The Threads of Fate || Walker Scobell x Leah Sava Jeffries

~4~

"Well, before auditioning, I didn't really know much about Annabeth or the story at all really. I had never read anything from Percy Jackson. Since the first audition, I've learned a lot about the characters and the story as a whole. My friend, Nayeli, is like a Percy Jackson super fan, so she's been helping me. I recently stayed at her house, and we read the first book and watched both of the movies. Even though Annabeth's character changed a lot across both mediums, the one thing that remained the same is how strong-willed she was. She never really let anything get in the way of what she wanted to do and how she was going to do it, and I really like that quality about her because I can see it in myself."

"So you see yourself as strong-willed?"

"Yeah, I do. Once I have my mind set on something, it has to happen. My mom likes to say I'm stubborn, but I think I'm just determined to have things go a certain way," Leah explained, making a few of the adults laugh.

"Thank you, Leah, that was a wonderful answer. Laney, you're next," Aaron smiled.

"Well, I was gonna ask what's one quality you like about yourself, but you kinda answered that already," Laney chuckled, "How about... this one! If you weren't trying to become an actress, what career path do you think you would go into?"

"I think I would try to go into writing or maybe producing? I know that I want to work in the entertainment industry. Even if I'm not on screen, I want to do something that has to do with creating the shows and movies that people really enjoy. I like to write, so I think screenplay writing might be a good option for me," Leah answered quickly. She noticed some of the people in the call started writing things down, but she chose to ignore it. "That could be good writing," she thought.

"Alright, Mrs.Jessica, you're up," Laney said.

"Leah, do you have any past acting jobs or experiences that have really impacted you?" the woman asked.

"Well, when I was around five, I think, I was cast as Lola Lyon on the show Empire. I remember being super excited because I had gotten cast in a TV show. I didn't talk very much on screen, but just having the experience of getting to be on a TV show set and getting to meet all of these wonderful, big name actors and actresses who have been in the industry for years was amazing. Even as a five year old, I knew that it was a big thing, and I'm honestly just forever grateful for my time on set of the show. It was so much fun."

"I told y'all she looked familiar. None of you believed me," Carmen said matter-of-factly.
"We didn't say we didn't believe you. We just said that we doubted it," Aaron chimed in.

"Thank you for that wonderful answer, Leah. Wren?"

"Alright, you said earlier that you had read the first book. Is there any particular location in the book that you want to visit in real life?" he asked.

"I think I'd probably pick California. I don't want to go to Hollywood in particular, but my brother goes to college in California, so if I could go there, we could probably meet up. I haven't seen him since Christmas, so I want to see him again. If not California, probably the arch because I haven't seen it before."

"What school does your brother go to?"

"UCLA. He started there last fall. It's his first year," Leah explained.

"Cool, cool, cool. Thank you, Leah," Wren jotted down some notes on his paper, "I think the last question we have for you is from Carmen?"

"Yes! My question is pretty much the one question everyone asks. I hate to have to be the boring one, but why do you want this role?" Carmen sighed.

"Um..." Leah laughed, "this could be really big for me, you know? It's almost a main character role on a disney show. That would be huge for any child actor, but I also think I just wanna see if it's possible."

"What do you mean?" Leah paused, not sure how to go about answering that.

"Well," she stopped again, "Me and you both know that I don't look like Annabeth. It's very, very evident that we don't look anything alike. I didn't realize that before I signed up for the audition. I just wanted to see if it was possible for me to be cast. It just didn't seem super likely that it'd happen, and then, I made it to the second round of auditions. So I thought, maybe it could happen," Leah explained the best she could. "I know that probably didn't make any sense at all," she laughed.

"No, no, no, we understood just fine. You explained perfectly! Thank you, Leah," Carmen laughed with her.

About twenty minutes later, Leah's audition was over. She exited the zoom call feeling content with herself. She walked downstairs and sat down with her mother. "How do you think you did?" Lee asked as soon as she saw her daughter walk in the room.

"I think I was perfect."
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(1529 words) Revised version of chapter 4! Lemme know what you think 🤭