Alex
Alex was basically jumping off the walls since the minute she woke up. It had been a couple days since the auditions for the musical, and today the call sheet went up. She didn’t want to be too hopeful, but she had killed that audition. Plus, she needed something good in her life. After all the skin treatments she’d done - Biore strips and Clearasil and charcoal masks - nothing was working. Her skin was still the same, splotchy and red. Maddie, Alicia, and Penny were still ignoring her, too. They stopped antagonizing her, and rather just ignored her whenever she tried to talk or sit with them. Alicia and Penny looked uncomfortable, but they did nothing about it. Alex was hurt, but not surprised. She would’ve done the same thing just a couple weeks ago, desperate to stay in Maddie’s good graces.
But today was going to be a good day; she could feel it. Alex woke up before her alarm, full of energy. Those under eye circles sure wouldn’t be there, that’s for sure. Alex bounded out of bed, ready to take on the day.
“Goood morning Mom!” she called out as she entered the kitchen, ready for her eggs and toast.
Her mom looked up from her work. She was still typing on her laptop as she said, “Well aren’t you bright and bushy tailed today! What’s the occasion?”
Alex hadn’t told her mom about the audition, not wanting to give her any bad news if she didn’t get a part. Instead, Alex said, “Oh, nothing! Just in a good mood.” Alex would tell her about the musical if there was anything to tell, no use in telling her mom just to disappoint her.
Alex finished getting ready for school, and bounded up on the school bus. She went right past the tables where Maddie and her old friends were sitting and right up to the call sheet pinned by the auditorium doors, eager to see what part she got.
Bethany
Bethany stared at the call sheet. She got understudy for the lead role, right behind Alex Shephard. Bethany couldn’t believe it. This meant that if Alex got sick or dropped out of the play, Bethany had to carry it on her shoulders! She shuddered at the thought of having to perform in front of that many people, and was glad that Alex had a bright grin on her face after seeing that she got the lead role. Maybe everything would be all right, and Bethany would still be the invisible girl like always.
But this did mean that Bethany would have to shadow Alex every single rehearsal. Not just after school, but on weekends, too. She’d have to be around Alex Shephard, resident mean girl for a whole month? She couldn’t imagine it. Dirty looks day in and out, snide comments and constant blank stares, as if Bethany spoke another language - loser - and Alex could simply not understand.
Bethany dreaded the idea. She’d have to talk to Ms. Cortez and see if she could get off the musical.
Taysha
The last thing Taysha wanted to do was look at the call sheet, but the whole track team, which she joined the day after the musical auditions, prodded her into looking. She didn’t tell Alicia, or anyone, that she hadn’t sung in front of Ms. Cortez and all those girls. Instead, Taysha just went up to the teacher and told her that she was there on a dare and one, didn’t know the song, and two, didn’t want to hear her sing anyways, because Taysha was positively tone-deaf.
But as Taysha walked up to the call sheet, she was surprised to see her name on there. Not as a character, but as part of the crew. In fact, she was stage director! Taysha wondered if Ms. Cortez was right in the head. What had told Ms. Cortez that Taysha would be a good stage director? Her complete lack of enthusiasm for the musical, or her being underprepared? Ms. Cortez had just given Taysha a huge responsibility, and the thought that Taysha was responsible for the production both daunted and thrilled her.
Taysha saw Ms. Cortez out of the corner of her eye, going towards the teachers lounge. Before Ms. Cortez could get there, Taysha jogged up to her and said, without introduction, “Stage director??” right as someone else behind her said, “Understudy?!”
Taysha whirled around to see another girl her age. She thought the girl might be upset that she got an understudy part instead of the role, but was taken aback when the girl went on saying, “What were you thinking? I can’t possibly go up there!”
Bethany
Bethany had no idea what came over her when she confronted Ms. Cortez. The goody-two-shoes in her was horrified. Was she yelling at a teacher right now? But another part was thrilled that she was saying something with no filter, not worried about how she was perceived by others.
Ms. Cortez, was calm as she stared back at Bethany and the other girl who came up to her. Looks like Bethany wasn’t the only one who was surprised in her casting.
Ms. Cortez looked at them both, and then just simply said, “Yes, Taysha. Yes, Bethany. See you at rehearsals starting next week after school. Prove that I’m right,” and then walked into the teacher’s lounge. It was an unspoken message: her decision was final.
Damn, Bethany thought, Ms. Cortez is kinda a badass.
As if Ms. Cortez’s departure snapped Bethany back into reality, she realized that the crowd of people who came to look at the call sheet were now staring at her and Taysha. Bethany’s insecurities immediately resurfaced. Did people think she was a bitch? Ugly?
Bethany gave one of those tight lipped “I’m being polite but let’s not actually talk to each other” smiles to Taysha, and then left to go to her locker, tugging down at her shirt and patting down her hair.
1 Week Later
Alex
It was the first day of rehearsals, and Alex was ecstatic. The only bad part was that she’d have to trudge through the whole school day to make it to rehearsals. Nothing had improved for Alex at school. Maddie and the others still ignored her, and classes bored her. Long gone were the days where she would whisper to one of the girls and start talking to her as the teacher droned on about gerunds and past participles. Who cared about that those? The only shining light during school, besides the promise of rehearsals, was algebra. Alex had always been pretty good in math, and thinking back on it, Maddie had always cheated off of her during quizzes and tests. It’s not like Alex did really well or anything, but it was fun figuring out “x,” like Alex’s own little puzzle.
Now that she wasn’t talking to her friends during classes, or anyone at all, really, Alex was actually paying attention in class. Sure, English didn’t get more interesting, but a whole word opened up to her with math. She felt proud of herself when she solved a problem, when she got a good grade on her homework and other graded assignments. She even felt accomplished when she got something wrong, only to do it correctly the next time.
As math class finished up - Alex’s last class of the day before rehearsals - her math teacher, Mr. Roberts, called her up to class. Was she in trouble? He didn’t think these good grades were because of cheating, right?
“Yes, Mr. Roberts?” Alex could barely look him in the face, too nervous for no reason. She tried to remind herself that she had done nothing wrong. She had just become a better student, is all.
“Hi Alex. I’ve noticed this past couple weeks that you’ve been really excelling in math. I think you would be a perfect fit for the mathlete team. What do you think?”
Alex stared, uncomprehending. Mathletes? She’s look like a total geek. All hope of returning to her prior social status would be gone.
“Um, I never really thought about it before. But I’m the lead role of the musical this semester, so I don’t know if I could do mathletes also.” Alex hoped that was enough for Mr. Roberts to let her off the hook.
“Oh, don’t worry about that! We have practices on Fridays in the auditorium, the days that the play doesn’t rehearse!”
“Well...I’ll think about Mr. Roberts,” Alex responded, knowing there was no way she was going to actually go through with mathletes.
---
Like clockwork, Alex stopped by the bathroom right next to the auditorium. And like what was customary these past weeks, Alex was disappointed by her reflection. She eventually did buy heavier duty makeup that didn’t wear out during the day, but no amount of makeup could erase the textures of pimples. Sure, the redness was gone, but that didn’t really matter. What mattered was that Alex knew they were there; she was constantly aware, no matter what. If we was talking in front of a teacher, she was wondering if they thought she wasn’t as smart because of her acne. Boys? Forget about them, she became too nervous in front of them, worried they think she was ugly. And now she was supposed to stand up in front of everyone - cast, crew, audience - and convince them that she was Edwina, an inspiration to other girls. Who would want to follow her?
Alex left the bathroom, once again dejected. She wanted to get away from the mirrors, she already had constant reminders in her head about her appearance, she didn’t need mirrors to reiterate her thoughts. As Alex entered the auditorium, she saw her understudy come up to her. Alex didn’t remember her name, but did it really matter? It’s not like they were going to be friends or talk to each other after the play was done.
Alex kept walking through the auditorium without sparing her understudy another glance. But she guessed the girl couldn’t pick up on social cues, because the followed her, and said, “Hey, I’m Bethany. You’re understudy. Look, I get we aren’t friends but I thought -”
And before Bethany could finish her sentence, Alex just snapped. “Yeah, you’re right. We aren’t friends. And there’s no reason why that should change.”
Bethany
Bethany stood in the auditorium, watching Alex walking towards the backstage. What just happened? Bethany was simply going to say that they should be nice towards each other, but she guessed that wasn’t going to happen. How did that snob get lead role?
Bethany was about to sit back down and watch the rehearsals; she needed to take notes of what Alex’s lines and stage directions in case anything happened during the show’s performance. But the thought of watching Alex go up on stage and revel in the attention made her sick. And she figured, if Alex could give her a piece of her mind, so could Bethany.
Bethany was unsure about what came over her, but the next thing she knew, she was stomping over to Bethany, who had just reached center stage.
“Hey! Alex! I wasn’t done talking to you!”
Alex slowly turns around and lithely responds, “Yeah? What?” in that same snobbish tone all the mean girls used. And that was the last straw.
“Who do you think you are? You can’t talk to me like that for no reason, just because you don’t know me. Look, maybe you’re used to always being a bully, but Edwina is a character that stands up for girls her age, who inspires them. Maybe you should take a note out of her book and try some method acting, because from where I’m standing, you’re just a plain old bitch.”
Taysha
Taysha heard shouts from the stage. What was going on out there? The noise didn’t quiet down, so she figured it was now or never to start being the stage manager and taking up the leadership position.
As Taysha entered from backstage, she was shocked to see Bethany and Alex surrounded by the rest of the cast and crew. They weren’t fighting per se, but both looked angry. Alex had tears brimming in her eyes, hands on her hips. Bethany had her arms crossed,and was bright red - from embarrassment or anger Taysha couldn’t tell - and was also giving Alex a death stare.
No one noticed Taysha as she stepped onto the stage until she broke through the circle and confronted Alex and Bethany.
“What’s going on? We’re supposed to be starting rehearsals any second now, as soon as Ms. Cortez comes!”
“Well she called me a bitch!” Alex seethed, only for Bethany to respond, “Well, you are one!”
Taysha stared at them dumbfounded. She had no clue had to fix this, and she wasn’t sure if she could. Right on cue, Ms. Cortez entered the auditorium, taking in the scene right away. She didn’t ask any questions, just ordered everyone to their places.
Rehearsals were tense and confusing. While the cast did a read through of their lines and practiced their songs - solos, duets, and group numbers - the crew was introduced to the do’s and don'ts of working behind the screen. This was all new information to Taysha, and she still didn’t understand why Ms. Cortez chose Taysha, someone with no experience in theater, to be stage manager.
After a slow moving rehearsal, Ms. Cortez asked Alex, Bethany, and Taysha to stay afterwards. The cast and crew shouted resounding “oohs” and “aahs,” thinking all three of them were in trouble. But like always, ms. Cortez was as cool and calm as ever.
Each girl sat in the front row and Ms. Cortez started to sit off the lip of the auditorium. Taysha thought that if it was anyone else, it might have been intimidating looking up at a teacher so much taller and larger than them. But she glanced at Ms. Cortez’ blue patterned pants and frilly tank top, and she was worried.
“Girls, I don’t know what was going on when I got here, but any sort of animosity is not tolerated in my theater. If you don’t figure out how to work well and get along with each other, I’ll have to find someone else to fill your position. Each of you are integral to this production, and it would be a shame to lose any of you. Do I make myself clear?”
Taysha and the other girls nodded meekly. Taysha thought of explaining how she wasn’t involved at all, but one glance at Ms. Cortez showed that the teacher wasn’t changing her mind.
“Okay, good. Now, I’m going to talk to each of your parents to talk about this little incident. I’ve got enough on my plate that I don’t want to teach any of you how to be polite; your parents can do that. See you tomorrow for after school rehearsals.” And with that, Ms. Cortez righted herself and walked off the stage.
---
Taysha was waiting at the bus loop for her parents. The first week of rehearsals had flown by. Though Taysha had a lot of responsibility, she found herself looking forward to the work everyday. She loved being in charge. And while the actors would take their own liberties, of course, Taysha loved knowing that the play wouldn’t work without her. In track, she was just another part of the team. No one was really relying on her, she just had to show up. She liked feeling needed at rehearsals, even if she still wasn’t getting along with Alex and Bethany that much.
Though Ms. Cortez said she’d talk to all their parents, nothing changed. Taysha’s parents didn’t bring it up, and Bethany and Alex seemed to reach an agreement of complete silence. They only spoke to each other when absolutely necessary, and because Taysha got in the middle of them on Monday, they both didn’t speak to her. Taysha surmised from the silence that they thought she was the reason they got into trouble, as if she started the scene in the first place. But at least there were no more fights. Sure, the girls’ riled each other up, but no one was calling someone a bitch anymore. The cast and crew could feel the tension though, egging Taysha on or and questions like, “Do you see how Alex messed up her line?” or “Doesn’t Bethany look dumb just sitting there as everyone works?” Taysha was sure they were doing the same to Alex and Bethany, hoping for more entertainment. But Taysha just calmly responded, saying “She got it right the next time,” or “She’s studying her lines,” not giving them any fodder.
But as Taysha was waiting for her parents to pick her up, she wished that everyone could just get along. It was draining having to be perfectly polite all the time, and she didn’t think anyone in the cast or crew really knew her. Taysha wanted to make friends, not get to know people who she won’t actually hang out with.
As Taysha’s parents pulled up, she resolved to talk to them about it, even if Ms. Cortez didn’t.
The sedan pulled up to the curb, and Taysha hopped in.
“Hey Mom!”
“Hey Tay!! How did school and rehearsals go?” Taysha’s mom asked.
Taysha’s mom just gave her the opening to talk about Bethany and Alex, and Taysha figured she’d take it, not wanting to beat around the bush.
“School’s fine! But rehearsals are kind of a different story. It’s not that I don’t like being the stage manager, but there’s some girls I’m not getting along with, and I think it’s just a big misunderstanding, but they were so mean to each other, and now it’s just stone cold silent, and-”
Taysha’s mom cut her off before Taysha could say anymore.
“Oh, yes! Ms. Cortez called me about it! But I was talking to your dad and the other parents, and and I think we came up with the perfect solution.”
Wait, Taysha thought, the parents were talking?
“...and we’re hosting a movie night tomorrow night at our place!”
Taysha only got the last of her mom’s sentence, but the damage was done.
A movie night? This was going to be a disaster. The girls didn’t even talk to each other, how were they going to spend hours together?
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