Sea Glass Island (Ocean Breeze) - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,97

of the auditorium.

“I wish she wouldn’t call attention to my stage fright,” Sue Ellen said, her expression distraught. “It just makes me more self-conscious.”

“You know what really makes it worse?” Samantha asked gently. “Not knowing your lines. Do you think it’s possible that’s part of your problem?”

Sue Ellen blinked at that. “That’s like one of those chicken-egg questions,” she said. “Do I panic because I don’t know my lines, or does the stage fright make me forget my lines?”

“Could you run them with me right now?” Samantha asked. “Just you and me, right here?”

“Sure,” Sue Ellen said with confidence. “I nailed ’em at home last night.”

Samantha wondered about that. Had she really nailed them, or had a helpful family member conveniently fed them to her? Only one way she knew of to find out. She glanced at the script Mrs. Gentry had handed her and told Sue Ellen which scene they were going to do, then read the opening line.

Sue Ellen responded, not just with accuracy, but with the right emotional intensity.

As the scene went on, she faltered only once or twice, which wasn’t bad considering that they’d only been in rehearsals a couple of weeks.

“I’m impressed,” Samantha admitted at the end of the scene.

Sue Ellen beamed. “I told you, it’s because I get too nervous in front of all those people.”

“If you’re going to do theater, you have to do it in front of an audience,” Samantha reminded her.

“Which is why I want to do anything else but theater,” Sue Ellen said with feeling. “Around here, though, this is all there is.” She hesitated. “There’s something else throwing me off, too.”

“What’s that?”

“I know everybody thinks Cass deserved this part. It doesn’t help that she’s my understudy. I can see her waiting in the wings for me to blow it. Then when I do, she gloats.”

Samantha couldn’t imagine Cass gloating, at least not publicly, but her presence certainly could throw an inexperienced, uncertain actress off stride. “Would you rather someone else be in the wings to feed you your lines if you need prompting?”

“That would be awesome,” Sue Ellen admitted. “But I don’t want Cass to get mad at me, at least not any madder than she already is. And it’s okay that she’s my understudy. That shouldn’t change.”

Samantha nodded. “I’ll talk to Mrs. Gentry and Cass and see what can be worked out. Now go on up there and deliver those lines as convincingly as you did for me just now.”

“Thanks, Ms. Castle!” she said before running back to the stage.

Samantha was slower to return to the front of the auditorium. She told Mrs. Gentry about Sue Ellen’s feelings and suggested that somebody other than Cass help out. “It may be all in Sue Ellen’s head, but Cass seems to intimidate her. That could be part of her problem.”

Mrs. Gentry nodded, quickly assigned another student to do the job, then called for the scene to be read. Cass joined them in the auditorium, a frown on her face. Samantha gave her hand a squeeze. “I’ll explain later,” she promised.

To everyone’s apparent shock, Sue Ellen performed the scene without a single mistake or hesitation. Mrs. Gentry applauded, then walked to the stage to give the actors her notes.

“Holy smokes!” Cass said when she was alone with Samantha. “She was actually good.”

Samantha grinned. “You were scaring her.”

Cass’s eyes lit up. “No kidding!”

“I wouldn’t look so pleased about that,” Samantha scolded.

Mrs. Gentry returned. “I’m impressed, Samantha.”

“No big deal.”

“Well, it is to me,” Mrs. Gentry told her, then clapped for attention. “Everyone, I have an announcement. Ms. Castle has told me that she’s going to be offering some acting classes here in Sand Castle Bay in the near future. You’ve seen what a difference she was able to make with Sue Ellen today. If any of you are interested in learning more about those classes, I’ll have a sign-up sheet here for you at the end of rehearsal. Then she’ll be in touch with you with the details.” She glanced at Samantha. “Will that work for you?”

“That’s amazing,” Samantha said, taken aback by the unexpected show of support. “Thank you.”

Mrs. Gentry lowered her voice. “Just remember what I told you. You need to be above reproach.”

Samantha nodded.

Cass regarded her eagerly. “Can I sign up now?”

“You can sign up as soon as there’s something specific to sign up for,” Samantha told her. “In the meantime, if you’re free tomorrow afternoon, why don’t you come by Castle’s after school and read a couple of scenes