I first met “Elyse,” her name was Ambrosia Burris. Yes. Seriously.
And let’s just say her name wasn’t the only “augmented” thing about her.
“Hello, I’m Elyse St. James,” she trilled. “I’m so excited to be starting my junior year at Eleanor—I’ve wanted to be part of this drama program for a long time.” She flashed Andre a kiss-up smile with unnaturally pink, glossed lips. “Oh, and my favorite play of all time”—she looked straight at me when she said this next part—“is Romeo and Juliet. I’m really looking forward to this afternoon’s audition.”
“That’s great, Elyse. I’m sure you’ll make a really great Nurse,” I replied sweetly.
She shot me daggers from her perfectly lined eyes.
“Let the games begin,” Max muttered under his breath.
• • •
Two days later, the cast list was posted, as follows:
Romeo: Ty Parker
Juliet: Elyse St. James
Nurse: Kelly Ortiz
Capulet: Max Perry
Lady Capulet: Courtney Chen
Montague: Christopher Mendoza
Lady Montague: Bianca Elizabeth Glover
Mercutio: Lucy Moore
Tybalt: Evan Davis
Benvolio: Nathan Pittman-Briggs
Prince Escalus: Isaac Stein
Count Paris: Dominick Ellison
Friar Laurence: Violet Patel
Ensemble (from which the roles of Chorus, Peter, Sampson, Petruchio, Gregory, Abraham, Balthasar, Friar John, and the Apothecary, among others, are to be cast): Jonathan Poole, Andrea Wong, Stephanie Gilmore, Marti Espinoza, Stephen Larson
My eyes were playing tricks on me.
I closed them, rubbed my lids, opened them again. The list hadn’t changed.
But that role was mine. Andre had promised. Okay, maybe he hadn’t promised, but he’d sure hinted a hell of a lot. I mean, what else was the phrase, “I chose this play with you in mind, Lucy,” accompanied by a wink and smile, supposed to mean?
I looked around, panicked, for Ty. I needed him—he would make it all make sense. But I didn’t see him anywhere, and the reality of the casting was sinking in fast.
My mouth had gone dry and my legs were beginning to tremble. Courtney and Max shared a worried glance and quickly guided me into the girls’ bathroom. That’s when I really broke down.
“I hate her! That fake, stupid cow! Why did she have to come here? She’s ruining everything!”
My friends just sat on the cold tile floor beside me and held my hands and rubbed my back, letting me get it all out. I had a sudden flash of the last time they’d comforted me like this, three years ago—but the memory was interrupted when a cluster of freshman girls walked into the restroom. They stopped when they saw us.
“Hey, you’re not supposed to be in here,” one girl whined to Max.
“Like I care about your girly business,” he said, rolling his eyes.
The girl eyed his sassy wax-molded hair and his green slim-fit cardigan over his Lady Gaga t-shirt, and her face clicked with understanding. Then she pointed to me. “So what’s the matter with her, anyway?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Max said.
The girls stared at me, still going to pieces, a second more. Then they just shrugged and left.
“Guess they didn’t have to pee after all,” Max muttered, and brushed my hair away from my face.
When my sobs had died down to a whimper, Courtney spoke. “Lucy, sweetie, the read-through is going to start in a couple minutes. You gonna go?”
I looked at her and then at Max. They smiled unsurely back at me. I knew them well: they wanted to be supportive but were also ready to get the hell out of the bathroom and to rehearsal. Suddenly I felt bad; I couldn’t keep them in here any longer. So I nodded, stood on shaky legs, and splashed cool water on my face. “Sorry, guys,” I said, starting to feel a little embarrassed by my reaction.
“It’s okay. We think Elyse is a fake, stupid cow too.”
I managed a tiny laugh. Max always knew what to say to make me feel better.
“I know you probably don’t want to hear this,” Courtney said as we walked to rehearsal, “but Mercutio is a pretty awesome role. You’re going to rock it.”
I sighed. I usually loved that Andre was all about the nontraditional casting. And Mercutio really was a great part. But I’d had my heart set on Juliet.
The second we entered the auditorium, Andre pulled me aside. In the darkness of the unlit house, slumped in the very last row of seats, I only half listened to his explanation. He fed me some obviously rehearsed crap about wanting to give me a role that would challenge me, and how he gave Elyse the lead because it was a safe part, and she was a safe actor. It was all total BS,