For Matt Sturniolo

Chapter 3: Auditions

Friday at 10 am, Aaron and I drove to the community center we were renting for auditions. The summer sun was shining bright. I decided to wear a short blue sundress. I had a good feeling that we would cast Landon today but tried not to get my hopes up about the Sturniolos auditioning or calling.

After signing in, Aaron set up the camera while I organized the paperwork. We had five people we knew were coming for sure and were hoping for walk-ins.

During the audition, they had to perform Landon's monologue and then a scene with me as Mary. We only had enough money to pay one of the actors and since Aaron was the director, I had to be Mary. I was not my first choice, but I was acting for free and wasn't as bad as I thought.

After meeting with the five guys, it was almost twelve o'clock. No one had come in for a while.

"Do you think they'll come?" I asked.

"Eh, I don't know, but at least we told them. So far, I liked Jason," Aaron said and I agreed.

"Um, hello?" someone said from the back of the room. Aaron and I turned around and saw Chris Sturniolo holding the script. He was alone. I wondered where Nick and Matt were. Maybe Chris was the only one who wanted to audition.

"Hi," I said, smiling. "Come in."

"Do you want me right there?" Chris pointed in front of the camera.

"Yes," Aaron said.

"This feels so professional." Chris giggled. "What do I do?"

"You'll perform Landon's monologue on page seven and then the break-up scene with me, I'm Mary. Does that sound good?"

"Yup, sounds good."

Aaron and I watched Chris perform the monologue. Out of all the other guys, I thought Chris was the most believable. I liked hearing his voice say the lines I wrote. It was exactly how I imagined it. 

When he was done reciting the monologue, Aaron and I exchanged a look of surprise. We were not expecting him to be that good. I walked up to Chris.

"That was good." I smiled. "And now the break-up scene. Do you need a minute?"

"Nah, I'm good," he said with a goofy grin.

"Okay. Whenever you're ready."

Chris' smile faded into a frown. "You're giving up on us?"

"No, I'm not," I sighed. "You're going off to college and I want you to have a good time. I would ruin that if we did long-distance. I don't want to hold you back."

"You won't." Chris stepped closer to me and picked up my hands. "I want to be with you." We stared at each other for a few seconds until I realized there were no more lines left to say.

"That was great!" Aaron brought us back to reality. Chris dropped my hands and scratched the back of his head.

"You were really good. Thank you for coming," I said.

"No problem. I'm glad I came." Chris gave us his number and then left.

"Did we just find our Landon? We should've just told him right here that he got the part. No one else is going to show–" I was cut off by a knock on the door. "Come in." I watched Matt Sturniolo open the door.

"Hi, am I too late?" Matt asked.

"Not at all. Come in." I told him to stand in front of the camera and start with the monologue. Matt was a little shaky and changed a couple of lines, but I thought he was compelling. I couldn't take my eyes off him.

"Thank you. Now we'll do the break-up scene."

"Okay." Matt smiled and took a deep breath. "You're giving up on us?"

I looked into his light blue eyes and said my line.

"I'm telling you that you won't. I want you. I'm always going to want you." Matt stared deep into my eyes. I hardly noticed that he changed the lines because they meant the same thing, but his words were better. 

"Thanks for coming. Can you write your number here so we can let you know if you got the part?" Aaron asked. Matt exhaled.

"Um, actually." Matt's eyes darted back and forth from wall to wall, landing on the exit. "Thank you for the opportunity. I don't think I can do this. I'm sorry," he said nervously. He rushed out of the room. I looked at Aaron, then went to go find Matt. I found him outside, leaning against the building, clutching his chest.

"Hey," I said softly as I approached him. I listened to Matt sniffle as he took deep breaths. I didn't want to interrupt him but also wanted him to know I was there to help. I had anxiety, too. 

"I'm sorry," Matt said. 

"No, don't apologize. It's okay. You were great in there. Honestly, I liked the lines you changed more."

"I didn't mean to change them. I forgot what they were."

"That's good, though. You improvised better lines." I knew that we would choose Chris, but I wanted Matt to be involved, too. "I finished the script, but I want to add a twist. Would you want to help me write it? I feel like you'd have a lot of good ideas."

"Really?" He looked at me with watery eyes.

"You like to write, right?"

"Yeah."

"This is a good place to start and I'm easy to work with." I smiled and put my hand out for him to shake.

"Okay." Matt gave a slanted smile and shook my hand.

I told Aaron, and he was on board with Matt helping. We both agreed that the part should go to Chris and called him later that evening to let him know the good news.

Thank you so much for reading Chapter 3!

I'm happy you made it this far because things are going to get weird and good in the next chapter. 

If you like this story so far, please vote and comment. 

If you really like it, then please share it with the Sturniolo triplets. Thank you!