘Well,’ she said, ‘when I’m Juliet, I’ll have to kiss Romeo, and everyone knows Jackson is a shoo-in for the part.’
‘Let’s just see what happens,’ Olivia replied, trying to avoid a conflict.
There is no way Charlotte Brown will be kissing my boyfriend … before I get to! She stood up to find a quieter place to finish running through her lines. She had to get this audition right – and not just because of Charlotte. Playing opposite Jackson as Romeo would be so romantic.
‘Could you scoot over?’ Charlotte whined.
Olivia left the dressing room and walked into the huge backstage space that had tons of props from previous productions, like a giant tree that a person could fit into, from the musical Into the Woods.
Olivia pushed her way past a group of girls doing vocal exercises to sit down on a Victorian sofa from The Importance of Being Earnest and started from the top. Out of the corner of her eye, Olivia spotted Jackson in a quiet corner on the other side of the big backstage space, sitting on a wooden cube and reading his audition scene to himself.
Like he even needs to try, Olivia thought. There was no way Camilla could cast anyone else as Romeo. He was just so … so perfect! It made her like him even more that he was taking it so seriously. Other movie stars would probably not even try.
She closed her eyes and imagined what it would be like – her hair would be tumbling over her shoulders, and she’d have on some gorgeous golden gown. Jackson would wear a flowing white shirt and sweep her up in his arms, reciting beautiful poetry. Lost in the emotion of the passionate love story, he would look deep into her eyes, lean in and –
‘Oof!’ said a gruff voice as someone knocked into Olivia’s sofa.
‘Hey!’ Olivia’s eyes flew open to see Garrick Stevens, the greasiest of the four Beasts, staring right in her face.
Ugh, she thought. That’s the fastest way to ruin a romantic daydream.
Garrick was a vampire and he trooped around school with his three vampire friends in a pack. They called themselves the Beasts. He continually risked breaking the First Law through sheer stupidity. He’d even tried to bite a cheerleader once but had chickened out at the last minute.
‘Huh, huh.’ His laugh sounded like spinning helicopter blades. ‘Sorry, Olivia.’ He grinned. ‘Or should I say, I beggeth your pardon, my Juliet?’
‘You’re auditioning for Romeo?’ Olivia asked incredulously.
‘Yeah,’ he said, like she’d just asked him if coffins creaked. ‘There’s, like, five kissing scenes.’
Olivia crinkled her nose. ‘Well, good luck.’
‘I’m making my own luck,’ Garrick said and grinned wickedly. Then he sauntered off towards Jackson.
Whatever, Olivia thought. There is no way Garrick could possibly be Romeo.
‘Hey, sis!’ Ivy appeared out of nowhere, her allblack turtleneck blending in with the black curtains. Her only concession to the warmer spring weather was to wear a knee-length skirt with her boots, rather than a floor-length one. ‘You ready?’ She had on headphones with a microphone attached and was holding a clipboard – in full-on stage-manager mode. ‘The director is on her way.’
‘As ready as I’ll ever be,’ Olivia said.
‘Five minutes to start, folks,’ Ivy said to anyone within earshot, making Olivia’s stomach do a handspring. ‘I hope you’ve paid attention to the auditioning order. If you miss your slot, you’re out of luck.’
A younger girl with red hair looked terrified at Ivy’s firm tone and Olivia gave her a reassuring smile. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘Just don’t go somewhere to fix your hair before your turn.’
The girl didn’t look any more relaxed.
Ivy moved around backstage, giving the little groups of nervous auditionees the same message. Olivia could see Sophia Hewitt, Ivy’s best friend and the other half of the backstage team, doing the same. One girl with pigtails rushed towards the backstage bathroom with her hand over her mouth.
Poor girl, Olivia thought.
She glanced over to see what Jackson was doing and saw Ivy walking towards him. With each step, an odd cloud of greenish powder billowed up from around Ivy’s feet.
What’s powder doing on the ground? Olivia wondered. That could make people slip!
An instant later, Ivy let out a yowl. ‘A-eeee!’ She dropped her clipboard with a clatter and crouched down to scratch furiously at her legs and ankles.